Blu-ray Disc Player Thread

[applesandrice]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

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

Totally. I had to go searching for it yesterday and thought it would've sure been nice if it was sticky.

[lizard]

Some more information from Chris Walker about the Pioneer BDP-05FD from an AVS thread on the player. I believe that he is a Pioneer distributor or dealer; he has a prototype player.

...Also, I bought a stopwatch and timed a few of the players functions (Not disc load time, yet.. I want to wait for newer firmware)..

Power On Time (Once power is hit, player boots and you can load a disc): 14 Secs
Disc Eject Time (While playing a disc, press eject and tray opens) 2 Secs
Power Off (While playing a disc hitting power) 1 Sec

These times are where the firmware is at right now.. These times are not final and I am guessing they change somewhat.. Hopefully they will get better..

Thanks,

Chris

Here are the dimensions of the BDP-05FD

420mm Wide
124mm Height
360mm Deep

Also, yes the BDP-05FD will decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master internally and output via HDMI and Analog...

The DTS portion may not be complete when shipping, however it should be added with a firmware upgrade..

DTS made things very difficult as far as decoding internally (Hence denon being only one to be able to do it right now)......

Thanks,

Chris

Pioneer is also said to be working on a Profile 2.0 player due out in the Fall.

[lizard]

Originally Posted by 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.

I think that store might be jumping the gun a bit by offering that player. As of March 11, Samsung said that they were still expecting to release the BD-P1500 in May or June. See "Update 3/11" here:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/03/03...d-up-to-april/

[uglyjay]

Originally Posted by 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.

I am the unfortunate owner of the Samsung 1200 and am waiting for the 2.0 players to come out before I upgrade.
With all the new players coming out by reputable companies why would anyone consider buying a Samsung?

[lizard]

The same store Gizmo mentioned above has a number of other not-yet-released players listed. Of particular interest is the Pioneer BDP-05FD:
http://www.dependableaudiovideo.com/...-P24893C0.aspx
because they list the price at $1800. Most people have been guessing $1000 for that player so, if true, that would be a very high price for a Profile 1.1 machine. Much like the Denon 3800.

Not that I could afford even a $1000 player...


Edit 4/2/08: The price listed is now "down" to a mere $1700.

[The Edit King]

WOW Lizard!

What a G-R-E-A-T THREAD!

GOOD-GAWD, MAN!

Talk about helpful!

Thanks for taking the time to put it all together!

[lizard]

You're welcome.

I realize that most folks here already have BD players — mostly PS3s — but some of us are still in the market for a next gen player and finding a full-featured one isn't easy (or cheap, unfortunately).

[nateman]

Originally Posted by lizard

You're welcome.

I realize that most folks here already have BD players — mostly PS3s — but some of us are still in the market for a next gen player and finding a full-featured one isn't easy (or cheap, unfortunately).

Again, great thread.

Finding a "decent" Blu-ray disc player is indeed not an easy thing to do. With profiles 1.0, 1.1, 1.6, 2.0 it can all get very confusing and I'm sure if they just start releasing BD players with a set profile, and stop making people upgrade, more people will jump on the BD bandwagon. Unlike some people, I think BD will take off, and I hope it does. I don't think it'll ever get the numbers that DVD got, but I think it'll become a pretty profitable market within the next couple of years or so. When more and more 2.0 players, like the Sony BDP-S550 BD player, come out and the older profile players slowly start becoming discontinued; that's when BD will take off. It'll take awhile, but everything takes time.

It kind of feels like Déjà view back when I got into DVD.

At first, the PS2 was the only DVD player in the house for at least 6 months, but we finally got a standalone DVD player (it was actually a DVD/VCR combo player) at Christmas and I didn't use the PS2 that often for DVDs anymore. I still played games on it, but the DVD playback wasn't use very often. Eventually, every room in the house had a DVD player, I have a portable DVD player, and the laptop even plays DVDs. The "convenience" for Blu-ray isn't at the same level as DVD, but it will have that factor as long as people can get past the DVD is "good enough" line of thinking.

It's kind of the same thing with BD. PS3 is my first player that plays BDs, but in the fall or winter of this year i'll be getting a standalone BD player (waiting for the Sony S550) and in a year or so all the rooms in the house will most likely have a BD player in them.

[macnorton]

I have a question. I am new to hi-def DVD and I having been researching the Panasonic BD50...do any expert have an opinion for me? I am buying a reciever that can handle 7.1 and it my TV will be 1080p

[lizard]

Originally Posted by macnorton

I have a question. I am new to hi-def DVD and I having been researching the Panasonic BD50...do any expert have an opinion for me? I am buying a reciever that can handle 7.1 and it my TV will be 1080p

What is it you want to know?

Like any Blu-ray Disc player, the BD50 will work fine with a 1080p display. If you are buying a new receiver, it will likely accept HDMI inputs and should connect well with the BD50.

So far as I am aware, the Panny BD50 hasn't been released yet so there aren't any expert reviews to look at that I have seen. But the earlier BD30 was well received, by most reports.

[macnorton]

Originally Posted by lizard

What is it you want to know?

Like any Blu-ray Disc player, the BD50 will work fine with a 1080p display. If you are buying a new receiver, it will likely accept HDMI inputs and should connect well with the BD50.

So far as I am aware, the Panny BD50 hasn't been released yet so there aren't any expert reviews to look at that I have seen. But the earlier BD30 was well received, by most reports.

Yes there was supposed to be a question there...damn people at work asking me questions....

What I wanted to ask was, what were user's opinions on the BD30...since it seems like the BD50 is almost the same with some tweaks. And is it profile 2?

[dkny75]

BD30 is profile 1.1, BD50 is profile 2.0

[lizard]

In addition to being Profile 2.0, the BD50 will decode lossless audio codecs for output over analog to an older receiver. The BD30 does not (and will not, from what I can tell). This feature is useful for those of us with older receivers. If you plan to buy a new HDMI 1.3 receiver, the BD30 should suffice, assuming that the internet connectivity of Profile 2.0 isn't important to you.

[MrChaos]

Does anyone know if the BD30 is going to ever be updated to be Profile 2.0 compliant in the near future? I ask because I just grabbed the BD30 last night and am loving the unit so far (DTS HD Master via the 605 sounds INSANE). If not I might return it and wait for the BD50 (I have the S300 right now).

[lizard]

^So far as I am aware, the BD 30 does not have an ethernet port nor enough flash memory to allow it to be upgraded to 2.0

[GizmoDVD]

BD 30 will never be 2.0

[macnorton]

Originally Posted by lizard

In addition to being Profile 2.0, the BD50 will decode lossless audio codecs for output over analog to an older receiver. The BD30 does not (and will not, from what I can tell). This feature is useful for those of us with older receivers. If you plan to buy a new HDMI 1.3 receiver, the BD30 should suffice, assuming that the internet connectivity of Profile 2.0 isn't important to you.

Pardon my stupidity...new to Blu....so if you want non-analog audio you go through HDMI correct?

[lizard]

Originally Posted by macnorton

Pardon my stupidity...new to Blu....so if you want non-analog audio you go through HDMI correct?

Correct. You need to use HDMI for the best digital audio. There are two ways to do this: If the player has on-board decoding of lossless codecs (or the disc has a PCM track) you can send them as PCM to an HDMI equipped receiver. Or, if the player can "bitstream" the lossless codecs, it can send them directly to a new HDMI 1.3 receiver for decoding by the receiver.

If all this jargon is getting to you, I tried to explain a bit of it in the "Glossary" at the bottom of the first post of this thread.

[macnorton]

Originally Posted by lizard

Correct. You need to use HDMI for the best digital audio. There are two ways to do this: If the player has on-board decoding of lossless codecs (or the disc has a PCM track) you can send them as PCM to an HDMI equipped receiver. Or, if the player can "bitstream" the lossless codecs, it can send them directly to a new HDMI 1.3 receiver for decoding by the receiver.

If all this jargon is getting to you, I tried to explain a bit of it in the "Glossary" at the bottom of the first post of this thread.

No not at all. I am tech savy (I work in IT), but it is hard to find information since it is scattered in a lot of different places. In the IT world, you can pretty much find everything you need just by going to the company's website, not so much with DVD's.

I will check out page 1...thanks for the previous replies.

[wergo]

So, are there any domestic (US) Blu-Ray players that play region 0 PAL?

[lizard]

Originally Posted by wergo

So, are there any domestic (US) Blu-Ray players that play region 0 PAL?

So far as I am aware, there aren't any BD players available in North America that play non-R1 DVDs. A PAL DVD should not work in a Region 1 BD player, even if it is Region 0. But others know more about this stuff than I do.

It has been reported that Oppo is working on a BD player. It is possible that such a player will be "region free" for DVDs. I don't know whether it would be allowed to be region free for BDs; might cause licensing issues with the BDA.

I presume that you know that PAL and NTSC do not apply to the High Def Blu-ray Disc format itself.

[Drexl]

Originally Posted by lizard

So far as I am aware, there aren't any BD players available in North America that play non-R1 DVDs. A PAL DVD should not work in a Region 1 BD player, even if it is Region 0. But others know more about this stuff than I do.

It has been reported that Oppo is working on a BD player. It is possible that such a player will be "region free" for DVDs. I don't know whether it would be allowed to be region free for BDs; might cause licensing issues with the BDA.

I presume that you know that PAL and NTSC do not apply to the High Def Blu-ray Disc format itself.

While that's true for the HD material on the discs, standard definition material (if present) is still stored as NTSC or PAL. It's something you might want to look into if importing discs and you want to watch the extras. The European version of Pan's Labyrinth is an example of a title with PAL extras that won't play on American BD players.

Someone on here said that on some discs, the extras have been upscaled to 1080i and stored in that form, so they would play on American BD players. I'm interested to find out if Warner's version of Sweeney Todd will have PAL extras.

[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.

The Denon 3800 seems to be widely available now. Listenup.com specifically lists it as "In Stock Now!". It also seems to be in stock at J&R.

[GizmoDVD]

http://www.visualapex.com/accessorie...sonic&Type=DVD

Is now listing the Panasonic BD50 at $599 with a release date Late April/Early May.

[lizard]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

http://www.visualapex.com/accessorie...sonic&Type=DVD

Is now listing the Panasonic BD50 at $599 with a release date Late April/Early May.

About what is expected for release date — they may be trying to get out ahead of Sony's players — but I would have liked a lower MSRP (and a price drop for the BD30), although that hasn't been Panasonic's style. Guess I'll hope for holiday discounts toward the end of the year.