lizard

Firmware update 2.0 is available for the Panasonic BD60 and BD80. The fix is described as:
1. BD disc response improvement
2. DVD Playability


BD80 Updating page:
http://panasonic.jp/support/global/c...index2_na.html

BD80 download page for burning to a CD:
http://panasonic.jp/support/global/c...0/bd80_na.html


BD60 Updating page:
http://panasonic.jp/support/global/c...index2_na.html

BD60 download page for burning to a CD:
http://panasonic.jp/support/global/c...0/bd60_na.html

kahuna

Upgraded my BD55 from 1.7 to 2.0 last week.

lizard

Sorry to take so long to get back to you but I'm on dial-up at home and wanted to wait for a visit to my local library to download those manuals.

The Momitsu BDP-799 can decode Dolby TrueHD but not DTS-HD Master Audio according to the manual. To listen to a DTS-HD MA track you would need to hook it to a receiver that can decode the lossless codecs. If you were to use an older receiver that doesn't have an HDMI connection you could listen to the regular DTS "core" via a coax SPDIF connection. If you have an older receiver that has HDMI but doesn't decode lossless codecs, you could listen to the DTS core via HDMI.

The Sony HTSS360 HTIB system does not decode lossless codecs. It does have an HDMI connection and will take a PCM signal from a BD player that does decode the lossless codecs. If you were to hook up the Momitsu BD player to the Sony HTIB you would be able to listen to Dolby TrueHD lossless audio tracks but not DTS-HD MA. For the latter you would get the DTS core. However, it is likely that you would not be able to hear a difference between DTS-HD-MA and DTS core (or Dolby TrueHD and a converted DD 5.1, for that matter). [This topic has been much argued in this forum, but for most people the supposed advantage of the lossless codecs versus the extracted DTS or DD core is an example of a "placebo" effect, IMHO.]

So, it probably wouldn't make much difference whether you used a BD player that can decode DTS-HD MA or not. If it important to you to be able to use both lossless audio codecs in your system, you will need to select a BD player than can decode both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. Relatively inexpensive players that can do that include the Sony S360 and the Panasonic DMP-BD60. (The former is available from Amazon for $182 shipped and the latter is available for $172 shipped.) However, those players are not region-free like the Momitsu player you are looking at. If region-free is important to you, I really doubt that you would miss the DTS-HD MA capability and it is possible that it could be added later via a firmware update.

My 2¢.

zombeaner

Thank you for the help. I read the manuals 100 times and one thing that strikes me in the Momitsu's manual is that it has a DTS-HD logo among the supported formats at the very beginning, but no Dobly TrueHD logo. It is all VERY confusing.

Drexl

Frankly, I don't know whether you would hear a difference or not between lossy and lossless with that HTIB.

Another player option is a PS3 ($299), which can decode all of the lossless codecs into PCM, but of course it's not region free for BD or DVD. But, be aware that it has no IR remote sensor, which means you have to get an IR to Bluetooth adapter if you want a universal remote. Or, you can get a cheap dongle for IR, but it won't turn on the system, and advanced functions (like subtitle, audio, etc.) have to be selected from on onscreen menu.

If region free is important to you, I would just not worry about the lossless codecs at this time. Later on if you want to upgrade, you can get a receiver that will handle the lossless decoding. BTW, the lossy audio on BD is at least somewhat better than on DVD, since the DD tracks are usually 640kbps (compared to 448 on DVD) and the DTS tracks are full-bitrate instead of half-bitrate.

zombeaner

I am considering the Onkyo HT-S6200 as an HTIB as well. It does decode, and from what I can tell, it sounds awesome. It costs at least twice as much though, unless I catch a killer deal between now and xmas. The only other BD player options I'm considering are the high end Samsung or LG's for the Netflix streaming and decoding.

lizard

The whole DTS thing is very confusing. DTS (Digital Theater Sound) didn't get its act together soon enough to become the standard audio format, along with DD (Dolby Digital), on DVD. With the advent of Blu-ray Disc DTS wanted to be sure they were included in the format specs from the get-go. They came up with a new, improved, "lossy" codec called "DTS-HD High Resolution" which is apparently fairly easy to implement by player manufacturers. But it is little used on the discs themselves. Nevertheless, players tout their ability to handle the codec and it often gets confused with the lossless codec "DTS-HD Master Audio". But DTS-HD MA turned out to be much harder to implement in the players and many early players simply didn't have the hardware horsepower to handle it. This isn't a problem if one is just bitstreaming the audio track to a new model HDMI 1.3 receiver that can decode "MA" but it is a problem for less capable receivers.

The strange thing is that since Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA are both lossless, they are functionally identical. Since Dolby TrueHD appears to be easy to implement in BD players — and most players can decode it — one might figure that the studios would just use that one. But, no, several studios have been going with DTS-HD MA more and more when including a lossless track. Perhaps DTS has paid them off, I don't know.

For an excellent explanation of the various audio formats on DVD and Blu-ray Disc (and the now defunct HD DVD) take a look at this October 2007 article by Josh Z:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1064
He explains this stuff better than I ever could.

Gizmo

Exactly what happened. Offer them cheaper rates over Dolby and even do a few for free to see how the studios like it. Since almost all new players now can internally decode DTS MA, its not really an issue anymore. Warner is the only major studio not doing DTS as Paramount and Sony have somewhat switched or in the process of (so it seems).

WMAangel

While the end result may be functionally identical (much like zip and rar are as data compression types), the way Dolby and DTS implement their codecs is very different in regards to legacy equipment....
Dolby TrueHD is its own track, and a "hidden" lossy Dolby Digital track has to also be included along with the TrueHD track on the BD so that the audio will be playable by older equipment that cannot support TrueHD....while Warner has this track listed (and was unfortunately the default choice previously for many of their discs), most other studios do not list this lossy track as a choice on the menu and it would only play if you chose TrueHD for the track, but output your audio to your receiver via digital optical/coaxial....
DTS-HD MA uses a core + extension format, where the lossy DTS core track is supplemented by the lossless extension information...older equipment will ignore the extension and can just play the lossy core track, therefore there only needs to be one audio track on a BD that uses DTS-HD MA....

GenPion

Does anyone think there will be good $100 Blu-ray players for sale around Christmas? I am trying to look into getting one for someone as a gift, and I'm not sure what's the best player for the price... I don't want to spend over $100.

zombeaner

Well, I've just convinced my wife that I should get a home theater system for my college graduation gift. Since I've got a couple of months to save, I'm really leaning toward the Onkyo 6200 which decodes internally and that opens up my BD player options.

lizard

That depends on your definition of "good". It appears that pretty much all BD players are competent in playing DVDs and BDs nowadays. How well they will hold up and whether they will get regular firmware updates remains to be seen. (And if one wants extra "bells and whistles", such as certain audio features and video streaming capability, expect to pay more.)

It is possible that one might find a name brand BD player as a Black Friday special for $100, but otherwise I wouldn't expect them to get quite that low in price this year. No-name brands might well be found at less than $100 in the next few months.

But I'm just guessing.

PerryD

There was a deal in the summer where you could get the Samsung P1600 for $125 if you bought 4 Warner discs (most were priced around $12.99 each).

Amazon did this before with Sony players also, so it's quite possible to get this sort of deal again, and get the final price of a good player under $100, assuming that you are bundling the player with movies that you want at a good price.

fumanstan

Firmware 2.5 is out for Samsung BD-P1500 players. I don't think anyone else here has one except me, but i'm happy to see compatibility updates come out

kahuna

Panasonic BD-60 now down to $139.14 from Amazon.com.

Mao

Vudu was added to my LG-390 in a firmware update last night! Woohoo!

Sweet Baby James

Now down to $128.37. Even though I don't need another player, I'm damn tempted at that price.

RD1973

I'm going to be buying a Blu-Ray player within a month or two. But I've been reading alot lately about discs that won't play. Which Blu-Ray player (brands/models) would be considered the least problematic? I'm hoping to spend no more than $300.00.

Also, there is no internet access in the room where I will be using it. How would I be ale to get firmware updates if needed?

JimRochester

The one that seems to be least problematic is the PS3 but that's partly because it's automatic updates. Without a hookup, you download the firmware onto a CD and then load it to the player. A very simple and painless process that doesn't cost anything, just takes 15 minutes or so.

Jim

For a long time Sonys and Panasonics were considered the least problematic. I'm guessing the other brands (LG, Samsung, etc) have become better because I don't seem to recall their newer models having many problems.

The PS3 is easy to update without it being connected to the internet. You can download the update (usually about 100-120MB) to a flash drive and update the PS3 from the flash drive. For Sony standalone players, which you can find for some pretty low prices nowadays, you can request an update CD from the Sony website. They are pretty quick to send the CD out. Or you can download the update and burn your own CD.

RD1973

Thanks for your replies. One more thing, do I only need an HDMI cable? Is it for video only or is it for both video and audio (I'm going to be hooking it up to a Samsung 32" LCD and I don't have any surround speakers yet).

JimRochester

HDMI cariies both audio and video

RD1973

I just went to Best Buy to look at BR players. I have a Samsung LCD and was thinking of getting a Sony BR player. However, there was a customer there who seemed to know his stuff and he suggested I get a Samsung BR player. He said if the TV and player are the same brand, "they talk to each other better." Anyone know if this is true (maybe he works for Samsung)?

Gizmo

You can use 1 remote to control both the TV and BD player.

zombeaner

Most companies have a "sync" feature with minimal set up in connecting the two products. I doubt this would mean that the quality from either component would be affected in any discernible way.