Right, thats it!

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stumpywalnut

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Cancelled SKY HD as I thought I would rent more films than I have watched on Sky.
Convinced myself the amount saved could go towards buying the Samsung BD-UP5000.
Not only is this taking far too long to arrive, but I would have also waited a couple of months for it to 'settle' in the market and hopefully get a few quid off it. Now I see ANOTHER reason not to buy this - the 5500.
So, I have convinced Mrs S that 2 boxes wont be all that bad (I havent mentioned the DVD recorder will be staying) and it will work out cheaper than buying the dual player.
I know this has been done to death, and there is no definitive answer, but can someone recommend a player each for HD DVD and Blu Ray - that will do the job, not have loads of problems and mainly be as 'reasonably' priced as poss.

Cos I gotta buy something before she changes her mind.....
 
I'd have to say now is not a great time to be buying any stand alone players for either bd or HD-DVD.

Due to the warners move, future HD-DVD is in doubt (this comes from a EP35 owner). I would give it a month or so to settle down and see what universal and paramount do.

Due to profile changes in BD, most players in the UK at present are 1.0 profile, the new ones announced at CES tend to be 1.1 profile, while only a couple of profile 2 players have been announced. These could take 6 months to arrive here. You could of course get a PS3 if that's your bag, but it does have limitations compared to a stand alone IMO.

I'd say wait a month or so long to see what happens.
 
If you really want a HD DVD player now you can get one from Tescos with 7 films for £200. The EP30. Look on e-bay or the classifieds and there might be lots of bargains. For the blu-ray camp I'd go for at least a 1.1 player if you don't want a PS3. 1.0 players will be cheaper but I wouldn't get one. By the end of this year you might find several films with features the 1.0 players can't do.

You might be better off getting a blu-ray player only though. The HD DVD camp is looking fatally wounded right now.
 
Cancelled SKY HD as I thought I would rent more films than I have watched on Sky.
Convinced myself the amount saved could go towards buying the Samsung BD-UP5000.
Not only is this taking far too long to arrive, but I would have also waited a couple of months for it to 'settle' in the market and hopefully get a few quid off it. Now I see ANOTHER reason not to buy this - the 5500.
So, I have convinced Mrs S that 2 boxes wont be all that bad (I havent mentioned the DVD recorder will be staying) and it will work out cheaper than buying the dual player.
I know this has been done to death, and there is no definitive answer, but can someone recommend a player each for HD DVD and Blu Ray - that will do the job, not have loads of problems and mainly be as 'reasonably' priced as poss.

Cos I gotta buy something before she changes her mind.....

What can anyone say but PS3? How many movies do you want to watch in 2008? With the PS3 you will be able to watch some Blu Ray movies, and all of your DVD collection will be upscaled to give you some pleasure from them. The combi's are too expensive anyway. I would only pay £299 for a combi, it's similar to having games, and Blu Ray.. 2 types of media.. a sort of combi in itself.
 
Get a PS3. It's a great machine, and no matter what happens it looks like Blu-ray is here to stay.
 
Cancelled SKY HD as I thought I would rent more films than I have watched on Sky.
Convinced myself the amount saved could go towards buying the Samsung BD-UP5000.
Not only is this taking far too long to arrive, but I would have also waited a couple of months for it to 'settle' in the market and hopefully get a few quid off it. Now I see ANOTHER reason not to buy this - the 5500.
So, I have convinced Mrs S that 2 boxes wont be all that bad (I havent mentioned the DVD recorder will be staying) and it will work out cheaper than buying the dual player.
I know this has been done to death, and there is no definitive answer, but can someone recommend a player each for HD DVD and Blu Ray - that will do the job, not have loads of problems and mainly be as 'reasonably' priced as poss.

Cos I gotta buy something before she changes her mind.....

Stumpy

Some question to help with answers -

1. What display will you be using ?
2. Do you only buy/own UK (R2) DVD's ?
3. Do you have an surround sound amp/receiver ?

AVI
 
Stumpy

Some question to help with answers -

1. What display will you be using ?
2. Do you only buy/own UK (R2) DVD's ?
3. Do you have an surround sound amp/receiver ?

AVI

Hi,
1 - I have a PW7 which display(ed) Sky Hd at 1080i very nicely.
2 - I have various DVDs - some imports.
3 - Yes I have a 'decent' Denon reciever.
 
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Would this be a viable option?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Samsung-BD-P1...oryZ3316QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
If you cant be bothered to click its an E-bay ad offering a firmware updrade to 1.1.

Unless some little man is going to come round your house and add some hardware to it, then it won't give you a profile 1.1 upgrade!

Seriously this is a massive problem with the stand alone market, just because the PS3 seems good enough for most people i can't see why people don't seem bothered about the issue with stand alones. I think that's been the biggest problem with the format war, people got very polarised very quickly and refused proper debate over these sort of issues.
 
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What would you suggest - PS3 option seems to be very popular?

It is very popular... but...

Unless you have an HDMI audio amp like the new onkyo's you'll only get downscaled DTS over optical out of the PS3, ok it's better than DVD but it's not HD sound. You also have to use a weird dongle thing for IR remote control, some of which sony seems intent on disabling. That's to name but 2 of the issues i have with the PS3.

Personally i'm waiting for a complete stand alone player to arrive with PiP, BDj 1.1 support and ethernet (profile 2), full internal decoding of all audio formats as well as bitstream output, and i'm waiting till it's at a reasonable price of around £300. If tosh can do that on their players there is no reason why the BDA CEs can't do it.

All people ever want is a bit of equipment that works and is not going to outdated in a month. Why can't BD produce that? It's been around for how long in japan 5 years?

You have samsung announcing a new model of the dual player before the old one is even launched (other than a handful of machines in the US). That can't be acceptable to anyone.
 
When you say you have a good Denon AV receiver, does this mean it is a version that accepts LPCM audio over hdmi?. (If my memory is correct players below the 2307/2308 don't do this)

If not then you are missing out on a lot with the sound.

You would thus need to get a player with 5.1 analogue outputs to get the hidef sound. Such as for HD-DVD the EP35 or XE1.

The PS3 does not have analogue outputs as far as I can see (I don't own one so can't be 100% sure) so that could be a problem

If the Denon does do the audio over HDMI then I would personally recommend buying.

1. A USA/Japanese PS3 (its multivoltage meaning you don't need to worry about voltage transformers).

And

2. A UK HD-DVD HD-E1 or HD-DVD EP30. Check the forum classifieds section as people are trying to offload theirs since the Warners announcment.

If you choose to buy a new HD-DVD player if you buy one before 31st January you will get 5 free movies which is a nice added bonus.

I personally however would wait a while if you can, mainly because the PS3 is scheduled to have the 65nm GPU reduction (from the current 90nm).

This will mean the PS3 will run considerably cooler and quieter.

And the future of HD-DVD is uncertain and I have a feeling you may be able to buy a player for chicken feed shortly as retailers try to clear their stock if HD-DVD calls it a day.
 
What would you suggest - PS3 option seems to be very popular?

PS3 is great, but it does have some limitations. you will need HDMI to get the most out of it and lossless audio wise you need an amp that can handle HDMI as well.

The PS3 is whoever lighning quick at loading a disc, has other fuctions, and is Bonus View enabled.

If you dont mind importing the Panasonic BDP30 is also bonus view but again you need amp with HDMI for lossless audio. (you will need to import region locked discs as well)

A player that could hit all bases is the soon coming Panasonic BDP 50, which is a BD Live player which has onboard audio decoders (amp will just need multi channel ins) for lossless audio and is really a full featured player.

PS3 is a good stop gap that you know you can sell at a small loss when more BD live players hit retail.
 
A player that could hit all bases is the soon coming Panasonic BDP 50, which is a BD Live player which has onboard audio decoders (amp will just need multi channel ins) for lossless audio and is really a full featured player.


Re: New Panny BD50 2.0 profile and Sharp player announced at CES

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by lfletcher

"The true to the original source images are complimented by an exceptionally pure, accurate sound achieved through Audio Re-master and integrated decoders for the lossless Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio formats. Furthermore, the DMP-BD50 can be combined with a 7.1 channel amplifier and speakers for full 7.1 channel surround sound."

No it is not in the above press release.

The word analogue is not mentioned. Full 7.1 channel surround sound from a 7.1 channel amplifier for the HD audio formats, in this instance may perhaps only be via HDMI.

The devil is in the detail. While it possible that HD audio formats COULD be available over analogs, this statement makes it far from clear, IMO.

tausifs.
 
Re: New Panny BD50 2.0 profile and Sharp player announced at CES

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by lfletcher

"The true to the original source images are complimented by an exceptionally pure, accurate sound achieved through Audio Re-master and integrated decoders for the lossless Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio formats. Furthermore, the DMP-BD50 can be combined with a 7.1 channel amplifier and speakers for full 7.1 channel surround sound."

No it is not in the above press release.

The word analogue is not mentioned. Full 7.1 channel surround sound from a 7.1 channel amplifier for the HD audio formats, in this instance may perhaps only be via HDMI.

The devil is in the detail. While it possible that HD audio formats COULD be available over analogs, this statement makes it far from clear, IMO.

tausifs.

You missed out a bit.

The new player will include all of the features of the company's recently-released DMP-BD30K,plus internal TrueHD/DTS-HD Master Audio decoding and analog outputs allowing for full 7.1 channel surround sound when connected with a 7.1 channel amplifier and speakers.

SOURCE
 
Hi,
1 - I have a PW7 which display(ed) Sky Hd at 1080i very nicely.
2 - I have various DVDs - some imports.
3 - Yes I have a 'decent' Denon reciever.

Stumpy

I assume you're using component to the PW7. Is that correct ? Unless your planning a display upgrade real soon I don't think you need worry about 1080p or 24hz. I assume your Denon has muti-channel analogue so a player with the ability to ouput HD audio in analogue may be a consideration. Muti-region DVD may be an issue for both HD formats.

Unless your film choice is pointing you down a specific route I would consider one of the Tosh HD DVD models with analogue support. The only Blu-ray players I would consider are the PS3 or importing the Panasonic DMP-BD30. But the PS3 does not support mc analogue audio or bitstream over HDMI and the BD30 does not internally decode HD audio codecs.

AVI
 
What would you suggest - PS3 option seems to be very popular?
9 million people can't be wrong. :)

If you want a console that plays blu-ray disks it's great. If you connect to one of the onkyo range of amps from £400 link you can have next gen audio.
 
9 million people can't be wrong. :)

If you want a console that plays blu-ray disks it's great. If you connect to one of the onkyo range of amps from £400 link you can have next gen audio.

How do I get the PS3 to pass bitstream codec to the Onkyo to allow the amp to decode the next gen audio such DTS MA or Dolby True HD ? I know the PS3 can output multichannel PCM but what if I want the amp to do the decoding ?

AVI
 
Stumpy

I assume you're using component to the PW7. Is that correct ? Unless your planning a display upgrade real soon I don't think you need worry about 1080p or 24hz. I assume your Denon has muti-channel analogue so a player with the ability to ouput HD audio in analogue may be a consideration.

I would consider one of the Tosh HD DVD models with analogue support.

AVI


Yes I am going component.
The Denon I have at the mo does NOT take HDMI audio.
However, with both of these, all being well, there will be an upgrade in the future (when isnt there!).
What I dont want to do is limit the choice of player by the equipmet I have at the moment.
This thread started with it being pointed out that there had been a shift in the thinking of the studios and it could be a reasonable gamble to just go Blu Ray.
Now it seems that HD is being suggested also, so Im back to the 2 box solution.
I know theres no definitive answer, but all the options and politics make taking a leap of faith one way or the other impoissible.
 
How do I get the PS3 to pass bitstream codec to the Onkyo to allow the amp to decode the next gen audio such DTS MA or Dolby True HD ? I know the PS3 can output multichannel PCM but what if I want the amp to do the decoding ?

AVI

At present it's not possible I think. I've heard different rumours as to whether it will ever be. We are still waiting on DTS MA to be done on the PS3. I think it will be done one day but I think if the PS3 does everything no one would buy a standalone though I imagine they could make the PS3 profile 2.0 tomorrow if they wanted.

This thread covers some of it:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=628366
 
Yes I am going component.
The Denon I have at the mo does NOT take HDMI audio.
However, with both of these, all being well, there will be an upgrade in the future (when isnt there!).
What I dont want to do is limit the choice of player by the equipmet I have at the moment.
This thread started with it being pointed out that there had been a shift in the thinking of the studios and it could be a reasonable gamble to just go Blu Ray.
Now it seems that HD is being suggested also, so Im back to the 2 box solution.
I know theres no definitive answer, but all the options and politics make taking a leap of faith one way or the other impoissible.

If you want the best choice of movies then you will need both formats. I don't think either is going anywhere soon despite resent events. I don't see any of the current Blu-ray players as "finished" so whilst you don't wish to limit your choice due to existing kit the chances are you will need to upgrade the player anyway. My advice is go cheap and make the best use of what you have today. A UK Tosh EP35 can be had for £269 and a US DMP-BD30 for around £225+delivery and VAT (~£90).

AVI
 
I think I'll go Blu Ray (not a PS3 to avoid gaming my life away) and see what happens.
Could you just remind me why I should be looking to get a U.S. one please?
 
I think I'll go Blu Ray (not a PS3 to avoid gaming my life away) and see what happens.
Could you just remind me why I should be looking to get a U.S. one please?

If it were me-

1. Support for Final Standard Profile AKA profile 1.1 or ideally profile 2
2. Analogue output for lossless PCM
3. Internal support for all HD audio codecs (DTS-MA, Dolby TrueHD)
4. HD audio bitstream output over HDMI (in case you upgrade your amp)
5. 1080p/24 option (in case you upgrade your display)
6. relatively cheap
7. relatively quick to operate

At the moment the Panasonic DMP-BD30 ticks most of those apart from 3. and not being profile 2. I can be had for around £225 + VAT/delivery so expect about £300 all in.

AVI
 
If it were me-

1. Support for Final Standard Profile AKA profile 1.1 or ideally profile 2
2. Analogue output for lossless PCM
3. Internal support for all HD audio codecs (DTS-MA, Dolby TrueHD)
4. HD audio bitstream output over HDMI (in case you upgrade your amp)
5. 1080p/24 option (in case you upgrade your display)
6. relatively cheap
7. relatively quick to operate

At the moment the Panasonic DMP-BD30 ticks most of those apart from 3. and not being profile 2. I can be had for around £225 + VAT/delivery so expect about £300 all in.

AVI

Excuse my stupidity but does the U.K. version not do the same?
 
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