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Panasonic DMP BDT500 - Page 35

post #1021 of 1215
12/22/12 at 2:38pm
Can the BDT500 play MKVs which have 7.1 FLAC audio? I just bought an Oppo 103 for this purpose, but to my disappointment it does not work with 7.1 FLAC only 5.1... and when I emailed Oppo they aren't going to fix it either.... The oppo just freezes when you play MKV with 7.1 flac.
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post #1022 of 1215
12/24/12 at 10:33am
Has anyone compared this to the previous flagship player from Panasonic, the BDT350?

I currently have a 350 and am thinking of changing it out to either the 500 or Oppo 103.
The BDT350 works fine, so I'm really only interested in getting a new player if there's worthwhile improvements in video quality over BRD and 3D BRD.

I have an Oppo BDP-83 in another system that has served me well the past few years and I must admit that it's build quality far surpasses that of the 350. ....Still the 350 keeps chugging along so I can't complain.

I recently changed TV's from a VT25 to a VT50 and the improvement especially in 3D has been well worth it.
So that's why I'm wondering if changing players to a new one is a worthwhile venture?
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post #1023 of 1215
12/24/12 at 12:44pm
Since you already have an 83 for DVD's you don't need the better scaling of the 500 over the 350. There will no change in BD quality but you should get faster load times. The faster load times is the only enhancement I see you getting for your money.
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post #1024 of 1215
12/24/12 at 12:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamiee View Post

Has anyone compared this to the previous flagship player from Panasonic, the BDT350?

I currently have a 350 and am thinking of changing it out to either the 500 or Oppo 103.
The BDT350 works fine, so I'm really only interested in getting a new player if there's worthwhile improvements in video quality over BRD and 3D BRD.

I have an Oppo BDP-83 in another system that has served me well the past few years and I must admit that it's build quality far surpasses that of the 350. ....Still the 350 keeps chugging along so I can't complain.

I recently changed TV's from a VT25 to a VT50 and the improvement especially in 3D has been well worth it.
So that's why I'm wondering if changing players to a new one is a worthwhile venture?

I know your primary concern is PQ but here are a couple of smaller points of difference between these decks that I've borne in mind as I've gone from an Oppo 83 to 93, kept my BDT350 but considered a BDT500: The 500 has the new GUI. It's a very different interface than the 350, which is the "legacy" design going back several model years of Panasonic players. The newer menu design places much more emphasis on the deck as a set top portal to Internet content that also plays discs (as opposed to a disc player that also has Internet access). I don't care for it. New fangled touch screen/swiper remote, too.

The 103 incorporates the anti-piracy scheme Cinavia that the 83 does not have.
Edited by Paul.R.S - 12/26/12 at 11:49am
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post #1025 of 1215
12/26/12 at 7:01am
Yeah I'm not too concerned about internet connectivity as I rarely use it on my BDT350 as is (except for the occasional firmware update).
For internet multimedia I have the VT50 and PS3 which work well enough. Tho for the most part I'd much rather just use my desktop PC for most things.

I guess there's really no reason for me to change players at this point.
I suspect any video quality improvements will be minimal at best with Blu-ray (regular + 3D).
I'm probably better to wait until 4k becomes more the norm and/or Panasonic stops providing updates for the 350 so I can't watch new releases tongue.gif



----EDIT----

Yeah well, I just found the 500 for a pretty good price here in Canada (about the same as some of the cheaper US pricing I've seen online recently). So I'm probably just going to cave in and order one rolleyes.gif
Edited by jamiee - 12/26/12 at 10:27am
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post #1026 of 1215
12/31/12 at 11:14am
Hi,

I have a dumb question regarding hdmi output. I think i have a unit that the main HDMI port is defect. I can't return back the unit because i bought it online more than 2 month ago while i was out of the country for work. Anyway, what I've found is that if i use the "Main" HDMI port, the LCD panel (the LCD of BDT500) is flickering all the time. Even the LED for the options (Vsub) are flickering. If i use the Sub port it works just fine. So my question is, is there any downside when using the sub hdmi instead of the main ? I don't plan to split the audio and video on both port.

Thanks,
Edited by Sianspheric - 12/31/12 at 12:10pm
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post #1027 of 1215
1/1/13 at 5:59am
To be honest I have my 500 too short to know. But I am sure the limitations of secondary hdmi output should be listed in user manual.
Moreover with Panasonic warranty you should have no problem to fix the first one. Good luck.
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post #1028 of 1215
1/1/13 at 7:03pm
I just got this machine and am quite impressed by the picture and especially the analog output. The remote however is another story......horrible. If not for the fact that I have a Harmony I would have probably returned it, the remote sucks that bad. The phone app is actually the best interface given that IR reception is poor with any remote I use especially if you are off axis.

I'm mainly a two channel guy but finally got a Blu Ray player and wanted one that didn't break the bank. The build quality seems decent, much better than the Pioneer BD 62. That player had a great picture but felt cheap and lacked any analog outs. The 500 has it all, dual HDMI, SPDIF, Toslink, and 7.1 analog. I did a comparison between the analog stereo output and my outboard DAC's output. This machine has a great musical quality to it, while I preferred the sound of the external dac at no time was I disappointed at the Panny's sound. It's that good.

Netflix picture quality was surprisingly good with a wireless connection, no problems as some have reported. Despite not having transport control on the front of the player and the worst remote I have ever experienced I really like this player. That said I can only recommend it if you have a Harmony or other decent learning remote.
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post #1029 of 1215
1/1/13 at 7:53pm
I agree, this is great player indeed with lots of features like dual hdmi out and 7.1 analog output which both I use for example. But this touchpad on remore is a big mistake.

Similarly to newest Logitech Harmony Touch which happen to be hated by many users for the same reason.
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post #1030 of 1215
1/3/13 at 10:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by XxDeadlyxX View Post

Can the BDT500 play MKVs which have 7WI.1 FLAC audio? I just bought an Oppo 103 for this purpose, but to my disappointment it does not work with 7.1 FLAC only 5.1... and when I emailed Oppo they aren't going to fix it either.... The oppo just freezes when you play MKV with 7.1 flac.

This? Also Does It Handle .Avi Just Fine?
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post #1031 of 1215
1/3/13 at 11:07am
Show me where can I get sample of MKV with flac 7.1 and I will be more than happy to test it for you. :-D
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post #1032 of 1215
1/7/13 at 7:32am
Hello all,

I was wondering wich player has the smoothest picture. The BDT500 or the BDP-S790. When I'm playing long panning scenes (on my PS3) for example BBC's EARTH on horizontale landscape scenes I always experience short but very noticeable stutters. I've red that this could have to do with 24P being to slow to fool the human eye. So did anyone compare the 2 players specifically on this point?

For me this feature to smoothen panning scenes is allmost the most important point on buying the Panny or the Sony ;-)

Many thanks for the responses.

By the way, I'm from the Netherlands so my english is so, so.. ;-)
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post #1033 of 1215
1/7/13 at 8:16am
If you output 24p then smoothness will depend on the display, not player. So both players will show same result theoretically in this case.
If however you output 60p then both players will would have to apply 24to60 pulldown and here they could apply different techniques to achieve worse or better smoothness.

I have been always a fan of smooth picture when watching not only documentaries but also theatrical movies.
Many users prefer not smooth but slight blur/ stutter in fast moving scenes claiming this is more like theatre view experience. I respectfully disagree reminding that back in old times when movies were made and projected using film, picture was always smooth because it was appearing before lens as one piece at the same time unlike nowadays in crt or digital projectors where picture is drawn line by line or pixel by pixel thought the frame as being displayed at the same time. The modern smoothing algorithms bring back this film like charm and motion about which most of people already forgot with modern projectors being used in theaters for over two decades.

Bottom line is that both players will give you nice and smooth effect when watching great BBC documentaries which btw I myself enjoy from time to time but best way to achieve this is to play it in 24p mode with proper display equipped modern frame interpolation system. With variety 120 or 240 Hz displays on the market including LCD LED and projectors this should not be a problem.
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post #1034 of 1215
1/7/13 at 6:33pm
Question: I am cosiderimg the panny 500. My current player is a Panasonic bd 85. I am reading complaints about the remote on the 500. Can someone tell me if the remote codes for the older players will work for the 500. I'm thinking I might use the remote from my BD 85 if I don't like the500 remote.
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post #1035 of 1215
1/8/13 at 1:20am
Dear esdwa,

Thanks for the response. I've got a 50" Samsung Plasma (PS50C6500) with 24P support switched on. Specs state that it works on 100Hz and has 600 Hz Subfield Motion but I think that is a marketing trick. Tv is 2 years old so not the newest display.

A friend of mine has got a brand new Panny plasma 42" with the PS3 connected. I will test the same panning scenes over there to see difference.

Thanks.
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post #1036 of 1215
1/8/13 at 5:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by suffolk112000 View Post

Question: I am cosiderimg the panny 500. My current player is a Panasonic bd 85. I am reading complaints about the remote on the 500. Can someone tell me if the remote codes for the older players will work for the 500. I'm thinking I might use the remote from my BD 85 if I don't like the500 remote.

I know the remote for the DMP BDT-220 works.
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post #1037 of 1215
1/8/13 at 11:15am
thanks for the feedback Charlie. :-)
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post #1038 of 1215
1/10/13 at 5:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by esdwa View Post

If you output 24p then smoothness will depend on the display, not player. So both players will show same result theoretically in this case.
If however you output 60p then both players will would have to apply 24to60 pulldown and here they could apply different techniques to achieve worse or better smoothness.

I have been always a fan of smooth picture when watching not only documentaries but also theatrical movies.
Many users prefer not smooth but slight blur/ stutter in fast moving scenes claiming this is more like theatre view experience. I respectfully disagree reminding that back in old times when movies were made and projected using film, picture was always smooth because it was appearing before lens as one piece at the same time unlike nowadays in crt or digital projectors where picture is drawn line by line or pixel by pixel thought the frame as being displayed at the same time. The modern smoothing algorithms bring back this film like charm and motion about which most of people already forgot with modern projectors being used in theaters for over two decades.

Bottom line is that both players will give you nice and smooth effect when watching great BBC documentaries which btw I myself enjoy from time to time but best way to achieve this is to play it in 24p mode with proper display equipped modern frame interpolation system. With variety 120 or 240 Hz displays on the market including LCD LED and projectors this should not be a problem.

Great post. I think I'm going to try and disable 24p for some test viewing when i get off shift.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
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post #1039 of 1215
1/19/13 at 7:12am
question: the Panasonic 500 has been out for a while now. does anyone know if there is a replacement for this player in the near future? the Panasonic 500 it is on my final short list of players to consider. but before I make a decision, I want to make sure there is not going to be a better player in the near future.
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post #1040 of 1215
1/19/13 at 7:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by suffolk112000 View Post

question: the Panasonic 500 has been out for a while now. does anyone know if there is a replacement for this player in the near future? the Panasonic 500 it is on my final short list of players to consider. but before I make a decision, I want to make sure there is not going to be a better player in the near future.

When looking at the 2013 models from Panasonic I gathered they didn't update the BDT500 but they did update with new models of the BDT220 and BDT320 with a BDT230 and BDT330. They also added some Streaming Media Players.

Al
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post #1041 of 1215
1/19/13 at 10:52am
They do not update 500 because it is superior to newer models as it has been when it was released. There is no other bd player that would offer so much versality like analog 7.1 output, dual HDMI out, adjustable subtitle position and best for the buck d/a for audio. Not mentioning streaming functionality from amazon netflix hulu or couple others I can't remember.
Since I have purchased my 500 couple months ago, I had a chance to play most of newest blu ray releases including pretty much all 3D movies that are around and not a single time this player showed any issue. It is just best player for the buck. Even if it sold for twice as much I would and still choose it for its funcionality, features and build quality.
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post #1042 of 1215
1/19/13 at 11:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by esdwa View Post

They do not update 500 because it is superior to newer models as it has been when it was released. There is no other bd player that would offer so much versality like analog 7.1 output, dual HDMI out, adjustable subtitle position and best for the buck d/a for audio. Not mentioning streaming functionality from amazon netflix hulu or couple others I can't remember.
Since I have purchased my 500 couple months ago, I had a chance to play most of newest blu ray releases including pretty much all 3D movies that are around and not a single time this player showed any issue. It is just best player for the buck. Even if it sold for twice as much I would and still choose it for its funcionality, features and build quality.

I have to agree!
I must have got my BDT500 at about the same time as you and everytime I turn it on I feel fortunate to have grabbed one.

As soon as folks started speculating on what the 2013 models would be I had a feeling that Panasonic wasn't going to include a model with the features of the BDT500. I'm convinced I jumped on the band wagon in the nick of time and don't feel I'll be looking for an upgrade anytime soon.

Al
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post #1043 of 1215
1/19/13 at 2:16pm
Hi all , I have been quietly following this tread( ore reading it front to back) since I got a 500 a few weeks back, and I mus say +1 on the last post's here.

My plan was to get a CA 751 also,along with a few copy's of a good BD so I could test them side by side, both for PQ and audio 2 ch on my setup, but it 's been 2 weeks since I got it and it has performed 100% , so I pritty much ditched that idea of getting the 751. The panny is a 450$ player here in Norway and the 751 is at ruffly 980 $ at the moment, so it should performe 'that much better' to justify the extra cash, and with my settup I don't think I can get that more out of PQ and sound quality with the 751. I envy some of the amazone panny prices I have seen mentioned here.:-)

My main reason for looking into a new player was that my marantz dv6400 started acting up at x-mas, and my ps2 is the old fatty one , pushing 6+ years.
The rest of my system is a yamaha 667 1 Rotle 980 and 1 Rotel 960 . Dali 710 speakers along with some BW / Audio Pro senter and back. TV is a samsung 46 LE 750(755) lcd

It performes very well on BD, and on 2ch audio my marantz is struggeling to keep up. 3d hugo looks super good, I never got the crave for 3d , but with hugo I thought otherwise, really cool. Prometheus looks stunning. the details is much better than on the ps3( some might be that one can adjust the sharpnes from the player a notch ore two :-) )
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post #1044 of 1215
1/21/13 at 8:41pm
I decided to do a little test to see if my new Oppo BDP-93 would beat the Panasonic BDT-500.

I setup a tripod camera, hooked up both players on different inputs, played the same movie, at the same parts, with the same camera settings, on a tripod, triggered off a remote.

When bitstreaming the blu-ray DISC, I can honestly say there is 0 difference in picture quality from a calibrated BDT-500 compared to the Oppo 93. There shouldn't be though, no image processing is taking place, it's just passing 1's and 0's.

But where the Oppo destroys the BDT-500 is the ability to DLNA stream MKV's from my NAS. I'm not sure if I got a bad panasonic unit, because people on here claim it works perfect.

The picture quality was better on the Oppo on these digital versions of the movies (even when paused to prevent the Panasonic from shuddering).

I like Panasonic's UI much better then the Oppo, and there is no Amazon Video on Oppo.

So there is a small review for those who always claim Oppo beats everything in picture quality. Overall, I'm keeping the Oppo because the BDT-500 can't do big MKV streamed over the wired LAN without shuddering every few seconds, and I wanted to get some super-cd's.

Hope this helps someone. If MKV's aren't your thing and you don't need Super Cd playback, the BDT-500 does an amazing job for what it is and price point.
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post #1045 of 1215
1/22/13 at 4:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kamiraa View Post

I decided to do a little test to see if my new Oppo BDP-93 would beat the Panasonic BDT-500.

I setup a tripod camera, hooked up both players on different inputs, played the same movie, at the same parts, with the same camera settings, on a tripod, triggered off a remote.

When bitstreaming the blu-ray DISC, I can honestly say there is 0 difference in picture quality from a calibrated BDT-500 compared to the Oppo 93. There shouldn't be though, no image processing is taking place, it's just passing 1's and 0's.

But where the Oppo destroys the BDT-500 is the ability to DLNA stream MKV's from my NAS. I'm not sure if I got a bad panasonic unit, because people on here claim it works perfect.

The picture quality was better on the Oppo on these digital versions of the movies (even when paused to prevent the Panasonic from shuddering).

I like Panasonic's UI much better then the Oppo, and there is no Amazon Video on Oppo.

So there is a small review for those who always claim Oppo beats everything in picture quality. Overall, I'm keeping the Oppo because the BDT-500 can't do big MKV streamed over the wired LAN without shuddering every few seconds, and I wanted to get some super-cd's.

Hope this helps someone. If MKV's aren't your thing and you don't need Super Cd playback, the BDT-500 does an amazing job for what it is and price point.

From what I've gathered, reading the "Official Panasonic DMP-BDT220/320/500 Owners Thread", some folks are having problems with MKV's using DLNA with the Panasonic players and some folks are getting perfectly good results. I don't use that feature with my BDT500 but not because it won't perform those functions as I got mine for it's other features like 7.1 Analog Audio Out which comes in handy for me. Noboby else is making a player anymore with that feature at the price point of the 500. Although I know very little about the DLNA features of these players, it seems the Panasonics are touchy with how they are set up to perform these functions but if done right they will play MKV's just fine.

Al
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post #1046 of 1215
1/22/13 at 11:35am
Seems like lot of users expect blue ray player to have all bells and whistles of typical media player so it would accept all file formats, codecs and containers while Panasonic places is mostly just disc player that has been design for that purpose in first place. You pay premium for all mechanical guts inside including disc tray and laser. So do not expect to get full media player capability because for this price it won't happen. Asking Panasonic to play some more or less exotic files from your thumb ir USB drive is like complaining for your designed to be typical Limousine Mercedes E550 to act like a pickup truck.

Sure there are some hybrids in the market like Oppo player comes with all the features and disk playability on the top of it but for what premium? Not the one I would be willing to pay anyway.

I prefer to separate small networked media player that can handle much more media file types and leave discs for my Panasonic. Just trying to be reasonable.
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post #1047 of 1215
1/23/13 at 3:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamiee View Post

Yeah I'm not too concerned about internet connectivity as I rarely use it on my BDT350 as is (except for the occasional firmware update).
For internet multimedia I have the VT50 and PS3 which work well enough. Tho for the most part I'd much rather just use my desktop PC for most things.

I guess there's really no reason for me to change players at this point.
I suspect any video quality improvements will be minimal at best with Blu-ray (regular + 3D).
I'm probably better to wait until 4k becomes more the norm and/or Panasonic stops providing updates for the 350 so I can't watch new releases tongue.gif



----EDIT----

Yeah well, I just found the 500 for a pretty good price here in Canada (about the same as some of the cheaper US pricing I've seen online recently). So I'm probably just going to cave in and order one rolleyes.gif
Can I ask where?
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post #1048 of 1215
1/23/13 at 7:17pm
I've been searching through this thread, but haven't really found an answer. I'm using the BDT500 connected to a Panasonic 60UT50 plasma. I'm trying to figure out what settings on the player send the purest/least altered video signal. Is there a review on the 500 that actually bench tests the unit, or is the video processing close enough to the lower models that they would perform similarly?

These are the video settings I'm using:

Picture Mode: Normal (Is there any difference between user and normal if none of the contrast etc settings are changed?) I read the Secrets of Home Theater Review on the 210 and he mentioned some issues with the picture mode http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/blu-ray-players/blu-ray-players-reviews/panasonic-dmp-bdt210-blu-ray-player-for-the-home-theater.html
Chroma: off
Detail: 0
Super Resolution: 0
HDMI:
-Resolution 1080p
-Color mode: rgb standard (I chose this, because it was my understanding that Blu-ray disks use that mode of color output. It's set to the same standard on my TV)
-Deep color: auto
-Contents Flag: auto
Black Level: lighter (I used the same on the TV. What does this setting actually do?)

Any Suggestions?
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post #1049 of 1215
1/23/13 at 7:39pm
I just downloaded a 1080p BD rip of "Savages", a 14GB MKV file, transferred it to my new 32GB 3.0 USB flash drive and plugged it into the 500.

Plays perfectly, quality is outstanding, almost BD like. Audio is native DTS 5.1.

This is sweet, up until I got the 500, I was having issues with my equipment's restrictive media file playback features...no longer. cool.gif

I've had this player for a few months now and I really like it. Much better than my 210 that got retired to the bedroom.
Edited by mfrey0118 - 1/24/13 at 4:12am
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post #1050 of 1215
1/24/13 at 6:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kawika4 View Post

I've been searching through this thread, but haven't really found an answer. I'm using the BDT500 connected to a Panasonic 60UT50 plasma. I'm trying to figure out what settings on the player send the purest/least altered video signal. Is there a review on the 500 that actually bench tests the unit, or is the video processing close enough to the lower models that they would perform similarly?

These are the video settings I'm using:

Picture Mode: Normal (Is there any difference between user and normal if none of the contrast etc settings are changed?) I read the Secrets of Home Theater Review on the 210 and he mentioned some issues with the picture mode http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/blu-ray-players/blu-ray-players-reviews/panasonic-dmp-bdt210-blu-ray-player-for-the-home-theater.html
Chroma: off
Detail: 0
Super Resolution: 0
HDMI:
-Resolution 1080p
-Color mode: rgb standard (I chose this, because it was my understanding that Blu-ray disks use that mode of color output. It's set to the same standard on my TV)
-Deep color: auto
-Contents Flag: auto
Black Level: lighter (I used the same on the TV. What does this setting actually do?)

Any Suggestions?

This may help when choosing a color space: http://www.spearsandmunsil.com/articles/choosingacolorspace.html

In my experience, Normal and User (no settings changed) appear to be the same. The rest of your settings look correct. The Black Level does not affect HDMI output. I've read that some plasmas (Kuro) perform better with RGB, but you will need to experiment.
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