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New to Blu? Buy a PS3: the most featured BD hardware available... (1 Viewer)

ManW_TheUncool

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This I'm not sure -- can't remember if that was a choice in the settings -- but I do get 640Kbps DD in my setup, which would in theory be better than what you normally get from DVD. I haven't really compared, but I get the impression that it does generally sound better than what I normally get from DVD.

_Man_
 

Patrick Sun

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Yeah, the proponents for PS3 as a BD player never add "The PS3 is the most updateable BD player IF you also happen to own one of those expensive new receivers that cost a bundle to decode the HDMI audio, or are happy with lossy audio via the optical output." Given the investment in audio equipment in the previous go-around, I also think it's a much better scenario if the BD player can provide 5.1/7.1 analog outputs and also decode the advance audio streams internally. The PS3 fails in that respect, so it's never been as attractive an option for a BD player to me. If lossless audio is important to you, and more money is needed to buy a receiver that does HDMI advanced audio decoding, then the PS3 isn't quite the bargain, but a tease of good things to come.

For those on a budget but want BD, the PS3 offers half the bargain, mainly on the video side, but is relegated to DVD-quality audio if you can only handle the audio from its optical output.
 

Bmoney

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the 80G does NOT come with those cables.

and over optical it does NOT send DD-HD only compressed DD
 

ManW_TheUncool

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It probably all depends though. Yeah, you have less options w/ the PS3, but not everyone of us already own a preproc/receiver that decodes lossless via optical connection -- and some of us might not really prefer analog out from a mid-fi player or one that doesn't do other hirez formats we own, eg. SACD. I don't know when I'll actually upgrade, but when I do, I'll likely go for something (likely a preproc/preamp) that does HDMI anyway. For now, I still seem to get a modest improvement in audio w/ 640Kbps DD instead of the lower bitrate DD from DVD.

_Man_
 

MarkHarrison

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I went ahead and picked up a PS3 40GB last night.
htf_images_smilies_banana.gif


I didn't have a lot of time to play with it, but I did watch a TV-on-DVD episode. I think the thing that I found most shocking was just how great a DVD player it actually is. In the short time I had to play with it, it seems to blow my Toshiba A2 out of the water. Not so much for quality or anything else, but all the little things. I think it's slightly more responsive (just a hair), has onscreen runtime display (total, total remaining, chapter, chapter remaining), plays audio and subtitles at 1.5x speed (sometimes I watch text commentaries or bonus stuff at 1.5x speed and couldn't with my A2), and a bunch of other tiny things.

I picked it up as an option to play Blu-ray discs. I never expected to also use it as my primary DVD player. And that's not even counting the media center options. My DirecTV DVR is a piece of crap displaying photos and playing mp3's. The PS3 handles it perfectly!!!

I can't wait to try some BD discs this weekend. :D
 

ManW_TheUncool

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Couldn't agree more, Mark, even though I did intend to use it as my primary DVD player. :D Well, it doesn't do 4x3 squeeze/pillar box via component out though (and doesn't do region-free playback either), but I can live w/ that at this point. I will probably end up using most of the other extra functions too though probably not MP3. If I actually had a 1080p display (instead of 1080i), I'll probably make more use of the web browser too. :P

I'm actually tempted to pick up an extra PS3 what w/ the Sony $100-back deal (w/ a separate new Sony card for the wife). ;) :D

_Man_
 

Ron Reda

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David,

Any idea if that will be the only component added in that upgrade or is there anything else you heard (new capabilities)? Not complaining, just curious! ;)
 

DaViD Boulet

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Sony always seems to bundle a boat-load of updates in each new firmware version... for instance, one time they bundled 24p output, blacker-than-black and whiter-than-white, DVD upscaling, and 720p output all in one. (that was a good day :) )

I'm sure there will be other items included. I expect that 2.0 and DTS-HD MA decoding will come together as well.

Oh, they often put lots of gaming updates in as well but I can't comment since I don't have any games.
 

Bmoney

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justb a clarification for me. Since the PS3 can decode dd+ internally and soon DTS-MA....all i need to hear it is a reciever with HDMI inputs right?

thanks...i am having a brain frat on this subjesct righgt now.

this could save me hundreds if it is true since i dont need a reciever that decodes these formats!!!

thanks
 

DaViD Boulet

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Exactly. As long as you have "regular" HDMI on your receiver you can stream the native or decoded PCM stream to your receiver (bcs the PS3 will be taking care of extracting the TrueHD and eventually DTS-HD MA to PCM for you internally and sending over HDMI)
 

Carlo_M

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Pardon my ignorance of the new formats, but is there any quality degradation in that process (DD+/DTSMA -> PCM -> HDMI -> receiver) over, say, bitstreaming the codecs to a receiver that can decode those internally?

Thanks!
 

Ron Reda

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OK, I thought so. I know the DTS MA capability is a HOT request, so I was thinking they may just release the update with that one component only so as to get it out faster. Here's to hoping! ;)
 

DaViD Boulet

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In theory no since extracting lossless to PCM is just like "unzipping" a zip file on your computer.

However, there are possible sources for sonic differences depending on where decoding take place... such as jitter affecting PCM versus bitstream data differently over HDMI, or possible additional DSP one device might apply versus another after PCM extraction.
 

Averry

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I could take advantage of analog inputs, but because I enjoy the occasional PS3 exclusive (maybe, not yet, haha) and because of everythign else the PS3 has an advantage in, I picked one up.


Also, I had credit at gamestop, which I couldn't have gained anywhere else that had a stand alone.
 

wally

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Love the idea of a “Media Hub”. Didn’t know about the ability to stream audio from a computer using WiFi. Will it play nice with iTunes or just generic MP3s? Will it “stream” .jpgs from a computer as well for a slide show?
 

TonyD

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looking at the online instructions, it says wmv 11 is used to get the music from
the pc to the ps3?

did i read that right?
 

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