N-NUTROMO Blu Ray DVD Player with HDMI AV Output review

What the maker puts in writing

• “While competitor devices restrict external reading capabilities to a tiny 64GB or 2TB limit, our advanced hardware architecture features an engineered high-speed USB 2.0 interface that effortlessly reads up to 128GB flash drives and up to a massive 8TB external mechanical hard disk drives (HDD)… this player contains no built-in internal flash storage memory and does not include an external drive; High-capacity HDDs may require an external power supply”
• “Features a premium HDMI V1.4 interface… alongside a legacy AV-OUT port for older analog CRT displays. (Crucial Technical Guide: The analog RCA AV-OUT link is structurally engineered for standard-definition DVD, VCD, and CD media playback due to analog bandwidth limits; please utilize the included high-speed HDMI connection line to render and view all high-definition Blu-ray movie formats)”
• “The interior core features a stable MT8553 digital decoding chipset paired along with a heavy-duty 480AHA laser optical drive mechanism compatible with Sony lens components, backed by 256MB DDR3 high-speed RAM”
• “Decodes and transmits premier multi-channel sound formats including Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS”
• “Up-converts your vintage standard definition DVD discs to near-Full HD 1080p quality resolution via the included 1.5-meter HDMI cable”

The AV-out paragraph is the most useful thing on this shelf

“The analog RCA AV-OUT link is structurally engineered for standard-definition DVD, VCD, and CD media playback… please utilize the included high-speed HDMI connection line to render and view all high-definition Blu-ray movie formats.”

Correct, and nobody else says it.

High definition is not permitted over an analog output: Blu-ray’s copy-protection rules forbid it, so an AV cable gives you standard definition by design, whatever disc is in the tray. The sockets exist for an old CRT or a projector without HDMI.

Four players on this shelf have an AV output — this one, the N-NUTROMO Audio, the DID A-R and the Tojock. Three of them sell it as “extensive compatibility” and leave you to discover that your Blu-rays come out looking like DVDs.

And it names its own hardware, which nothing else here does

An MT8553 digital decoding chipset… a heavy-duty 480AHA laser optical drive mechanism compatible with Sony lens components, backed by 256MB DDR3.

No other listing on this shelf names a chipset, a laser mechanism or a memory figure — not the $328 Sony, not the $629.99 Panasonic.

Whether those particular parts are good is not something a listing can settle. What the disclosure does is make the claim checkable, which is the opposite of how most of this shelf is written.

Eight terabytes, with the competition named

Competitor devices restrict external reading capabilities to a tiny 64GB or 2TB limit.

That is verifiable on its own shelf. The DID A-R publishes “Supports Max 128G USB Flash Drive”. The Tojock publishes “USB Flash Drive or HDD (2.0 Max 128GB)”.

So 8 TB is sixty-two times what two shelf-mates manage, at the same money.

Capacity on a USB host is a matter of addressing and filesystem support, not transfer speed, so there is nothing self-contradictory in claiming it over USB 2.0 — a Blu-ray video stream is around 5 MB/s and USB 2.0 manages roughly 35.

And the listing adds the caveat an honest one should: “High-capacity HDDs may require an external power supply.” A 3.5-inch drive draws more than a USB port provides. It also states plainly that there is no internal storage and no drive included.

HDMI 1.4, called premium

HDMI 1.4 is from 2009. It carries 1080p at 60 Hz and 4K at 30 Hz — comfortably more than a 1080p player needs.

So it is sufficient here, and “premium” is generous.

Where 1.4 would bite is on a 4K player: it cannot carry 4K at 60 Hz, nor HDR metadata, nor full-bandwidth lossless audio. And the three 4K players on this shelf — Sony’s UBP-X700U and both Panasonics — publish no HDMI version at all, which is the more consequential silence.

This is the only listing here that names one.

What is not published

No weight and no dimensions. Three other players here publish neither either; the Panasonic DMP-BD84P publishes both and its catalog agrees, and the Tojock’s catalog figures are physically impossible.

1080p only. A 4K disc will not play. Note also the one to watch on this shelf: the Sony BDP-S6700 at $399.99 says “4K Upscaling” in its title and “4K Ultra HD discs are not supported” in its own bullet.