... some might call it lying.

I called Panasonic after hours spent on my Yamaha AV receiver (RX-V863) and the BD10AK menus. The problem: I couldn't get my receiver to push Dolby True HD audio, only PCM or regular Dolby Digital through my 7.1 speakers. Although there are Dolby True HD stickers on the unit itself, the manual actually states that if the media has Dolby True HD or DTS-HD as its soundtrack, the BD-10AK will ONLY playback in Dolby Digital.

So which is true?

The result of the phone call: the BD-10AK does NOT push Dolby True HD, nor DTS-HD. This was straight from technician Curtis at Panasonic. So my Yamaha receiver will take the audio signal and try to push it as best as it can - hopefully converting it to True HD on the way out.

I had already loaded the firmware upgrade from the Panny website (pretty easy). Load times are OK (this is my first blu-ray player). The video is GORGEOUS from blu-ray discs - tested Iron man and the 1st Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Upconverted (up to 1080i) DVD playback is great - tested Ratatouille. Outside of some artifacts, I thought it looked better than playing it through my Yamaha DVD player.

One major reason I bought this 2-year old (since introduced to the general public) Panasonic BD player is its DVD-Audio playback; I have a small collection. It plays back in 5.1, and the newer models do NOT play DVD-A's.

Until I upgrade to a PS3 (or whatever Sony is pushing years from now), the BD10AK will do.

Own mine now for about a year. No problems and picture is awesome! Viewing on a 1080p Panasonic set. I did update the firmware a few months ago and it helped with loading some BD's. Note that some BD disc will be better quality than others. Not the players fault, just the way they compressed the videos.

The Panasonic DMP-BD10A is a high quality Blu-Ray player. Start up times (once the power button is hit to time disk tray will come out)are as fast as my upconvert DVD player...Much faster than the Sony BDP-S300 I use to own. Also the play times (time from when disk is put into player and see disk contents on the TV) are also just as fast as my upconvert DVD player. Picture quality is out of this world! Cannot comment on audio since I'm still using the speakers on my LCD. I wish I would have bought this player instead of my Sony Blu-ray to begin with. Panasonic certainly put a lot of thought and quality into this machine. My only gripe is the remote could have been better laid out, but really no big deal. Some have complained about the flip-down front panel, but I personally like it b/c it hides all the unsightly buttons one typically sees on Blu-ray players. The panel gives this player a handsome appearance. I highly recommend this Panasonic Blu-ray player!!

After researching the sony and sharp, the Panasonic start from load is less than 30 seconds, haven't required an update as of yet, Everything works wonderfully.
Also own the first generation Toshibs HD DVD player, but now unfortunately, even though the insane load time, HD DVD looks like it has bitten the dust. Asked Toshiba what they plan to do for existing purchasers, with no surpirse, no response to my email. Picture quality equals if not excells the best HD DVD Player to my astonishment. 5 Star player. No reason to consider anything else.

The picture quality is great. I'm not sure if it is designed that way but it makes a clunking sound when ejecting the disc.