Official Panasonic DMP-BD35/55 Owners Thread - Page 8

The manual for the BD55 is also the same manual for the BD35. I do not see anything in there that indicates different video parts -- but that does not necessarily mean that they are identical. Some avsforum member will have to compare the two side by side to figure out the differences, if any.

According to the manual, the BD55 uses 21 watts, and the BD35 uses 20 watts. The BD55 is also spec'ed at being 1/4 inch taller. They are both listed with the same weight.

I apologize in advance if another poster asked but are there any PAL units available yet ?

Regards,

I used the on-screen speaker adjustment settings ; shown in the above post and described in the review by Chris Boylen (see post #119) last night, with Ironman (Dolby TrueHD). I am outputting audio using analog 7:1.

The speaker settings allow you to:
1. Select either large or small speaker size for pairs of speakers(i.e. L and R are the same; as are RS and LS; and LB and RB)
2. Adjust delay times (ms) based on speaker distances (note: The R and L speakers are the reference distances; therefore adjustments are made to other speakers only, with LS/RS and LB/RB adjustments in pairs)
3.adjust speaker balance (dB) (note; all adjutments are negative adjustments only (i.e. 0.0 to -6.0 dB for the Front, 0.0 to -12.0 dB for LS and RS. Sourround back LB/RB speakers will default to LS/RS settings)
4. Run audio test signal to listen to speaker volume levels (dB); to aid in adjustment ( note the white noise is NOT output to the subwoofer. You must listen to an actual soundtract. stop play; make a guess for subwoofer level adjustment; then play to sountrack to verify adjustment; then repeat until suitable).

While admittededly awkward, the BD player does allow for speaker adjustments prior to sending audio output. This is important if your receiver does not allow speaker adjustments (e.g. LFE volume adjustments); when receiving muli-channel analog inputs.



(HELP REQUESTED)
Ironman ( Dolby TrueHD) audio impression (7:1 Analog ouput)
I did not hear any sound coming from the surround back speakers; unlike Mr. & Mrs. Smith (DTS-HD MA). Is Dolby TrueHD a 7:1 format?

Dolby True HD is a 5.1 on that movie. It is just a codec so it could be 7.1. DTS MA can be either 5.1 or 7.1, that is a software issue.

Correct - this is how I'm currently using my BD-35 until my HDMI processor comes in.

At present:
Video is HDMI from BD-35 to Sony VPL-VW60
Audio is Optical from BD-35 to my existing processor

No problems with 1080/24 output.

Unit is very quiet.

If you have an older receiver, why aren't you using the analog outputs to get the lossless sound instead of the optical which can only carry legacy codecs???

My 55 doesn't make any noise.

So, can Dolby TrueHD be either 7:1 or 5:1?
DTS-HD MA appears to always be 7:1.

Hi Layne,

The projector's specs indicate that it may be compatible with an incoming 1080p/24 signal, but, as you probably know, your Infocus has a native resolution of 1280 x 720p, so it can't actually output an 1080p/24 image. The best you could expect if the signal were to be accepted would result in the projector rescaling and retiming the signal, but there's no advantage, i.e. reduced judder, in trying to send a 1080p/24 signal to a native 1280 x 720p projector.

It may be a problem with the EDID handshake between the player and projector that is preventing your projector from receiving the 1080p/24 signal that it knows it can't display unchanged.

Larry

Yes the 35K will do 24fps with the samsung 120hz. I had a problem with the samsung BD-2500 going through the Onkyo 876 out to my Samsung A850 and it recognizing 24fps. So I took back the BD-2500 and got the 35K and works fine.

When I stop the BD or DVD on my 55 all I have to do is press play and its right back where it was.

Both TrueHD and DTS-HD MA can be either.

TrueHD 5.1 ex. Iron Man (live acton)
TrueHD 7.1 ex. Nightmare Before Christmas

DTS-HD MA 5.1 ex. Alien vs Predator
DTS-HD MA 7.1 ex. Golden Compass

Analog out is analog. By the time it's analog, there's no distinction as to original codec.

If you've selected a DTS-HD track on a disc, then the BD35 or BD55 decodes DTS-HD to analog. If you select Dolby TrueHD on the disc, then it decodes Dolby TrueHD to analog. It makes no difference whether you set the output to bitstream or PCM if you're using the analog outputs but you *DO* have to disable to HDMI audio output if you're using the 7.1-channel analog outs. Otherwise you get 2-channel analog output.

If you want to confirm that the player is decoding DTS-HD or Dolby TrueHD then there is a display option in the player to view the active soundtrack. I think it's the display button on the remote that brings this up. Here's what it looks like for DTS-HD Master Audio.


-CB

No problem with 24p on a Panasonic PZ800 series plasma nor on an Epson 1080 UB Projector. Should be no problem on yours either.

-CB

I have a theory about this. I'm pretty sure 24p is only supported for 1080p output. If you have your BD35's hdmi output resolution set to auto (the default), then it is probably detecting that your projector's native resolution is 720p (which is correct). So it won't allow you to set the 24p output to on.

Try setting the hdmi output resolution to 1080p instead of auto. Any difference in whether you can enable 24p output?

-CB

Just for you, I extracted a DVD-RAM double-sided disc from its cartridge and tested it on the BD55. Played back just fine.

-CB

Got the BD55 on Wednesday but didn't hook it up until last night. Connected it to my NEC XG135LC projector with the Moome HDMI card. Picture and sound are both excellent (LOADS of detail). No glitches. Very pleased.

Actually, several 720p projectors can display a 1080p/24 image as 720p refreshed at 48hz. There is no retiming, just rescaling. Sony makes a point of this in their marketing literature for the 15, but several Pannys and Planars (possibly others) also do this.

I agree the problem may be handshake, but not because the projector is incapable. On the Samsung 1400 and my Panny900 I needed to choose 1080i, then turn 24fps "on". This effectively sent a 1080p/24 signal to the projector (as demostrated by my projector's input information), but somehow flagged it as 1080i, which made the handshake work.

For those having problems, if you can choose 1080i as an output resolution and still activate 24fps, you might try that with the 35/55 as well.

Yes, but which one is "right"? You don't really know unless you are comparing to some absolute standard (i.e. a calibration source). Also, did you set the PQ controls to be the same between the two units? Thanks for your comments.

Hi.

Thanks for the information.

I wasn't aware that the Infocus 7210 could handle 48Hz because the manual doesn't discuss this feature. However, on page 27 there is a graphic of a menu that lists a Film Mode called NTSC 48Hz. Again, there is no explanation of this feature, but perhaps the original poster should give it a try.

Larry

The Circuit City by my house has the 55's in stock. I'm going to pick one up today on my lunch break and compare it to my Sony BDP-S550. At least I have the afternoon off from work today to do the comparison. I got a feeling that the BD55 will be better.

I think that's what you'll find also.
I've been researching these players for the past 6 months, had a preorder in for the BD50, then set my sights on the S550, then low and behold the BD35 and BD55 have now come out with the most advanced features and at surprisingly good price points.
I think the Sony S350 and S550 have nothing over the BD35 and BD55, except a shiny blue faceplate

boylan; when you are feeding your PZ800 with the 24p output on this player, does it make any difference on your PZ800 when you set it to display 24p or do you still get the 'flicker'?

Thanks, I'm going to see if my local CC has any BD35's in stock.

Does anyone know if there will be a Costco version of the 35? Costco used to sell Panasonic's last model.

jcg

I also had the same initial impression on an SD copy of Spiderman that I threw in AND the BD version of Iron Man.

I haven't had a chance to recalibrate my display yet (Toshiba 57HX81 RPTV at 1080i), but I did a quick fix by setting the color temperature on the display from medium to cool.

This observation made based on my previous calibration levels with an RP91 that this unit replaced.

One nice thing though... All my remote codes for the RP91 work with the 55, so I didn't have to reprogram my remote!

Looking forward to hearing your observations. I'm buying one of these.

A technical question for you or anyone else who can answer: Does the ENHANCED setting set the black level range to 16-235 or 0-255? Also, the BD55 sends decoded PCM to analog out as well as TrueHD and DTSMA, correct?

Got mine yesterday and it works great. Only complaint is CD playback is lacking. I think jayridescarbon mentioned this as well. I'm compairing to an Oppo 981 outputting toslink and also using analog. Didn't matter which I used CD playback just wasn't close to what I was used to with the Oppo.

I was looking at the BD55 until Sonystyle gave me 150 reasons to get the S550. I love the S550 and I think we have reached the point where we have 2 full featured players with excellent PQ and audio quality at reasonable price points. I don't think you can go wrong with either. If Panasonic had given me 150 reasons I would have purchased it.