The Japanese Pioneer website hosts a mysterious image teasing what is possibly an upcoming 4K UHD Blu-ray player-- at least judging from the text and url of the website in question.
The image consist of two rectangles in a mysterious starry landscape. Both are shrouded with a blue cloth, and on top is the Japanese kanji "gyouten," meaning "dawn"-- the suggestion of a new dawn for Pioneer players? Below the rectangles is Japanese text reading "it's been 4 years since the impact. Finally." But finally what?
All makes more sense when one looks at the URL of the image-- it notes "BDLX," a name clearly based on the serial numbers of the most recent Pioneer Blu-ray players, the BDP-LX58 and BDP-LX88. For the curious, the two devices were released back in... 2014. Bingo!
The BDP series was reviewed, especially the LX88, a universal player compatible with Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio. It is notable for impressive build quality, with a double-layer design featuring a 1.6mm base plate reinforced with a 3mm plate and a 1mm thick steel top plate.
With Oppo unfortunately dropping the home theatre industry in favour of greener pastures, it is high time for Pioneer to make a comeback. Hopefully further details of the company's plans will be available sooner, not later.
