More Research Asserts that Blu Ray Adoption Isn't Apt to Surge (1 Viewer)

[PaulDA]

The noise issue was a bit bothersome (I know there are various anecdotal reports of more or less noise--in my small room, the noise was a bit much). However, thanks to the magic of bluetooth technology, I solved that problem and made it more versatile at the same time. A couple of inexpensive cable runs from Blue Jeans Cable (one HDMI and one toslink--my receiver is not HDMI capable...yet ) and a bluetooth remote and voila--I have a BD player for my projector in the theatre as well as on my TV in the kids' playroom (they don't care that it's not HD) and the noise issue is no longer a problem. I will concede my solution is a bit unorthodox and may not be suitable to very many people, but it works for me. Having suffered through the load times of the player at my friend's house (admittedly, back in fall 2007), I like the speed of my PS3. I'm still learning how to use it as a media centre (though I suspect things will run far more smoothly when I upgrade my computer). If I were buying one today, I'd get the Oppo. But I have no serious urge to displace my PS3 in favour of the Oppo until such time as I replace the living room TV with an HD display (won't be for some time yet, it's not a priority). At that moment, I'll send the PS3 upstairs and get the Oppo (or whatever they have then) for the home cinema.

 

[Jim_K]

You shouldn't have any fan noise as long as it's somewhat ventilated. The fan operates at different speeds and only kicks on high speed if it overheats. I have an enclosed cabinet for my HT gear and as long as I leave the front door propped open about 4" for ventilation when it's in use there's no fan noise at all. If I forget and leave the door closed, then yeah it'll sound like a jet engine after a while.

A minor inconvenience compared to the various issues with standalone players.

I'm waiting for that fabled price drop to get a 2nd PS3 to place in my bedroom.

 

[DaveF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim_K

You shouldn't have any fan noise as long as it's somewhat ventilated. The fan operates at different speeds and only kicks on high speed if it overheats. I have an enclosed cabinet for my HT gear and as long as I leave the front door propped open about 4" for ventilation when it's in use there's no fan noise at all. If I forget and leave the door closed, then yeah it'll sound like a jet engine after a while.

Which players have fan noise and require open cabinets? I need to be sure not to buy that brand when it's time for my BR purchase.

 

[Jim_K]

Well if you have enclosed cabinets and propping a cabinet door open is a deal breaker then avoid the PS3.

Speed, reliability, compatibility and ease of firmware upgrades are more important benefits to me and offset the minor inconvenience.

 

[PaulDA]

Originally Posted by Jim_K

You shouldn't have any fan noise as long as it's somewhat ventilated. The fan operates at different speeds and only kicks on high speed if it overheats. I have an enclosed cabinet for my HT gear and as long as I leave the front door propped open about 4" for ventilation when it's in use there's no fan noise at all. If I forget and leave the door closed, then yeah it'll sound like a jet engine after a while.

A minor inconvenience compared to the various issues with standalone players.

I'm waiting for that fabled price drop to get a 2nd PS3 to place in my bedroom.

My PS3 sits (and did in the HT room) on the top shelf open to all sides (I have it sitting horizontally). I have the 80gb model with SACD playback capability (no longer available) and, from all the anecdotal reports I've read over the past few years, my specific model is one that has more reports of fan noise than any other (very unscientific method, I grant). I recall reading that the most recent models are generally far less prone to fan noise and the 40gb non-SACD model that was available when I bought mine was said to be quieter than any other. I wanted the SACD playback capability, so I gambled on the fan noise issue.

The noise is not constant (which, in a way, is too bad, as a constant fan noise is easier to ignore than a variable one) and it is not deafening. But it is enough to distract from quiet passages in films and music in my small room. And it is louder than both my projector fan and my HD-A2 fan. In the end, the noise motivated me to find a solution that made the player more versatile, rather than less, so I don't mind. I also learned that a 30 foot HDMI run could be purchased at a dollar a foot and work impeccably (same for a 30 foot toslink--which was good to know as I needed a second 30 foot length to solve a different audio connection/layout problem in the living room). Thank goodness for Blue Jean Cables (there are some other online places with equally good pricing, but BJC had the best shipping costs to my house in Canada)--at the per foot price for both HDMI and toslink at local B&M stores, I was looking at 30 to 50 dollars a foot--instead of 30 dollars total, I was looking at NINE HUNDRED to FIFTEEN HUNDRED (TIMES 2)--for cables!!! No thanks.

 

[Jim_K]

Interesting, I always chalked up the fan noise complaints to lack of ventilation, dust choked vents or defective units.

It very well could be certain units are more prone to it.

Random fan noise that couldn't be resolved would be a deal breaker for me.

FWIW I have the 20gig version discontinued in early 07. I chose that because at the time there were reported issues with the 60gig (?) units that had wireless. Not only that but it was $100 cheaper, during the height of the format war so there was only so much I was willing to spend on a shaky new format.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Sure the PS3 makes some fan noise, but so does my projector, and the apartment complex I live in isn't exactly quiet, so I personally find it a complaint not worthy of balancing out the advantages.

 

[Carlo_M]

The fan noise is a requisite evil with the PS3. Remember it is more like a computer than anything else, and such needs cooling in order to avoid overheating. What would happen if they quieted it down? The XBox 360, that's what. Whereas the original versions of the 360 experienced anywhere from 20-50% failure rate (google Red Ring of Death), the PS3 failure rates have been much lower. If you need quiet, go with a standalone player, the PS3 is not going to please you.

I sit 12' from my PS3 and with any volume going on the receiver, I can't hear the fan.

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by Jim_K

Well if you have enclosed cabinets and propping a cabinet door open is a deal breaker then avoid the PS3.

Thanks, it is, so I'll keep that in mind.

 

[PaulDA]

Originally Posted by Carlo Medina

The fan noise is a requisite evil with the PS3. Remember it is more like a computer than anything else, and such needs cooling in order to avoid overheating. What would happen if they quieted it down? The XBox 360, that's what. Whereas the original versions of the 360 experienced anywhere from 20-50% failure rate (google Red Ring of Death), the PS3 failure rates have been much lower. If you need quiet, go with a standalone player, the PS3 is not going to please you.

I sit 12' from my PS3 and with any volume going on the receiver, I can't hear the fan.

I have to say that, in my HT room, the PS3 was only five feet away from me. At 12 feet, I'm sure I wouldn't notice it. (It's still only five linear feet away from my seat, but it's behind a closed door, so I don't hear it at all).

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

RE: the heat (and fan noise) issue of the PS3, if the fan is variable, swapping the HDD for a cooler running one may help -- of course, that does add to its cost unless you were planning to do that anyway. I have an older 40GB model, and swapping it (Seagate Modesto?) for a 120GB Western Digital Scorpio HDD got it to run a good deal cooler.

Also, Sony was planning to go w/ a smaller, less expensive-to-make, less power hungry, cooler running Cell chip (due to the usual chip manufacturing advances), but I have no idea if that's already in current models now. That would probably also help reduce the problem.

In my case, I would say fan noise seems to be audible (from ~9ft away in a ~20x15ft room) *IF* I really try to listen for it w/ no other sound/distractions in the room -- and I have not experienced any variable fan noise. But as soon as anything else goes on and/or takes away my attention, the fan noise disappears completely for me. In fact, I'd guess my PS3's fan noise probably wouldn't be noticeable at all if I'm not comparing it between power on and power off. Actually, it's not that clear to me whether some of the "fan" noise isn't just the HDD itself.

I'd also add that typical bulb-based DLP RPTVs sound louder and definitely more noticeable to me (probably due to the high pitch color wheel sound). Any PC w/ a faster HDD (especially if it has multiple HDDs) will sound noticeably louder as well.

_Man_

 

[Scott-S]

It was just announced that the Watchmen on Blu-ray scored a 36% market share against the DVD. Even Coraline, which has a different demographic had a 18% market share. This data, coupled with the types of movies that are going to be coming out later this year really make me believe that the Blu-Ray market share will be over 20% by the end of he year.

Link: www.homemediamagazine.com/research/watchmen-blu-ray-strong-showing-charts-16567

Seems like the format is being accepted by the mainstream. Will it kill DVD? No, I don't think that will happen any time soon. But as more and more homes get HD TVs, there will be a very large market for Blu.

 

[MattFini]

I couldn't even find the damn Watchmen Blu-ray on release day.

Granted, I was going after work (around 5) but I went to four stores before finding a copy of the BD.

 

[Ryan-G]

I've had that problem with a few releases. 24 was impossible to find, had to get it online. There've been a couple releases this year that I went to buy in the mid-afternoon and got one of the last 2 or 3 copies.

OTOH, seems like Collector's editions sit on shelves around here, I picked up the Wanted CE months after release. Price needs to come down a bit before those things go I think.

One thing that strikes me as odd though, my FYE doesn't stock BR very much. They'll order like one or two copies of a new release. Best Buy OTOH orders a couple dozen, and usually does well with it.

This weeks Fast and Furious, when I went in, the top slots in the display were empty for both BR and DVD, and a good quantity of the mid slots were gone as well.

My experience is that BR is selling here, but mainly New Releases, catalog doesn't seem to go quite as well. TV seems to be a minor issue as well, but they are still pretty expensive, even I've ended up buying the SD Lost over the HD Lost for last season because it was a $60 price difference.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Ryan-G

TV seems to be a minor issue as well, but they are still pretty expensive, even I've ended up buying the SD Lost over the HD Lost for last season because it was a $60 price difference.

The MSRPs on the Lost Blu-ray sets are only $70 so you must have seen it some place that was wildly mispriced. Even the third season that had a $96 MSRP for about a year must have either been mispriced or had no discount on the MSRP to have a $60 difference in price between it and the DVDs.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by Scott-S

It was just announced that the Watchmen on Blu-ray scored a 36% market share against the DVD. Even Coraline, which has a different demographic had a 18% market share. This data, coupled with the types of movies that are going to be coming out later this year really make me believe that the Blu-Ray market share will be over 20% by the end of he year.

Link: www.homemediamagazine.com/research/watchmen-blu-ray-strong-showing-charts-16567

Seems like the format is being accepted by the mainstream. Will it kill DVD? No, I don't think that will happen any time soon. But as more and more homes get HD TVs, there will be a very large market for Blu.

I'm pretty sure Criterion has stated that some of their BDs are getting 40% market share, but this would definitely be on a larger scale with a big studio title like Watchmen.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Originally Posted by Brandon Conway

I'm pretty sure Criterion has stated that some of their BDs are getting 40% market share, but this would definitely be on a larger scale with a big studio title like Watchmen.

It's nice to see the larger market share figures for Watchmen BD, et al, but Criterion is a special case w/ their own rather unique/niche market though. Considering that and their current pricing policy, I would have to think Criterion *should* see the higher BD market shares compared to the mainstream (at least at this stage anyway).

_Man_