The best gear of the year, as picked by the editors of Home Entertainment.

Blu-Ray AND DVD-Audio and SACD

Despite getting a very favorable review a few months ago, the Pioneer BDP-09FD was missing one key aspect that was disapointing: no DVD-Audio and SACD support.

Sure these are dead formats at this point, but many still have large collections, and it's great to have one player to play everything. Enter the Marantz UD9004.

Heavy Performer

Right now, you can get Blu-ray players for less than $200.

Well, you can, but do those players offer you onboard decoding of all the audio formats, upconverting of the 8-bit video to 16-bit, Marvell Qdeo processing, eight Wolfson DACS, tank-like build quality and pretty much everything else you can think of to eke out every last bit of performance?

That was a rhetorical question.

Blu-ray. Now with YouTube!

Already, Blu-ray players are separating into two camps: the uber-expensive, and the commodity. It’s easy to see what you get with the step-up players.

But what about the high end of the low end? What do you get at a step or so above the bargain players? Something like this $400 Panasonic, say. Well, turns out quite a lot.

The next step in Internet-enabled video-on-demand.

“Internet-enabled” could very well be the CE industry’s 2009 catchphrase. Some manufacturers are adding simple Web widgets to their products, like the ability to access news, weather, or online photo albums.

Others, meanwhile, have embraced what many of us deem to be the Holy Grail of Internet-enabled functionality: video-on-demand access.

Just when you thought your Blu-rays were safe…

Like it's rival, the LG BD300, the BD-P2500 is no simple Blu-ray player.

It has the ability to stream content directly from Netflix.

While this may seem odd, it adds a level of functionality that is surely the future of entertainment.

Blu-ray and… Netflix?

Why would you want to download SD movies on your new Blu-ray player? That was my first thought when learning about the BD300 (and it's rival, the Samsung BD-P2500).

Upon using it though, I get it.

And it's really cool.

An Audio Lover’s Video Player.

Over the past year, Denon has quietly assembled an interesting array of Blu-ray players designed to suit a host of budgets and systems—from the digital-only DVD-2500BTCI transport ($999) to the recently announced “entry-level” DVD-1800BD ($749).

Residing at the top of the chain is the reference DVD-3800BDCI ($1,999), a beefy unit whose build quality and high-end components befit that higher price tag.

Everyone wants high-definition, so it seems everyone would want a high-definition DVD player. But most people are sitting on the fence rather than investing in Blu-ray or HD DVD, the two high-def DVD formats launched last year. Maybe it's less about what the player costs or which movie studio supports which format, and more about nobody wanting to be stuck with Beta when everyone has gone VHS. But now you can dismount the fence with confidence, thanks to LG Electronics. The company's BH100 Super Blu Player plays both Blu-ray and HD DVD.

I’m used to providing tech support for friends, especially those new to the world of home theater and high-definition video. But never have my phone lines been as busy as in the days after Sony’s PlayStation 3 hit the stores. "What’s the difference between 720p and 1080i?" "Should I rip my CDs in AAC, MP3, or ATRAC?" "Why am I not getting sound from this SACD I bought?" "Why won’t this Blu-ray movie that came with the PS3 play on my DVD player?"