Do all blu ray player produce same quality? - Page 5

Aside from some extreme examples, BD players all provide the same picture quality.

It's about the features you may or may not want like:
WiFi
Netflix
Hulu
Pandora
VuDu
Playing MP3
Playing MKVs/AVI's etc.

Honestly, just about any player by Sony, Panasonic or LG are great. I'd avoid Sharp, off brands, and most Samsungs (too many issues in the past, and some can't play Warner/Universal discs).

Get a LG BD570. Its about $150-$200 and can do just about everything.

I was in Walmart Friday and saw a new $99 Vizio blu ray player that came with Netflix, Pandora, and Vudu. It was significantly smaller than the first Vizio model with a price of $149-159. Why not give that a try, and if you don't like it, take it back. At least you'll get to see how one looks on your 52' screen.

Maybe he was referring to the standard DVD playback quality, which wouldn't be totally untrue.

>WiFi
Netflix
Hulu
Pandora
VuDu
Playing MP3
Playing MKVs/AVI's etc.
<<br />
Plus other things you may or may not care about or have even thought about, like:
Premium SD upscaling;
Zooming;
SACD/DVD-A support;
Multiple simultaneously active analog and digital audio and video outputs;
Subtitle relocation;
Handling of secondary audio (the method can vary from player to player);
Manufacturer's history of quick firmware updates and good customer support;
DLNA support;
Multichannel analog audio (which you either need or you don't) and (if you do) the quality of the player's DACs;
Source direct mode (if you have a separate video processor);
"Build quality" and other intangibles.

So yes, there are many features that in theory can run up the price of a BD player. PQ and AQ when playing BDs is not of of them.

Thanks for all the fast responses.

I was actually referring to Blu-Ray playback. However, now that I have done some more research, I see where standard DVD playback quality can vary between machines. Since most of the DVDs we play are standard DVDs, I am now obviously concerned about this. We now have a Denon DVD-1740 and it has excellent playback quality so I do not want to sacrifice any of the high quality playback we are now accustomed to.

GizmoDVD recommended the LG BD-570. The reviews for it look very good. What are some thoughts about its standard DVD playback quality, especially compared to the Denon DVD-1740?

Most BD players all upconvert DVD's the same now as well. All the good chips (REON, QDEO) are long gone since the format war ended (and player prices dropped like a rock and were no longer being built in the thousands vs. hundreds of thousands now), and most all use the same type of chips (Broadcom). There might be some very, very small differences between players, but I doubt 99% of people could even tell the difference when their TV is 50" or less.

I have the BD590 (same as the 570, just with a built-in 250GB harddrive) and DVD quality is really nice. Honestly, it does just about everything except Amazon Unbox, but with VuDu and Cinemanow, you have no reason for Amazon. It also has WiFi, Netflix, Pandora, Napster, Picaso, Weather, MLB and some other things I can't even remember now... Fast booting and with the latest firmware updates it's rock solid.

I'd also recommend going to Amazon though. Its $165 shipped (possibly with no tax) vs $200 at Best Buy. Save yourself the $35+ and grab a few BDs

Not too familiar on the Denon, sorry.

I went into the store a few days ago, because I decided to buy a new Bluray player. I just couldn't get DTS out of my PS3. I asked several salesman what the difference was between the high end ones, and the $99 players. They all told me different answers from wireless internet, to better PQ.

I ended up just buying the Pannasonic BD85, because it had the coaxil I needed from my other DVD player. As far as better picture than my PS3, I didn't notice any difference. I do like the sound a whole lot better though.

You should have asked us first. We could have showed you how to get the PS3 to do what you needed. (Sounds like you may only have needed an inexpensive optical -> coaxial adapter, a $12 item.)

The same adapter would have let you buy the less expensive BD65, if a Panasonic was what you wanted.

So in 2010 most blu-ray players have the ability to network and offer various applications from the internet (netflix etc.), and more than half of them are 3D-ready to play blu-ray 3D movies. So what's the real difference between all of these players? What's the difference between a $300 Samsung blu-ray player and a $1000+ player from Oppo, Pioneer Elite, etc. I know it might have something to do with the video quality, but what specifically? And the audio quality? What's truly the best blu-ray player for those of us who've invested in a nice home theater system and want to get the clearest sound along with the best video quality on our 60"+ HDTV? Any suggestions?

Higher priced players have analog audio features that appeal to the audiophile customer. There is no upper ceiling in the that market.

For BR native video and digital audio, the forum consensus is that all players produce very similar video and audio.

DVD and analog audio performance are more variable.

The OPPO is $499, not $1000+.

-Bill

I currently have only had BD experience with two players - the Sony S570 and the Samsung C6500 - but even between those two players there is a significant and noticeable difference in PQ, so I can imagine there are differences with other players as well.

And when I say noticeable, I don't mean just noticeable to myself, as I'm someone who has been geeking out on HT minutiae for decades, lol, and can spot problems that others swear I'm making up.

No, in this case, I've done A/B comparisons with the players for both my wife and father-in-law, and both immediately saw a quality difference within the first 30 seconds of watching (Samsung has the better PQ). It is especially pronounced when watching DVDs.

So I would opine that there are not insignificant differences in player PQ.

I have the Samsung BDP-1600 from a million years ago, and I was wondering if it is worth it to upgrade to one of the 2011 models. I am looking for better picture quality, DLNA, Fast disc read(right now mine reads in like 10-40 seconds depending on the movie).

I'm currently using a Sammy PN58B860 Plasma from '09.

Thanks,

Josh

I'm trying to choose between an Oppo 93 and a PS3. I've been told that, more or less, the image quality is the same between these players, and what separates them is features such as SACD/DVD-A, build quality and customer support.

So would it be fair to say that image quality amongst blu-ray players of the same price class is more or less the same?

In theory all players should produce very similar image quality for Blu-ray native titles.

In practice, it's only in the past year that anyone published test results and there are differences.

See the original article: The Secrets Blu-ray Player HDMI Benchmark - Part I. The OPPO produced correct levels and the Sony they tested did not. I don't believe PS3 results have been published yet.

The articles are discussed in a forum thread here: All 1080p is not created equal - a Blu-ray Player Benchmark.

-Bill

I own Panasonic 210 and Oppo BDP-93 and I can clearly see differences between both players. Panasonic produces a way more natural filmlike look with finer grain retention, whereas the Oppo gives a more artificial image with some boosted colors and contrast enhancement which provide a "deeper" image with more pop.

Also the Oppos grain retention is not as clean as the Panasonic's. Oppo tends to digitize the grain even in source direct mode. Have also observed this behavior with my previous Denon 1611. Personally I think the Mediatek decoder used in the Oppo and Denon is just crap.

Yup, yup, yup.

I believe Oppo uses anchor bay video processors which artificially sweeten the signal in various ways, by adding edge enhancement, boosting contrast and color, and perhaps in other ways as well.

This is why Oppo has a "direct" signal feature, which turns off most of this processing, but not all of it.

I turned off all of these whizbang enhancements on my tv and now the picture quality is much more watchable and in my opinion "accurate" as well.

Oppo uses Qdeo processing in its current players, not Anchor Bay.

I love quoting myself!

From 2009 (2nd post in this thread)... Still true! Nostradamus has spoken!!!

(and same with bit streamed lossless!!)

Something seldom mentioned is build quality. Having had a Sony BD250 and BD570 I can say they are cheap beyond belief and this shows. My new Oppo is in an entirely different class in all respects including DVD upscaling.

Digitize the grain?! - Can you please expand/explain what you mean?

The grain, as everything else in the movie, is stored in digital format on disc.. you're NOT projecting analog film when using blu-ray. The digitization process has occurred when the film was scanned and then mastered, this happens regardless of which player you end up using to reproduce the content at home.

Oppo has the ability to do DNR, which can affect film grain depending on the setting used. You might have enabled this feature. Also, the Oppo CAN use contrast and color enhancement features, but you have the ability to disable these features as well. The default is to have all these features disabled.. can you check to make sure they are disabled?

Regards..

ok, so all blu ray players have pretty much the same PQ but which blu ray player has more options for adjusting picture quality like sharpness, contrest ,color, grain remover noise reduction, edge smoother etc

blu ray players i'm considering

Sony S1000ES

Oppo Digital BDP-83

my main concern is blu ray PQ

Note that the OPPO BDP-83 is their first generation player, long out of production. The current model is the BDP-103, still $499.

It has more noise reduction and sharpening control than the original player, but not "grain removal". I'm not familiar with that.

-Bill

whats the HDMI input on the bdp 103 for could I connect my laptop HDMI to it and get a better PQ rather then just connecting the HDMI straight to the TV

I do this with my VSX 1326 Pioneer amplifier and the picture quality of the laptop when connected through the amplifier is much better then if I were to connect it straight to the TV

my Pioneer amp has Marvell® video processing with award winning Qdeo™ technology my question is the video processing in the bdp 103 better then in the Pioneer amp VSX 1326

link to Pioneer amp specs http://www.pioneerelectronics.ca/POCEN/Home/AV-Receivers/FutureShop/VSX-1326-K

thanks

Yes.


Maybe.

Don't know. Try the BDP-103 owner's thread: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1432162/official-oppo-bdp-103-owners-thread

-Bill

also i'm wondering if the PQ difference would be worth the money compared to the Sony bdp S1000es I could get for around $150.00 which has Marvell Qdeo "Super Bit Mapping smoothes out background shadow and color gradients, and HD Reality Enhancer sharpens moving edges to create the finest video output available from Sony."
"The BDP-S1000ES also features Sony's HD Reality Enhancer, which Sony claims "continually analyzes the original source bit by bit, sharpening edges and reproducing detail, while reducing the effects of film grain."
Edited by ace54 - 1/17/13 at 12:53pm

The PQ differences are very minor and usually not noticeable by eye. The Sony does not have Marvell Qdeo AFAIK. Don't read too much into Sony's marketing rubric. The Sony BDPs have had inaccuracies on HDMI measurements but I don't know if it also applies to the 1000ES. The 5000ES is the one people got excited about, not the watered down 1000ES.

If you are really concerned with PQ then buy the best display you can afford because if the display is a long way off the standard then it may not be possible to correct it upstream. Likewise the picture controls should be in the display and not in the player.

do you own the BDP 103? because I was just reading reviews on amazon and almost all the people say the PQ is amazing some people mentioned that its PQ is much better then their previews players for both blu ray and dvd

my TV is Sony KDL-46V4100 46" the PQ on some blu rays is like looking out a window and this is with my 2009 Sony bdp s360 I know my TV is mid to high end other tvs now around $3000 have pretty much same PQ with added gimmicks so I;m wondering if a new player will give me even better picture to be honest its hard to imagine getting better picture on some blu ray movies it already looks perfect


one of the reviews

"Blu-ray PICTURE QUALITY
If you think all Blu-ray players have roughly the same picture quality...you are dead wrong. The Oppo BDP-103 blows away my Samsung BDP-3600. The most dramatic difference is with the Blu-ray Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I don't know if you know or even like this family classic but whoever digitally remastered it went all out and it's a work of art. This disk is brighter, sharper, and has the best color and depth of any disk I own. Although it looked very good in my Samsung BDP-3600, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang running on the Oppo BDP-103 produced a picture of such quality and depth that I didn't know it was even possible to reproduce on my TV. The Oppo BDP-103 has really taken my Samsung TV to new heights of jaw dropping picture quality!"

http://www.amazon.com/OPPO-BDP-103-Universal-Blu-ray-DVD-Audio/product-reviews/B009LRR5AQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_link_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0
Edited by ace54 - 1/18/13 at 8:55am

The HDMI benchmarking measurements have objectively shown that there are differences in HDMI output among different BDPs, with the previous Oppo models being the most accurate (but not 100.00% accurate, the difference is very small). You can look it up on the Secrets of HT website. I can't find any up to date reviews on the current models over there.

We are talking about accuracy of outputting what's on the disc. You have to distinguish between accuracy to the source and the ability to get you extra pop or wow factor, be it contrast or colour boost, or sharpness or noise reduction. These are your own preference to how you like the picture to be, not necessarily how it is intended by the content maker.

I wouldn't rely too much on Amazon reviews. Trust your instinct a bit more. If you need to know if the Oppo 103 can give you more wow factor I suggest try asking in the Oppo thread. I don't use one but I have seen Sony TVs and they do give impressive picture quality. At the end of the day you might have to try one and see for yourself in your own room on your own TV. Compare the picture adjustment options on both. If you can boost say contrast on your TV then you wouldn't need to do that in the player. Furthermore you already have the Pioneer AVR with Marvell chip, while it may not be implemented exactly as in the Oppo, again find out the adjustment options. I doubt one Marvell is that much better one another.