IFA 2007: BD-HP20 - Sharp unveils stylish Blu-ray Player

Sharp showed us a new Blu-ray player, the BD-HP20, which should win over customers thanks to its stylish design and its low power consumption. Visually and technologically, this stand-alone player is well matched to Sharp’s line of Aquos LCD-TVs, which are available with a screen size of up to 108 inches (2.74 meters). In addition to their matched exteriors, which use black piano finish, all Aquos devices can be controlled with a single remote control – including the BD-HP20.

The slim-line player supports HD-Video up to the 1080p standard. As befits a modern high-def player, HDMI is used for video output, and according to Sharp, the BD-HP20 also supports playback of the 24-Hertz cinema format 24p. The advantage is that the unit does not have to rely on image scaling, which would incur a loss in image quality. Additionally, Sharp’s Blu-ray player also accepts all of the existing mainstream video formats such as MPEG2, MPEG-4, VC1, and h.264. The company promises that the BD-HP20 also reads practically all media including DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW.

Sharp also emphasized the player’s quick start-up time as well as the low power consumption of 28 watts during playback and a mere 0.6 watts in standby mode. This very low standby consumption is especially important, as it doesn’t necessitate the use of a power strip with an on/off switch to save power. At present, no information on pricing is available.