Blue ray dvd players?

Question

Can anyone rec/mend a blue ray option for watching films etc. I was toying with the idea of p/sonics latest playr the bd30. upon reading reviews it seems this is just about outdated as soon as it hits the shelves, also it's a 1.1 rated player and apparently will be superceeded with 1.3 ( USA current standard there) I read the latest WHAT HI*FI SOUND AND VISION, and am as confused as can be. Price is not the problem, it's getting a player thats good 'does what it says on the tin', and is not outdated before i have read how it works and is FUTURE PROOF.

Answer 1

I own a Playstation 3. It is an awesome Blu-ray player. Peroid.

Answer 2

Other than the PS3, the Panasonic is the most up to date at the moment. If you don't mind waiting a bit and if you want to get the most up to date get the BDPS350 from Sony. It will be Profile 2.0 so you can connect it to your network and it will update itself automatically and unlike the PS3 it will play the Dolby TrueHD and dts HD Master Audio track. It will be $350.

Answer 3

There is no such thing as a future proof Blu Ray as they are designed to be obsolescent. Playstation appears to be the best route as Sony have a very large axe to grind by making it the best and can do firmware upgrades.

Answer 4

Several things. First the 1,3 and 1,1 you mention may be confusing two things. The 1.3 is a version of HDMI .. not Blu-ray players. Blu-ray players are either 1.0, 1.1 or 2.0 ... the latter being the future last stage in development of the spec to a fully functional player.

Since you appear to like to do your research I'll try to give you a full set of considerations.

First, the majority of consumers can't benefit from Blu-ray and would be wasting their money. So be sure you can benefit before buying.

Recognize that Blu-ray is a premium niche alternative to DVD, not a replacement for it.

At minimum you need an HDTV with HDMI input ... preferably a 1080p model larger than 40". You also need to sit at an optimum viewing distance to fully benefit (See the first link). A smaller and/or 720p model will provide some benefit, but may be only marginally superior to an upconverted DVD.

As a further consideration you need a good surround sound audio system and either a player or A/V receiver capable of handling the advanced audio formats to get benefit from Blu-ray sound.

All this stuff is expensive. As you know the players are $300+ (and most of the cheaper ones are obsolete) and the disks are -- depending where you live -- $5-$20 more than the same movie on DVD.

If you have seen Blu-ray on equipment similar to yours and know you can benefit skip to the last paragraph, otherwise let me tell you my experience.

I have a 720p (HD) projector and a 110" screen in a dedicated home theatre. I was used to playing DVDs on a good upconverting DVD player (Oppo 971) and enjoyed the results. But last fall I decided it was time to try HD disks, and bought an HD DVD player (picture and sound quality are essentially identical to Blu-ray) since it was the less expensive format.

Long story cut short .. I was dissapointed .. the difference between HD DVD and DVD was minimal. Certainly not sufficient to justify the far higher costs. In the last 6 months I have bought 2 HD DVDs since (Planet Earth, Sunrise Earth) and about 40 DVDs.

My experience is not necessarily applicable to you. Maybe my equipment makes DVDs look good. But I, like many people, am not in any hurry to rush into Blu-ray.

My recommendation is two fold.

1) Don't be in a hurry to buy into Blu-ray. The current players (except the PS3) are overpriced and/or only partially functional. Wait for Profile 2.0, a.k.a. BD-Live!) players later this year ... and get one with built in decoders for DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. Prices can only come down (probably by Xmas 2008)

2) In the meantime take the time to demo a Blu-ray player on an HDTV as close as possible to your own (size, resolution) and watch from the SAME DISTANCE as you will use at home. Don't let the saleperson demo his/her choice of material (usually animation and/or HD video camera based materail ... which looks fantastic but ISN'T representative of what you will see on movies). Watch a DVD and Blu-ray of (preferably) the same movie. Pick a recent blockbuster picture (or two). Try to assess the difference in picture detail, colour and (if connected to a surround system) sound.

Now -- walk through the DVD/Blu-ray section and look at prices. Ask yourself if the difference is worth the extra cost of the Blu-ray disks.

Make your decision to Buy or not.

If you decide to buy but to wait for Profile 2.0 players ... we're done. Happy viewing knowing you did your homework.

If you want to buy NOW, the only player worth purchasing -- and it's the best value by far -- is the Sony PS3. It can, and will, be updated to profile 2.0 via a firmware upgrade (although I doubt it will ever support the lossless audio formats).