What Blu-ray player?
Discussion
Not sure if this is the right section...
My Father has decided he wants a Blu-Ray player, he's looked about on appropriate forums but can't find one, he has 2 requirements of it, which make the choice a bit more difficult then just picking the usual top reccomended/awarded system.
1. It must be no wider then 36cm, depth+height is not much of a problem, this is due to limited space.
2.It should have surround sound\amps built in.
2nd point is because he currently has a DVD player with surround sound built in, so is preferable to buying an additional 5.1 set up. He already has speakers built in the walls all around the room, so would prefer to just wire these up.
My Father has decided he wants a Blu-Ray player, he's looked about on appropriate forums but can't find one, he has 2 requirements of it, which make the choice a bit more difficult then just picking the usual top reccomended/awarded system.
1. It must be no wider then 36cm, depth+height is not much of a problem, this is due to limited space.
2.It should have surround sound\amps built in.
2nd point is because he currently has a DVD player with surround sound built in, so is preferable to buying an additional 5.1 set up. He already has speakers built in the walls all around the room, so would prefer to just wire these up.
Is the PS3 small enough then? He doesn't have the height to have it vertical standing.
Can you plug speakers directly into it, or will it need a decoder to seperate the speakers?
I'm not familiar with the back end of a PS3, the Xbox 360 only has outputs such as optical cable, not outputs for each seperate speaker.
No particular budget, I suppose up to £800 would be reasonable though
Can you plug speakers directly into it, or will it need a decoder to seperate the speakers?
I'm not familiar with the back end of a PS3, the Xbox 360 only has outputs such as optical cable, not outputs for each seperate speaker.
No particular budget, I suppose up to £800 would be reasonable though
Xaero said:
Is the PS3 small enough then? He doesn't have the height to have it vertical standing.
Can you plug speakers directly into it, or will it need a decoder to seperate the speakers?
I'm not familiar with the back end of a PS3, the Xbox 360 only has outputs such as optical cable, not outputs for each seperate speaker.
No particular budget, I suppose up to £800 would be reasonable though
He should really invest in an av receiver, and have the bluray going into that. They have HDMI which is both picture and sound, plug that into the receiver, wire speakers to that, job done. £800 is plenty for both.Can you plug speakers directly into it, or will it need a decoder to seperate the speakers?
I'm not familiar with the back end of a PS3, the Xbox 360 only has outputs such as optical cable, not outputs for each seperate speaker.
No particular budget, I suppose up to £800 would be reasonable though
Edited by Neil_H on Monday 22 December 09:37
"2.It should have surround sound\amps built in"
PS3 does NOT. However I'm not sure if any blu-ray player does... as blu-ray is still in the 'techno-geek' sales area, where all-in-in boxes are laughed at.
Does your father's existing DVD player have inputs such that you could wire the new blu-ray player into it? Most likely would be an optical-digital link.
PS3 does NOT. However I'm not sure if any blu-ray player does... as blu-ray is still in the 'techno-geek' sales area, where all-in-in boxes are laughed at.
Does your father's existing DVD player have inputs such that you could wire the new blu-ray player into it? Most likely would be an optical-digital link.
Recently went down the route of replacing my old surround sound DVD system, ended up buying the Sony BDP-S550, on top of this we had to purchase an AV Receiver (ONKYO TX-SR606) and a 5:1 surround sound set of Mordaunt Short Speakers
That said there Are complete systems available
SAMSUNG http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.c...
Panasonic http://www.trustedreviews.com/home-cinema/review/2...
That said there Are complete systems available
SAMSUNG http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.c...
Panasonic http://www.trustedreviews.com/home-cinema/review/2...
ok, as a starting suggestion.
Onkyo A/V receiver at £350
http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=sh...
Pioneer Blu-ray at £350, leaving £100 for cabling etc.
http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=sh...
Onkyo A/V receiver at £350
http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=sh...
Pioneer Blu-ray at £350, leaving £100 for cabling etc.
http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=sh...
The only Bay Ray surround sound system all in one I've seen is the Panasonic. (can't remember the model number. It doesn't come with rear speakers,but you can add rear speakers to it. It started life at nearly £800 have seen recently in the low to mid 500,s. I'm waiting until a few other manufacturers join in.
update it's the SC-BT100EB currently £684 in John Lewis, but as i said have seen it for less else where
update it's the SC-BT100EB currently £684 in John Lewis, but as i said have seen it for less else where
Edited by R39S1 on Monday 22 December 10:05
The width restriction is tricky as just about everything is made to the 42-44cm width these days.
PS3 would work, it's 325 x 98 x 274 but the cheaper standalone players are meant to be better at blu-ray and upscaling DVDs, plus a bit easier to use.
Some of the mini "one box" systems from the likes of Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha will play and decode DVDs now, but I haven't seen one yet that outputs all 5 channels - normally they'll downmix to two and you'll need another power amp for the centre and rears.
Would make life so much easier if he could get another 8cm or so of space to put full-size kit in, for now and any future stuff he might want.
PS3 would work, it's 325 x 98 x 274 but the cheaper standalone players are meant to be better at blu-ray and upscaling DVDs, plus a bit easier to use.
Some of the mini "one box" systems from the likes of Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha will play and decode DVDs now, but I haven't seen one yet that outputs all 5 channels - normally they'll downmix to two and you'll need another power amp for the centre and rears.
Would make life so much easier if he could get another 8cm or so of space to put full-size kit in, for now and any future stuff he might want.
I think he'd prefer a dedicated blu-ray player as opposed to be PS3, as it'll have all the buttons on a remote, rather then a PS3 controller presumably scrolling through a menu on screen to adjust anything.
Will probably have to go down the AV reciever route then, didn't realise how little options there are!
He made shelfing in the area where a fireplace used to be, it's all bricked/plastered and painted, and got a custom glass door made so he won't be keen to redo it for 8cm
he built it around all his current boxes and didn't think too much about future proofing it because it looked neater smaller.
Thanks for all the help so far everyone
will relay the ideas to him later.
Will probably have to go down the AV reciever route then, didn't realise how little options there are!
He made shelfing in the area where a fireplace used to be, it's all bricked/plastered and painted, and got a custom glass door made so he won't be keen to redo it for 8cm
he built it around all his current boxes and didn't think too much about future proofing it because it looked neater smaller.Thanks for all the help so far everyone
will relay the ideas to him later.
sjg said:
PS3 would work, it's 325 x 98 x 274 but the cheaper standalone players are meant to be better at blu-ray and upscaling DVDs, plus a bit easier to use.
The bit in bold could not be further from the truth. The PS3 is still doing [u]very[/u] well in group comparrison tests against other stand alone blue ray players. Blue-ray.com recently tested a reasonable size group of players and the PS3 came top in most criteria...http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=74197
It's kinda geeky with the figures and charts but the Ps3 outperforms in most catagories they tested. It performs the same in most tests.
One of the reasons for this is the contant firmware updates when required. Most standalone players find this very difficult (when was the last time you updated firmware on your DVD?). Sony do this as and when required so the PS3 is always up to date with any new software developments in Blue-ray processing. The other reason it performs so well is that Sony consider it one of thier most important "flagship" products so the internals/mechanicals are pretty high grade.
Still not sure why people assume the PS3 doesn't play BlueRay well, I guess it's down to the "it's only a games console" image. It's actually far, far more than that.
Civpilot said:
sjg said:
PS3 would work, it's 325 x 98 x 274 but the cheaper standalone players are meant to be better at blu-ray and upscaling DVDs, plus a bit easier to use.
The bit in bold could not be further from the truth. The PS3 is still doing [u]very[/u] well in group comparrison tests against other stand alone blue ray players. Blue-ray.com recently tested a reasonable size group of players and the PS3 came top in most criteria...http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=74197
It's kinda geeky with the figures and charts but the Ps3 outperforms in most catagories they tested. It performs the same in most tests.
One of the reasons for this is the contant firmware updates when required. Most standalone players find this very difficult (when was the last time you updated firmware on your DVD?). Sony do this as and when required so the PS3 is always up to date with any new software developments in Blue-ray processing. The other reason it performs so well is that Sony consider it one of thier most important "flagship" products so the internals/mechanicals are pretty high grade.
Still not sure why people assume the PS3 doesn't play BlueRay well, I guess it's down to the "it's only a games console" image. It's actually far, far more than that.
g
Civpilot]The bit in bold could not be further from the truth. The PS3 is still doing [u]very[/u said:
well in group comparrison tests against other stand alone blue ray players. Blue-ray.com recently tested a reasonable size group of players and the PS3 came top in most criteria...
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=74197
Criteria like start-up time? Is it really a big deal if it takes a couple of seconds more to start playing your two hour film?http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=74197
I'll admit, I was going on a brief flick through What Hifi (which I know isn't always that credible) at the supermarket as I was looking at standalones for my parents and they had a group test of the budget ones. PS3 review is online here: http://whathifi.co.uk/Review/Sony-PlayStation3-80G...
review said:
Detail levels are on a par with the Samsung BD-P1500, but they’re no match for the likes of the Panasonic DMP-BD35 or Sony’s own BDP-S350. The PS3’s picture isn’t as clear or three-dimensional and it’s noiser than we’d like.
This picture noise is also apparent when playing standard DVDs: where other players go to great lengths to eradicate grain, the PS3 can’t shift it. It also has more issues with movement than the top players in this class.
I'd still buy a PS3 myself (hell, I've never owned a separate DVD player, just consoles) but it's getting to the point where cheaper, better players are going to come along and be better for that purpose than the jack-of-all-trades.This picture noise is also apparent when playing standard DVDs: where other players go to great lengths to eradicate grain, the PS3 can’t shift it. It also has more issues with movement than the top players in this class.
gbbird said:
Civpilot said:
sjg said:
PS3 would work, it's 325 x 98 x 274 but the cheaper standalone players are meant to be better at blu-ray and upscaling DVDs, plus a bit easier to use.
The bit in bold could not be further from the truth. The PS3 is still doing [u]very[/u] well in group comparrison tests against other stand alone blue ray players. Blue-ray.com recently tested a reasonable size group of players and the PS3 came top in most criteria...http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=74197
It's kinda geeky with the figures and charts but the Ps3 outperforms in most catagories they tested. It performs the same in most tests.
One of the reasons for this is the contant firmware updates when required. Most standalone players find this very difficult (when was the last time you updated firmware on your DVD?). Sony do this as and when required so the PS3 is always up to date with any new software developments in Blue-ray processing. The other reason it performs so well is that Sony consider it one of thier most important "flagship" products so the internals/mechanicals are pretty high grade.
Still not sure why people assume the PS3 doesn't play BlueRay well, I guess it's down to the "it's only a games console" image. It's actually far, far more than that.
g
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