The BDP-23FD (alternatively known as the BDP-LX52 in Europe) was originally announced at CES 2009 and its specifications and features remained the same for the June launch five months later. Like you'd expect from a Blu-ray device, it plays the content on Blu-ray discs at 1080p resolution, but an added bonus is that it can output at 24 frames per second, the same framerate used in movie theaters and film. The BDP-23FD also has three noise-reduction circuits to improve image quality, along with the KURO Link Picture Mode and Precision Quartz Lock System techs to distinguish it from cheaper models.

Audio playback is nothing to shake a stick at either, with Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS-HD support. You'll get 7.1 channels of surround sound. Like a lot of players announced in 2009, this one can access BD-Live features on the internet via its Ethernet port. That means firmware upgrades and the like, of course, but it could mean media downloads as well.

The deck comes with one gigabyte of flash storage for whatever you pick up off the internet. There's also a USB port if you want to connect to some external storage.

The BDP-23FD is available now for $599.