Panasonic DMP-BDT160 review

If you're looking for a basic 3D-ready Blu-ray player, the Panasonic DMP-BDT160EB could be for you. It's almost exactly the same as the next model in Panasonic's range, the DMP-BDT260EB, but the DMP-BDT160EB doesn't have built-in Wi-Fi. Instead, you'll need to buy a Wi-Fi adapter to connect the DMP-BDT160EB to your wireless network, or simply use the player's wired Ethernet port instead.

You'll certainly want to get the DMP-BDT160EB online, as it supports DLNA playback and has a few smart TV features. These include access to Netflix and BBC iPlayer, as well as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube portals.

The selection of online services is basic

It would have been nice to see a few other catch-up TV services, as other slighty more expensive Blu-ray players, such as the Samsung BD-F6500, have a more extensive range of smart TV apps. Even so, it's good to see iPlayer and Netflix on a player this cheap. There's even a Netflix button on the remote control for easy access.

Sadly, there’s a lot of flex on the top panel, so you don’t wouldn’t want to put your TV or another piece of AV gear on top of it. Indeed, placing the DMP-BDT160EB in between other bits of kit will probably obscure the four control buttons on top of the player. These let you play, stop and eject discs, and switch on the player, but are of course replicated on the remote control.

On the back of the DMP-BDT160EB is just a single HDMI output and an Ethernet port. We'd normally expect to see at least one type of audio output on a Blu-ray player, so to see none at all was disappointing. Still, it's hard to complain too much at this price.

The only other connection on the DMP-BDT160EB is a single USB port on the front for playing files from a flash drive or external hard disk. The DMP-BDT160EB supports all the main file formats, including MKV, XVID, AVCHD, MP4, MP3, FLAC, WAV, WMA and JPEG, and you can also stream content over your home network via DLNA.

We’re not huge fans of Panasonic’s interface for its 2014 range of Blu-ray players. The home menu consists of five main panels (Setup, Network, Photos, Music and Videos), but each of them are unhelpfully controlled by the main direction buttons on the remote. Pressing down, for instance, will instantly load a video, while pressing up will take you straight to the Network menu. This can make navigating the DMP-BDT160EB’s menus a frustrating experience if you accidentally press the wrong button, and it's a shame the video option isn't more prominent.

The menu system is rapidly navigated, but don't press the wrong button

Unsurprisingly for a cheap player, menu options are rather sparse, so you're better off adjusting the picture on your TV rather than relying on the DMP-BDT160EB's picture settings. There are four picture modes to choose from, but the difference between them is minimal. Normal, Soft and Fine are fixed, while User lets you adjust the contrast, brightness, sharpness and colour. We’d stick with either Normal or User for films, as switching to Soft lost some detail while Fine introduced a white haze across the screen that made colours appear rather washed out.

On Normal, our Blu-ray test footage of Star Trek and Avatar looked great in both 2D and 3D. Visuals were clean and crisp and darker scenes showed plenty of detail. We were also pleased to see menu options for dynamic range control. This helps enhance speech at low volume levels, making it easier to watch films at night without having to crank up the volume just to hear the dialogue.

DVD upscaling was less impressive, as there was a fair amount of noise, and jaggies were evident. Also, Star Trek's pronounced film grain effect was practically non-existent in motion. When it was visible, it simply looked like unwanted noise. There aren't any detail enhancement settings either, but on the whole we couldn't see too much of a noticeable difference in quality between the DMP-BDT160EB and our reference player.

For £79, the Panasonic DMP-BDT160EB is a good Blu-ray player. The £110 Samsung BD-F6500 has more smart TV features and integrated Wi-Fi, but if you just want something cheap the DMP-BDT160EB won't disappoint.