Blu-Ray Players

[drfsupercenter]

OK, so my grandma called (She's the one buying our HDTV when we get it) and she said she'll get us a Blu-Ray player if we want.

So I thought I'd make a thread on it too.

Does it matter what kind I get? Are the more expensive ones any better? Since surely they all do the same thing?

Also, the guy at Best Buy told me the more expensive they get, the harder they are to hack them to be region-free (for DVDs that is)... is that true? If it's possible I want one I can make region-free since I have a few imported DVDs from Japan that are region 2 NTSC. (And I'm assuming none of them play PAL? I already converted almost all my region 2 PAL DVDs to NTSC but if I can get a dual-format one that would be awesome).

Does anyone have one they're pleased/displeased with? I think she'd be fine with buying a more expensive one, but is there any benefit?

[admin]

I would do a search on the various Blu-ray forums to see if they have any recommendations. Here in Australia, there's a Pioneer that's actually region-free out of the factory (well sort of, they provide the region-free firmware). It's only region-free for DVDs, of course, as the Blu-ray region system (A, B and C) is still in effect.

It wastes a bit of space, but I would rather have a separate region-free DVD upscaler alongside a Blu-ray player, then to go and hack the Blu-ray player for region-free, since Blu-ray players gets more firmware updates than most other types of electronics (due to the ever changing nature of the content being provided), and hacked machines might not be able to get updated or the update might cause problems.

Also, look for Profile 2.0 Blu-ray players if you can. Profile 1.1 is mandatory, so don't get Profile 1.0 players. You can probably skip Profile 2.0 if you don't have networked connections where you place your player, since that's required for the Internet based content.

Plus another option is to get the PS3 (the most powerful and fast loading Blu-ray player on the market, and Profile 2.0 too - not very noisy either), which will double as your game console. This way, you have reason to keep your current DVD player/upscaler, while using the PS3 for games and Blu-ray.

More general Blu-ray buying tips here:

http://www.digital-digest.com/articles/Blu-ray_HD_DVD_Buyers_Guide_page1.html

[BR7]

I just read an article that Sony plans on adding to to it's BD-Live.If you do get a Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player other then the PS3,make darn sure it's future proof

[drfsupercenter]

Well, my grandma's buying it and I really don't want to empty her wallet with a PS3 or anything...

Are the entry-line $300 ones any good? I figured Blu-Ray is Blu-Ray so it should be fine... right?

I would do a search on the various Blu-ray forums to see if they have any recommendations. Here in Australia, there's a Pioneer that's actually region-free out of the factory (well sort of, they provide the region-free firmware). It's only region-free for DVDs, of course, as the Blu-ray region system (A, B and C) is still in effect.

I thought Blu-Ray didn't have regions... or is that HD-DVD?

And my grandma was only going to buy the TV and one disc player... so if she got us a Blu-Ray player we'd have to buy an upscaling DVD player ourself... and my mom has no idea what DVD regions even are so it doesn't make sense.

Now, we were looking at Best Buy's display Blu-Ray player (the guy was showing us upscaled DVD vs. Blu-Ray), and it seemed like if you upscale a DVD to "1080p" (I put it in quotes because the sales rep said it's physically impossible to upscale a DVD to 1080p... it makes it 1080i and then tries to fill it in) it lags a lot when there's a lot of motion. He recommended either only upscaling to 1080i and letting the TV deinterlace, or upscaling to 720p.
I take it standalone upscaling DVD players don't have the lag problem when trying to make a DVD play at 1080p? But would it really matter? And/or look better than a Blu-Ray player?

[admin]

The new range of Profile 2.0 players from Samsung (BD-P1500) and Sony (BDP-S350) look attractive, although the PS3 is only $99 more than your $300 budget (and these players will probably cost very close to the PS3 anyway - the BD-P1500 costs $343 from Amazon, the BDP-S350 is at $399). None of them are region-free though. Pioneer's new Blu-ray players (BDP-51FD) are only Profile 1.1 I think, and will be upwards of $400 at retail.

But if you are sticking with your $300 budget, then you will have to look at Profile 1.0 or 1.1 players. There is the Profile 1.1 Panasonic DMP-BD30, which actually costs more than the Sony/Samsung Profile 2.0 players. Or the only budget choice available right now is at Wal-Mart, their Magnavox NB500MG9 player (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=9864613) for just under $300. It is Profile 1.1 compatible. It's not region-free for DVDs, as far as I know. I still wouldn't get Profile 1.0 players, as you won't be able to enjoy probably half of the special features found on future Blu-ray releases (anything that requires dual video/audio decoders, such as picture-in-picture type features, will require Profile 1.1 - a lot of commentary are now video commentary, and a lot of special features are now built into the movie using picture-in-picture).

So with all this, the PS3 is still probably the best value Blu-ray player on the market. The reason for this is Sony is using it to promote Blu-ray, and to catch up to the Xbox 360/Wii, so it's been heavily discounted at a huge loss to Sony. That's why it's almost the same price at their Blu-ray only players.

[admin]

As for the upscaling issue, upscaling to 1080p/24 is not recommended as it could cause display problems. The other 1080p modes should be fine, although it largely depends on the player I think.

Upscaling to 1080i will give you the same picture anyway since your TV will recombine the image to a progressive one (see http://wiki.digital-digest.com/index.php/1080i/p). The upscaling performances of most of the Blu-ray players are quite average indeed. None of them beats the Oppo DV-983H for upscaling performance anyway, or even the older 980/981 models.

[BR7]

Stay away from those Samsung 1.0 players.They have been problematic for a lot of people

[drfsupercenter]

Hmm, so PS3s are only $400 now? I thought they were still around $600.

My grandma might be open to that... I'd have to ask her when she comes up next week. (Probably when we're buying all this stuff)

And I can play PS1/2 games with that? I've never had a PlayStation, and actually wanted to buy a used PS2 somewhere but if the PS3 handles it I might not need to...

Doesn't the PS3 have uber DRM though?

Anyway, $300 wasn't the limit, it was just the average price I noticed at Best Buy. Now, another question I had... does HDMI do the audio too? Or is it like component where you need a different audio cable?

What exactly does 2.0 do? I do have a wireless router which I use for the Wii and DS gaming... but if you only need 2.0 for online special features, will it automatically update an older player? Or does it not work like that? I really don't know much about Blu-Ray other than that it's better quality than DVD... and I really don't like trusting sales reps, since they always tell you to buy the most expensive stuff.

--EDIT--

Another concern with getting a PS3 is that it's more of an entertainment gizmo than an actual movie player. I'm not the only one who will be using that TV, and my parents and sisters really aren't tech-savvy. My mom already can't stand our DVD recorder which is being used as a DVD player... since it's not as straightforward as a normal DVD player. Judging what I've seen with the PS2 and DVDs, it's a bit more complicated than a standalone player... but is the PS3 better? Can you just press "eject", stick a Blu-Ray disc or DVD in, and be watching it on the TV with no extra button pressing? And I take it there's a remote for it, since I can't stand using controllers?

[admin]

The 40 GB PS3 doesn't play PS2 games, but it is PS1 compatible.

The PS3 is great if you have a wireless rounter, since it has wireless built in and you can use Profile 2.0 discs with that. With a standalone, you will need a wired connection most likely.

Profile 2.0 or BD-Live is a set of features on discs that require Internet connections. For example, a feature might allow you to synchronize watching a movie with your friend through the Internet and text chat during the session. More commonly though it is used to download additional content produced after the disc was shipped, such as more trailers or custom themes for menus.

And some players can use the networked connection to update their firmware (the PS3 does that, not just for the Blu-ray component).

As for HDMI, it can carry both the audio and video. You will definitely need a TV with HDMI inputs if you want to enjoy Blu-ray on the PS3. There's a whole bunch of new audio formats (such as Dolby TrueHD) for Blu-ray, but you don't need to worry about them unless you want to invest in a new sound system (HDMI capable AV receiver) - without a new system, you can still enjoy better than DVD quality audio (5.1 channels, max bitrate Dolby Digital AC3 or full bitrate DTS).

There's more about all of this in the buyer's guide I wrote and linked to above. It's a lot to take in at first, but it will tell you whether you need Blu-ray/HD or not, the requirements and what to look out for (plus a whole chapter on the new audio formats, and how to get the best out of them).

[atifsh]

now man that is one super granny u have....... HD-Display now blueray player

[drfsupercenter]

That's really stupid that it can't play PS2 games... If the Xbox 360 can play Xbox games and the Wii can play GameCube games, what's Sony's excuse?

What exactly is the 40GB hard drive even used for? The Wii only has 256MB internal memory and can store saves just fine. (Except it sucks that I have to keep moving my virtual console games to and from the SD card)

As far as a wired connection goes, that will be kinda hard since the player will be in my basement, a floor below the router. Is the PS3 the only way to do it via wireless?

And is playing movies with the PS3 straightforward? Or do you have to put it in, boot the system up, click "Play movie", etc like you do on the Xbox 360? Because if you have to do that my mom probably won't be very happy.

[copyless]

What exactly is the 40GB hard drive even used for?

I would say the Playstation Store, there are tons of games, demo's, and add-ons to purchase online if you like. I removed my HD and put in a 250GB HD several months back because the 60GB I had was running out of space.

You can get demo's for free and you will also find several PS/2 games for very little money you can DL. So if you erase the demo's when you DL new one's I would say the 40GB last a long time, but I never erase them unless I end up buying the actual game.

They have a remote especially for viewing disc's (although it is not necessary, it does make it easier) for around $25.00.

[BR7]

You can also add an external HD to the PS3 to save your videos and music.I think it recognizes up to 500GB

[drfsupercenter]

Hmm, so it can't play PS2 discs but you can download PS2 games? How long does it take the PS3 to download an entire ISO?

And how easy is it to play discs with it?

[copyless]

I'm not positive but I think mine does play PS2 games, (the 60GB model) I believe this was changed when they changed to the 40GB model, but I am not sure. But you can definitely DL certain PS games, usually the classic ones,.

As far as DL's go you can play it while you DL in the background which is what I normally do, or else let it DL while I watch TV. I have DL several games from 850MB to 1500MB, you can select several things and just let it do the work, then later install whatever you have DL, so this would be mostly determined by your internet speed, I think mine is usually around 30-45 minutes per game.

With the PS3-BD remote, it is the same as with any player, it has all the normal functions, such as, play, FF, Rewind, next, previous, display, menu, pause, audio, subtitle, angle, slow reverse, slow forward, eject, and more.