Pioneer BDP-320/BDP-23FD Owner's Thread - Page 150

It depends on the disk transfer and how good the dvd video scalar is. If the scalar is fantastic, dvd will look great and if the bluray transfer was mediocre to poor, the difference between dvd and bluray might not be that big.

Just got home and attempted to do what everyone said to do, turn my Pioneer BDP-23FD HDMI's resolution setting to 720p. There is no option for 720p. That pioneer is only giving me 480i and p, 1080i, auto which defaults unit to 1080i. It is not giving me the 1080p option because it detects that my television cant accept a 1080p signal, but that does not explain the lack of a 720i and p option.

what shall I do?

Return the the Pioneer and get a PS3. Pretty sad when a game consol has better options then a dedicated Bluray player.

kciaccio,

There are reasons to own a PS3, but that is not one of them. I'm pretty sure the PS3 lacks options that are on the 320 and 23FD. How is the PS3 with handling 1080i content?


Willie

I'm not a fan of 1080i content so I have not spent a lot of time analyzing it on the ps3 but at least ps3 gives you the option of 720p. It seems strange the Pioneer does not.
The ps3 is a very underated bluray player and is unjustly overlooked because people seemed to be predjudice against anything that plays games.
I bet it also gets firmware updates twice as much as the pioneer too.

I'm pretty sure the player will output 720p if you choose Source Direct for your output resolution.

BKSinAz

I believe the player will not scale to 720P - it may pass through 720P if that is native on the disk. I have never seen a 720P native disk.

I have a similar setup. First make sure your TV will not accept 1080P. My two 720P displays both accept 1080P and it does a good job with it. They will also allow 24 fps if the bluray disk has it.

If your TV will not accept 1080P then set the output bluray output to 1080i. All that will happen is the TV will scale back to 720P and deinterlace (or possibly native 768) which will most likely look fine.

You say select source direct, but isn't the source 1080p, seeing that it is a blue ray?

I am positive that the television can not accept a 1080p signal and the highest it can accept is 1080i

The PS3's form factor is a major PITA for stacking in most AV racks.

Sorry, I answered before I had my coffee this morning. According to the manual, if you select Auto, the output will be what is preferred by the display. I would have to believe this would work, considering Pioneer has built some 720p plasma displays in the recent past.

You can't output 720p from pio I think. Oppo can do it. And some network and internet HD content does have 720p native but not on blu Ray. 720p native is more for streaming content to save bandwidth.

So u either change your player else your optimal output from pio will be 1080i. Some DVDs have good transfers and coupled with good scalar in your set that it may not look significantly different from blu Ray. Still siginificant if u watch real close though but that's beside the point.

I play my blurays 720p through PS3.

Yes the PS3 is rated highly for blu Ray playback if u don't care about DVD upscaling/gradations. It also seemed to have less compatibility issue. The irony is that dedicated Sony blu Ray players are reviewed to be even inferior to PS3. Think PS3 should be the defacto standard for blu Ray players (and from blu Ray creator )

Not sure about PS3 720p PQ though. In anycase the OP probably need to decide if it is worth changing the player.

kciaccio,

Are you just trolling or do you own either of the Pioneer models? If it is the former, then we get it. You like your PS3, but I would never have it in my home theater setup. My son has one and its a great gaming solution, but not in my home theater. This is an owners thread where we try to help current or potential owners of the 2 Pioneer models and NOT THE PS3.


Willie

Give me a break. More updates isn't always a good thing. The last update the PS3 received was for a freakin' worthless PSN store update. Had nothing to do with BD playback or even gaming.

I have 2 PS3s and prefer my Pioneer 09FD and 23FD for BD and even more so DVD playback.

The real irony is that the PS3 and some of the latest Sony models do just fine upscaling DVD unless you enjoy watching DVD with synthetic test material.

I love my 320 but I honestly cannot say it plays DVD better, not in a blind test for sure. The smallish 50" plasma screen may be the reason.

it depends on your viewing distance. 50" viewed from 8ft away? You can right away tell the difference between PS3 and 320... but most people view their 50" from 14" ft away, so the point of having a 50% is moot.

I watch my movies on an 8ft screen from 8ft away, I need any picture improvement I can get.

I was talking only in terms of bluray disks. If you look at some of the other dedicated bluray player threads someplayers can't play new disks that are out because the player was not updated.

that is correct because many disc with out-of-spec features tend to have a PS3 patch embedded on the disc itself.

Oop's my bad. I really did not mean to turn this into a PS3 thread. To be honest I was not even paying attention to the thread title. I just saw a new post that someone said they just bought a bluray player and the picture wasn't any better than a DVD. I was just helping him out by

That's a nice big screen you have there. How would you compare the 320 and your oppo BD players for upscaling on a screen that large? It sounds like you're pretty happy with the 320 upscaling capabilities?

I watch my 50" from 12 ft away. I find my 2550, 320, PS3, Pro-111 itself about the same upscaling DVDs in general, hard to tell which one is better. The XD-E500 definitely have better contrast and details (ok, everyone can laugh but to me its is the best) and the A3, A30 and the AVR slightly worse. Again, all moot point because the quality of the individual transfer seems to have the most impact on DVD PQ, not the players. I should watching from 6' away.

for average DVD, the difference between PS3 Slim, Oppo 83 and 23 are about the same and I don't have a preference. On a very bad DVD (pq wise, I mean) PS3 Slim actually make them worse, Oppo makes makes almost no difference, 23 makes them bearable (on my 8ft screen).

On a very good transfer, PS3 Slim makes the DVD better, Oppo makes them even better, but the 23 sometimes it makes me rethink whether I need to rebuy the BD version of the said DVD.

This by no means saying that the 23 makes DVD look like BD, but itupcoverts good enough to the point that it's bearable for me to watch said DVDs on my screen without thinking "I wish this DVD is available on BD".

As far as the XDE system, it gives the most pop for my 50" from all the players when viewed from 12' away. However on the 8' screen viewed from 8' away, the image looks far too artificial for my taste.

Of course, everything I said is subjective.

^^^ Interesting that you feel that the pioneer is right up there with the oppo, even exceeding it I understand. Makes me feel pretty good about buying the 320 for $179 at future shop last month. Would you say the oppo 83 is just a tad overhyped with regards to picture quality, especially in comparison to the pioneer which can be had for substantially less? Leaving out the fact that the 83 is truly a universal player--referring only to picture quality.

I own both the BD83 and the Pioneer 320 and have compared both. I feel that the Pioneer is a great value especially at close out prices. The picture is very good amd close to the Oppo. The big issue for me is that the Oppo is much faster and can play nearly any disk with no issue. The error correction on the Pioneer is ok but I have had disks that would not play or would freeze on the Pioneer. I also dislike the remote on the Pioneer The Oppo just works and has since day one. Some of you have bought the Pioneer for really low prices and that may change the picture. If you don't mind the slow loading and the few other issues the Pioneer is a great value. I got a few for friends at closeout a few months ago for $99. They could not afford the Oppo.

I don't know how important this is for most people but one thing I like about the 320 a lot is that I cannot hear it from 12 feet away. That makes it the best player I have for enjoying classical music concert DVD/BR. The slim is acceptable but 30 minutes into it that stupid fan would pick up speed and I can hear it loud and clear making it unsuitable for music enjoyment.

Thank you for taking the time to comment on the generally despised (on forums) XDE. I do not own the 23 and 83 but while your comments on the slim, 320 and XDE could well be subjective, I do share the same experience except the artificial part about the XDE. I find that with some DVDs I prefer to have the XDE enhancement turned off but for most DVDs they work for me, artificial (it probably is, to the trained eyes as most reviewers said so too) or not. I use my BD players to play BDs only and let the cheap Toshiba take all the wear and tear on DVDs.

One question though, did you find the 23 quieter than the 83? I am really curious because the lower class 320 is almost silent so I can't imagine how quiet the 23 would be. I wish I have one but they are not available in any discount store in the North of the border. Also, why would you even bother with the 320 when you have the Elite? Again, just curious, if you don't want to answer I understand.

Thanks again..

my 23 is quieter than my 83 in maybe just the tray opening..while playing discs both are quiet

tubehead,

Only you can decide if the Oppo is a "tad overhyped" Dave whose opinions I respect a lot can only speak for the players in his particular setup and he did qualify his opinions as subjective. I have an Oppo BDP-83 in addition to a Pioneer BDP-23FD and in my setup I prefer the Oppo followed closely by BDP-23FD, but this is only my subjective opinion for my setup. Both are viewed on a Pioneer Elite Pro-15FD from about 8 feet away. You can feel good about your purchase of the 320 and you don't need someone else to validate it for you.


Willie

+1. Opening and closing of the tray is smoother on the 23, but as you stated both are quiet once the tray has closed.


Willie