PS3 reviews... looking forward to some hands-on comments... (2 Viewers)

[Cees Alons]

Ha, ha, ha.
Nothing to be sorry about, Dave. As I said: I understand your joy!



Cees

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Dave,

Congrads!

When you get your PS3, if it has the 1.1 firmware, DON'T update it to 1.3. There seems to be a bug with the 1.3 update that randomly causes the PS3 to lock-up/freeze during BD movie playback on odd occasions... happens about 1 in 5 times I watch a movie and never in the same spot. You have to power-down and on again to unlock the player.

Over at AVS others have reported the same thing... that all was well until the 1.3 update and now they're experiencing the same thing. Sony has been contacted (by me and others) and hopefully this will get on the radar of the techs to get corrected in a future update... but for the meantime just stick with your 1.1 firmware!

Let us all know what you think. Some great BD discs thus far I've found have been Corpes Bride, Ice Age 2, and 8 below.

dave

 

[Hank_P]

now things are back on track in this tread. I was lucky enough to pick up a PS3 at Target the weekend. It's the 20G model.. do I keep it or sell it. I was looking to go HD DVD with a new xbox 360, but haven't purchased it yet. Am I lucky to find and keep the PS3 and go with Blu Ray.... or sell it and use the funds to purchase Xbox360 & HD DVD.

I'm not a big gamer, but I have an older xbox on it's last legs, so the games I do own and play on occassion will be useless. I'm just on the fence and wanting someone to push me one way or the other

The few threads pertaining to the PS3 in here are very favorable for HD viewing.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

One thing to keep in mind is that the current version of the X-box 360 add-on does not provide HDMI output. This may or may not be a problem for some viewers, but it also limits you to 1080i max and no advanced audio codecs except what comes out analog from the device.

Amir has been silent on some of these points regarding the next version of release but it's possible that a future HD DVD add-on may provide HDMI and thereby "full performance" for HD DVD. Of course, for anyone who already has the 360, the add-on's price is much less than a PS3 (though the combined price of player and add on are not).

 

[Chris S]

I don't want take us back to the HD-DVD vs Blu-ray thing here... but I would say keep the PS3 unless you are planning on playing a lot of games. If you're 50/50 then pick up the Xbox. If your 75/25 movies to games then keep the PS3. Or better yet get both and just hide the other one from the wife .

 

[PeterTHX]

Not that 1.3 locked for me (it doesn't) the 1.31 update is already available.

You sure it wasn't any heat issues?

 

[BrianShort]

I had something like this happen to me while watching Talladega Nights yesterday. It froze up at the point where John C. Reilly is telling Will Ferrell about how he posed for Playgirl, and spread his... anyway, it froze up there. I could still access the overlay menu (the one with all the disc controls on it), and the status display still showed the time advancing, but I couldn't return to any menus. When I ejected the disc, the image was still locked on the screen. A power down fixed it (although it took longer than normal to shut down), and I was able to finish the movie, but it was a bit troublesome. I hope I don't see it again!

Brian

 

[Hank_P]

Thanks, Yes I would be 75/25 for movies and gaming very little. I have ventured over to the PS3 forum since and read some nice things that would lead me to keep it and start enjoying some HD movies. The whole sound dropping comments do keep popping up... screw it.. I'm keeping it. thanks for the push!

 

[Ryan-G]

I don't have a 1080p TV to test it, but from what other people report you can get 1080p over both the VGA and component.

 

[Hank_P]

similar question for the PS3. Will a component connection get me watching BluRay, or will PS3 only output 1080i over HDMI?

 

[Dave Mack]

I think you can select the output over HDMI, 1080i or 1080P... yes?

 

[Robert Crawford]

No way, the studios would allow any HD capable player output 1080p over component. Fox and Disney would go nuts!

 

[Hank_P]

from the ps3 manual. ..whoo hoo the component will allow 1080i based on this (not sure about the 1080p as my display will not do this..anyone out there can test this?)

http://manuals.playstation.net/docum...deooutput.html



Input connector on the TV Supported video modes (NTSC region) *1
HDMI 1080p / 1080i / 720p / 480p

Component or D-terminal *2 1080p / 1080i / 720p / 480p / 480i

Composite or S VIDEO *3 480i

AV MULTI or SCART *4 480p /480i


*1 The video mode options vary depending on the region where the PS3™ system was purchased. In North America, Asia and other NTSC regions, 480i video mode is displayed as [Standard (NTSC)]. In Europe and other PAL regions, 576i video mode is displayed as [Standard (PAL)]. For details, refer to the instructions supplied with the product.

*2 The D-terminal connector type is mainly used in Japan. The resolutions of D1-D5 are as follows:
D5: 1080p / 1080i / 720p / 480p / 480i
D4: 1080i / 720p / 480p / 480i
D3: 1080i / 480p / 480i
D2: 480p / 480i
D1: 480i

*3 Composite is the connector used to connect the AV cable that is supplied with the PS3™ system. S VIDEO is a format mainly used in Japan.

*4 AV MULTI is a format mainly used in Japan. SCART is a format mainly used in Europe. If [AV MULTI or SCART] is selected, the screen allowing you to select the type of output signal will be displayed.

 

[Mark Butler]

Actually Japanese TVs have a D5 connector on the them that take full a 1080p signal. My personal TV only does 1080i so I took my PS3 over to I friends house and hooked it via component to his new Sony TV (sorry the model # escapes me) with a D5 connector. We watched Fantastic 4 in full 1080p over component. Now its important to keep in mind that Japan has laws which forbid the downscaling of content (either from software or hardware) until 2011. So on a PS3 (it is a North American one) to the Sony TV with D5 we watched F4 (Japanese disc) in 1080p. I did a quick comparison between the D5 and HDMI and I honestly couldn't tell any loss in quality other than the colors on component were a bit more vibrant but that may have been the calibration of the set via component because you can set each input to have individual display settings but sharpness and everything else was exactly the same to my eyes. I didn't have the opportunity to test the av multi input to see what kind of resolution I could get because I didn't have the cable. I think Fox and Disney will allow full 1080p over component (not that they will like it) because Blu-ray does have additional copyright protection that is not dependent on HDMI. They must in Japan if the want to release Blu-ray discs there.

 

[Dave Mack]

Hi again, guys.

Question, how is the PS3 for SD playback at 480P...? I have the Oppo which does a very nice 720P upscale but my Mits hc3000 also has an excellent scaler and feeding it 480P from the Oppo and letting it upscale looks amazingly close... I have one HDMI input and util I get a switcher and some more HDMI cables I will be plugging, unplugging...

Thanks! d

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm speaking about people living in Region 1.





Crawdaddy

 

[Chris S]

I wouldn't throw the Oppo out just yet. I have/had a Panasonic XP-30 (scored a 91 in Secrets DVD benchmark) and for my eyes it's still slightly better than the PS3. The PS3 might work for the time being but if I were you I would be looking for a HDMI switch (via a receiver or stand alone).

 

[Mark Butler]

Actually, I do live in Region 1 for Blu-ray. Japan and North America are in the same region. The software for Region 1 will work in any Hardware from Region 1.

 

[Dave Mack]

Thanks, Chris.
I also have many PAL and non r1 NTSC discs so I'm definitely keeping the oppo.

 

[PeterTHX]

Just a nit:

There is no "Region 1" for BD. North America & Japan are Region A