RE: Blu Ray player recommendation

["Neil Ball" <neilball@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There has been a bluray player shoot out over on AV Forums which put a
PS=
=A3
up against a whole raft of players, both budget and high-end. The general
opinion was that the PS3 did lose out in overall picture quality to
dedicated players and also it does not support IR control as standard
(although kits are available to get around this). There also did not appear
to be too much difference in PQ between the entry level machines (including
a Bush player at =A3100) although the Sony mentioned by other posters did
n=
ot
quite match the Panasonic BD35 PQ and others.=20

I doubt you will be disappointed between any of the bluray players or a PS3
when compared to SD DVD, so if you can get a good deal on the current range
of players then go for it - the new models soon to hit the streets will not
offer a nigh & day difference compared to the current crop.

One thing to look at, are you going to be wanting to hook up your new
playe=
r
to an AV amp and will the amp of the bluray player need to decode the HD
audio tracks? This may direct you to certain players over others. If your
A=
V
amp can decode the raw bitstream audio or accept uncompressed PCM via HDMI
then it does not really matter what you choose. If you need full decoding
o=
f
HD audio within the player then you need to look for machines that
currentl=
y
decode all HD formats, not all can decode DTS Master Audio for example.

Finally do you need multi-region DVD playback? If so there is a simple
handset hack for the Panasonic players (requires certain 1-for-all remotes
or a Logitech Harmony).

I bought a Panny BD35 from Amazon as I wanted a simple multi-region DVD
hac=
k
and good quality PQ/audio with a budget player, and at the time it came
wit=
h
3 free discs (2 from Panasonic, 1 from Amazon). The only thing it lacks is
7.1 analogue audio out (this is on the BD55) and coax digital audio out.
None of this was relevant for me as it is hooked up to an Onkyo 906 via
HDM=
I
which takes care of all audio decoding.

In answer to some of you other questions, none currently offer any
distribution options over Cat5e without using separate matrix/switching
interfaces and baluns. HDMI is also notoriously difficult to get everything
to operate this way - sometimes it works, sometimes not. It is probably
cheaper (and much easier/faster) to fit separate budget bluray players
dedicated to separate screens than to go through several iterations of
switchers/baluns etc trying to find a combination that all play happily
wit=
h
each other.

HTH

Neil B.

-----Original Message-----
From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Peter and Jane
Sent: 31 January 2009 08:10
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Blu Ray player recommendation

Morning Paul,
Thanks for your PS3 suggestion.
Gaming has never interested me, so that aspect of a PS3 isn't much of an=20
attraction. As I understand it a PS3 has internet browsing capability, a=20
hard drive and perhaps networking capability. Hmmm, that gets me=20
thinking.....I wonder if you or others could therefore answer the=20
following:-

1. Is a dedicated Blu Ray player better at playing Blu Rays than a PS3
(mor=
e

functions...ease of use, navigation, slow motion, etc etc)?
2. Does a PS3 upscale standard DVDs to "near HD quality" as a
dedicated Blu=
=20
Ray apparently can?
2. Can a PS3 realistically be used to browse the internet, hook up to
BBC=20
iPlayer, 4oD, TVcatchup etc etc?
3. Our son (lives in Japan) gets loads of HD movies free off the internet.
=
I

imagine Sony having an interest in media distribution have blocked the PS3=
=20
from accessing such content. Am I right, or can movies be downloaded to
the=
=20
hard drive?
4. Does a PS3 (or any other Blu Ray player) have networking capability
so=20
that it can be watched on another TV on the network (or are we always down=
=20
to long HDMI cables or baluns)?

I am at the fitting out / connecting up stage of a selfbuild with a 42U
nod=
e

zero, a kilometer of cat5e and another kilometer of speaker cable and
coax,=
=20
some cable ducts, 3 large flat screens and a vertical learning curve on
wha=
t

I can / can't do with it all! 3 Sonos boxes yet to commission.
Input appreciated!
Rgds
Peter
----- Original Message -----=20
From: "Paul Gale" <groups2@xxxxxxx>
To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 8:53 PM
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Blu Ray player recommendation


How about a PS3 instead - plays bluray discs and games as a bonus!

Only about =A380 more than your Sony player though - bargain!

Paul.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of Peter and Jane
> Sent: 30 January 2009 20:08
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: [ukha_d] Blu Ray player recommendation
>
> Oh dear the DVD player has died, so I am authorised to get a Blu Ray
to
> drive the 52 inch Sony X3500 we bought before Christmas.
> RESULT!
> Recommendations please. Unless advised otherwise advised it looks like
> a Sony BDPS350 at =A3194 from John Lewis.
> Advice appreciated
> Rgds
> Peter
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus
> signature database 3813 (20090130) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>
> http://www.eset.com
>


__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus
signatur=
e

database 3813 (20090130) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com


------------------------------------