CUSTOM INSTALLATION HOW-TO

If you're starting to think that the BH100 is quirky, then hold on, because things get even weirder on the audio side. The machine's support for lossless Dolby TrueHD soundtracks is limited to two-channel analog output only, and it downmixes six-channel uncompressed PCM soundtracks on Blu-ray Discs to stereo for delivery over its HDMI 1.2 connection. Also, the BH100 isn't capable of playing regular audio CDs (an irritating trait that it shares with the Pioneer Elite Blu-ray player reviewed on page 60). Finally, although it was widely reported at the recent CES that the BH100 would be the first high-def disc player capable of decoding lossless DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks, LG has since confirmed that it decodes only the standard "core" 5.1-channel DTS soundtrack on discs. Clearly, the BH100 comes up short of being the high-def disc panacea we've all been waiting for.

Considering its limitations, perhaps it's fitting that the all-black BH100 has a nondescript look. The front panel is occupied by a disc tray, an LED display, and a large, white, non-dimmable LG logo. A set of control buttons for power, play/pause, stop, disc tray open/close, and video output resolution is located on the machine's top surface, but there are no buttons for disc or menu navigation, chapter skip, or scan. Outputs on the back panel include HDMI and component-video connections, both optical and coaxial digital audio, and six-channel analog audio. There's also a modular connector with the label "Service." Although this jack looks like something you can use to plug the player into a home network, it's used strictly for repair diagnostics by LG-certified techs.

While LG's remote control for the BH100 lacks a backlit keypad, its button layout is straightforward and clean. Hitting the Display button calls up an onscreen graphic that lists information such as current title and chapter, elapsed time, and soundtrack format. And a button near the bottom labeled Resolution lets you change the player's video output format. There are also a number of colored buttons designated for use with Blu-ray Disc Java functions, but I didn't find any discs that made use of them.