New Sharp Blu-ray decks go Profile 2.0
CES 2009: Cheap and cheerful BD-HP22U and BD-HP16U
The key strength of Sharp's new BD-HP22U and BD-HP16U Aquos Blu-ray players is their support for Profile 2.0, aka BD-Live.
The BD-HP22U is the likely replacement for the £249 BD-HP21H model, which only supports Profile 1.1. Like the BD-HP21H, the new BD-HP22U supports 1080p, 24Hz frame rate conversion and version 1.3 of the HDMI standard.
So what else is new? For starters, a new Aquos Pure mode enables any Aquos TV (with the Aquos Link function) to recognise the BD-HP22U and to optimise the picture settings to take advantage of it.
Advanced audio decoding
The BD-HP22U also features better audio decoding than its predecessor – lossless surround-sound formats including Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby Digital Plus are all supported.
Both players are compatible with BD-ROM/RE/R, DVD Video, DVD-RW/R, DVD+RW/R and audio CDs. They also feature a built-in JPEG viewer for watching photo slideshows.
In fact, the only real difference in the specifications of the two decks seems to be that the BD-HP22U features 2GB of USB memory. There's a $20 price gap to reflect this.
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more from the TechRadar team.
The BD-HP16U launches in March for $279.99 (£183), while the BD-HP22U will cost $299.99 (£197) and follows in May.