Sharp AQUOS BD-HP16U – Blu-Ray disc player – upscaling
- Slim Compact Design Piano Black Finish
- Full HD 1080 – HDMI 1.3 – 1920×1080 @ 24 fps
- Dolby TrueHD – DTS D Master Audio – Quick Start Feature
- Power On Mode – Standby Mode – Aquos Power Moe
- 1 Year Limited Warranty
Now you can enjoy the best of 1080p video on your AQUOS LCD TV. Especially designed to work with AQUOS LCD TVs, the BD-HP16U AQUOS Blu-ray Disc player provides seamless operability via the AQUOS LINK function through the HDMI connection. Performing as if it were all one system, the BD-HP16U’s BD Live allows connection to the internet for studio content on BD-Live Blu-ray Discs. The quick start feature let’s you enjoy gorgeous Blu-ray Disc video with the touch of a button in as little as 10 seconds. With HDMI outputs and 1080p as well as DVD up-conversion, you can enjoy full digital high-definition video and high-fidelity audio…. More >>
Sharp AQUOS BD-HP16U – Blu-Ray disc player – upscaling
I can only compare this player to DVD players, as this is my first Blu Ray player. This technology is not ready for the average user yet. After two weeks I got a disc that wouldn’t play. I assumed there was some kind of a firmware upgrade needed. There was. I was able to find it and install it in about 30 minutes, but I expect people who don’t know what they’re looking for could spend days or just give up and call tech support. Sharp didn’t even list this model on their website, I found the upgrade through a third party link. Some of these discs take several minutes to load. This appears to be common to all current Blu Ray players, but it is also very sluggish playing back regular DVDs. It is very sensitive to drop outs (dust, smudges on the DVD surface) and will just freeze up with no self-recovery mode. None of the front panel buttons will work, so you are left to unplug it from the wall. Then you can go make 6 pots of coffee while it reboots. The controls also seem sluggish, lagging behind button pushes by a second or two. Blu Ray discs are even more sensitive to dust and smudges. The picture will tear up and even freeze. Happily Blu Ray discs seem to be easier to clean. They have some sort of “mirror” coating on them. Once up and running the Blu Ray picture is awesome. Some older letterboxed regular DVDs, such as “Mission Impossible” do not automatically scale to full 16:9, as they did on my older regular DVD players. So you end up with a double letterboxed (top & bottom, left & right framed) wide screen image in the center of a larger screen. So, don’t throw out your old DVD player just yet. The Blu Ray technology seems to be pushing the envelope of current microprocessors. I’d say we’re about 6 years away from the kind of performance we’re used to with DVDs. My advice is to buy a Blu Ray disc and take it into the store to test several models to see how fast they boot up and how quickly you can access the menus.
If your not an IT don’t buy it. i don’t want to stay on the phone with a tech guy for two hours to watch a 90 minute movie. It plays some movie but needs to be reconfigured to play others. i am sending it back.
I like toys as much as the next guy, maybe more. So when I got the opportunity to upgrade my Blu-ray in the family room to this quick loading Sharp, I jumped at it. In my family room I have a Mitsubishi LT-46149 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with Integrated Sound Projector which with its sound projector and 120Hz display makes 1080p come alive.
I mention the Mitsubishi because it is at the heart of this story.
Anyway I set it up taking care to use the HDMI cable Sharp supplied. The movie came on-great picture, subperb sound tract. Then Hilary Swink and Gerald Butler started arguing…in pantomime. There were no voice tracks being heard.
First I decide to read the manual. (Note to Sharp-It isn’t the clearest). Next I called Sharp. A nice young man tried to help while defending his company. At one point he offered to take it in for repair (I owned it for two hours at that point). I decliend and after resetting the unit and lots of consultation I was ready to send it back.
However I got a bright idea. I connected it to my bedroom HD, an older 42 inch Vizio LCD. It works great. It loads quick, the sound works on all channels, colors are fine (except not as amazing as on the Mitsubishi). So I left it in the bedroom and took the old slow loading Sony BDP-S301 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player BD/DVD/CD Playback out to the family room.
So I am giving this unit four stars not five, because it has compatibility issues. I reported my solution to Sharp who insisted I call Mitsubishi to see if it had a firmware update. This misses the mark. Sharp needs a firmware solution, not Mitsubishi. I hope they will get on it so I can move this Blu-ray player to the set I envisioned using when I bought it.
I own this player for a three week now, it’s a 2.0 profile BD, and I can say that is very well worth the money I had spend on. I realized that this baby can play NTSC and PAL systems – suprise. Upconversion DVD is equal or if not better than my Sony DVD player. Picture and sound of regular BD are stunning too. In standbay mode the load time is less then 20 sec. The one thing I’m missing is that USB port is just for firmware upgrade and BD live content, does not work as a drive to play JPEG. I hope Sharp is working on the new firmware for solving this issue. Do not forget upgrade new firmware
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