lizard

Excellent. Thanks for that information.

FWIW, Buy.com has the BD30 for $415, shipped.

Viper187

Does the PS3 have noise reduction(?) options? I'm one of those people who dislikes grain.

Drexl

No.

Mr. Salty

That's great news. Although the LFE problem doesn't effect me right now, it's good to know I won't have to worry about it in the future.

You'll love the BD30. The picture and audio quality are fantastic.

The only issue I've ever had with mine is that if I leave it turned on for a while with no disc playing (three or more hours), it gets a little wonky (menus won't load properly, disc won't play and you can't even turn the player off) and needs to be rebooted (holding the power button down for a few seconds). Has anyone else encountered this issue?

bunkaroo

The update for the Panasonic BD30 is now out. Version 1.6:

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/c...bd30/bd30.html

I, an others, have confirmed this does appear to correct the LFE issue. It also apparently corrects the TrueHD bug with Resident Evil: Extinction, and some Sunshine issues as well.

For a good before and after test, if you own Ratatouille (and what self-respecting Blu-Ray owner wouldn't, ), go to Chapter 3 BEFORE you apply 1.6, and listen to the lightning strike and resulting thunder a few times. Then apply 1.6 and try again. The difference is very noticeable. More impact on the sub plus a better rumble "roll-off" of the thunder.

IMO this now makes the Panny BD30 the Blu-Ray player to beat based on price and performance.

lizard

^I agree that the BD30 is the best player available at present. If it did onboard decoding I'd be shopping for one now.

erichbergen

I keep being told that the PS3 is the best Blu Ray player. Is that in it's price market or in general? I do want to go to Blu Ray eventually, but it seems like for a non PS3 player, I should wait a little bit perhaps until the Summer. Am I wrong?

GMan2819

Some people consider it the best because it can be upgraded to Profile 2.0. It does have other limitations though. However, Sony just announced Profile 2.0 Stand Alone players - see http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=526124

Steve

what about the Sony S2000? Didn't see much on that one. It looks now, available for order, but doesn't say which profile it is.

http://www.tuttodigitale.it/php/mostra-news-3000.html

AndrewL

One of the biggest reason I am going to jump into the Blu-ray bandwagon is AVCHD-native coded playback capability. I own the Canon HG10 HD camcorder that records in AVCHD and the only way to playback my footage in HD is through the camcorder itself which is most of the time, a pain. Down converting the footage to standard-def DVD format kills the entire purpose of owning an HD camcorder. Can you add the AVCHD playback as a column in your comparison chart? Are Sony and Panasonic players the only two capable of playing AVCHD native codec at the time being?

Viper187

Well, I'm hopefully going to order a PS3 next week and an HDMI cable for it. I have an Onkyo TX-SR604 and a Samsung S5087W(?) 1080p DLP. They both claim to be HDCP capable, to my surprise. Anything I should know about the sound quality I'll get with this Onkyo receiver?

Centurion

Great thread lizard. This was exactly what I was looking for.

If Panasonic can get the BD50 out soon, I would be VERY tempted to purchase that.

However, I do like the Realta chip in the Denon 3800 which is suppose to improve picture quality on blu ray movies and not just SD material. Just a couple things though: this unit might still be profile 1.1 and instead of an ethernet port, Denon opted to use an SD card slot for firmware upgrades (why?).

I see now that the Marantz BD8002 is coming soon as well, but this might just be a rebadged Denon. I'll have to wait to hear more on this.

Any thoughts?

lizard

I was surprised that the Denon players were Profile 1.1 only. One would think that at the price level they would have all the features. But I would guess that Denon is concerned with PQ and AQ and not extraneous stuff like ethernet connections. Or, perhaps, by the time they release the 3800 they will upgrade the specs to 2.0. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I wasn't aware of the Marantz player so I know nothing about it.

Edit: Added the Marantz player to the list. It does appear to be the same as the Denon, given that both Marantz and Denon are owned by the same company.

lizard

PS3 owners can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that you will be in good shape with your Onkyo 604. The PS3 can send PCM tracks over HDMI to your receiver. The PS3 will also decode the lossless codec Dolby TrueHD and send it as PCM to your receiver. While the PS3 can't decode DTS-HD Master Audio, it is possible that this feature will be added via a firmware update someday.

So far as I am aware, ANY HDMI capable display is HDCP compliant; it is part of the HDMI spec. It is only with a few older DVI displays that one must check for HDCP compliance.

lizard

Since I am unfamiliar with AVCHD playback I don't know enough about it to add it to my chart. If someone who does know about such things would like to look up the information for the various players I could easily add another column on the chart.

lizard

So far as I am aware, all Sony players other than the PS3, S350, and S550 are Profile 1.0. That includes the S2000ES, which is an older model from last Fall. I have seen no announcement that Sony plans to add a Profile 1.1 or 2.0 player to the 2000 series, although I expect that they will someday.

lizard

"Best" is a matter of opinion and has been the subject of much discussion in several now-closed threads.

The PS3 has advantages and disadvantages as a Blu-Ray Disc player.

Pro:
• Well supported by Sony.
• Profile 1.1, with 2.0 expected via a firmware update in the near future.
• Can decode and output Dolby TrueHD as PCM over HDMI to an HDMI capable receiver. DTS-HD-MA support is expected eventually.
• Reported to be fairly quick to boot up and load discs, in contrast to many other players.
• Seems to have a good reliability record thus far.
• Handles java-heavy discs without difficulty.


Con:
• No multi-channel analog audio outputs (for lossless audio with older HT receivers).
• No bitstreaming of lossless audio codecs (for use with the latest HT receivers with on-board decoding).
• The PS3 is a power hog, compared to just about any other Blu-ray Disc player one cares to name — that’s why it is often reported to get so hot. The Panasonic BD30 is rated at just 25 watts, by contrast.
• No IR remote compatibility (meaning that one can't use a universal remote without an add-on device, and even that won't enable power-on). Also, one has to use the game controller as the remote or pay extra for a more conventional (Bluetooth) remote.
• The PS3 is a slot loader. While some might like that, I would guess that many of us don’t like trusting our discs to a slot loader, scratch-resistant coating notwithstanding.
• No LCD display panel on the machine.
• The PS3 is considered by many to be “ugly” as a home theater component.


Which of these characteristics can be considered important will vary for each of us. For me, a PS3 doesn't even come close to meeting my requirements for a BD player. Since there are several full-featured BD players coming later this year, your inclination to wait seems wise to me.


[Edit: Added darkside's observation about discs with java.]

darkside

Comparing the PS3 to my standalone Sharp I would also add that the PS3 handles java without slowing to a crawl and it seems to have no playback issues on the 60+ BD discs I have watched on it. My Sharp has frozen up completely on 2 out of 8 movies.

However, I may give the Sharp a nod for picture. For some reason the video output on the Sharp seems better. I'm sure it is a subtle difference if it even exists, but for some reason the picture seems better to me.

Viper187

I would actually consider that a plus. IR remotes need to DIE. I'm tired of always having to aim the bloody remote just right to do things. My home theater equipment is low to the floor and slightly obstructed, so I always end up with my hand in the air pointing the freakin remote down.

lizard

Thanks, I added java handling to the list.

Dr. DVD

I was tempted to get a PS3, but reading here has convinced me that I might be better off just waiting for a better model. I got an XBOX 360 HD drive for $200, as I already had the system itself for over a year and didn't want to invest full amounts of money on and HD DVD player standalone with the threat they would be obsolete soon. I didn't buy many HD DVDs, but might partake of some titles if they drop significantly.

Centurion

lizard,
I think you can also update the Denon 2500 on your table as it has already been confirmed that it does NOT to do any internal decoding of the HD audio codecs, but will only bitstream to a capable receiver. Maybe someone else can chime in to confirm.

lizard

Made the change, thanks. Also added the Marantz player to the list.

Gizmo

Was the S2000ES every available in America? I have never seen it at any retail store Ive been too, and the the 500 is also very tough to find.

For anyone that knows, the new 350 player will be a different color of blue, right? I have been somewhat considering getting the current Bravia speaker system at Circuit City (I know a newer one is coming out, but it appears to be the same exact thing), but I don't want to buy the BDP-300...I'd rather get the 350 when it comes out. But will the color match or will they be two different hues of blue?

lizard

^The Sony BDP-S2000ES is currently available at J&R B&M stores, at ListenUp.com, and at Amazon for a mere $1300. The S500 is available from Amazon for $1000 and at Best Buy for $800.

I would guess that these players aren't more widely available because they are ridiculously overpriced. It's not as if one would expect to see them at Wal-mart or Target.

I have no idea whether or not Sony will match shades of blue for its gear, but would guess so.