Panasonic SC-BTT270
Manufacturer: Panasonic Part number: SC-BTT270
- CNET Editor rating: Not yet rated
- Average user rating: 1.0 stars out of 2 reviews
- More product information:
- Editors' blog post
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Description:
- Step into the 3D world. Watch 3D movies at home with Full HD 3D technology with the SC-BTT270. The Panasonic Blu-ray Disc home theater system was developed under the concept of reproducing an ideal cinema-like surround sound environment. Cinema surround plus increases the surround sound effect horizontally as with previous systems, and now enhances it vertically as well. The anti-distortion ... Read more
Where to buy
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CNET editors' blog post
By Matthew Moskovciak, 04/29/11
Panasonic's Viera Cast content portal has plenty of high-quality streaming-media services and one of the simpler user interfaces.
(Credit: Matthew Moskovciak/CNET)They may be called Blu-ray players, but in 2011 they're as much about streaming-media services as they are about high-definition discs. With every manufacturer having a different collection of streaming-media services, we've been taking an in-depth look at each company's content portal for 2011.
Today, we're looking at Panasonic's Viera Cast, which takes after LG's Smart TV in its simplicity. There's no app store or cross-platform search, but it has a solid collection of streaming-media services and an easy-to-use interface.
Panasonic Viera Cast is the same on most 2011 Panasonic Blu-ray players--and home theater systems with built-in Blu-ray players--but considerably different from the Viera Connect content portal offered on Panasonic HDTVs. Additionally, note that the entry-level DMP-BD75 doesn't offer the full Viera Cast suite, instead offering access only to Netflix, CinemaNow, and Vudu.
Panasonic Viera Cast streaming services vs. competitors
Editors' note: The chart doesn't list every streaming-media service available on each content portal; for the sake of simplicity, we chose those we considered most important.
Viera Cast has the fewest streaming-media services, but it includes all of the standard services (Netflix, Pandora, Vudu) and a few standouts, including Amazon Instant and Skype.
Amazon Instant Streaming is our favorite extra, especially for cord-cutters without cable. While competing services like Vudu are a compelling alternative for video-on-demand movies, Amazon Instant offers by far the largest selection of TV shows for pay-per-view watching, including both network and cable shows.
We also appreciate that Amazon Instant is tied into the viewer's Amazon.com account, which means we're able to watch our purchased content in a browser as well. If you're looking to "cut the cord" or just supplement your existing cable subscription, we've found Amazon Instant Streaming to be the best TV content provider. That being said, CinemaNow offers a solid collection of TV content, so it really comes down to which service you prefer.
If you want Amazon Instant, we'd consider Panasonic's main competition to be LG's Smart TV. Sony offers Amazon, too, but its user interface isn't quite as good.
Skype capability requires a $170 camera add-on, but if you can get past that price barrier, the functionality is pretty impressive. Unfortunately we didn't have the compatible Skype camera on hand for this review. The ability to make video calls right from your couch is definitely somewhat of a niche feature (although it seems great for families), but it worked well in the demos we've seen. We're expecting to get a compatible Skype camera shortly and we'll update this post with more hands-on testing.
Viera Cast could be the overall best option if Panasonic offered the same services available from Viera Connect on HDTVs. Viera Connect has several additional excellent apps, including Hulu Plus, MLB.TV, NHL Gamecenter, and NBA Game Time, and the addition of those services would make Viera Cast on Blu-ray the hands-down best streaming-content portal.
VieraCast user interface
Panasonic's Viera Cast content portal has plenty of high-quality streaming-media services and one of the simpler user interfaces.
(Credit: Matthew Moskovciak/CNET)While Samsung has fully adopted the app store model with Samsung Apps (and LG has dipped its toe in the water with LG Apps), Panasonic remains committed to a curated content portal. (At least on the Blu-ray side. Viera Connect on HDTVs has an app store.) Though there's definitely a theoretical advantage to having an app store, we haven't found it offering much of advantage so far for 2011 content portals. With each manufacturer offering its own apps, there seems to be less chance of one of them really taking off the way the Apple App Store did.
Viera Cast has several 'layers' of content, which is a little confusing.
(Credit: Matthew Moskovciak/CNET)The Viera Cast user interface is mostly laid out well. The main screen has seven large icons to choose from, including the most popular services like Netflix, Amazon Instant, and Vudu. Even better, you can customize the main screen in the setup menu. In our case, that meant swapping in Pandora for CinemaNow on the home screen.
There are even more services available if you click the More button below the center icon, bringing you to the next "layer" of screens. The whole layer concept seems a bit more complicated than it needs to be and we're guessing some nontechies will have some difficulty finding that second screen. However, since you can fit seven services on the main page, most people will never need to navigate beyond the main screen anyway.
For overall user experience, Panasonic's Viera Cast is definitely one of the best this year, coming in right behind LG's Smart TV.
Netflix interface
Viera Cast's Netflix interface is very similar to the one offered by LG and Samsung.
(Credit: Matthew Moskovciak/CNET)Panasonic's Netflix interface is excellent. It's very similar to the interface offered on the PlayStation 3 at the end of last year, so if you're looking for more information, take a look at our detailed hands-on for PS3. Unlike with older versions of Netflix, you can search for titles as well as browse categories like new arrivals and different genres.
There was significant variation in Netflix interfaces last year on Blu-ray players, but this year they're largely the same, so it's not a major differentiating factor.
Conclusions
Panasonic gets a lot right with Viera Cast, especially regarding the user interface. The main issue is that it's missing a few high-quality services (MLB.TV, Hulu Plus, various music services) that are available on competitors' players, not to mention Panasonic's Viera Connect TV service. If you're not interested in those other services, Viera Cast is a solid option, especially if you'll use the Skype functionality. Otherwise you'll want to check out the competition, and we'd recommend starting with LG's Smart TV.
Got Panasonic Viera Cast questions? Leave a comment below.
User reviews
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What a shame: a fatal flaw in an otherwise great system
by JoeyGT on September 5, 2011
Pros: Sound, form factor, GUI look/feel, Wi-Fi/Netflix, iPod dock
Cons: Requires two remotes, a 15-second wait, and input switching (using a button marked "iPod") EVERY TIME you start up your TV, because it won't remember your last input. This makes it annoying to use personally and impossible for all guests.
Summary: I wanted to love this system. The form factor is awesome. The speakers are small and convenient. The menu system is beautiful. The wi-fi options are great.
But it has ...Summary: I wanted to love this system. The form factor is awesome. The speakers are small and convenient. The menu system is beautiful. The wi-fi options are great.
But it has a fatal design flaw that is going to make me return it.
The system includes a "home screen" that comes up every time it starts up. So, when you start up your TV and home theater system at the same time (normal), the system always says "home" on it. When on the "home screen", the input from the TV audio (aux) will not play. There's absolutely no way to configure the system to play TV (aux) audio on the home screen or to have the system start up without the home screen, jumping straight to the aux input. So, it's not a default. It's a no-way-around-it situation. 99.9% of the time, I just want to watch TV. But because of this fatal flaw, I would have to keep the receiver remote around and press a button every time to switch to TV audio, and there's an annoying multi-second delay in getting the system to understand that the input-switching button has been pressed. For an added flaw, the button is entitled "iPod"! The button you have to press EVERY TIME THE SYSTEM STARTS just to hear TV audio is called "iPod"! Ha ha.
While I could possibly get around this myself, I'm not going to subject every guest who comes over to the instructions that to watch TV she'll have to turn everything on, wait 15 seconds for the receiver to start up, get out the audio receiver remote, keep pressing "iPod" until the system decides it's ready to listen (but not one time too many, or it'll switch to the wrong audio input), and wait 5 more seconds for the audio to actually start coming through.
It's such a shame for such an amazing system to have such an idiotic flaw. The engineers must have been obtuse. Clearly they didn't put it through quality-assurance testing. They even just released a new firmware (1.38), and this problem wasn't solved. Their tech support says it operates this way by design.
I've installed Panasonic home theaters for many friends and family. After this one, I'll never buy another.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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UPDATE THE SETUP MANUAL!!!!!!!
by road_cruiser on December 19, 2011
Pros: Great sound but SETUP MANUAL is POOR.
Cons: We were about to box it up and take it back because we had NO SOUND. Then we found the first review informing us to PRESS IPOD. Nowhere does the manual mention that.
Summary: Great sound once we discovered the iPod quirk. We would never have thought to press iPod to hear our TV. That's a major oversight and caused me to rate ...
Summary: Great sound once we discovered the iPod quirk. We would never have thought to press iPod to hear our TV. That's a major oversight and caused me to rate this system lower than I would have with a good manual. I mean, how hard is it to get a group of regular folks together to follow the instructions and find the glitches? Press iPod. I'm still shaking my head! The geeks who develop these systems should get someone else to write their manual.
More head shaking--Had to call tech support because we couldn't hear the center speaker. Seems you need to PRESS SLEEP to get the CENTER SPEAKER to work. ...good grief...
Updated on Dec 20, 2011
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Panasonic
- Part number: SC-BTT270
- Description: Step into the 3D world. Watch 3D movies at home with Full HD 3D technology with the SC-BTT270. The Panasonic Blu-ray Disc home theater system was developed under the concept of reproducing an ideal cinema-like surround sound environment. Cinema surround plus increases the surround sound effect horizontally as with previous systems, and now enhances it vertically as well. The anti-distortion speaker reproduces crisp, clear sounds to achieve true to cinema sound quality.
General
- Product Type iPhone / iPod cradle
- Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight 16.9 in x 11 in x 1.5 in / 6 lbs,
Speaker system : Satellite speaker : 3.1 in x 2.8 in x 4.6 in / 12.3 oz,
Speaker system : Center channel speaker : 5.7 in x 2.8 in x 3.2 in / 1.1 lbs,
Speaker system : Subwoofer : 5.7 in x 10.2 in x 11.4 in / 6.6 lbs Audio Features
- Components Blu-ray disc player,
Speaker system - Surround System Class 5.1 channel
- Amplifier Output Details 3 Ohm,
160 Watt - THD 10 % - 5 channel(s) ( Surround ),
200 Watt - At 100 Hz - THD 10 % - 1 channel(s) ( Subwoofer ) - Sound Output Mode Surround Sound
- Audio D/A Converter 24bit / 192kHz
- Built-in Decoders Dolby Digital Plus,
Dolby Pro Logic II,
Dolby Digital,
DTS decoder,
DTS-HD High Resolution,
DTS-HD Master Audio,
Dolby TrueHD - Surround Sound Effects Virtual Surround Mode
- Sound Effects Hyper-Bass
- Digital Sound Processor (DSP) Yes
- Output Power / Total 1000 Watt
- Additional Features Audio Return Channel (ARC),
Viera Link,
Upgradeable firmware,
HDAVI control,
iPod ready Inputs & Outputs
- Connections 1xHDMI output-Rear,
1xSPDIF input-Rear,
1xEthernet-Rear,
1xAudio line-in-Rear,
1xComposite video output-Rear,
1x - Optical Digital Input Yes
Equalizer
- Equalizer Yes
- Equalizer factory presets Flat,
Clear,
Soft,
Heavy Speaker System
- Speaker(s) Subwoofer,
4 - External - 130 - 22000 Hz - 3 Ohm - Wired,
1 - External - 115 - 22000 Hz - 3 Ohm - Wired,
1 - External - 45 - 180 Hz - 3 Ohm - Wired - Driver Details Satellite speaker : 1 x Full-range driver - 65 mm,
Center channel speaker : 1 x Full-range driver - 65 mm,
Subwoofer : 1 x Subwoofer driver - 160 mm Networking features
- Network player functionality Digital video playback,
Digital photo playback,
Digital audio playback - Connectivity protocols IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet)
Tuner features
- Type Radio tuner - FM - Digital
- Preset Station Qty 30
- FM Preset Station Qty 30
DVD/Blu-ray features
- Type Blu-ray player
- 3D Technology Yes
- Internet Streaming Services VIERA Cast ,
Netflix ,
Vudu ,
YouTube ,
Twitter ,
Pandora - DLNA Yes
- BD Profiles Profile 2.0 (BD-Live)
- Media Format DVD+R DL,
DVD-R DL,
DVD+R,
CD-R,
DVD,
CD,
DVD+RW,
DVD-R,
CD-RW,
DVD-RW - Audio D/A Converter 24-bit/192 kHz
- Supported Digital Audio Standards MP3
- Upscaling Yes
- Output Resolution 1080p
- Additional Features 3D movie playback,
Built-in 2D-to-3D conversion processing. Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type Digital player
- Supported Digital Video Standards AVCHD,
MPEG-2 - Supported Digital Audio Standards MP3
- Additional Features JPEG photo playback
Remote Control
- Remote Control Remote control - Infrared
Slot(s)
- Slot Provided 1
Power
- Power Device Power supply - Internal
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Panasonic products on Shopper.com
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- Manufacturer:Panasonic
- Address:
One Panasonic Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094 - Phone: 800/662-3537
