Pioneer BDP-330 1080p Streaming Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)UPDATE: Netflix was added via firmware on roughly 8/14
The news of Pioneer's departure from the plasma market shook the AV community a little over two years ago. Questions abound as to what the future would hold for Pioneer in a post Kuro world. Fans of their Blu-ray players - begun in earnest with the 51FD/05FD - wondered if a joint venture with Sharp would lead to a dilution of the high quality A/V performance at a very reasonable price point. The release of the budget-priced Pioneer BDP-120 was to some a harbinger of this venture manifesting itself in what appeared to an amateur eye as a largely re-badged Sharp player veiled beneath a Pioneer chassis. Its performance was nowhere near its 320 and 23FD brethren and its price point reflected such.
Emerging news of the 320's replacement came from European sources boasting Youtube streaming, which hinted the promise that US customers might get Netflix streaming or even some of the other instantly streamed video sources. The BDP-330 was largely unannounced until I found one in a Best Buy half-an-hour's drive from my house.
Upon lifting the all-white box, I noticed immediately that it was light, which caused me to prolong any disappointment until I got an opportunity to put it through its paces. I was a bit surprised the box made no mention of Youtube or any streaming services. Upon unboxing the player, I was a bit surprised at how small and shallow its profile really was. It makes the 320 look downright large. The biggest immediate disappointment was the rear output panel, which was identical to the European press photos completely devoid of multichannel analogue outputs. The Burr-Brown DAC-equipped MCH analogue outputs were one of the 320's strongest selling points. The player was made in April of 2010 in China; please note this is a departure from the Malaysian-built 320 and later 51s. The 120 was also made in Sharp and has a number of rear panel similarities including the power cord input's design. The player also shares the exact same model number remote as the 120 - VXX3351, which appears nearly identical to the 320, but including some strangely labeled buttons (page +/- and keylock) missing the video adjust button (this all but eliminated the hope that this might be a "real" Pioneer for me).
Upon firing up the player, I was greeted by the familiar Pioneer menu, but a very different setup menu that was very similar to the 120 best I can remember. Here's where the disappointment turns real: there is no Netflix; only Youtube and RSS. Gone is the slicky black background menu and appeared is the simple text and icon menu I remember from Sharp players. No choice for colorspace or high-speed HDMI...Just resolution. For folks who have been accustomed (spoiled) by the amount of tweaking possible with the 320/23/51/05, this is a huge disappointment.
All video adjustments options of the 320/23 are GONE. No Preset modes like Pioneer PDP or Projector. Once again, just resolution. This player is certainly not of the linneage of the current 320 or 51 with their extensive picture adjustment menus and presets. From this standpoint, the 330 is very disappointing.
In respects of load times, the quick start feature added very little discernable benefit to load times, that were very pokey. In fact, the current 320 was faster in actual load times in all the discs I tested than the 330. Other than the 2 second power off eject time, the Pioneer BDP-330's load times were embarrasingly so for a 2010 player whose peer group can load the same discs in a third of the time.
Player Eject Dark Knight Casino Royale POC I - Coin POC 1 -Disney Castle Total Speed
Pioneer BDP-320 18 36 36 39 62 191 5.5
Pioneer BDP-23FD 18 36 36 39 62 191 5.5
Pioneer BDP-51FD 33 45 44 39 73 234 4.5
Pioneer BDP-330* 2 39 34 47 63 185 5.5
* with quickstart engaged
In testing deinterlacing capabilities with synthetic test suites, the Pioneer BDP-330 did not establish itself as a stand-out by any means. Its performance was very similar tot he BDP-120 in failing to recognize most of the film cadences. In video-based tests, jaggies were prolific and the moire in S&M's speedometer test was the worst I have seen save the Sony BDP-N460, S470, S570, and S370.
Realworld testing was bit more kind to the player. While the upconverted image was not as sharp as the 320, it was compotent on most test material devoid of choppy edits. My biggest complaint is the utter lack of video adjustments for dvd. There are simply no adjustment menus or sub-menus, which is the antithesis of the elaborate and detailed adjustment options available in the current 320.
Deinterlacing Performance using S&M Test Disc:
Test 2:2 2:2:2:4 2:3:2:3 (PF-T) 2:3:2:3 2:3:3:2 3:2:3:2:2 5:5 6:4 8:7:8:7 24p - pass Time-adjusted
Pio 320 pass fail pass pass* marg fail marginal fail marginal pass fail
Pio 120 pass fail pass fail fail fail fail fail fail pass pass
Pio 330 pass fail pass fail fail fail fail fail fail pass fail
Value/Overall:
With sluggish load times, just above average dvd quality, a lack of built in wirless connectivity, youtube and rss streaming only, no multi-channel analogue outputs, no picture adjustments, and non-3D capable, it's hard to argue why this player should cost more than $100 in this market. Even then, it's hard to argue why someone would purchase this player at all unless they are hell-bent on a pioneer fascia and youtube. Firmware and time may bring Netflix and other streaming options, but there are many other players that offer so much more for so much more less. With an MSRP appears to be a very lofty $299, I would encourage folks to explore a combination of two players like an LG BD550 and a Pioneer BDP-320 for nearly the same price and would be a perfect marriage of excellent AV playback of optical media (320) and excellent streaming options (550). All in all, this player is a massive disappointment to followup on the great performance and value the 320 offered.


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Without question, the greatest success of all Pioneer's players is the ability to recreate film as the director intended. And as movies are the combined work of many people, from cinematographers and set designers to Foley and makeup artists, every detail is taken into consideration in order to help you get closer to the ultimate cinematic experience. In the past, film displayed on television required stretching 24 frames-per-second to match the 30 frames-per-second of television. More often than not, this would result in annoying motion judder and unnatural on-screen images. With True 24fps at up to 1080p resolution, you see only what the director intended as all film sources are displayed at their actual speed. The BDP-330 provides up to 1920 x 1080p resolution for unrivaled picture quality. And with True 24fps, you’ll see your movies as the director intended.The BDP-330 offers simultaneous HDMI & Component Video Output: Enjoy High Definition Video from both the HDMI and Component Video connections. (Component Video limited to 1080i Resolution.)The BDP-330 also allows online Streaming Content: Enjoy online content from YouTube and read RSS Feeds when connected to the internet. Additional services available soon. This amazing Pioneer product allows for iPhone/iPod Touch Remote Control: Using our free iControlAV application (available for download from the Apple App StoreSM) users can control most major functions of the BDP-330 with their iPhone/iPod Touch.

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