Key Takeaways
- Panasonic’s TV with built-in Blu-ray player & 2TB hard drive is innovative & allows for 4K recording.
- High-quality Blu-ray players are becoming scarce with Panasonic leading the market; a trend driven by streaming.
- Integrating Blu-ray players within TVs could revive interest in physical media & provide a comprehensive entertainment solution.
Japan is a country of contradictions. They push technology, yet cling to things like dumb phones and fax machines. It’s all very quaint, but sometimes the Japanese come up with an idea so brilliant that keeping it within their borders is practically a crime. Panasonic’s TV with a built-in Blu-ray player is exactly the sort of thing I’m talking about.
Integrating Blu-Ray Players With TVs Is a Brilliant Idea
It’s called the Panasonic MR770, and comes in a 50-inch or 43-inch variant. Not only does this TV have a built-in UHD Blu-ray player in its base, it also has an internal 2TB hard drive. This gives the MR770 the ability to record 4K60 footage. Actually, you can record two shows at the same time. Of course, it’s not like Panasonic invented this idea. Back in 2011, the Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 7 packed a built-in 3D BD player. Remember 3D? Fun times.
Players Are Getting Harder to Find
While you can still hope on Amazon and buy a Blu-ray player, you might notice that all the best ones are now made by Panasonic. Samsung stopped making players in 2019, and in my own country you basically can’t buy any Blu-ray player, regardless of brand. They’re just gone from stores.
This obviously reflects overall trends pushed by streaming and digital media, with the latest gaming consoles probably being the most common Blu-ray players in homes.
More People Would Buy Blu-Rays if Their TV Came With One
The lack of players, and honestly interest in them, puts us in a chicken and egg situation where no one is going to buy Blu-rays if they can’t find or don’t want a player. While no one will buy players if the content they want isn’t on physical media anymore. Yet, I still believe we should have the option of keeping physical media alive. Physical media is important, and complete reliance on the internet for media is a mistake.
These Panasonic TVs feel like they could be the last TVs I’d ever need to buy. Of course, I’d also like a TV that has the image quality and specifications of my current LG OLED, but mimicking this overall design. I also feel like an integrated unit like this would cost less than buying everything separately. A lot of UHD players are inexplicably expensive, and that might also put many people off getting them.
A Vertical Slot Loader Would Be Better
The only thing I don’t like about Panasonic’s approach here is that the player is built into the base, and I prefer to wall-mount my TVs. With how thin modern OLEDs are, you could easily fit a vertical slot-loading Blu-ray drive in there and allow everything to be neatly mounted on the wall. It would be a dream come true for me!
Imagine just walking up to your TV and slipping a crisp copy of Deadpool and Wolverine (or a Criterion movie if you’re fancy) behind it like you’re doing the coin trick except here the payoff is watching a high-quality movie that can’t be deleted from your library on the whim of a corporation.
I’ve already harped on about how Smart TV apps suck, but this could perhaps be the best example of an all-in-one TV that really doesn’t need anything extra plugged into it.
It’s like Pansonic has combined everything that’s great about TV today with everything that was great about it in the pre-streaming era. While I know this TV is out of reach, wouldn’t it be nice if LG, Samsung, or Sony actually also took a big swing like this every now and then?
