Which Blu-Ray Player to buy?

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Old Jul 5, 2007 | 12:23 PM
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Which Blu-Ray Player to buy?

Now that I have my 1080P tv all set up I would like to buy a Blu-Ray player. Is the Playstation 3 a viable choice for a Blu-Ray player or are the standalone ones better?
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Old Jul 5, 2007 | 12:48 PM
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From the in-person demonstrations that I have seen, there is no difference in playback quality of a PS3 vs. a stand alone. The stand alone probably has a better User Interface, but I like the PS3s UI as it mimics the PSPs.

If you are going to game, get the PS3. If not, get a stand alone. I one I saw I believe was a Samsung.
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Old Jul 5, 2007 | 12:53 PM
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The PS3 is very good at playing back Blu-Ray movies, so it is a good option. It does lack some of the audio-out options (Dolby Digital/DTS only, so it lacks Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD) some of the standalone players have and it doesn't upconvert standard DVDs.
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Old Jul 5, 2007 | 06:41 PM
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I thought the recent firmware update allowed it to upconvert regular DVDs. If it doesn't I think I would have to get a standalone as this is a major criteria for me.

Also, I am not too familiar with the audio options listed above. Is it a big loss to not have those or can I be without them. I will be buying a new receiver soon if that means anything to you guys.
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Old Jul 5, 2007 | 06:51 PM
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Originally Posted by ryder1650
I thought the recent firmware update allowed it to upconvert regular DVDs. If it doesn't I think I would have to get a standalone as this is a major criteria for me.
Admittedly, I could be mistaken. I know there was some debate at launch whether the PS3 would upconvert. I don't own a PS3 myself but I've seen it playing Blu-Ray movies, and it's quite superb.
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Old Jul 5, 2007 | 07:28 PM
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the recent firmware update allows for upconverted regular DVD's


my brother was in the same shoes as you and after investigating for some time he decided it'd be a no brainer to buy the PS3 (keep in mind he's 40 years old and probably hasn't touched a video game in 10-20 years).
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Old Jul 5, 2007 | 09:38 PM
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Originally Posted by CLpower
the recent firmware update allows for upconverted regular DVD's


my brother was in the same shoes as you and after investigating for some time he decided it'd be a no brainer to buy the PS3 (keep in mind he's 40 years old and probably hasn't touched a video game in 10-20 years).
Cool, does it upconvert to 1080P or some lower res?
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Old Jul 7, 2007 | 01:34 AM
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yes
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Old Jul 17, 2007 | 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by NetEditor
The PS3 is very good at playing back Blu-Ray movies, so it is a good option. It does lack some of the audio-out options (Dolby Digital/DTS only, so it lacks Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD) some of the standalone players have and it doesn't upconvert standard DVDs.
The PS3 was one of the best BD options out there during the initial launch because it was the only BD player geared for the future with HDMI 1.3. As such, it fully supports Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS Master Audio and DTS-HD.

Originally Posted by cnet
Movie watching
Before we got our hands on a retail unit, we'd been able to spend some time previewing the system, and while we had a pretty good picture of what it can do in terms of gaming and multimedia functionality, we hadn't been able to test it as a Blu-ray player. Sony, of course, is taking a big risk by attempting to go out with a new system that not only features a new processor but a new, unproven optical drive format. The company is making a heavy bet on the PS3 as a game machine, but it's also staking its Blu-ray fortunes on the system as well, and we were most curious to see how it delivered as a Blu-ray player.

Because we were more familiar watching Mission: Impossible III on the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player, we decided to do our testing using that disc rather than Talledega Nights. Watching on one of the finest large-screen TVs available, the 60-inch Sony KDS-R60XBR2, we watched several scenes from the movie on the Samsung first, then switched over to the PS3. In case you're wondering, load times for the disc were essentially identical at 40 seconds on each player (we hit stop on our stopwatch when a picture appeared on the screen). That isn't terrible, but this is obviously an area where Sony can make some improvements down the road with a next-generation drive that's faster.

As for the picture, it was quite comparable to what we saw on the Samsung, and navigating the disc was a fairly zippy process. In other words, at first glance, the PS3 seems to stack up fairly well against Blu-ray players costing nearly twice as much ($1,000), which may obviate the need for those players to actually exist.

Furthermore, the PS3 is the first A/V device to hit the market to utilize the HDMI 1.3 specification. That doesn't mean much now--there's no corresponding HDMI 1.3 products to connect it to. But in the future--2007 and beyond--that should enable to PS3 to pass HD video and next-gen surround-sound audio (such as Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD) to compatible A/V receivers via a single HDMI cable. In the meantime, the PS3, like other Blu-ray and HD-DVD players, can pass 1080p HD video and uncompressed LPCM surround soundtracks to compatible A/V receivers and TVs.

If we had one complaint with the PS3, it was that it didn't upscale standard DVDs to HD resolutions, a feature that's standard on other Blu-ray and HD-DVD players. Instead, they default to 480p (progressive-scan). But that's hardly a deal-breaker, especially when you consider the competition: the Xbox 360 requires a clunky add-on drive to play HD-DVD movies (though downloadable high-def movies will soon be available via Xbox Live), and the Nintendo Wii doesn't play back movie discs of any type.

Accessing Blu-ray and DVD menus with the PS3 controller is functional, if awkward. Unfortunately, you won't be able to program a standard universal remote to control your PS3--it lacks an infrared port, so it needs to receive commands via Bluetooth. Not coincidentally, Sony offers a Bluetooth compatible remote for $25.
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Old Jul 17, 2007 | 12:12 PM
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Ps3.
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Old Jul 17, 2007 | 12:34 PM
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The PS3 would be the better option.
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Old Jul 17, 2007 | 01:15 PM
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Originally Posted by cazzy
The PS3 was one of the best BD options out there during the initial launch because it was the only BD player geared for the future with HDMI 1.3. As such, it fully supports Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS Master Audio and DTS-HD.
Wait, it does support those audio formats or it could?
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Old Jul 17, 2007 | 01:26 PM
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Originally Posted by NetEditor
Wait, it does support those audio formats or it could?
It has always supported the audio formats listed above. Out the box, PS3 supported HDMI 1.3 but compatible receivers are only beginning to hit shelves. I believe Onkyo was the first to release a HDMI 1.3 device followed by Pioneer. I am picking up the Denon AVR-4308CI the last week of July which will be Denons first HDMI 1.3 device launched. Like I said, the PS3 was geared for the future!
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Old Jul 17, 2007 | 01:33 PM
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Originally Posted by cazzy
It has always supported the audio formats listed above. Out the box, PS3 supported HDMI 1.3 but compatible receivers are only beginning to hit shelves. I believe Onkyo was the first to release a HDMI 1.3 device followed by Pioneer. I am picking up the Denon AVR-4308CI the last week of July which will be Denons first HDMI 1.3 device launched. Like I said, the PS3 was geared for the future!
Ah, I see what you're saying. Thanks.
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Old Jul 17, 2007 | 01:33 PM
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FYI

Originally Posted by www.hdmi.org
HDMI 1.3 DOUBLES BANDWIDTH, DELIVERS BILLIONS OF COLORS FOR HDTVs

High-Definition Multimedia Interface Also Adds Newest Digital Audio Formats, Mini Connector and Lip Sync

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 22, 2006 — The seven HDMI Founder companies (Hitachi, Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic), Royal Philips Electronics, Silicon Image, Inc., Sony Corp., Thomson, Inc. and Toshiba Corp.) today released a major enhancement of the High-Definition Multimedia Interface™ (HDMI™) specification, the de facto standard digital interface for high definition consumer electronics. HDMI 1.3 will enable the next generation of HDTVs, PCs and DVD players to transmit and display content in billions of colors with unprecedented vividness and accuracy.

The HDMI 1.3 specification more than doubles HDMI’s bandwidth and adds support for Deep Color™ technology, a broader color space, new digital audio formats, automatic audio/video synching capability (“lip sync”), and an optional smaller connector for use with personal photo and video devices. The update reflects the determination of the HDMI founders to ensure HDMI continues evolving ahead of future consumer demands.

The update arrives at a time of strong momentum for the HDMI standard. HDMI Licensing, LLC today announced that more than 400 makers of consumer electronics and PC products worldwide have adopted HDMI. Market researcher In-Stat expects 60 million devices featuring HDMI to ship in 2006.

“PLAYSTATION®3 will be the most advanced computer platform for enjoying a wide range of entertainment content, including the latest games and HD movies, in the home,” said Ken Kutaragi, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. “By introducing the next-generation HDMI 1.3 technology, with its high speed and deep color capabilities, PS3 will push the boundaries of audiovisual quality to the next level of more natural and smoother expression on the latest large flat panel displays.”

"HDMI is an established cornerstone for the whole High Definition TV industry and Philips is extremely pleased to see such significant improvements for picture and sound quality with this new version,” said Johan van de Ven, CTO and Senior Vice President of Philips Consumer Electronics. “We look forward to continuing to work with other HDMI Founder companies to extend the scope of HDMI across new devices and applications, while remaining entirely committed to ensuring full backward compatibility with existing products."

With the adoption of Deep Color™ and the xvYCC color space, HDMI 1.3 removes the previous interface-related restrictions on color selection. The interface will no longer be a constraining pipe that forces all content to fit within a limited set of colors, unlike all previous video interfaces.

New HDMI 1.3 capabilities include:

Higher speed: HDMI 1.3 increases its single-link bandwidth from 165MHz (4.95 gigabits per second) to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbps) to support the demands of future high definition display devices, such as higher resolutions, Deep Color™ and high frame rates. In addition, built into the HDMI 1.3 specification is the technical foundation that will let future versions of HDMI reach significantly higher speeds.
Deep color: HDMI 1.3 supports 30-bit, 36-bit and 48-bit (RGB or YCbCr) color depths, up from the 24-bit depths in previous versions of the HDMI specification.
Lets HDTVs and other displays go from millions of colors to billions of colors
Eliminates on-screen color banding, for smooth tonal transitions and subtle gradations between colors
Enables increased contrast ratio
Can represent many times more shades of gray between black and white. At 30-bit pixel depth, four times more shades of gray would be the minimum, and the typical improvement would be eight times or more
Broader color space: HDMI 1.3 removes virtually all limits on color selection.
Next-generation “xvYCC” color space supports 1.8 times as many colors as existing HDTV signals
Lets HDTVs display colors more accurately
Enables displays with more natural and vivid colors
New mini connector: With small portable devices such as HD camcorders and still cameras demanding seamless connectivity to HDTVs, HDMI 1.3 offers a new, smaller form factor connector option.
Lip Sync: Because consumer electronics devices are using increasingly complex digital signal processing to enhance the clarity and detail of the content, synchronization of video and audio in user devices has become a greater challenge and could potentially require complex end-user adjustments. HDMI 1.3 incorporates an automatic audio/video synching capability that allows devices to perform this synchronization automatically with accuracy.
New lossless audio formats: In addition to HDMI’s current ability to support high-bandwidth uncompressed digital audio and currently-available compressed formats (such as Dolby® Digital and DTS), HDMI 1.3 adds additional support for new, lossless compressed digital audio formats Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio™.
Products implementing the new HDMI specification will continue to be backward compatible with earlier HDMI products.

“The dramatic increase in maximum speed achieved in HDMI 1.3 will enable HDMI to stay far ahead of the bandwidth demands of future high definition source and display devices,” said Leslie Chard, president of HDMI Licensing, LLC. “As the de facto standard digital interface for the high definition and consumer electronics markets, HDMI is implementing the most innovative technologies today to fulfill the demands of tomorrow’s consumers.”

The latest HDMI specification can be downloaded at no cost by visiting www.hdmi.org.

About HDMI
HDMI is the first and only consumer electronics industry-supported, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface. By delivering crystal-clear, all-digital audio and video via a single cable, HDMI dramatically simplifies cabling and helps provide consumers with the highest-quality home theater experience. HDMI provides an interface between any audio/video source, such as a set-top box, DVD player, or A/V receiver and an audio and/or video monitor, such as a digital television (DTV), over a single cable.

About HDMI Licensing, LLC
HDMI Licensing, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Image, Inc., is the agent responsible for licensing the HDMI specification, promoting the HDMI standard and providing education on the benefits of HDMI to retailers and consumers. The HDMI specification was developed by Hitachi, Matsushita (Panasonic), Philips, Silicon Image, Sony, Thomson and Toshiba as the digital interface standard for the consumer electronics market. The HDMI specification combines uncompressed high-definition video and multi-channel audio in a single digital interface to provide crystal-clear digital quality over a single cable. For more information about HDMI, please visit www.hdmi.org

Forward-looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of federal securities regulations. These forward-looking statements include statements related to the anticipated growth, market, acceptance and consumer demand for HDMI 1.3 and high definition source and display devices, the anticipated volume of shipments of HDMI devices in 2006, and the benefits, capabilities, performance, evolution, design and implementation of HDMI 1.3, the HDMI standard, and products implementing HDMI. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those described from time to time in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings of Silicon Image, Inc., the parent corporation of HDMI Licensing, LLC, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. In particular, the anticipated growth, market, acceptance and consumer demand for HDMI 1.3 and high definition source and display devices, the anticipated volume of shipments of HDMI devices in 2006, and the benefits, capabilities, performance, evolution, design and implementation of HDMI 1.3, the HDMI standard, and products implementing HDMI, may differ materially from what is currently anticipated. In addition, see the Risk Factors section of the most recent Form 10-K or Form 10-Q filed by Silicon Image with the SEC. Silicon Image assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release.

###

HDMI™ and High-Definition Multimedia Interface are trademarks of HDMI Licensing, LLC in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. PLAYSTATION is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.




Media Contacts:
Kasey Holman
Media Relations - HDMI Licensing, LLC
Phone: 408-616-4192
kholman@hdmi.org

Paul Sherer
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
Phone: 415-677-2715
paul.sherer@ogilvypr.com
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Old Aug 7, 2007 | 02:31 PM
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I just don't see where Sony is going with blu ray players that cost as much as the PS3 and do not work any better. I love my PS3 for movies.
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Old Aug 9, 2007 | 04:30 AM
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Originally Posted by NetEditor
Wait, it does support those audio formats or it could?
While it appears the PS3 may have the hardware to decode DTS- Master Audio, it's unknown whether Sony will allow it to get the necessary firmware. PS3 will not output the Master Audio bitstream for a capable AVR to decode.

If this is at all important to you, I would wait and see. Apparently there will be some standalone players by year's end that will output the format.

Last edited by EriQ009; Aug 9, 2007 at 04:32 AM.
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