Finally a Blu-ray player feature grid
[Via AVSForum]
Filed under: Blu-ray
[Via AVSForum]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
shawnmos @ Jan 19th 2008 3:49PM
I have been using this for a couple of months now. Very useful.
RogueAgent @ Jan 19th 2008 4:44PM
Quite useful indeed, but shouldn't the grid include launch dates for each model..? - the way it is now it is hard to tell if a product is already on the market or only announced, if it is still in production (older models) etc.
HiRes_PR @ Jan 19th 2008 5:12PM
It has a lot of errors regarding to the Audio Codecs.
shawnmos @ Jan 19th 2008 5:22PM
what's wrong with it?
mntwister @ Jan 19th 2008 5:22PM
It looks like the Panasonic BD-50 is going to be the complete player. Too bad Panasonic uses their rotten upscaling method, if they had used the Reon HQV in this model it would be a dream machine! Oh well, my PS3 upscales almost as good as the Reon, the PS3 has one of the best upscalers in the business.
Ben @ Jan 19th 2008 5:25PM
That's easy to get around, STOP WATCHING DVDS!
How much better could 480p actually look?
mntwister @ Jan 20th 2008 12:04AM
Ben, I have so many dvd's and I don't plan on buying them all again in hd. So a great upscaler is the answer for those titles. If you have seen a great upscaler like the Reon, you would know that 480p can't like like true high-def, but it looks much better than a regular dvd player and even a cheap upscaling player.
Ben @ Jan 19th 2008 11:28PM
I have a BD-UP5000 here and I've reviewed other players with the reon chip, not to mention my TV passes all the HQV tests with its internal upconverter, so I know what it looks like.
It just isn't a big enough improvement over the non-reon chips for me to buy a pleyer just for it. Maybe if the upconverter in my TV wasn't so good it'd be more of a factor.
Franssu @ Feb 28th 2008 6:47PM
The upscaler in the PS3 is certainly top notch, but the deinterlacer isn't. Don't forget people, DVDs are encoded in 480i not 480p, so the deinterlacing is really important. Even more than the upscale, actually.
BigG @ Jan 19th 2008 5:26PM
I noticed the PS3 section has blue but no green (bitstream) options...does the blue part also imply green? I know the PS3 has a bitstream option and my audio receiver supports all the new formats so i leave it on bitstream...so what doesn't work?
Ben @ Jan 19th 2008 5:27PM
This has been covered many times here before. The PS3 DOESN"T support TrueHD or DTS-HD bitstream output. If you have it set on bitstream it'll output Dolby Digital or DTS, but not new codecs.
Spiza @ Jan 19th 2008 6:28PM
It does decode TrueHD internally though, but you're out of luck if all there is is DTS-HD on your disc (at least for uncompressed).
BigG @ Jan 19th 2008 5:37PM
ok thanks for the clairification, but i use bitstream for PCM uncompressed and that seems to work fine since thats what my receiver recognizes it as...so i think i'll stick with that for now since thats what most my movies have and it sounds the best.
kcmurphy88 @ Jan 19th 2008 11:13PM
"bitstream for PCM uncompressed"
That makes no sense. "Bitstream" means that the COMPRESSED data is sent along undecoded. "PCM" is the decoded (or never encoded) raw sound data. If you select "PCM" from a disc menu, it doesn't matter what you have your player set for -- it will be PCM you get, unless your player re-encodes.
HiRes_PR @ Jan 19th 2008 6:17PM
From what I saw, the DTS HR is not really present in every player. What they process is the DTS-HD (Core only) that can be extracted from both, the DTS-HD HR (High Resolution) and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) codecs. This DTS-HD Core only is the Legacy DTS using the maximum bit rate. Of course, unless the company specifies they support DTS-HD HR I will take it as DTS HD Core only. Samsung has it listed on the BD-UP5000 pdf product literature but I doubt it from what I listened on mine.
Id suggest to separate the DTS-HD categories by DTS-HD (Core only), DTS-HD HR (High Resolution) and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio).
Also, the Samsung BD-P1200 doesn't support Dolby TrueHD.
BTW, this grid is a great idea. Ill let you know if theres something else to adjust.
Sebastien @ Jan 19th 2008 6:28PM
Adding the street price on the table would be great
T-bone @ Jan 19th 2008 7:21PM
The Samsung coming out this summer (5500) looks great (dual format and all the audio codecs). I'm assuming that these machines can all send legacy codecs bitstream.
RedlineRonin @ Jan 19th 2008 8:00PM
The denon 3800 spec sheet on denons web site clearly states that it will decode dts MA on board. There are indeed a few audio codec errors.
Ben @ Jan 19th 2008 8:01PM
That is part of the entire problem, many of these spec sheets are misleading or down right incorrect. I'm not saying this one is, but if you have the player and have used this feature then you should let them know.
I know the BD-UP5000 specs are flat out incorrect and misleading at the same time.
truegamer @ Jan 19th 2008 9:12PM
It also states the PS3 hdmi is only 5.1. The PS3 hdmi supports 7.1 Audio
Great work on list. keep it up
anseK @ Jan 19th 2008 11:06PM
As an owner of a Samsung BD-P1200 running the latest firmware I can confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt it does not decode TrueHD. Decoding TrueHD was a capability promised (via firmware update) at last years CES but Samsung never delivered.
mike @ Jan 19th 2008 11:25PM
so If I buy a player that only supports bitstream but not decoding for dolby ture-HD or DTS-MA, then my blu-ray movies will have no sound if they only contain a ture-HD or DTS-MA audio track since my reciever is older and cannot decode these right?
And if the blu-ray player I buy supports ture-HD or DTS-MA decoding, then it can do the decoding and I will still get sound from my old reciever correct? I run a 5.1 setup only also. No room for 7 speakers.
1 more thing. If pcm is uncompressed audio, isnt it technically better then any other audio like ture-HD or DTS-MA?
Ben @ Jan 19th 2008 11:33PM
They will have sound, just not next-gen sound. You'll basically have the same quality you had with DVD.
If the player has internal decoding and you have either HDMI 1.2 or 6 analog inputs on your AVR then you're all set.
PCM, TrueHD and DTS-HD MA are all technically the same, but there can be a difference in sample rate. The primary difference between the three is; PCM takes up alot of space, TrueHD and DTS-HD take up a lot less space despite being original to the master, DTS-HD MA is basically the same thing, but it also has a core included that can be decoded by older hardware, which makes it backwards compatible.
madpear @ Jan 20th 2008 12:17AM
F blu ray to heck. i could care less if they all die
EZO @ Jan 20th 2008 1:33AM
It is ridiculous we have to have damn "road map" for this format.
Galley @ Jan 20th 2008 8:39AM
It appears that the Denon DVD3800BD will be the best BD player available. Too bad it costs as much as a used car.
Jeff @ Jan 20th 2008 10:03AM
The only thing that I get from the chart is that Blu-ray players are not quite ready for prime time. No this is not a HD vs. blu-ray thing. Those codecs should be standard when you are shelling out that kind of cash. I don't really have a problem with the lack on on board support, at the very least the machines should send the raw signal signal out whatever the format.
Ben @ Jan 20th 2008 10:06AM
In regards to audio the HD DVD player lineup is similar, in fact one of the only hits I have against the HD-A30 is no analog outputs, so your forced to update your AVR.
mntwister @ Jan 20th 2008 10:03AM
Ben how do you like your 5000? I have been watching this machine since summer when they started talking about it, and tried to find one when they started showing up. After the Warner decision, for the $800 I decided to stand by the sidelines and see what happens. Frankly there are not a ton of movies out on hd-dvd for me to buy now, knowing that only 2 studios will have future releases. I have nothing against hd-dvd though, not a huge fanboy here, lol.
Have they released firmware for the DTS Master and 5 or 7.1 Dolby True yet? I think you are right though, the Reon would not be worth my spending that kind of money just for that alone. One of the other big factors about this player for me was that I own a Denon receiver with no HDMI, it does have 7.1 analogs though, and the addition of internal decoding and sending those signals out of the analogs is very attractive to me. Of course, my PS3 does not do this so I am listening to the core track(s).
If I really want the Reon, I see on Ebay the Samsung 1200 going for $249, I suppose I could use that to just play dvd's, but the model is so slow and I hate the remote too. Having had the chance to have a few weeks each with the Panny BD10a, the Sammy 1200 and the Sony 300, I think the PS3 has the best upscaler next to the Reon.
Ben @ Jan 20th 2008 10:08AM
So far the 5000 is the buggiest player I've ever tested and I've had the BD-P1000 since day one and the old HD-A1.
The firmware update for next-gen audio isn't out yet, so far the updates have been for disc incompatibilities and there are still too many of those to list.
Have you done an AB comparison between the Reon and the sigma chip? I'd bet if you did, you wouldn't think it was worth the cost.
DrXym @ Jan 20th 2008 10:04AM
Does anyone know of a good site that explains what all these different audio systems offer, which is most common, which is the best to get, which is the cheapest to get etc.?
As an aside, it's lists like this that just show the support Blu Ray actually has. I expect the list will be 3x the size next year.
Ben @ Jan 20th 2008 10:10AM
We've covered them before.
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/15/hi-def-disc-audio-demystified/
shawnmos @ Jan 22nd 2008 7:52PM
Ben here is a better chart: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=980672
Nfinity @ Feb 28th 2008 1:40PM
The only 2 very important things lacking from this list is as someone already stated.. the release date and the price. It's quite a turn off to see that $400 doesn't give you everything in order to read the full disc. I make solid money, but buying $500 players every few months is not something I consider good practice. I will most likely get the new Sony's. the 350 or 550.
NoAndThen @ Apr 10th 2008 1:25PM
This needs to be updated guys, as soon as the PS3 firmware update comes out next week! Therefor officially making the PS3 the most versatile, and possibly best BD player out there.