PS3 BR playback compared to the other 4 - now its been out for awhile

[dazbug]

Hi Guys,

Having owned a HD DVD player for sometime Im about to get in to BR as well with the PS3 player (i think)

In terms of PQ and AQ how does it compare with the

Samsung
Pioneer
Panasonic
Sony

Now thats all players have been out for awhile. I know the PS3 was better than the Sammy, but is it still up there as one of the best BR players on the market?

[Matt-05]

I've had the Sony and the Samsung....I now have the PS3. I think the PS3 beats them all. I have never had a problem with the PS3....not one.

[DBNyack]

I'm willing to bet if you auditioned them all, you would not be able to visually tell the difference between any of the players in regards to BR playback. I would would recommend you purchase the unit that has the features you need/want, and the price you can afford.

[goldielox]

The January edition of Sound and Vision Magazine compared the Panasonic, Samsung and PS3 players.

The PS3 was the overall winner because of price point and it's ability to do many other things in addition to BR playback.

[Doom4420]

I've had the Samsung, Sony and PS3 player. Even with the firmware upgrade, the Samsung still lags behind both the Sony stand alone and PS3. PS3 and Sony are right up there together as far as picture quality, but the PS3 is much quicker, and no glitches whatsoever with playback. In addition, it is the only player that can pass 7.1 along HDMI. This equals no brainer for me.

[Woof Woof]

Don't the Pioneer and the Sony have 1080p24 output today?

[mswlogo]

Originally Posted by DBNyack

I'm willing to bet if you auditioned them all, you would not be able to visually tell the difference between any of the players in regards to BR playback. I would would recommend you purchase the unit that has the features you need/want, and the price you can afford.

Ditto.

[BillP]

Originally Posted by DBNyack

I'm willing to bet if you auditioned them all, you would not be able to visually tell the difference between any of the players in regards to BR playback. I would would recommend you purchase the unit that has the features you need/want, and the price you can afford.

That may be true, but they do differ in SD DVD playback, if that's important to you.

[Earz]

I owned the Samsung, Philips and Sony stand alones.

The ps3 just as a BD player offers a better P/Q than the first two...equal to the Sony....and is a faster functioning unit that has DD Tru HD, hdmi 1.3 ...and will have DTS-MA.

So without all the other bells and whistles that you get with the PS3....it is the very best BD player available at any price...bar none.
There I said what these rags would say if they weren't in it for the advertising dollars.

Its not just the winner for the money...its the very best BD player period.

[PathofNeo]

How about the SD-DVD quality on the PS3? How does that stack up to the others now? I really want to get a PS3 but I have such a huge collection of DVDs and I hope the PS3 can upscale them nicely to my 42" plasma.

[KidNiki]

Originally Posted by PathofNeo

How about the SD-DVD quality on the PS3? How does that stack up to the others now? I really want to get a PS3 but I have such a huge collection of DVDs and I hope the PS3 can upscale them nicely to my 42" plasma.

So Sorry, not at the moment. I got rid of a PS3 for the BDP-1000, the PS3 was faster, but I can not tell one difference PQ wise between the two. I will tell you this, I wouldn't trust the PS3 as a long term player, if previous Sony hardware is an indication.

We watched The Usual Suspect on our Sammy this weekend, it looked great, great!!!

[Li On]

I'm a long time HTPC user for DVD playback. Last Christmas I built a new HTPC with the latest and greatest component such as a Core Duo E6600 CPU, ATI 1950 Pro display etc for $1200.

Since I got the PS3 (20G version $400 in my area), the great HTPC is collecting dust! Those who visited my setup all agree the PS3 has better DVD playback and I have to agree!

I have no game disc and bought 5 blu-ray now. The PS3 also plays my recorded HDTV TS clips!

regards,

Li On

[PathofNeo]

Originally Posted by Li On

I'm a long time HTPC user for DVD playback. Last Christmas I built a new HTPC with the latest and greatest component such as a Core Duo E6600 CPU, ATI 1950 Pro display etc for $1200.

Since I got the PS3 (20G version $400 in my area), the great HTPC is collecting dust! Those who visited my setup all agree the PS3 has better DVD playback and I have to agree!

I have no game disc and bought 5 blu-ray now. The PS3 also plays my recorded HDTV TS clips!

regards,

Li On

Thanks Li On! It only takes little convincing for me because I plan on gaming with a next-gen console as well. I may as well get the PS3 since I'm a movie buff. But I just didn't want to run into standard dvd problems. I did some research and maybe they'll fix it with an update?

Last question.. I have some avi/divx files on an external harddrive. Can the PS3 recognize and play these? I'm just wondering if the media features are as rich as say... the media center on Xbox 360?

Thanks again for the responses!

[eujin]

I picked up a PS3 today--it's my first BD player. I was really concerned about SD playback, especially after reading comments by Kris Deering in another thread. After spending the last 4 or 5 hours viewing a bunch of different DVDs, I think I've decided that I'm OK with the SD quality. I've watched so much HD content on TV now that regular DVDs just don't cut it any longer. The picture on the PS3 is, thankfully, satisfactory. It's certainly not as good as some very good DVD players I've owned--namely the Marantz DV9600, but it'll do. My current player is a Sony DVP-NS3100ES. The picture on the 3100ES is tad sharper and brighter. But the PS3 looks smoother and less noisy. Oddly, the sound quality is MUCH better on the PS3--and I'm only running regular DD5.1/DTS out of the optical output (my receiver is an oldie but goodie). I think the differences between the PS3 and my 3100ES are small enough that subjective opinions can go either way. At this point in time, I'm leaning strongly in favor of keeping the PS3 as my main optical disc movie delivery system.

BIG plus for the PS3 is that it's dead quiet--quieter than my 3100ES. I was thinking of getting the HD add-on for the 360 but the uber-loud fans in the xbox swayed my in favor of BD--for now.

[DeeGee]

eujin,

"Oddly, the sound quality is MUCH better on the PS3--and I'm only running regular DD5.1/DTS out of the optical output (my receiver is an oldie but goodie)."

Like you, I experienced the same on the audio side. Ever since I played some classical DVDs on the PS3, my Pioneer 59AVi has been "collecting dust."

DG

[SQUIDWARD360]

Originally Posted by eujin

BIG plus for the PS3 is that it's dead quiet--quieter than my 3100ES. I was thinking of getting the HD add-on for the 360 but the uber-loud fans in the xbox swayed my in favor of BD--for now.

The HD add-on is almost silent. On par with the PS3. The most noise comes from the disc spinning in the 360. But when you are using the add on of course a disc isn't spinning.

[DBNyack]

Originally Posted by PathofNeo

How about the SD-DVD quality on the PS3? How does that stack up to the others now? I really want to get a PS3 but I have such a huge collection of DVDs and I hope the PS3 can upscale them nicely to my 42" plasma.

The PS3 appears to not do 3-2 pulldown detection very well with SD-DVDs. Therefore, you will lose a good chunk of resolution with most SD-DVDs since they are mostly film-based. This may or may not bother you visually. However, note, it is unlikely that the deinterlacing issues can be fixed with a firmware update, in contrast to adding upscaling features.

[TauRus]

Originally Posted by DBNyack

The PS3 appears to not do 3-2 pulldown detection very well with SD-DVDs. Therefore, you will lose a good chunk of resolution with most SD-DVDs since they are mostly film-based. This may or may not bother you visually. However, note, it is unlikely that the deinterlacing issues can be fixed with a firmware update, in contrast to adding upscaling features.

And why not exactly?

[rfisher]

Since the PS3 is software based why wouldn't it be able to be upgraded to fix it's de-interlacing?

[eujin]

Originally Posted by SQUIDWARD360

The HD add-on is almost silent. On par with the PS3. The most noise comes from the disc spinning in the 360. But when you are using the add on of course a disc isn't spinning.

That's really good to know. I'm sure that I'll pick up the add-on at some point.

[eujin]

Originally Posted by rfisher

Since the PS3 is software based why wouldn't it be able to be upgraded to fix it's de-interlacing?

That's a good question that I'm curious about as well. Anyone?

[DB2]

Where does the Panasonic stand alone unit fit in??

[Earz]

Originally Posted by SQUIDWARD360

The HD add-on is almost silent. On par with the PS3. The most noise comes from the disc spinning in the 360. But when you are using the add on of course a disc isn't spinning.

Who cares...its "not a full fledged player" without hdmi. 1080p or any kind of hi res audio.
I have a 360 and would never consider the add on for HD lite.

[eujin]

Originally Posted by Earz

Who cares...its "not a full fledged player" without hdmi. 1080p or any kind of hi res audio.
I have a 360 and would never consider the add on for HD lite.

This is true as long as you have a 1080p display. Those of us who have 720p/1080i displays would probably be fine with what you call "HD lite." It's still a damn sight better looking than SD.

[Earz]

Originally Posted by eujin

This is true as long as you have a 1080p display. Those of us who have 720p/1080i displays would probably be fine with what you call "HD lite." It's still a damn sight better looking than SD.

The way I see it...its a 200.00 add on that has no hi res audio....which is half of the upgrade IMO.
Plus your only getting 10% studio support from whats already offered on BD.

[msmith198025]

Originally Posted by Earz

Who cares...its "not a full fledged player" without hdmi. 1080p or any kind of hi res audio.
I have a 360 and would never consider the add on for HD lite.

720p or 1080i is not what is considered by people on this board or any other im aware of to be hd-lite. It is full hd and component will pass that through just fine.

I think that it(the add on) and the PS3 are excellent players.

[aaronwt]

My 360 outputs at 1080P . the only place it's lacking is the audio. The picture is just as good as what I get from my HD-A2 and my PS3. The VGA input just needs to be calibrated properly to get the best picture. Although that is also true of any input.

[CarlosC]

My 360 outputs at 1080P . the only place it's lacking is the audio. The picture is just as good as what I get from my HD-A2 and my PS3. The VGA input just needs to be calibrated properly to get the best picture. Although that is also true of any input.

On my set, (SONY KDL-40XBR2) the XBOX360's "upscaled" 1080p VGA output (using Petmic's calibration settings) is no where as good as the PS3's native 1080p HDMI output.

[talbain]

Originally Posted by aaronwt

My 360 outputs at 1080P . the only place it's lacking is the audio. The picture is just as good as what I get from my HD-A2 and my PS3. The VGA input just needs to be calibrated properly to get the best picture. Although that is also true of any input.

what he said...

[ack_bk]

Originally Posted by goldielox

The January edition of Sound and Vision Magazine compared the Panasonic, Samsung and PS3 players.

The PS3 was the overall winner because of price point and it's ability to do many other things in addition to BR playback.

Except you can now find the Samsung for less than the PS3. I cannot find a PS3 20GB for the life of me and can find new Samsung players for under $500 and refurbs for around $400-450.. I am really torn between the Samsung and the 20GB PS3 if I can find one...