Harman Kardon Ships First Blu-ray Disc Player

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 6/9/2009

Northridge, Calif. — Audio components manufacturer Harman Kardon said Tuesday that its first Blu-ray Disc player featuring BD-Live capability and the company’s unique interface to simplify setup and use will ship this month.

Model BDP-1 will carry a $499 suggested retail. Its design is said to complement most high-definition displays

Harman Kardon is now selling its first Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-1 ($499).

as well as Harman Kardon’s family of home-theater components.

In addition to playing high-def Blu-ray Discs at up to 1080p resolution, the BDP-1 has 1080p up-conversion capability via the HDMI connection on the playback of standard-definition DVD material.

The unit will also play back simultaneous JPEG and MP3 music files from discs or USB memory sticks, and run a slideshow production with a musical background.

“The Harman Kardon brand has a rich history of delivering the right combination of power, performance, flexibility and ease of use in the home,” stated Christopher M. Dragon, Harman consumer field marketing director. “The introduction of our first Blu-ray Disc player balances our portfolio of home products, which have always featured great sound but, now, thanks to the BDP 1, offer crystal-clear video playback.”

In addition to Blu-ray Discs, the player will accept DVD/DVD+R/DVD-RW, CD/CD-RW, MP3 or JPEG files on disc.

Compatible audio formats include: LPCM, MP3, Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD Master Audio and WMA.

An RJ-45 jack is included for BD-Live capability, while the front-panel USB jack can be used for additional BD-Live memory or MP3 and JPEG file playback.