The Ashes

Harman Kardon finally offered its first foray into the world of high-definition playback through the Blu-ray disc media.

The Harmon Kardon Blu-ray disc enables us to enjoy the next generation features of Blu-ray discs as it features BD Live support. The BDP 1 is encased in a slim, elegant design that will definitely look right smacked in the middle of your living rooms. It’s sleek profile on the outside can blend well with whatever motif you’ve got going in your rooms.

It can also stand standard DVD, converting them to 1080p through an HDMI connection so you still can enjoy your extensive DVD collection. It can also display JPEG images and MP3 audio files directly from discs and memory sticks.

Its specifications include:

• Disc formats: Blu-Ray Disc media, including BD-R/RE, BD-Live and BonusView, DVD/DVD+R/DVD-RW, CD/CD-RW, MP3 or JPEG files on disc
• Audio formats: LPCM, MP3, Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD Master Audio and WMA
• RJ-45 connection for Internet access
• IR-remote in/out jacks for system integration
• HDMI output (V.1.3a with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD bitstreams and high-resolution video)
• Front-panel USB jack for additional BD-Live memory or MP3 or JPEG file playback
• Optical and coaxial digital audio outputs
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 66mm x 440mm x 352mm
• Weight: 3.7kg

The Harmon Kardon BDP 1 will be released next month for $499. With the number of quality audio products they have released through the years, I can’t wait until I see how they tackle the video format of their new Blu-ray disc.