The Onkyo BD-SP308

The Japanese manufacturer Onkyo impresses with its high-quality audio components. With the BD-SP308 he makes a seductive offer to Blu-ray beginners. But how much sound can you expect for 230 euros?


Attractive sound artist


Onkyo has a clear advantage over its competitors in this test field: Especially thanks to its high-quality AV receiver, the Japanese manufacturer enjoys a very good reputation among sound fans. The analogue stereo sound output was the best choice for testers with this player thanks to its softness.


Picture gallery


The fact that the BD-SP308 likes to play with Onkyo receivers, already shows the remote control, the keys for volume and the input selection of the amplifier has. The player can then be extended to the Onkyo Blu-ray complete systems HT-BD6315, HT-BD-3315 and HTX-32BD with receivers and speakers.


Format: DivX, DivX HD or DivX Plus?


But already the BDSP308 already makes a good figure. Through HDMI, it delivers clean surround sound. Even though, like the LG, he uses a maximum of six PCM channels for Dolby's HD sound formats, rather than eight, which may be a problem for a few users.


In terms of image quality, he is also on the convincing level of the LG. Thus, although a slight sharpness override is shown with a highly scaled DVD image. And the interpolation of movements is even more precise with some players.


Testimonial


Onkyo BD-SP308


€ 230, www.onkyo.de


+ Good sound quality + fast start and load times - no support for MKV files - a bit shaky disc insert


Overall rating: very good 81%


Price / Performance: good


For this, the smoothing of round edges was excellent. From Blu-ray, the image looks sharp and balanced. The extensive setting possibilities can be adjusted with too colorful or strongly rushing films.


In the multimedia equipment, the Onkyo is under the LG LGs. There is about no access to Internet TV. Although the BD-SP308 is characterized by a great format compatibility, it can not play videos in the MKV container, even if they are displayed in the menu. Perhaps the problem is solved by a software update. DivX videos in HD quality, the player is already playing.


Something wobbly looks like the LG the disc slot. However, the operation is just as intuitive. Only navigating through the menus found the testers to be a little tame.


When it comes to storing movie files, DivX is extremely popular. For this reason, Blu-ray players also have the appropriate logos. DivX stands for files that are available as AVI or DivX containers. MPEG-4 ASP and audio MP3 are used as the codec for video. If the player can also play HD videos in this format, the DivX HD logo graces it.


The new standard DivX Plus works much more efficiently. Corresponding clips are saved as MKV files. H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC is used as the video codec. The AAC codec, which is also known as M4A music files from Apple's iTunes, is responsible for the data reduction of the audio track. If a player supports DivX Plus files in Full HD and all older DivX versions, it has the DivX Plus HD logo