Panasonic BDT310

SPIKE718

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Help please. I am considering upgrading my (oldish) Denon for a Pana BDT 210 or 310. I am a bit confused by this statement in a review of the 310 I've just read online.

"The biggest talking point on the rear panel is the presence of two HDMI outputs. That makes it possible to enjoy 3D pictures and HD audio soundtracks simultaneously if your AV receiver lacks HDMI v1.4 inputs. It's a feature we loved on the BDT300 and we're pleased to see it return. Of course, if your AV receiver boasts HDMI v1.4 inputs then the second output is of little use."

I currently feed DVD picture direct to my screen via HDMI and its sound to my receiver via optical. Is it safe to assume that this method will still provide as good a sound as is possible from the new Blueray player.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated
Thanks
 
All depends what receiver you have. Optical with not give you HD audio, only dvd quality sound.
The panasonic 310 is designed for passing video (including 3D) to your panel through 1 hdmi port and passing hd audio to your av amp using the other hdmi port.
This is for people, like me, with an older hdmi amp that does not support hdmi v1.4 standard, i.e. 3d pass through.
If you have a newer amp then the 210 will suffice.

cheers

thebassman
 
You may not need 2 HDMIs - consider the 210 or 110 instead...
 
I have a Denon 4310 AV receiver. As far as I can judge from the manual it does not support 3D and I cannot see any reference in the manual to which version of HDMI it has. There is, however, a specific HD HDMI input, which I am assuming (hoping) will give me the HD noises I am looking to take advantage of from the PANA 210 or 310. Clearly I need to do a little more study before I make the commitment. I've read the specs of both the 210 and 310 and the only difference appears to be the twin HDMI ports of the 310. It's just a question of whether I need the second one or if I can utilise the optical port of the 210.
 
I've just re-read the notes from thebassman and I now understand that if I am connecting the PANA 310 direct to the screen the only way I can get HD sound is by using the second HDMI output to the AV receiver. I think I might have go my brain into gear at last.
Please feel free to tell me if I'm barking.....
 
No, you are not barking, you are spot on.
You have the much better version of my amp, same era though, so it is not v1.4.
The only option would be hdmi to panel for video and optical to amp for non hd audio. To me, the audio is the bigger upgrade for hd, so this would not be an option. This is very subjective though.

cheers

thebassman
 
OK bassman, Many thanks indeed. The 310 it is then. I wonder what they'll be selling for after Christmas??!!
 
I know Amazon uk have just dropped the price to £149.99, comes with Star wars 3 original films on Blu ray. You have to send off for them.
I ordered mine last night :D

cheers

thebassman
 
Had the 310 MR given as a Xmas Present, now replacing my BD60 MR and 110 3D.
As I have a pre HDMI Amp I have the audio set up via Optical and the DTS sound is great, But i would be interested to know if there is any real difference in sound of Optical verses HDMI.
 
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As thebassman has stated as you can't get HD audio over optical so a hdmi out of the second hdmi socket would give you the benefit of HD sound formats found on most blu rays.
 
I hope to receive my BDT310 in the next couple of days so I'm hoping these ancient ears will be able to confirm the actuality of HDMI over Optical for HD sound.
 
Got my new BDT310. Trying to connect up. OK to the Screen via HDMI but can't get my DENON4310 Amp to take the audio in from the Secondary HDMI. Any ideas on relevant settings from the 310 would be appreciated.

Thanks
Spike69
 
Mine turned up today too. Hope I can get mine connected to my old onkyo 905 amp ok. Let me know if u figure it out!
 
Got my new BDT310. Trying to connect up. OK to the Screen via HDMI but can't get my DENON4310 Amp to take the audio in from the Secondary HDMI. Any ideas on relevant settings from the 310 would be appreciated.

Thanks
Spike69

Hi Spike718 and Sly

I set mine up the other day with my Denon 1910 as follows;

For the cables; connect the "AV out main" to your panel, connect AV out sub" to your amp, both via hdmi.

In the blu ray player menu;

go to setup, player settings, sound, digital audio output;
Dolby D/ etc, set as bitstream
DTS/ etc, set as bitstream
BD-Video secondary audio, set to off

Display; HDMI(SUB) V.off LED control, set to on at first just to check its working properly. This will display in Orange on the player display. I went back in and set it to off afterwards, it just turns the LED off, it can be quire distracting when your watching a film.

TV/ Device connection; HDMI connection,
HDMI(SUB) output mode, set to V.OFF
HDMI audio output, set to On

I also switched off the Touch free sensor, this is under the others menu. I done this as i have a TiVo box sat on top.

I am still unsure at this time about setting the TV system to either NTSC or PAL, it defaults to NTSC, also a bit unsure about switching on the 24p output. Maybe someone else can answer this.

I have an LG 50PZ550.

I hope this helps, feel free to ask anything else.:smashin:

cheers

thebassman
 
Hi bassman
I've tried the above, still with no joy. I'm getting a good pic and sound with the HDMI link to the display, the the audio downfeed from that to the 4310 is good also. The 4310 also has an additional HD input, do you reckon it's worth trying that? I could have dodgy HDMI (new) cable I suppose.
cheers
SPIKE718
 
SORTED!!!!!!
The art of messing with cables at the back of the amp when looking at it from the front, escapes me!!!
There never would be a great deal of success in connecting the output of the player to the output of the amp!!

Many thanks for your help bassman
I'll put in a review in due course.

cheers
Spike718
 
Hi Spike
glad you sussed that out, because i have been really scratching my head:smashin:

Let me know if you suss out the NTSC/ PAL and the 24p output modes.

cheers

thebassman
 
Mines arrived too. 24p works fine on mine. Also unsure of the difference, but obviously my screen accepts it as it works!
 
Mines arrived too. 24p works fine on mine. Also unsure of the difference, but obviously my screen accepts it as it works!

Cool, thanks for the info.
Anyone know about the NTSC or PAL settings, i think the default on the player is NTSC. :confused:

cheers

thebassman
 
Default on mine is NTSC also which I thought was a little weird. Doesn't matter if your playing HD material I suppose, but its odd that the up scaling resolution is a separate option.
 
I've set mine to PAL because that's the UK standard. I believe the reason for the upscale option is so that you can choose either the screen OR the player to provide the upscaling. Makes sense to me - but I'm not sure if I'm right.

Anyone know about 24P???
 
Hi
After a bit of experimenting, i have now set mine to PAL and 24p, this seems like the best settings.
I have had some good results with 3d and 2d Blu rays.
Although the worst film i have watched is Harry P Deathly hallows pt2, seemed very poor quality in places :thumbsdow, although some scenes were very 3d and crystal clear. I have put this down to just a poor quality transfer.

cheers

thebassman
 

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