Home Theater Review

At $249.99, the BD-HP75U is the top-tier Blu-ray player in Sharp's 2011 lineup, but it's still a step down in price from last year's sleek, wall-mountable BD-HP80U and 90U. We have not performed a hands-on review of this player, but here is a more comprehensive look at its features. The BD-HP75U supports 3D playback, and it includes Sharp's Web platform, with access to Netflix, VUDU, YouTube, and Pandora. The BD-HP75U lacks integrated WiFi but comes with a USB WiFi adapter. DLNA media streaming is available, as is Sharp's AQUOS Pure mode: When you connect the player to a Sharp AQUOS TV via HDMI, it automatically adjusts the image for optimal playback. The BD-HP75U offers better build quality than the step-down 35U and 25U models, with an anti-vibration chassis.

Additional Resources
• Read more Blu-ray player reviews by the staff of HomeTheaterReview.com.
• Look for a 3D HDTV in our 3D HDTV Review section.
• Explore LED HDTVs and Plasma HDTVs to pair with the Sharp BD-HP75U.

The BD-HP75U's connection panel includes one HDMI output and one optical digital audio output; there are no analog A/V outputs. The player also lacks the second HDMI output found on some higher-end 3D models (which is desirable when trying to mate a 3D player with an older, non-3D-ready A/V receiver). The BD-HP75U has onboard Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding, and it also passes these high-resolution audio formats in their native bitstream form over HDMI, for your A/V receiver to decode. The setup menu includes a feature called Super Picture, which is designed to improve the quality of streaming video; no advanced 3D adjustments are available.

The BD-HP75U supports the BD, DVD, CD audio, AVCHD, Divx HD, MP3, and JPEG formats. You can add the player to your home network using the back-panel Ethernet port or by attaching the supplied VR-WL25 adapter to the back-panel USB port. The BD-HP75U lacks internal memory to store BD-Live features; you must add a USB storage device via the back- or front-panel USB port, both of which also support media playback. This player is the only model in Sharp's 2011 line to offer RS-232; it also offers an IP control option.

Read about the high points and low points of the Sharp BD-HP75U on Page 2.