PlayStation 3 as Blu-ray player, how does it rate?
Sony's PlayStation 3 definitely had a tough holiday season, with a disappointing launch lineup of games, odd incompatibilities and shortage of consoles; it outsold the HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 but not much else. Luckily we're not just interested in the system for games, it also carries the status of being the cheapest and potentially most advanced Blu-ray player available. How well suited is it for a home theater environment? Home Theater Blog and Ultimate AV recently put the unit through it's paces to find out and had mostly good things to say. In terms of old school DVDs, it's lack of 3:2 pulldown or any upconversion via HDMI is obviously disappointing, while Ultimate AV found the picture "soft", HTB noted otherwise perfect scores on the HQV test disc. Both liked that the system loaded and began playing Blu-ray movies considerably faster than other players, and had nothing but good things to say about the picture quality -- with the exception of the included movie, even on a 50GB disc Talladega Nights looked "flat" and "compressed" -- despite still leaning towards HD DVD in overall sharpness. They weren't able to test out any lossless Dolby TrueHD soundtracks, but uncompressed PCM soundtracks on Sony Blu-ray movies blew away their lossy DD and DTS equivalents. If you can get around the lack of an IR receiver for standard remotes, both considered the PS3 an attractive option for anyone considering a Blu-ray player.Read - Home Theater Blog
Read - Ultimate AV
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jeff @ Jan 2nd 2007 2:45PM
The Talladega Nights PS3 pack in is actually only a single layer BD 25. The regular unrated retail version is a BD 50.
oliver @ Jan 2nd 2007 2:50PM
Who wouldn't buy a ps3 if they wanted blu-ray. its half the cost of a player and you get the best gaming console out. take that, HD-DVD
Dave @ Jan 2nd 2007 2:56PM
The best piece of home entertainment hardware!
ybbor @ Jan 2nd 2007 3:22PM
The only problem (and it's a big one) is that you can't use your current universal remote... or ANY other universal remote current available! i spent a small fortune on my logic-tech harmony remote, that will work with EVERYTHING except a ps3. Thanks sony...
If you want to rock the consumer electronic boat with bleeding edge technology, at least make it backwards compatible. The thing i hate most is when hardware traps you in a 'this-is-the-future-now' technological dead end.
walk2k @ Jan 2nd 2007 11:23PM
You can use the PS2 adapter and the old PS2 remote (IR). Not all the buttons work, but enough of them work so that it's viable for people with Harmony/etc programmable IR remotes.
I suspect it won't be long until Logitech makes a hybrid IR/Bluetooth remote.
I've only had the PS3 a couple days, and only have the pack-in Bluray disc, and just got the BT remote literally minutes ago, but I can tell you this, BLUETOOTH IS MUCH MUCH BETTER THAN IR! 30-foot range, and NO LOS ISSUES! It doesn't matter where you point it... you can use the remote underneath a blanket or something. It's freakin awesome.
Xyzzy @ Jan 2nd 2007 3:22PM
Oliver: People who want their remote control to be able to control the player.
FrankTheCrank @ Jan 2nd 2007 3:30PM
Yeah, the one thing I quickly noticed with the PS3 was the audio. Specifically with the Bluray release of Superman Returns. The lows were extra crunchy and the highs were very crispy. Sounds like I'm talking about tortilla chips...but maybe it's because I'm hungry. Anyways, my PS3 is routed to my Pioneer Elite receiver via Optical Audio. I think the picture quality is comparable to that of the Discovery HD.
for $499...it's a win win situation.
Richard Lawler @ Jan 2nd 2007 4:53PM
JonH,
Because in the next sentence they said "On the other hand for those with at least a passing interest in gaming, multimedia and Blu-ray playback, the PS3 does indeed offer an attractive mix of features."
a2 @ Jan 2nd 2007 4:56PM
Well, the one thing the PS3 shares in common with Blu-Ray players, is that it's not flying off the shelves-- Best Buy recently guaranteed 25 per store on Sunday, and still had most or over half left by the end of the day, despite being launched only a month ago. Perhaps even though it's the cheapest Blu-Ray player, it's perhaps still too expensive for the mainstream.
Maybe the PS3 isn't the Blu-Ray savior everyone's been expecting.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not spending $600 on a high definition movie player.
Call me when the price is under $300
JonH @ Jan 2nd 2007 5:32PM
Why do you say "If you can get around the lack of an IR receiver for standard remotes, both considered the PS3 an attractive for anyone considering a Blu-ray player."
when Home Theatre Blog said,
"It would be hard for me to recommend a PS3 as a primary Blu-ray playback device"
Xyzzy @ Jan 2nd 2007 5:38PM
JonH - because most of the posters on this blog are pro-Sony (kickbacks, perhaps? ;) ).
I thought this quote was great:
"To wrap-up, no Im not suffering from buyers remorse but at the same time I cant help but think about the numerous games available for the Xbox360 and how it would be nice to play some of them,"
aka: I don't have buyers remorse, but I wish I could play Xbox360 games and watch HD-DVDs. ;)
Dave @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:57AM
"because most of the posters on this blog are pro-Sony (kickbacks, perhaps? ;) )"
Yeah, right. This is international blog. Everyone reads it. It just happens than most people like quality products. Not like some (hd dvd junk collectors) and insane Sony haters (which are the same)...
Get over it, all hd dvd fans are the Sony haters, they dont care about hd dvd, they just spread fud...
Maxx @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:16AM
I can second the post about the Blutooth remote for the PS3. I just got it tonight and it kicks booty ! I traded some old games in and got it for free ! Works great and makes the PS3 even better for Blu-Ray playback.
I have the Toshiba A-1 HD-DVD player and it's picture is amazingly good but it isnt as reponsive or full featured as the PS3 is. I will probably get the XA-2 at some point when the price drops since the 1 series are a bit slow.
Bottom line is buy them both. They both are great !
Mike @ Jan 3rd 2007 4:23AM
Wonder what will happen when MS brings out the XBOX 360 with built in hd dvd player
Wellinformed @ Jan 3rd 2007 6:34AM
"Wonder what will happen when MS brings out the XBOX 360 with built in hd dvd player"
At that point (if it happens), we will see who was lying about wanting the HD-DVD drive seperately. Other than that, nothing should really happen.
The PS3 is already cheaper than the Xbox360 for similar features. $399 + $199 equals the Xbox360 HD package. $399 + $100 equals the PS3 HD package (with still more features). One could still buy 2 Blu-ray movies and the remote for the same price of the Xbox360 HD total package! You can't use the Xbox360 core + $199 add-on because you need a hard drive which adds $99 to your price.
For MS to even offer that package suggests that they are playing fans for fools. That is the idiot's package deal. MS strategy is that most of their clients are sheep.
Mike @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:12PM
I'm sure you fell for Sony's lies of when the PS3 was coming out...they just kept changing till they got the system out.
I have never bought that the 360 came out as they wanted it...that is why I made my post..MS has said no plans of a 360 with new drive.
And your math is using the wrong numbers...since you want to use retail..how much is a retail external inclosure for a hd dvd drive 50? so save 50 there and how much does a dvd drive the current 360 uses cost...retail..another 30 or so....so that is money MS saves by combining the 2..then factor in MS has gone from loosing money on 360 to making small profit so they could afford to take a hit to stick it to sony.. and I say a new 360 with hd dvd built in comes out at same price...if not less.
Josh @ Jan 3rd 2007 9:05AM
I bought my XBox 360 Premium for $200 from Micro Center. And though the HD-DVD drive was recently offered for $160 with a coupon at Circuit City, I didn't purchase it. Just not that excited about HD movies on discs yet. I'm too busy playing Gears of War to care. ;) So I could have had an HD-DVD player and a killer game console for $360.
The things that you can find quite often in the XBox 360 world that you can't in the PS3 world are sales, rebates, and free gift cards with purchase.
So, anyway, use MSRP in your arguments, but you had to be absolutely blind to not notice the XBox 360 sales that went on over the past 2 months.
Agathos @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:29AM
Did someone actualy see the 360 sales over the holiday as good for MS!?!?
Man, the 360 was flat out OWNED by the Wii... 2mil units isn't a failure but it's far far from being a successful holiday for MS. The only ones with successful holiday sales were the Wii and the handhelds.
Now the 360 is a great console and has a great library and has nothing to fear, but when it comes down to it I'm leaning toward the win-win-win outcome with lower numbers prediction for the net-gen console wars.
Josh @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:40AM
"Did someone actualy see the 360 sales over the holiday as good for MS!?!?"
Who cares if it was good for MS? It was good for me!
"Man, the 360 was flat out OWNED by the Wii..."
The Wii sold 1.8M units, the 360 sold 2M units. I'm not sure how that equals "ownage."
The 360 didn't have near the buzz that the Wii did, and yet it outsold the Wii. Why do you feel that the Wii's sales were successful, and yet the 360 sales were not when they sold more 360s, despite it not being the doorbuster at many stores (well, besides Amazon, which suffered from DoS on Thanksgiving day for the first time I can recall from their XBox 360 sale) like the Wii was?
Jeff @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:30AM
Apparently there aren't too many people interested in the cheapest blu ray player available. I live in the metro Atlanta area and the local Best Buy had 21 60gb PS3's sitting at the front of the store today. The sales guy said they had been there for 2 days. I remember last year at this time if you found a 360 on the shelf you were lucky. I was very surprised to see that many PS3's available after being out for 2 days.
Agathos @ Jan 3rd 2007 1:50PM
Uhm... maybe because every Wii available was sold!?
That wasn't the case w the 360.
And because a certain powerhuose console that's been out a full year and was expected make blowout sales numbers this season only did "meh, so-so" sales and only did marginally better than the Wii.
Again, I love my 360 and don't think it's going to get walloped by either of the new consoles, but if it was the argument ending console the fanboys make it out to be then it would have done so this season and it didn't. Instead it did "okie dokey" sales and only barely beat the Wii and only then due to limited quantities of thw Wii.
Bottom line: The 360 is a great console that's been out a full year and because of this has an okay lead on two new also-great consoles. If the 360 fanboys were right on any level then the 360 would have twice the lead that it does now, but it doesn't.
ac @ Jan 3rd 2007 3:09PM
i have both the xbox 360 hd-dvd and ps3, and to be honest, so far any differences between the two are probably more academic. in terms of picture quality, both offer very similar performance. granted, i can never do a side-by side test since i would need 2 tv's and would need to have the same titles (and i am not buying something like aeon flux twice just to do so). also, i can only do 1080i or 720p tops so maybe my set-up doesn't get the maximum benefit, but then again, i do sit far enough away from the 50 incher so that any incremental improvement wouldn't be visible.
my impression with the ps3 is that when using the tv speakers, the sound effects are a bit louder than the voice/speech throughout the volume range. i recently moved so my speakers and receiver are packed away so i can't comment on how it would be with a center channel but as it stands now, the vocals on the ps3 get drowned out. maybe i ought to use the stereo setting on the ps3 as opposed to one of the surrounds modes. with the xbox hd-dvd the vocals tend to stand out a little more.
apart from that, i have yet to find one being more compelling than the other in terms of everyday use. when i first saw the blu-ray sample disc, i was blown away by the detail and clarity. it was astounding. now, i try to watch movies in the hope of finding the same level of detail and sometimes i find it underwhelming. part of the problem is that sample discs always usually have great source material to begin with. the first blu-ray images i ever saw were landscape shots taken specifically for the sample disc, i'm sure. getting that kind of performance from an older movie is probably unrealistic. the other problem is that even with a hi-def transfer, i guess some movies never really looked that good to begin with. or maybe the whole transfer from film to hd just isn't at the point where the picture would rival something shot with a hd camera. to get really great performance out of an older movie transferred to hd, you might still need to get a high-performance (and high-cost) picture scaler that can correct the flaws that come about in the film to hd process, including video noise. all of that would cost way more than the ps3 itself would cost. diminishing returns- what a pain in the ass.
to be fair, the hd-dvd is as eqally disappointing as the ps3 with respect to movie playback. maybe i'm too critical and look for videophile type performance, but in my estimation, nothing has measured up to that experience with the sample disc.
bear in mind that many movies (usually newer) have terrific transfers and look absolutely great. just don't expect to find that kind of performance with some of the older movies (casablanca and full-metal jacket quickly come to mind).
Wellinformed @ Jan 3rd 2007 7:55PM
REAL console sale numbers can be found at www.vgcharts.org. They list their sources unlike that nextgenwars.com site.
clark @ Jan 15th 2007 2:15AM
Has anyone had any problems with fluctuations in video (such as movies with dark scenes such as Silent Hill) with the PS3 in 1080p mode? I have Mitsu 1080p capable set but have to turn the PS3 settings to 1080i just to watch a BD. Very disappointing to me to have to do that.
Savyer @ Jan 19th 2007 2:42AM
are all of you aware that its possible to purchase an hd-dvd player for $200 and get the drivers for it from the internet to allow it to work on your computer. so essentially its possible to get an hd-dvd player for $200 and not need an xbox 360. if your really just trying to get the hd movie expirience that would save you $400....just something to think about