Blu-ray Disc Player Thread

[pro-bassoonist]

Hey paid, my first post here and its a doozy, having some problems with the true hd and whether or not the bdp-s300 will do it.

My equipment is listed in my sig and everything is hooked up via hdmi. My players firmware is up to date. I just wanted to confirm that the s300 can internally decode the true hd now, and how to accomplish this.

Originally Posted by paidgeek

I finally took some time this evening to reconfirm what is going on with the 300.

A couple of points to know first:

I checked this with firmware 3.7, but it applies to several earlier releases going back to when the feature first appeared on the S1.

It is not an advertised feature of the S300, It could be removed at any time in a future firmware release.

DO NOT call Sony customer service and hassle them about why this does not show up in the information display or in the manual. As mentioned before, this is an unadvertised feature. Consider it a gift.

The only setting that matters is the HDMI audio setting. It MUST be set to LPCM, or Dolby THD will only come out of the HDMI connection as DD. The downmix setting does not matter.

Dolby THD will only be decoded and passed as LPCM on the HDMI connector. If you want to confirm if you are really getting THD versus DD, try the following: Connect your receiver analog inputs to the analog outputs of the S300, set the HDMI audio output to LPCM and connect the HDMI output to your receiver as well, playback a THD audio stream and use your receiver to toggle between the analog input or the HDMI input, better yet, have someone else do the switching for you. If these do not sound the same to you, you have learned something. Now try the same thing with a normal DD stream and see if you hear the same difference, if not....

For those of you who will continue to question this until the sun burns out, someone makes a test disc to confirm it, or someone dedicated does an invert/add of the analog out vs. the HDMI THD out, keep in mind that I don't do this for a hobby and I don't have anything to gain by misleading you.

Ciao,
Pro-B

[namja]

Originally Posted by 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.

If you can wait until this summer, the Sony BDP-S350 looks like a really good option at $400 (see page 1 of this thread). If you can't wait, then the PS3 is probably your best bet.

[Iron Chef]

We have the Sharp BD-HP20U, and it locked up 3 times last night during Superbad. I will install the HU8022000 firmware update tonight, which supposedly fixes the issue. Last weekend we watched Gone Baby Gone twice with no problems.

it is connected to our Sharp Aquos LC-42D62U via HDMI, and playing at 1080p @ 24Hz.

[lizard]

Not that I expect many people here to rush out and buy one, but the DENON DVD-3800BDCI is now available:
http://www.listenup.com/lu/merchant....Category_Code=

[Viper187]

Well, I took the plunge. Just placed an order for a PS3, The Rock BD, and 2 HDMI cables.

[XavierMike]

Originally Posted by lizard

Not that I expect many people here to rush out and buy one, but the DENON DVD-3800BDCI is now available:
http://www.listenup.com/lu/merchant....Category_Code=

It does look like a fantastic player, but way to pricey. If I could find it for $1000 I would consider it.

[DVD Polizei]

Denon’s DVD-3800BDCI is also the world's first to feature the acclaimed 10-bit Silicon Optix Realta chipset, providing enhanced video performance with upconversion and IP scaling to 1080p. The pixel-by-pixel and Digital Noise Reduction feature afforded by this technology allows the player to remove image-degrading artifacts, resulting in astoundingly clear, high-resolution image quality.

For pure digital High-Def content, I'm skeptical of it being worth $2,000 and noticing a justifiable difference. I'm setting my sights on BDP-S550, myself. Wish I had the resources available to me, but a comparison between this Denon model and the BDP-S550 would be interesting once the 550 became available.

[PhantomStranger]

Originally Posted by XavierMike

It does look like a fantastic player, but way to pricey. If I could find it for $1000 I would consider it.

If you have a friend that works at Best Buy they can get it for $1330. Authorized dealers are selling it over the internet for as low as $1630.

[Viper187]

What the hell is Sony on!? How am I supposed to download constant firmware updates on dialup? The most recent one is 120 meg!

and don't mention broadband. I'm stuck out in farm country with none available.

[lizard]

^I'm on dial-up also. Doesn't Sony offer the option of an update on a CD? That's the way Toshiba handled it for HD DVD players. Sony has lots of BD players that don't have ethernet connections; I presume that they mail out firmware update CDs for those.

This business of needing broadband to use the internet connection on a player (or PS3) is why I have zero interest in the ethernet connection part of Profile 2.0.

[Viper187]

Originally Posted by lizard

^I'm on dial-up also. Doesn't Sony offer the option of an update on a CD? That's the way Toshiba handled it for HD DVD players. Sony has lots of BD players that don't have ethernet connections; I presume that they mail out firmware update CDs for those.

This business of needing broadband to use the internet connection on a player (or PS3) is why I have zero interest in the ethernet connection part of Profile 2.0.

Maybe, if you wanna wait a week for the shit. Personally, I'll take the 8 hour download.

[lizard]

^Unlike you, I'm not in a big hurry. If I do want a firmware update quickly I download it at my local library (which has broadband) and burn it on a CD. Don't know if Sony supplies those ISO files for burning but I expect that others here will know.

For me downloading 120 MB on dial-up is simply impossible. My connection kicks off at four hours. But for $99 a year I can't complain.

[Viper187]

Originally Posted by lizard

For me downloading 120 MB on dial-up is simply impossible. My connection kicks off at four hours. But for $99 a year I can't complain.

Mine kicks off every 6. That's what download managers were made for.

[GizmoDVD]

According to Robert from VE, the Panasonic BD50 is now due out in June.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=959

Just got an update from my Panasonic contact who says June '08. Not sure what to expect, but Panasonic is not accepting orders so I expect it may be June.

Gotta decide between this, or the S350 + new matching Bravia HTIB.

[Centurion]

So far, the 3800 makes sense if:

- You watch a lot of SD DVDs. Owner's with both this and an XA2 have stated improved picture quality (Realta > Reon).

- You have an older AVR which does not have HDMI input/outputs but has 8 channels analog inputs.

- You have an AVR which cannot decode the lossless HD codecs (DTS-HD MA and DD TruHD are internally decoded by the 3800 and passed either analog or HDMI).

- You've got deep pockets.

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by Centurion

So far, the 3800 makes sense if:

- You watch a lot of SD DVDs. Owner's with both this and an XA2 have stated improved picture quality (Realta > Reon).

- You have an older AVR which does not have HDMI input/outputs but has 8 channels analog inputs.

- You have an AVR which cannot decode the lossless HD codecs (DTS-HD MA and DD TruHD are internally decoded by the 3800 and passed either analog or HDMI).

- You've got deep pockets.

For the price they are asking, for a 1.0 player, I would never buy one. Luckily SD upconverting does not matter to me since I have an XA2, but even if it did, I don't think I could ever justify the additional $500-$600 for this player over the BD30 or the soon to be released 1.1/2.0 players. I wonder how many players Denon will actually sell?

[lizard]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

For the price they are asking, for a 1.0 player, I would never buy one...

The Denon DVD3800BD is Profile 1.1. It is the most capable BD player currently available, albeit at a very high price.
http://www.usa.denon.com/DVD-3800BDCILit_1219.pdf

I don't include any 1.0 players in this thread, as I mentioned in the first post.

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by lizard

The Denon DVD3800BD is Profile 1.1. It is the most capable BD player currently available, albeit at a very high price.
http://www.usa.denon.com/DVD-3800BDCILit_1219.pdf

I don't include any 1.0 players in this thread, as I mentioned in the first post.

My bad, thought this one was 1.0. Is it even capable of being upgraded to 2.0?

[TheKobra]

Originally Posted by lizard

Not that I expect many people here to rush out and buy one, but the DENON DVD-3800BDCI is now available:
http://www.listenup.com/lu/merchant....Category_Code=

I ordered one from Ultimate Electronics for $1999.00 but they will not have it until late April. I only pick this up to go with my AVR-4308 but it look like I will be using the Panny 30 for quite some time now.

[TheKobra]

Originally Posted by Viper187

Maybe, if you wanna wait a week for the shit. Personally, I'll take the 8 hour download.

You don't wait a week. Last Thursday I went to Sony's website and ordered the new firmware disk 3.7 and had it in my mailbox on Saturday. Two days and I had it. I quit downloading them and burning them. Sony is quick but you will need to supply your S/N when you order the disc.

[lizard]

Originally Posted by TheKobra

I ordered one from Ultimate Electronics for $1999.00 but they will not have it until late April. I only pick this up to go with my AVR-4308 but it look like I will be using the Panny 30 for quite some time now.

Yes, Listen Up now has "Call for availability" on their site. I haven't called them and live too far away (315 miles) to drop by, but I presume that Denon is having supply issues. I will change the date to April.

Edit: It is also listed as "temporarily out of stock" at J&R. But Crutchfield and 6ave.com say they have it in stock, so it does seem to be available.

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by TheKobra

I ordered one from Ultimate Electronics for $1999.00 but they will not have it until late April. I only pick this up to go with my AVR-4308 but it look like I will be using the Panny 30 for quite some time now.

Holy crap, its $2,000 for this? I thought it was $1,000?

[lizard]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

Holy crap, its $2,000 for this? I thought it was $1,000?

So much for all that information I have been trying to keep updated in the first post of this thread...

You may have been thinking of the Denon 2500. But it doesn't have analog out nor onboard decoding of lossless codecs.

[GizmoDVD]

Apparently the Samsung 1500 is available...


http://www.dependableaudiovideo.com/...4896C3690.aspx

Consider all 4 of Samsungs players have been crap, hopefully they re-establish themselves with this player. It IS Profile 1.1, which is good, at least they won't continue to sell 1.0 players anymore. Now we just need Sony to come out with the S350 so I can buy it.

[GizmoDVD]

On another note, Why isn't this thread stickied? A lot of great information in this thread.