Blu Ray / FULL HD

[Perana]

BD/HDDVD = 1080p
DVD = 576p
So on anything 720p or more you will notice a slight difference..

I know on my 50" 720p Panasonic Plasma the difference is noticeable between a BD and a DVD played on the PS3

[10secondET]

it is awsome i have the kdl40xbr sony lcd true 1080p 1920x1080 100hz with motion flow and ps3 truly unbeliveable picture just like you could jump right into the tv

[blueoval]

i might give it a try on the weekend just to appease my curiosity

[StAndArdAU]

Just remember that if you have started to, STOP buying the HDDVD format because its a waste of time. As of June they will no longer manufacture the format as all of the movie studios have decided to go with Blu-ray as the new successor to DVD. Universal Studios are now the only studio still producing for HDDVD but in June they will stop. XBox 360 owners will have to buy a newly announced Blu-ray addon drive, PS3 owners like me had the right idea all along, and i just feel sorry for the people who bought the HDDVD players, at least you have a shiny new DVD player.

[chevypower]

WOW this thread is old!!! I have a friend who bought a cheap Toshiba HD-DVD player, that was similarly priced to a Conia DVD player. He only bought it as a standard DVD player.. not a bad purchase then. The Panasonic PZ800 plasma series will be out soon, supposed to be the best flat panel out (plasma or LCD) when it hits the stores.

[burnz]

this thread is old, and blu ray won the battle.

[Grunter]

Originally Posted by StAndArdAU

Just remember that if you have started to, STOP buying the HDDVD format because its a waste of time. As of June they will no longer manufacture the format as all of the movie studios have decided to go with Blu-ray as the new successor to DVD. Universal Studios are now the only studio still producing for HDDVD but in June they will stop. XBox 360 owners will have to buy a newly announced Blu-ray addon drive, PS3 owners like me had the right idea all along, and i just feel sorry for the people who bought the HDDVD players, at least you have a shiny new DVD player.

If you own a HD DVD player, buy up big as the disc's are going very cheap and amazingly they will still work in the player after June.

And if you managed to get the right model player (XE-1) at the reduced price you'll now own one of the best bang for your buck upscaling DVD players available, that will also play your HD DVD's.

FYI the Blu-Ray add-on for the Xbox has been debunked by Microsoft's Xbox 360 Product Manager in a interview on Reuters. Link

[flappist]

Originally Posted by StAndArdAU

Just remember that if you have started to, STOP buying the HDDVD format because its a waste of time. As of June they will no longer manufacture the format as all of the movie studios have decided to go with Blu-ray as the new successor to DVD. Universal Studios are now the only studio still producing for HDDVD but in June they will stop. XBox 360 owners will have to buy a newly announced Blu-ray addon drive, PS3 owners like me had the right idea all along, and i just feel sorry for the people who bought the HDDVD players, at least you have a shiny new DVD player.

Yes pay $49 for your movie on bluray instead of $8 because as you already know the actual discs only last about a week and all the videos and DVDs in your existing library get replaced every year or so.......

Who cares if they stop (and they won't because China has taken up HDDVD and called it CHDVD so there will be lots of movies in the "right" places at the "right" prices ..... aaarrrgghhh shiver me timbers)

I will buy a bluray player when you can get something decent for $400-500 and not just a crap quality PS3, cheapo Sony, Sharp or Samsung.......

[CAT600]

Originally Posted by flappist

Yes pay $49 for your movie on bluray instead of $8 because as you already know the actual discs only last about a week and all the videos and DVDs in your existing library get replaced every year or so.......

Who cares if they stop (and they won't because China has taken up HDDVD and called it CHDVD so there will be lots of movies in the "right" places at the "right" prices ..... aaarrrgghhh shiver me timbers)

I will buy a bluray player when you can get something decent for $400-500 and not just a crap quality PS3, cheapo Sony, Sharp or Samsung.......

Spot On.

I'll be buying an HD-35EP Toshiba from the UK soon. 7.1 lossless audio for under 200 Pounds, not even "our" $1,300 Toshi XE1 can do that.

HD discs are starting to go cheap in the UK/US, dummies are getting scared.....

Daniel

[Perana]

Originally Posted by flappist

Yes pay $49 for your movie on bluray

$49 for BluRay's..

Mine have all cost me about half that, granted still more than the run out HD-DVD's but most stores around here hardly had any before and they certainly don't now...

And yes all the Bluray's i have bought have been legit Aus release ones.

[3vXT]

Originally Posted by flappist

I will buy a bluray player when you can get something decent for $400-500 and not just a crap quality PS3, cheapo Sony, Sharp or Samsung.......

Whats wrong with the PS3 as a blueray player? I haven't heard of any specific problems other than idiots claiming it must be crap simply because its not $1,200 and not a dedicated player.

I've got a Betamax player and heaps of tapes for sale if you are interested. reel reel cheep

[Grunter]

Originally Posted by ken2903

Whats wrong with the PS3 as a blueray player? I haven't heard of any specific problems other than idiots claiming it must be crap simply because its not $1,200 and not a dedicated player.

I've got a Betamax player and heaps of tapes for sale if you are interested. reel reel cheep

Funny the PS3 was close to that $1,200 number you've mentioned above not that long ago. ;)

Research and Google is you're friend. The PS3 is a good cheap (relatively) BR player with the bonus that it plays games. However it doesn't compare to good higher end players. For those that appreciate and do their research, understand that the best quality and feature set they can get for their dollar, the PS3 wouldn't get a look in.

Perana XR8, can you post up you're link for the half price region B BR discs? I'm assuming they would be latest release?

[3vXT]

With the same TV etc... how much better does a blueray movie look and sound when played on a dedicated blueray player compared to a PS3?

I've got a PS3, to be honest, i didn't get it for its blueray player but i haven't had any problems with that or its quality. People keep saying how a dedicated player is so much better but on screen, where it really counts, i cant tell the difference.

[Grunter]

Originally Posted by ken2903

With the same TV etc... how much better does a blueray movie look and sound when played on a dedicated blueray player compared to a PS3?

I've got a PS3, to be honest, i didn't get it for its blueray player but i haven't had any problems with that or its quality. People keep saying how a dedicated player is so much better but on screen, where it really counts, i cant tell the difference.

Check out this link as it will give you some info on various BR players including the PS3. Link

At the end of the day if you are happy with the PS3 to play your HD movies then that is great and all that matters.

For others who are looking for the extra quality and features, they will happily pay the extra for a specific dedicated player (when the BR profiles are eventially complete and finalised ;) ).

[Perana]

I got mine from my local JBhifi.. was 3 discs for price of 2.. with each disc being around the 35-40 mark.

PS3 isa fairly good player, and a good way to get into bluray for a very reasonable price... but it definately isn't high end. But then unlike some players it's getting updates all of the time, and a lot of the time those are related to updates to profiles of BluRay as well as functionality additions.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by ken2903

Whats wrong with the PS3 as a blueray player? I haven't heard of any specific problems other than idiots claiming it must be crap simply because its not $1,200 and not a dedicated player.

I've got a Betamax player and heaps of tapes for sale if you are interested. reel reel cheep

Lets see......

My HD DVD player upscales ordinay 576/480P DVDs to 1080P and does a VERY good job of it, in fact it is critically acclaimed as the best upscaler made. It also has its own DTS decoder.
I just bought 62 new HD HDVDs including several new releases and a whole pile of movies and series I like (BSG, Bourne, Lethal Weapon, Matrix and lots more) for $516.35
My TV has 3 HDMI sockets so I can have HD DVD, Bluray AND the thing I have not thought of yet all plugged in at the same time.

PS3s are bluray players in the same way that XT 3Vs are V8 falcons. XT 3Vs are not GTs even though thay have the same number or cyinders and wheels and wheel nuts and door knobs.......

As far as this Betamax (US Beta) player, where did you get something that was made before you were born?

[russellw]

The last of the Betamax units was made in 2002 so he should have been alive!

Indeed Betacam (which shared the mechanical format and tape size of Betamax) has become the broadcast industry standard due to a range of factors and replaced the poor old U-Matic format of yesteryear.

Cheers
Russ

[ls f6]

Originally Posted by flappist

PS3s are bluray players in the same way that XT 3Vs are V8 falcons. XT 3Vs are not GTs even though thay have the same number or cyinders and wheels and wheel nuts and door knobs.......

PS3 is an excellent Blu-ray player as far as visual performance is concerned.

As for audio, it is not too shabby either. PS3 can internally decode & pass as uncompressed 7.1 channel PCM all HD audio formats (Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD), excluding only DTS HD HR/MA (which will likely be resolved by way of firmware updates in future).

The only sticking point (for true audiophiles) is the inability to pass HD audio formats bitstream to be decoded by an external AV receiver - which for most users and for most audio formats, is a mute point anyway.

There are plenty of 'high end' Blu-ray players on the market (or not even yet on the market) that are already obsolete (being profile 1.0), or nearly obsolete (profile 1.1).

Unlike the PS3, they will NOT be upgraded to profile 2.0 by way of firmware updates.

Unlike GT owners, existing PS3 owners receive all of the new goodies each time a new 'series' is released.

[StAndArdAU]

Originally Posted by flappist

Yes pay $49 for your movie on bluray instead of $8 because as you already know the actual discs only last about a week and all the videos and DVDs in your existing library get replaced every year or so.......

Who cares if they stop (and they won't because China has taken up HDDVD and called it CHDVD so there will be lots of movies in the "right" places at the "right" prices ..... aaarrrgghhh shiver me timbers)

I will buy a bluray player when you can get something decent for $400-500 and not just a crap quality PS3, cheapo Sony, Sharp or Samsung.......

$49 ?? where do you shop coz i wont be going there. "discs last about a week"??? please elaborate. after purchasing some BR's many months ago mine are all perfectly fine.
If you want to check up on your CHDVD format you'dwanna research it coz it so far isn't in production and judging by information given by Wiki, won't have any compatability with the already manufactured HDDVD players or discs.

And just like all new formats, as they become the 'norm' BR prices will drop.

[3vXT]

flappist, I wasn't attacking your widely publicized hddvd shopping spree. I can see the advantages of buying up now that they are cheap, i just wouldn't do it myself but each to their own.
What i didn't get was why you would say the PS3 blueray is crap quality, when i've never heard that from anywhere else. OK, i've now read a couple of reviews comparing it to dedicated players and there are some things it doesn't do as well, but it goes the other way too. Which dedicated players can recieve online software updates? Which other dedicated players can you get for under $600?
Like i said in my other post, i didn't get my PS3 for its blueray abilities, and after reading some reviews comparing them, like you, i'll probably wait until the dedicated players are a bit cheaper and then get one. I just hope my playstation holds together until then.

Originally Posted by flappist

As far as this Betamax (US Beta) player, where did you get something that was made before you were born?

This isn't a US one, but it is younger than me.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Stereo-Beta-V...QQcmdZViewItem

[flappist]

Originally Posted by StAndArdAU

$49 ?? where do you shop coz i wont be going there. "discs last about a week"??? please elaborate. after purchasing some BR's many months ago mine are all perfectly fine.
If you want to check up on your CHDVD format you'dwanna research it coz it so far isn't in production and judging by information given by Wiki, won't have any compatability with the already manufactured HDDVD players or discs.

And just like all new formats, as they become the 'norm' BR prices will drop.

"Discs last a week" was scarcasm. Discs last for yonks. I still have ones I bought in Los Angles in the 90s before you could get much in OZ and they still work well.

The point I was making was that for back catalog titles if you can buy a HD DVD player for very little and then the titles for $8.80 instead of 39.95 for the same thing on blue ray than you can save a heap of money.

Specific examples: Today, EZYDVD Morayfield (sunny coast)
Under Siege, HD-DVD $9, Bluray, $39.95.
Harry Potter Discs 1-5 HD DVD $12.95 Bluray $44.95.

Last wednesday, Big W Maryborough (Qld)
The Kingdom HD-DVD $8.83 Bluray $49.95

As opposed to the tape format war in which all technology was incompatable, bothe the bluray and HDDVD players will play standard 576/480P DVDs and upscale them as required.

The very expensive Bluray and HDDVD players ($1500++) contain the best upscaling technololgy and if there was not a massive price drop I would not have bothered.

My TV and most other Full HD ones have more than one HDMI interface so it is easy to have both a Bluray AND a HD DVD playes connected at the same time.

I bought a Toshiba XE1 for $300 (the top of the range) and 62 movies that I like and had either pirate, 480P R1 or 576P R4 (or did not have) for $516.32.

So for $820 if have 62 1080P movies and the ability to play them as well as a significant performance gain upscaling over my SONY and TOSHIBA upscaling standard DVD players.

The cheapest Bluray around is the Sharp at about $450. The price is irrelevent as whether of not I have a HD DVD player I will need to but a bluray player to play blurays.

The cheapest Blurays I have seen in the past few weeks (and I have been to LOTS of video stores looking for HDDVD) is about $35 with most at $45-$50.
So even at the one off promption special of $25 (3 for 2) quoted above it would cost $1550 for the same movie selection.

I am already over $700 ahead (enough to pay for a cheap Bluray player).

I am off to Hong Kong in a few weeks and will bring back what ever I can find as well as buy what I want of E-Bay.

I am sure many of the titles I want will NEVER be on HD DVD. I don't care, I will buy the on BluRay and play them on another player. One day Bluray will be cheaper. Again I don't care I HAVE THEM NOW.

I have a heap of VHS videos that I bought years ago. Should I have waited until now to buy bluray and not watched anything for 15 years?

How can you be on AFF? You computer is totally supersceded and incompatible with a lot of the stuff that will be released next year and the years after that.

e.g. Is your video card ISA, PCI, AGP or PCIe? Surly you can't use a PC that is not quad core, PCIe dual video card, SAS raid, special sauce on a sesame seed bun?
You can't run Vista on a Pentium 200mmx can you? So why did you buy it?

I really do suspect that those who seem bitter and twisted about HD DVD are those who see the movies they want heaps cheaper but not available on their format.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by ken2903

flappist, I wasn't attacking your widely publicized hddvd shopping spree. I can see the advantages of buying up now that they are cheap, i just wouldn't do it myself but each to their own.
What i didn't get was why you would say the PS3 blueray is crap quality, when i've never heard that from anywhere else. OK, i've now read a couple of reviews comparing it to dedicated players and there are some things it doesn't do as well, but it goes the other way too. Which dedicated players can recieve online software updates? Which other dedicated players can you get for under $600?
Like i said in my other post, i didn't get my PS3 for its blueray abilities, and after reading some reviews comparing them, like you, i'll probably wait until the dedicated players are a bit cheaper and then get one. I just hope my playstation holds together until then.


This isn't a US one, but it is younger than me.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Stereo-Beta-V...QQcmdZViewItem

Dedicated Blurays under $600 that I have seen in that last week or so, Sharp, Sony and Samsung. (449-599 before "cash deal")

All seem to have ethernet ports and a section in the manual about downloading firmware upgrades so I suspect most players do.

The PS3 is a computer game that can play BR discs. To think that they would be as good or better than a dedicated player is just silly.
Even if it were technically possible to do the clever stuff in software rathers than hardware Sony's marketing people would stop it just to protect their sales.

How may F6s would sell if all the goodies could be factory optioned on a XR6T?

[ls f6]

Originally Posted by flappist

The PS3 is a computer game that can play BR discs. To think that they would be as good or better than a dedicated player is just silly.
Even if it were technically possible to do the clever stuff in software rathers than hardware Sony's marketing people would stop it just to protect their sales.

Depends what floats your boat.

If audio is your thing, and you have blu-ray discs that offer DTSHD MA, or feel analogue audio is a must, or you want to see your flash AV receiver display telling you that it is decoding a bitstream fed HD audio source from the player (rather than the player internally decoding the audio)....then there are blu-ray players that offer features the PS3 can't (yet at least) match.

If picture quality is high on your priority list (given we are talking 1080p capable players here, which is the gimick that sucks in most buyers);

The current top of the lline Sony standalone player (in Australia at least);
http://www.cnet.com.au/dvdpvr/hddvd/...9284586,00.htm

"It was disappointing to note, then, that the player's Blu-ray performance wasn't even a match for the PlayStation 3's. While the machine did a creditable job of replaying DVDs and removing noise from our King Kong test disk, it also did this at the expense of some detail. "

"It boasts a sturdy build and features you won't see on other players. Sound is fantastic, and DVDs are great, but it's a pity Blu-ray performance isn't up to snuff. We'd opt for the PlayStation 3 instead."

SD DVD; stick to the XE-1. No blu-ray player will come close to the upscaling abilties of the Tosh.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by ls f6

Depends what floats your boat.

If audio is your thing, and you have blu-ray discs that offer DTSHD MA, or feel analogue audio is a must, or you want to see your flash AV receiver display telling you that it is decoding a bitstream fed HD audio source from the player (rather than the player internally decoding the audio)....then there are blu-ray players that offer features the PS3 can't (yet at least) match.

If picture quality is high on your priority list (given we are talking 1080p capable players here, which is the gimick that sucks in most buyers);

The current top of the lline Sony standalone player (in Australia at least);
http://www.cnet.com.au/dvdpvr/hddvd/...9284586,00.htm

"It was disappointing to note, then, that the player's Blu-ray performance wasn't even a match for the PlayStation 3's. While the machine did a creditable job of replaying DVDs and removing noise from our King Kong test disk, it also did this at the expense of some detail. "

"It boasts a sturdy build and features you won't see on other players. Sound is fantastic, and DVDs are great, but it's a pity Blu-ray performance isn't up to snuff. We'd opt for the PlayStation 3 instead."

SD DVD; stick to the XE-1. No blu-ray player will come close to the upscaling abilties of the Tosh.

Exactly.......

And this is why I don't have a bluray yet....

But I will one day.

[StAndArdAU]

i see the point your making and i wont argue with it. PERSONALLY (and this agrees further with your post) i'd rather just not 'hang out' for the best top of the range of anything because of the fact that within a month or two, something better will come out. so for me, using my PS3 as my only Blu-ray player will suffice. and it can play games which I enjoy doing, and my lounge room hasent got a lot of shelf space.

IMO after having viewed different BR players AND HDDVD players being used in places like Myers and DAvid Jones etc... the quality of the player only shines depending on the TV it's hooked up to. And again IMO, the one that displayed both the best for clarity and brightness etc were the high end Bravia's. might get one soon.

Hope they start selling new release stndrd DVD's for $8 next year. cheers