Earlier this year LG presented its first Blu-ray player (LG BD370) which was revolutionary at that moment, and now, we present you its successor: LG BD390. Our expectations for this model were high, but we must admit that despite our high expectations we were still pleasantly surprised with features that this player offers. For now, LG BD390 is the only Blu-ray player that will allow you to get rid of your “old” DVD/DivX players, and send them to desired retirement. What’s more, this player will allow you to watch HD movies in compressed (among others MKV) format.
One of the first features, that caught our eye upon opening “the box”, was existence of 7.1 audio outputs. As far as we know it, this is the first device, other than PC sound cards, that has such outputs. Of course, problem is that 7.1 surround systems are still rare, but at least when, and if, they become popular this player will support ‘em. Nevertheless, setup allows 5.1 surround setting, or even stereo as a matter of fact, so no worries there. A little oversupply never hurts anyone. Second feature that surprised us was presence of Wi-Fi module. Wireless antenna is hidden in the player itself so no black (of white) plastic antennas will stick at the back. Connection to any wireless access point is simple, while easy procedure of connecting can be done in a matter of seconds (well, minutes), and player will have access to local network shared files and internet.
Internet connection is very important for this player because of three reasons. For starters, internet connection is used for firmware updates, which are important. Secondly, with internet connection you can use this player for watching YouTube videos. And finally, internet connection will be used to download additional info about the Blu-ray movies since this player supports Blue-ray 2.0 specification (BD Live). For this function to work properly, player needs substantial amount of memory, which is present in this player in amount of 1GB. Player is locked in Region B (Europe) for Blu-ray movies and Region 2 when it comes to DVD movies, but there are ways to overcome this problem.
Reproduction of all audio and video formats was very good. Except DVD and Blue-ray movies, this player supports CD, mp3, JPEG and even DTS Audio formats. It successfully reproduced DivX in standard and even HD resolution, along with XviD movies, but with QPEL we did have problems. Since player reported “missing codec” when we tried to play XviD QPEL movies there is a chance that this codes will be supported in one of the future firmware updates. Supported are also Nero Digital and MKV format. Yes, LG BD390 (and BD370) is one of those rare Blu-ray players that can play MKVs.
Before reproduction of all video formats, users can chose subtitle. Subtitle must be in same folder as movie but its name can be arbitrary. More subtitles cannot be loaded, but changing subtitles during movie reproduction is easy: you have to pause the movie, select new subtitle, and press play. Small problems were noticed during reproduction of DivX 6 and Nero Digital formats with embedded subtitles, but nothing serious.
Subtitles are displayed with white color and black outline so it can be read easily on every background. Size of subtitles is also optimal so you won’t need binoculars to read subtitles even on smaller screens. LG BD390 supports SRT and SUB subtitle formats. Various regional code pages are supported so you shouldn’t have problems with non-English characters, but this should be checked with your local dealer before purchase, just to be sure. If you wish, you can also watch movies from USB flash drive or external HDD since this player has USB port. There is also LAN port so you can access any home network type.
Conclusion
LG BD390 is second Home Cinema player in world that offers features like this. First one was, also LGs, BD370. While BD370 was revolutionary at its time, because of all features that it offered at that time, after LG BD390, we can now consider this as a new trend that we really do like. Since first model, BD370, was nicely accepted by everyone, especially end-users, it is not hard to predict bright future for LG BD390. And now comes the best part of whole story about LG BD390: its price. Price tag on LG BD390 should be somewhere around 300€ ($) and as such, it certainly deserves InsideHW Best Buy Award. If you are searching for the best all-around media player for Home Cinema don’t seek further than LG BD390. It is not likely that another player like this will emerge on the market, and since Christmas and New Year are not too far away, it can present perfect gift, especially when you count in Christmas and New Year’s sales.
| LG BD390 Blu-ray Player | |
| Connectivity | Stereo analog audio output, 7.1 Analog audio output, Optical and coaxial digital audio output, component and composite video output, HDMI, LAN, USB, Wi-Fi |
| Supported formats | Blu-ray, DVD, audio CD, DTS audio CD, MP3, JPEG, DivX, DivX HD XviD, Nero Digital |
| Resolution | Full HD 1080p |
| Other functions | BD Live, LAN access |
