Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Now that HD is dead, Which blu-ray player to buy

It looks like I should have added additional clarification / rational to my pick earlier today.

The PS3 is by far the most robust machine I own. I love this thing and I DO NOT play games. However, it has one serious shortcoming; it will not decode DTS-Master. There are, and have been rumors that it will receive a firmware update to add this functionality, but many others are speculating it is hardware limited and it will not ever be able to decode DTS-Master. It is for this reason I bought the Pany BD 30.

The BD 30 is a great machine as well, but it has two shortcomings. One: its LFE channel output for user selected PCM audio streams on BR disks is 4-5 DB low. No one knows for certain if Panasonic will ever address this, or for that matter, even publicly admit it’s an issue needing resolution. The Pany BD10 and Denon 2500 [which utilizes some of the same hardware as the BD 30] also have the same PCM LFE problem. NOTE: this is ONLY for PCM Lossless audio tracks and ALL other formats work just fine.

The second BD30 shortcoming is; it WILL NOT internally decode DTS-M or DD-TruHD. It will NEVER internally decode them because it does not have the hardware to do this. The BD 30 sends DTS-M and DD-TruHD to the audio processor in BITSTREAM format. In other words, you will need an HDMI 1.3 audio processor that will decode DTS-M and DD-TruHD in order to hear these tracks.

The Panasonic BD 50, according to cut sheets, will internally decode ALL formats and send them to the audio processor in three different formats. 1) Raw Bitstream - via HDMI 1.3 2) Decoded multi channel digital PCM - via HDMI 1.1/1.2/1.3 3) Decoded Multi Channel Analogue - via analogue outputs (I do not know if that will be 5.1 or 7.1).

It is not known if the BD 50 will exhibit the same PCM / LFE bug that its sibling share. It is for that reason that I would wait until users report back.

Currently, I’m using a PS3 for BR disks with PCM audio formats and the BD 30 for DTS-M.

I think the PS3 is a great Blu-ray player, easy to upgrade and I'm sure Sony will keep it current. The only thing that annoys me is that it uses bluetooth rather than IR, that can be partially avoided by purchasing the Nyko remote that can be programmed for use with a universal remote.
Amazon has the 40g PS3 with Spiderman 3 for $399.00, still a good value for a Blu-ray player.

I want to add to what mdrew said that there's a lot of FUD going on about the whole DTS HD:MA on ps3. The hardware is capable of decoding it, what it can't do is bitstream it to a receiver due to the fact that the HDMI chip used in the ps3 isn't capable of it. But there's nothing that would stop it in theory from decoding it and outputting PCM.

The question is can/will it be done through a future firmware update? We don't know and if DTS HD:MA is important to you then I wouldn't buy one and then hope it will be included. Since my receiver is old I didn't care about it and so the ps3 is more than enough for what I need. By the time I'll upgrade my receiver either the ps3 will be able to decode it or there will be better and cheaper players to buy so I don't worry about it.

The issue about the remote has some solutions, so that's not much of a problem.

I forgot to mention that the 40 GB (or 80GB)HD can be replaced with a much larger (up to 320 GB) HD.

The other thing that is interesting is that the 80 has essentially been taken off the market. The speculation is that it will be replaced with a 120 GB or 160 GB unit.

Unless it has some other tricks that can't be done with a firmware upgrade to the 40GB unit, the 40 looks like the one I will grab.

panny bd50 here

I own the 1400 as well as PS3. To date, 1400 has been great for me. It can bitstream all high def codecs and it can internally decode all formats except Master Audio. It also has 5.1 analog outs if you need that.

I've had one problem with a scratched disc that it could not play. PS3 studdered at the same spot, but I was able to fast forward through it.

Picture quality wise, I would say they are on par or perhaps slight advantage going to the 1400. The one *ANNOYING* feature of 1400 is that after five minutes of being on pause, it will stop the player. Not a big deal except on java based discs. It will restart from the beginning! That truly is annoying. Other than that, I'm very happy with my 1400. I use the PS3 almost exclusively for games and 1400 for Blu-ray (except when I want to compare sound/video etc)

What is a 1400? Who makes it? Is it just a DVD player?

It just occurred to me. I believe Sony fired the exec (forced retirement) responsible for the PS3 development/launch. I recall everyone making fun of Sony for putting a ridiculously expensive blu-ray technology into the PS3. But 20/20 hindsight may prove Sony right. Who knew!?

Ray, that would be the Samsung BDP-1400 Blu-ray.

I am happy with my Panny BD30. Yes there is a LFE issue with Uncompressed PCM tracks (about 25% of the b) discs I have), but honestly, it hasn;t been out of control. I seem to have been able to adjust for it. (Read as a less than perfect adjustment for a 5db LFE issue on uncompressed pCM track with HD video content is still much better than a SD video track with DD5.1)