What Blu-ray player should I get, and NO PS3 please?

One area where the US is well ahead at the moment is in the availability of HD broadcast content.

I subscribe to Comcast (cable) and as part of that package we get around 30 HD channels with many more to come within the next 12 months. As a side benefit my internet connection share's the cable line and I get 20MB+ down and over 2MB up. Not too shoddy.

I do find it strange when I get back to the UK and have to adjust to the smaller size TV's (in general) and the relative lack of HD content

Even more strange considering that the UK was years ahead of the US with the adoption of satellite TV and the US satellite companies like Direct TV are advertising that they have almost 100 HD channels available now. Mind you, like Sky in the UK, many of them are just crap - so no difference there!

That said, I had better get used to it as I will likely be back in NE or North Scotland next year once my daughter graduates High School.

Cheers

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Exiled Highlander:

quote:

....he advised to wait for 6 months and see what happens, the price is going to tumble he claimed.

Is this the same forum where many individuals drop $000's ($0000's sometimes) on new CDP's, amps and speakers and even pay $600/$700 for an old, used Nait 1 and yet are waiting for the price of a $400/$500 Blu Ray DVD to tumble?

It would make an interesting study for a psychologist as to why.

Just an observation - not a dig at anyone.

Cheers

Jim

Actually it was a private telephone conversation, remember the price of the original DVD format when it first came out? It soon dropped! £700 for the early pioneer players wasnt unusual.

djh1697

I have no doubt that the price will drop as will the price of the media.

My observation was just that - an observation on the relative importance that people in this forum place on Hi-Fi and have much they are prepared to spend vs the angst generated by spending a few hundred dollars on something like a Blu Ray player that will maximize the Hi-Def capabilities of 1080p TV's.

None of the above should be any surprise as it is the Naim Audio Forum after all.

As I said, it was just a passing observation and hopefully I haven't rubbed anyone up the wrong way.

Cheers

Jim

You're right Jim. And I don't think you've rubbed anyone up the wrong way!

i cant see the prices dropping quickly as why should they theres no competition . if you want a physical hd disc its gotta be bluray

tony

quote:

You're right Jim. And I don't think you've rubbed anyone up the wrong way!

Bloody hell!! Somebody here agrees with me on something - I must be losing my touch!

Cheers

Jim

Jim,

When we are ridded of the physical media, the whole thing will improve! Downloaded films and server based options will be the way for the ultimate quality in home film replay, whilst poorer quality will be avaiable with streamed stuff off the net.

Naim need not worry about trying to make a blu-ray player. Though in time they might well make an AV 3 to make the best of film sound-tracks as things move on ...

George

George

quote:

When we are ridded of the physical media, the whole thing will improve!

How exactly? I guess it depends what you mean by improvement. PQ is currently max'd out at 1080p and will be for some time but if you mean ease of accessibility then eventually it will - but until broadband infrastructure is significantly (very significantly) improved then download times are a huge inhibitor.

It will get there eventually, it has to but even today with my lightning fast (20MB+ down) cable internet connection it would take a long time to download a HD movie (which I could easily do with Apple TV)...

quote:

Downloaded films and server based options will be the way for the ultimate quality in home film replay, whilst poorer quality will be avaiable with streamed stuff off the net.

I'm confused here George - where does the downloaded, high quality content come from if not the internet? How does it get to the servers and streaming devices you mention? The internet is the future for audio and video IMO. Video is only "low qulaity" on the internet today as a result of bandwidth constraints (and of course the amateurish quality of most stuff on places like You Tube.

quote:

Naim need not worry about trying to make a blu-ray player. Though in time they might well make an AV 3 to make the best of film sound-tracks as things move on ...

It is all converging.....audio, video and net access will be indistinguishable at some point in the near (relatively near) future. I agree though, Naim needn't make a Blu Ray player (but I bet they do) and I'm sure they are thinking what systems they need to surround it t maximize the enjoyment.

Good discussion!

Cheers

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by neil w:
i cant see the prices dropping quickly as why should they theres no competition . if you want a physical hd disc its gotta be bluray

There was no competition over different formats with DVD. Now the hardware companies can focus exclusively on the one format the competition between them will bring prices down in the same way as it did with "Standard" DVD.

I think all agree that the future will be for downloads, but as Jim says (sorry to agree with you again Jim...) the constraints over bandwidth make this option impractical for the sort of quality one gets from Blu-Ray, for the next few years at least.

Also bear in mind that people have large collections of standard DVDs which will play with at least as good a quality on BR players as standard ones. Even when in a few years time high quality video downloads become a practical proposition they'll only match the 1080P quality of BR at best. and I still like to have something a bit more tangible to play, like my lovely LPs in their nice covers (I know you're no fan of the covers George!)

Personally, I'm not prepared to sit back & wait. So many films to watch, so little time...

quote:

Originally posted by tonym:
...Also bear in mind that people have large collections of standard DVDs which will play with at least as good a quality on BR players as standard ones...

(Apologies for butting in.) That's an interesting point - I am trying to decide whether to buy a new DVD player or a Blu-ray player. I had read that Blu-ray players are not as good at playing normal DVDs. Would people suggest buying both a DVD player and a Blu-ray player? I don't have a big library of films and wish to buy DVD or Blu-ray discs as and when I see one I like at a price I like! (in the same way I do with LPs and CDs). Any advice appreciated!

Get whatever you want to - I prefer (not least of all at its price/with its internet upgradability etc etc etc/Lemmings) Sony Playstation PS3.

BD disc-sets are available until April 3-for 2-at many locations (e.g. all Pirates Of The Caribbean for £36 - amazon uk).

My Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player has died. I think it must be the blue laser that's gone as it still plays DVDs and CDs but won't play blu-ray discs for more than a few seconds without locking up. It was a Region A player imported from the 'states so no warranty backup unfortunately.

I need to replace it. Having learnt a lesson about importing goods I've ordered a UK Panasonic BD30. Another annoyance is that those discs in my collection that are Region A only are not going to work in this player. Oh well, I hear the Panasonic is very good, I'll soon find out.

Allan

All the best in resolving your need to replace BD m/c - I recommend cheap PS3 with good warranty.

Hi Chumpy,

Thanks, I did think about the PS/3 but have ordered the Panasonic now. Here are a few of the reasons:

Heat and Noise - I've already got a projector to contend with and didn't want to exacerbate things. Would prefer a nice quiet, low power consumption standalone.

Remote - the PS3 uses a bluetooth remote and wouldn't be compatible with the Universal remote that I use to control everything in my home cinema setup. To have one remote to control everything apart from the PS3 is not exactly convenient.

Audio Outputs - If you haven't got a HDMI capable amp, the PS3 is restricted to either 2-ch analog or optical digital. If you do have an HDMI amp, the PS3 will only output the high definition audio formats as LPCM, not bitstream for external decoding.

Blu-ray image quality - The PS3 is good, but it's not as good as a good dedicated blu-ray player. Seems to be the consensus of opinion on the various forums and also from speaking to someone personally who owns both. Didn't feel like making a compromise here.

Rack (un)friendly - Due to it's shape and position of the loading slot, it's not something than can be conveniently crammed into an AV rack full of other 'conventional' AV gear.

Multi-region DVD capability - The PS3 is unable to be made region free for DVD playback, unlike the Panasonic which can. However I'll probably use the Sony BDP-S300 for Region 1 DVD due to its ability to output interlaced over HDMI (for feeding my external scaler/de-interlacer) or invest in a seperate dedicated player for DVD plaback, but its something that may come in handy should I need it for any reason in the future.

I agree that the PS3 is a remarkable value for money product but in my personal case where it would be used in a dedicated home cinema environment the Panasonic fits my needs better.

Allan

Hi Munch,

Is that region free for Blu-ray playback or region free for DVD playback? To be honest, I'm not aware that the PS3 can do either.

What may be confusing is that not all blu-ray discs are region coded - in some cases even some discs that say they are region restricted on the cover are actually capable of being played in a player of a different region.

Allan

alan

what discs have you got ( region a)

Good question Neil, I've just been and checked and it's more than I was expecting actually, damn. These are my Region A discs:

- Casino Royale
- Kingdom of Heaven, Directors Cut
- Underworld Evolution
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
- Live Free or Die Hard
- Alien vs. Predator
- Shoot 'Em Up

A fine little collection of gems there I'm sure you'll agree

Allan

Does anyone have first hand experience with the Sony BDP S500?

I am interested in knowing if it can decode and output TrueHD sound through the analog connectors. The link www. avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=980672 suggests it does (if I understand it correctly) but the sony support site seems to indicate that it doesn't.

Any information greatly appreciated.

ATB

K.

quote:

Originally posted by Allan Probin:
Good question Neil, I've just been and checked and it's more than I was expecting actually, damn. These are my Region A discs:

- Casino Royale
- Kingdom of Heaven, Directors Cut
- Underworld Evolution
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
- Live Free or Die Hard
- Alien vs. Predator
- Shoot 'Em Up

A fine little collection of gems there I'm sure you'll agree

Allan

And all but "Underworld Evolution" region locked to "A" unfortunately Allan.

This is a useful link (might have posted it previously) - Blu-Ray codes

Tony,

I've got quite a few discs that are labeled Region "ABC", like Underworld for example, (so effectively region free) but all the discs in the list above are labeled as Region "A" only on the cover. I'll give Underworld Evolution a try in my Region B player when it turns up.

This goes back to what I was saying in another thread about not even being able to rely on the region information printed on the covers to determine if a disc will play outside of it's normal region. Another confusing example is Casino Royale - this title bought in a region A country (eg USA) will be region locked but a copy bought in the UK is region free. Sony do this quite a lot for some reason.

At least my Spiderman Trilogy is safe

I've been buying discs direct from Amazon in the States, using the above website to check compatibility.

Just looking through a few, some ("Queen Rock Montreal" for example) don't specify a region whilst others ("30 Days of Night" - rather scary!) say they're "A" only. All very confusing!

Is it too much to hope they might drop this stupid region-coding thing once and for all?

Hi Munch,

I've done a bit of searching around on this and I can't find any proof that any version of the PS3 is region-free for Blu-ray *movie* playback (games maybe). I suspect what your friend is saying is simply wrong in some way or he's having you on.

It would be very odd if Sony, one of the major founders of Blu Ray, who sold the format to a number of studios on the basis of strong DRM and unbreakable region coding would ever have sold a machine that bypassed it! (or they'd simply forgotten to enable it.) Major embarassment.

Allan

afaik all games are on blu ray discs and they are at present region free . could be thats what he's saying

neil

Allan,

The PS3 has the Bitstream option for output via HDMI. I know avsforums reckon it can't stream trueHD to the AV receiver but I get the impression this is incorrect since Bitstream works. Uncompressed PCM also works of course, and this is the same level of quality as far as I know.

Hi Frank,

Yes, the PS3 can transmit bitstream to an AV amp but only for DD or DTS, not any of the high definition audio formats. I've just had a quick look on the UK AV forum and found this thread from today (you can find the same thing asked most days):

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=738930

Maybe if we could somehow combine your PS3 with munch's friend's we'd have the most amazing PS3 ever!

How about taking a photo of the display on your Onkyo saying Dolby Digital TrueHD. I've just gotta see this