What is the best Blu-Ray player on the market?

[Youthman]

It's a great PJ, and the power zoom/focus memory is icing on the cake..

Yeah, just go ahead and rub cake all in my face. [] I'm so jealous...can't wait to order mine. I'm gonna PM you with some questions about your setup.

[Eskimo1]

Yeah, just go ahead and rub cake all in my face. I'm so jealous...can't wait to order mine. I'm gonna PM you with some questions about your setup.

But cake is yummy when you start to eat it.. You're gonna really enjoy it.

[Youthman]

I'm starving!

Checked out your IB in the other thread. That thing is massive! I'll email you back in a bit.

[sfogg]

For the PS3 there are third party products that will allow for IR control of the PS3 to be used with universal remotes. There are also a couple of boxes out there that will give them 8 channel analog outputs.

For stand alone players the Panasonic BD55 is a very nice unit.

Shawn

[wsu99999]

I've never seen any boxes that allow for 8 ch analog for the PS3. In fact, I've seen some requests from people for such a box, but I wasn't aware that one existed. If there is one in existance, please post a link to it so we can check it out Sfogg.

Phil,

Analog is simply analog - and your SACD 5.1 connection would work - IF the PS3 had a place for you to plug your analog connections into. There aren't any of t hose connections on the PS3 - therefore, you can't use that method for the new audio codecs. The only way you can get audio from the PS3 is 2ch analog, optical, or HDMI.

As I stated earlier, you have a couple choices you can make.

1. Buy a PS3 and a receiver that accepts HDMI 1.2 or 1.3.

2. Buy a high end Bluray player that has 8ch analog inputs and use it the same way you would the SACD 5.1

3. Buy a really nice upconverting DVD player and use that until you have the money to completely revamp your system.

If you go with option 3, not only would you save a buttload of money, you would essentially be getting just about the same performance as you would if you got the PS3 with your current setup. If you figure you can get most DVDs for 5-10 bucks, you could get 3-4 DVD's for every one bluray. Since the upconversion will make the video portion essentially look identical to a bluray player with your current setup, why not!

If I were you, I would save my money, get a really good dvd player, and wait to upgrade everything at once. I think you may be flushing money town the tube getting into bluray now because you would essentially be buying a technology while it's still expensive and while you wouldn't be getting much benefit from it. If you wait 2-3 years, Bluray's will be 150-200 bucks for a really nice player and the discs will be 5-15 bucks instead of 600 for a player w/ analog and 25-35 per disc now. Just my 2c.

[sfogg]

"If there is one in existance, please post a link to it so we can check it out Sfogg. "

Not one but two of them.

There is the Cypress CLUX-11SA and Octava 4 x 2 HDMI Distribution Amp with 7.1 Audio Routing. Gefen is also supposed to be building such a box but it has been vapourware for almost a year now. The CLUX and Octava units are out and available. I hae a number of the CLUXs and an Octava arrived today for me to check out.

"1. Buy a PS3 and a receiver that accepts HDMI 1.2 or 1.3."

Or v1.1. No need for 1.2 or 1.3 since 1.1 can carry 8 channels of LPCM decoded in the PS3 and the PS3 can't bitstream the advanced codecs.

Regarding SACD if one wants that with a PS3 be sure to buy the PS3 modes that support SACD, not all of them do.

Shawn

[Eskimo1]

Since the upconversion will make the video portion essentially look
identical to a bluray player with your current setup, why not!

If I were you, I would save my money, get a really good dvd player, and wait to upgrade everything at once. I think you may be flushing money town the tube getting into bluray now because you would essentially be buying a technology while it's still expensive and while you wouldn't be getting much benefit from it. If you wait 2-3 years, Bluray's will be 150-200 bucks for a really nice player and the discs will be 5-15 bucks instead of 600 for a player w/ analog and 25-35 per disc now. Just my 2c.

No disrespect meant, but DVD's don't look ANYWHERE near as good as what a Blu-ray does. I've got Transformers on Blu-Ray and DVD, and it's literally night and day - not even close. BR still looks better than DVD on a 720p/1080i set.

Good BR players are under $300 now, by the way. Both the Sony S550 and Panny BD55 are $299, and have 7.1 analog outs.

[Youthman]

I was thinking that only HDMI 1.3 could pass HD audio. Am I misinformed?

[sfogg]

" I was thinking that only HDMI 1.3 could pass HD audio. Am I misinformed?"

Basically.

In the studio the audio is LPCM. It gets compressed by any of the lossy or lossless codecs such as DD, DTS, Dolby TrueHD..etc...etc..etc.

To listen to these formats they must be decompressed back to their original LPCM form.

The confusing part is the decompressing/decoding can occur either in the player (if equipped) or in the receiver/pre-pro (if equipped).

If the player handles the decoding/decompressing then you can use HDMI 1.1 or later to carry up to 8 channels of LPCM at 96kHz to a receiver/pre-pro. TrueHD and so on are bit perfect compression schemes so the quality is the same as what the studio had.

For the receiver/pre-pro to perform the decoding/decompressing of the HD audio formats you need HDMI v1.3 to be able to pass these formats in their bitstream (still compressed) format.

Think of it as me having a word document that is zipped. I can unzip it then email it to you, or I can just email it to you still zipped and you unzip it on your end. Either way you end up with the same Word document.

Shawn

[Youthman]

I gotcha. Great explanation, thx. I believe I remember reading that my PS3 cannot do bitstream so I'm assuming that it is doing the decoding, and that's why on the receiver it says PCM instead of Dolby True HD. I get it! LOL

[wsu99999]

Shawn,

The reason I said HDMI 1.2 is because if he is going to upgrade, he may as well go to 1.2 because 1.1 won't pass 1080P, only 1080i or 720p. The limitations for hdmi 1.1 will play all new audio codecs if decoded in the player.

I wasn't aware of the converter. Thanks for the info! I'm glad they finally got one out.

Phil,

With that info being said... If you want to take advantage of the new codecs, get the converter and a ps3 - that way when you do decide to upgrade you will be ready w/ a kick *** bluray/gaming console and you can sell the converter and go straight hdmi! I still don't think with your current setup that I would get a bluray until I had 1080p video. Unless you just want to. I'd wait till I got 1080p and get it then - not only will it be cheaper, but there may be better players out by then. Keep in mind this is just my opinion and it isn't worth much

Eskimo -

DVD's that are upconverted by a good player will get close to the quality of bluray. For someone running a projector at 720p, there won't be a significant difference in my opinion (not enough difference to pay the price).

Now, if you have 1080p and bluray vs dvd - you can tell a clear difference.

My personal opinion is if you have a good enough dvd player that has strong video processing capibilities, you won't be able to tell much difference in 720p or 1080i. That is unless you sit within 1-3 feet from the screen. After that, it will be essentially the same and in my opinion not worth the money. Obviously you can tell some difference, but it isn't night and day as 1080p would be to a upconverted dvd.

[wsu99999]

"If there is one in existance, please post a link to it so we can check it out Sfogg. "

Not one but two of them.

There is the Cypress CLUX-11SA and Octava 4 x 2 HDMI Distribution Amp with 7.1 Audio Routing. Gefen is also supposed to be building such a box but it has been vapourware for almost a year now. The CLUX and Octava units are out and available. I hae a number of the CLUXs and an Octava arrived today for me to check out.

"1. Buy a PS3 and a receiver that accepts HDMI 1.2 or 1.3."

Or v1.1. No need for 1.2 or 1.3 since 1.1 can carry 8 channels of LPCM decoded in the PS3 and the PS3 can't bitstream the advanced codecs.

Regarding SACD if one wants that with a PS3 be sure to buy the PS3 modes that support SACD, not all of them do.

Shawn

Shawn,

When you say "be sure to buy the PS3 modes that support SACD", what do you mean? I wasn't aware the ps3 had many limitations on this, can you elaborate for us?

Thanks

[sfogg]

"The reason I said HDMI 1.2 is because if he is going to upgrade, he may
as well go to 1.2 because 1.1 won't pass 1080P, only 1080i or 720p. "

HDMI 1.0 will pass 1080p that hasn't changed in any version at all. I do 1080p every day on v1.1 in my theater. DVI can even do 1080p.

Shawn

[sfogg]

"I believe I remember reading that my PS3 cannot do bitstream so I'm
assuming that it is doing the decoding, and that's why on the receiver
it says PCM instead of Dolby True HD."

Yes, the PS3 is v1.3 but it can't bitstream the HD formats. As such it can only pass them as decoded LPCM and that is exactly why the receiver is saying it is receiving PCM. Nothing to worry about though as the PS3 has decoding for all the formats.

Shawn

[sfogg]

"When you say "be sure to buy the PS3 modes that support SACD", what do
you mean? I wasn't aware the ps3 had many limitations on this, can you
elaborate for us?"

Sony
has changed the hardware on the PS3 in its various iterations. The
first versions had SACD playback built in as well as full PS2 hardware
support... basically a PS2 built in.

To lower costs the
various flavors of the PS3 have futzed with this.Off the top of my head
I don't recall which versions of the PS3 have SACD playback and the PS2
hardware or not. I have an original 60gB model which has SACD and the
PS2 hardware built in. I think the current 40gb model can't do SACD at
all and its PS2
playback is done in software emulation and doesn't have the
compatibility of the hardware versions of the PS3. I'm sure a quick
search would turn up the details.

Shawn

[sfogg]

Quick search... per this list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3#Retail_configurations

Some versions of the PS3 don't support PS2 games at all anymore.

Shawn

[Youthman]

Another comparison chart.

[sjcruiser]

Phil,

Your situation is almost like mine...I have a PS3 that serves mainly as a BD player but forced to

use optical out for sounds as I don't plan to upgrade my receiver soon (HK-7200 with 7.1 Analog inputs).

This is a reason why I'm now looking for a standalone player that has analog outs. I'm having my eyes on

the Panasonic BD55K as:

. It's one of a few that has the finalized BD-Live 2.0

. It decodes all the available formats (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-MA HD...) and pass them out as bitstream, LPCM, or 7.1 analogs

. It has one of the best upconvert function available to date - passing all HQV torture tests (This feature is particularly important

to me as I have a bunch of movies, music videos collections).

And on top of that, it's readily available for less than $330 shipped to your door

[wsu99999]

Instead of buying a whole new player, why don't you just get the box as referenced above by shawn? It should turn the ps3's audio into 7.1 analog

[sjcruiser]

The Cypress is a no-no to me and the Optivas cost the same as the BD55 which does not make any sense to me to go that route (that and the DACs used, which may or may not inferior to the one Panasonic uses).