Best Blu Ray player

I agree with the value aspect.

But a few years back I'd just spent R40,000 on an DVD player, CD player, TViX and amplifier.

Someone came to me and said I should have spent a 10th of the price on PS3 because - aside from doing everything I bought 'better' - I'd have Blu Ray too.

While I agreed about the value and Bluray, I failed to see the PS3 offering more performance than dedicated home theatre aspects at many times the cost.

A small example is the media section - which a few years ago was no where near a dedicated system. Things may have changed, but it lacked mkv and many other codedcs/containers. The GUI was just "bleh".

The upscaling on the DVD was listed as one of the best available at the time - and obviously I had 5.1 SACD playback and very decent DVD Audio.

As I say, great value - but it can be bettered by dedicated systems. So best in budget - but not the best ever
 
Dolby said:
Things may have changed, but it lacked mkv and many other codedcs/containers.
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Direct .mkv playback is still not there (probably on purpose) but utils like mkv2vob can convert multi-GB files in minutes, so only a minor gripe.

The greater irritation is enforcement of Cinevia copy protection (unless you can get files with DTS soundtracks which arent detected), but it seems this will slowly become the norm on standalone Bluray players as well. Anyway if its a movie good enough to keep, then you should invest in the Bluray disc.
 
Agreed.

I want those BBC Earth docs on Blu Ray
 
I've been considering getting a bly-ray player as well and only started looking into different brands. One of the things that I came across was that you have to be careful when selecting a player as not all players can read dual sided disks. Can anyone confirm that this is so.
 
Roman4604 said:
Thats why I invested in a dedicated PS3 (160 slim) just for Bluray/DVD/media duties, because its so future proof. Obviously there are some hardware limitations that are unavoidable e.g. ...

Yes it does, but there is a limitation to outputing HD audio and 3D video simulataneous due the bitrate constraints of its HDMI 1.3a port.
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Couldn't a person get around this by using a Toslink(Optical) cable for sound?
 
Qwikslver said:
Couldn't a person get around this by using a Toslink(Optical) cable for sound?
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My understanding is Toslink doesnt have the bw for HD audio, only HDMI does.

But because PS3 only have a HDMI 1.3a spec port, it only has sufficient bw for 2D video + DD/DTS-HD audio or 3D video + std DD5.1/DTS audio.

3D video + DD/DTS-HD audio would require the bw capacity of a HDMI 1.4 spec port.
 
Roman4604 said:
My understanding is Toslink doesnt have the bw for HD audio, only HDMI does.
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Roman, quick note, the bw on optical cable is more then enough to carry HD audio, it is a specs and legal staff that don't allow HD audio over optical.
 
I see, I must say I'm quite enjoying my SONY BDP S370, No idea how it compares in BD capability alone to the ps3
 
Dolby said:
You're not one of those that believes that every PS3 had R70,000.00 of technology in it - are you?
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LOL, who would think that... PS3 does a good job in my opinion - I wonder how long it will take for PS3 to become obselete :)
 
if i got a Component A/V receiver and my xbox and blu-ray player is connected to my tv (via HDMI) and my tv connected to the receiver, what is the impact on quality loss in this case??? will upgrading the receiver alone make a huge diffrence and if so, can you explain? my audio from the tv to the receiver runs through optical....

sorry for going OT :p
 
LoneWolf said:
if i got a Component A/V receiver and my xbox and blu-ray player is connected to my tv (via HDMI) and my tv connected to the receiver, what is the impact on quality loss in this case??? will upgrading the receiver alone make a huge diffrence and if so, can you explain? my audio from the tv to the receiver runs through optical....
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Dont think this is optimal.

To the best of my knowledge, no TV on the market does full 5.1 ch passthrough from HDMI in to optical out, they all downmix it to 2ch. Full 5.1ch is only sent out of the TV's optical port if originating from the digital terrestrial HD tuner (so not applicable in SA).

To get full 5.1 sound, you'd need to run individual optical (or coax) cables from xbox & bluray to the amp (i.e. TV not involved in audio).
 
LoneWolf said:
if i got a Component A/V receiver and my xbox and blu-ray player is connected to my tv (via HDMI) and my tv connected to the receiver, what is the impact on quality loss in this case??? will upgrading the receiver alone make a huge diffrence and if so, can you explain? my audio from the tv to the receiver runs through optical....

sorry for going OT :p
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Component is HD so not worth the upgrade. If you were a videophile you wouldn't be asking the question anyway.
 
Roman4604 said:
Dont think this is optimal.

To the best of my knowledge, no TV on the market does full 5.1 ch passthrough from HDMI in to optical out, they all downmix it to 2ch. Full 5.1ch is only sent out of the TV's optical port if originating from the digital terrestrial HD tuner (so not applicable in SA).

To get full 5.1 sound, you'd need to run individual optical (or coax) cables from xbox & bluray to the amp (i.e. TV not involved in audio).
Click to expand...

i've only got 1 Optical in behind the amp...

would it be better to upgrade the amp and get it over and done with???
 
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