How good is a PlayStation 3 as a DVD player?

Haris Ellahi · 07-13-2007, 03:12 PM

How is the PlayStation 3's DVD peformance?

John Garcia · 07-13-2007, 04:24 PM

Excellent. The upconverting capability is actually a bit better than my Oppo 970.

Adam_R · 07-13-2007, 04:27 PM

I have no basis of comparison as far as upconverting DVD players go, but after the firmware update to allow the PS3 to upconvert to 1080p, I am HIGHLY impressed. There really is a big difference and some movies (Star Wars III was my test disc) look phenomenal.

DavidJ · 07-13-2007, 04:56 PM

It is a very good dvd player. I never would have used my PS2 as a dvd player, but the PS3 is in a different league. I still tend to prefer my HD-A1 for upconverting. The PS3 gets the nod when speed is important.

Haris Ellahi · 07-13-2007, 05:29 PM

Thanks for the replies.

What about its audio CD performance? Comparable to a good DVD player?

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Brent M · 07-14-2007, 03:09 PM

You know, this is something I've been wondering about myself. I currently have a Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player and as everyone pretty much knows by now it does an amazing job of upconverting DVDs. I've been thinking about getting a PS3 for Blu-Ray playback(as well as upcoming games like GTA 4 and The Force Unleashed) and while I don't necessarily need it to do a good job with standard DVDs I was curious as to how it did with upconverting them. Sounds like it does a pretty good job after all which is a pleasant surprise after what I saw from the PS2.

Eric_Connelly · 07-14-2007, 03:48 PM

I would say unless your spending huge money on a DVD player it bests most units out there.

I have a Yamaha C950 and have always been extremely happy with it.

The PS3 is a visually better upscaler which says a lot consider the Yamaha is also a good upscaler.

Audio wise I don't notice a whole lot of difference. I think they are both equal in quality.

Now if they'd make them play DVD-A's I'd sell my Yamaha all together if the PS3 has analog outs.

I still prefer the Yamaha for audio playback, but thats because I use an analog crossover though 6 channel analog outs.

Jari K · 07-16-2007, 04:45 AM

IMO, since the quality with e.g. PS3 and Toshiba HD DVD -players with upscaling SD DVDs is so good now, I see no reason to buy a new DVD-player - even if you don´t want to jump on that HD-bandwagon just yet.

Buy PS3 = Quality DVD/Blu-ray/game console
Buy Toshiba HD DVD = Quality DVD/HD DVD

This "upscaling" has been (a bit) blow out of proportion in the forums. All DVDs will have that 576 (PAL) or 486 (NTSC) resolution and there´s no player out there that can suddenly make them look "as good" as HD (1080). They don´t magically make everything look perfect, since the limitations just are there (the capacity and resolution with SD DVDs). Further more, if the print/DVD-release is mediocre, it´ll look "mediocre" with the good upscaling player also..

Sure, some players do upscale better than others, but even with the best of them, those SD DVDs won´t look as good as HD.

I´m currently doing a minor article to my local paper about Toshiba HD-XE1 (1080p-model here in Europe, which I believe have HQV Reon-chip like in the US model XA2) and this is the first time I have (properly) used the player. While the upscaling looked very good indeed, I doubt that it looked any better than with PS3. Granted, I haven´t done a proper comparison (it´s not the main point in the article anyway), but this was just my thought when I watched one DVD ("The Game" SE still looked somewhat soft and murky..

) with it and tested with the couple of others. So take my comment with that grain of salt.

IMO, if you´re looking a good upscaling DVD-player, you can´t go wrong with either of them (PS3 and Toshiba). You still have to remember, that "cheaper" Toshiba-models won´t upscale to 1080p and I´m not sure that do they have HQV Reon-chip like in the HD-XE1 (Europe) and HD-XA2 (US) models?

I was a bit disappointed that Toshiba HD-XE1 didn´t support MP3s or JPEGs (Yes, I tested to make sure), when PS3 literally supports almost anything (yes, again I have tested - it also plays MP3s and JPEGs from the DVD-R - not only in CD-R). Sure, these are probably what you could call a "minor issues", but still.

Doug Pyle · 07-17-2007, 06:20 AM

I had the same question - how good is the PS3 upscaling - so I did an entirely amateur & subjective test. I did an A/B comparison between the PS3 DVD playback via HDMI (version 1.81 with upscaling), and my Panasonic DVD F-85 (no upscaling), via component, as viewed on my Sony 34" XBR 910 HD direct-view display.

I sync-ed up dual copies of The Messenger (a standard 480p DVD) to play at the same time - and I switched playback between them to compare.

I saw more color detail using the Panasonic playback than the PS3 in both standard & upscaled PS3 DVD playback. The PS3 standard 480p DVD playback without upscaling was pale and less dynamic in color range/depth, a stark difference in contrast to the rich colors and detail as viewed on the Panasonic (e.g. in the thick forest & grassy field scenes where young Joan finds the sword, or has prophetic visions).

The difference was significant with PS3 standard DVD playback (no upscaling), but just subtle with upscaling. The Panasonic playback (no upscaling) was equal to or better than the upscaled PS3 playback.

The Panasonic does not have HDMI, and I don't have 2 component cables, so couldn't compare the Panasonic 480p versus the PS3 1080i using the same type of cable simultaneously.

With upscaling, I might be satisfied with the PS3 for standard DVD playback, if my budget were tight and I couldn't afford a better standard/upscaling DVD player. As it is, I prefer using the Panasonic for standard DVDs.

Obviously, others have different impressions than I did.

Still, the Blu-Ray image is outstanding on the PS3 and I'm very glad to have it. Games also look great - though I didn't buy it for games. Even older PS2 games look much better upscaled on the PS3.

Jari K · 07-17-2007, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Pyle

I sync-ed up dual copies of The Messenger (a standard 480p DVD) to play at the same time - and I switched playback between them to compare..

I was planning to do a similar test tonight with PS3 and Toshiba HD-XE1. I have 2 HDMI sockets in my LCD, both PS3/Toshiba upscale to 1080p and I have 1080p "full HD"-LCD. I did the similar test at one point with Panasonic Blu-ray-player vs Panasonic "basic" DVD-player and with SD DVDs & upscaling, I didn´t find any significant differences.