*** The LG BH100 HD Super Multi Blue Player *** official owner's thread - Page 4

I still don't know if I got this straight or not, I am confused

does the 100 pass DD+, TrueHD and DTS Master correctly via analog, I wonder how the D/A's are ?

thanks for the help

-Gary

According to the review it does all expect TrueHD, which it only does as 2.0. It's currently the only BR player to decode DTS-HD-MA, via analogs only.

I thought you bought a Panny BR player Gary?

thanks mrwil, I have neither HD nor BR right now, I had to sell both due to bills

if this thing did TrueHD via analog I would probably try one, the resume of HD-DVD is nice and I couldn't care less about HDI or extras, plus DTS-M via analog for every fox release

-Gary

I can't get HDMI to work at all with my Pioneer VST-82TXS except in pass-through mode. I saw another post from someone with a VST-84TXS who was having the same problem. I'm getting the picture via HDMI direct to my Sony 60A2000 and the audio via TOSLink to the Pioneer. Would really appreciate an update to make the HDMI work as it would greatly simplify system operation -- especially important for the spouse.

According the LG rep at CES, it would not support multichannel TrueHD. He said it would support 2ch out. The rep said it doesn't support DTS-HD, not only Master Audio, but also High Resolution Audio, it just takes DTS core.

I somewhat doubt whether this LG machine really passed HDMI verification test.

I posted this in the other LG BH100 thread and figured I would put it here as well

--------
maybe its a compatibility issue with this LG player and your Pioneer receiver

I picked up the LG combo player tonight and connected it to my Anthem AVM 50 PrePro via HDMI with PCM selected on the LG and I was only getting 2 channel audio through HDMI. I switched to Bitstream on the LG and was able to get full 5.1 audio. I verified this with a couple different Bluray and HD DVD movies

I then brought the player upstairs and connected it directly to my Sharp Aquos with an HDMI cable and I wasnt getting any audio with Bitstream selected, I switched back to PCM on the LG and the audio came through correctly

for the record I use HDMI with all my devices without any problems

It's a compatibility problem with both Pioneer and Denon receivers. I'm not getting HDMI *video* through the receiver from the BH100. I get the initial Gray LG logo as the player starts up, then the player hangs with "please wait" in the front display. I never get the blue logo screen.

Apparently there's a handshake between the player and the display that has to be done differently if there's a component in the middle forwarding messages, and the LG doesn't do that forwarded negotiation properly.

Yep. We learned that coexistence is perfectly possible, if not practical for promoting lower prices. My local NBC affiliate still uses Betamax in the editing room. Just because you didn't have it in your living room when you were growing up doesn't mean that it wasn't used, and used heavily... As for DVD+R and DVD-R? Well, look at how many players play both.

I don't think the idea of a "format war" is at all dumb. I think the moniker "format war" is rather stupid, but the idea of competing technologies or competing products is what our economic system thrives on. I applaud LG for taking the first steps to see such integration brought to fruition, and I applaud your efforts for reviewing this player for the masses.

Hopefully a second generation player is in the works that would address all the problems with the player. I am trying to hold out for the second generation player.

I have a pretty good understanding of video specifications, but all of this audio-talk is new to me. Would someone mind answering a few questions:

1. What is the BEST audio connection for this unit? I have a Denon 3806 and can run either HDMI (switched to Bitstream for 5.1?) -OR- HDMI for video and analog for sound.
2. Using the BEST audio connection - what are the best modes will I get?
3. I see that Denon receivers have a "known issue" with this device- if I use HDMI through my Denon 3806, what issues can I expect?
4. Has anyone done a comparison of SD upconversion with the Toshibas or other BR players?
5. How does HD & BR video compare?

I have read through these threads but there are so many of them scattered throughout the HD & BR player forums. There's also a little discrepancy between them as far as the information goes.

Thanks for the help! This will hopefully make my decision on this unit vs. two better standalone units.

I would bet they use Betacam, not Betamax. There are two big differences:

1. Betacam is a family of formats, the analog versions of which used the same cassette form as Betamax but recorded component instead of composite video -- the formats on tape are incompatible. Most "beta" in use by TV stations today is one of the digital formats that have almost nothing other than the name in common with consumer Betamax. Consumer Betamax was not close to broadcast quality.

2. The professional market is different in both its technical and marketing requirements. The fact that multiple (many more than just 2) formats for video or audio have long been in simultaneous use in professional settings does not mean that multiple formats can coexist in the consumer space. BD vs HD-DVD is a consumer market war, like VHS vs. Betamax or 8-track vs. cassette. The fact that Betacam, Betacam SP, type C, digibeta, digibeta HD, DVCPro, and many other videotape formats have all had overlapping succes in the professional market doesn't, IMHO, say anything about the possible coexistence of HD-DVD and BD.

(See the wikipedia entry on betacam if you care).

I think the DVD+/- and DVD/RAM experience is more relevant: eventually players and recorders became +/- agnostic, and since most "universal" players and computer drives don't support DVD/RAM, you see much less of it. Plus of course there's the fact that there's no content issue: a single standard covers all purchased content. Laserdisc died a quick death once DVD was on the scene

My prediction is that either one format will win (BD being someewhat more likely) or universal players and / or discs will become the norm. I don't believe the current situation is sustainable. So my strategy is: buy a BH100 now so I can watch everything. Avoid buying discs, but for things my wife has to own *now*, buy BD if possible.

Does your Denon decode DD+, DTS-HD or DTS-MA? Best bet would be analog.


See #1.

See #1.

We do have mixed feelings about the player's ability to upconvert the DVD signals. Of over 10 DVDs we threw at it, we found the upconverted pictures varied from disc to disc. The worst being Finding Nemo on the scene where Nemo was going to school. Posterization was rampant. The best upconverted pictures were from Star Wars: Attack of the Clone. However, we have to say that the quality of upconversion paled in comparison to the recent demos we witnessed at CES.
http://gadgetaholic.com/content/view/33/1/


It depends on the movie. There were some poorly transferred movies to BluRay early on (most likely because of the 25GB limit on single layer discs and MPEG2), but it looks as though everything now is on 50GB and the HD & BR quality appears to be on par.


The only better stand alone unit out there is the Panasonic BluRay w/7 analog outputs and the Toshiba's do better SD-DVD upconversion. Add in the cost of extra cables for the a second unit (~$50) and this unit at under $1,100 (cheaper than the Panasonic) is a bargain.

please advise if anyone has experienced the following:

- attempting to play standard DVDs (i've tried 4 titles), bottom half of picture is cut off & scaling is way out of synch on what you can make out on the top half

- hd dvd movies haphazardly freeze picture + audio

- moving between scene selections on hd dvd, the audio emits a loud "squelch" when a chapter initializes

are there any firmware upgrades avail yet?

does anyone know what HDMI connection this player requries to get 1080p. I tried it on the sony v250 and the samusng 40" 1080p lcds and nothing but it worked on the 1080p elite. Thoughts.

Just being a 1080p display is not enough.

The display must support 1080p/24.

Only about 10% of the 1080p displays do that. The rest all do
1080p/60, which the player does not support.

I have not seen any of these but I was watching King Kong on HD DVD and pressed Pause 2/3 of the way through the movie and when I pressed Play it did not resume playing but just stayed frozen. I had to power off the LG and start the movie again. But I was able to enter the exact time 02:23:54 and resume watching from there.

Thanks for the reply. That makes sense. Would have thought that they would have made it a bit more flexible since it won't be compatible with 90% of the displays out there and most people like to see their display say 1080p when they shell out the money for it.

I guess LOGIC does not rule at LG!

It's 100% compatible with all displays. It doesn't make any difference if your player or tv does the deinterlacing (unless you have a poor quality HDTV).

All this talk about 1080p (unless its 1080/24p) reminds me of the movie Tommy Boy, when he was trying to get the store owner to switch brake pads. I modified the quotes to fit the 1080p argument.

Tommy: Let's think about this for a sec, Ted, why do they put a 1080P sticker on a box? Hmm, very interesting.
Ted: I'm listening.
Tommy: Here's how I see it. A guy puts a 1080P sticker on the box 'cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside.
Ted: Yeah, makes a man feel good.
Tommy: 'Course it does. Ya think if you leave that box under your pillow at night, the 1080P Fairy might come by and leave a quarter.
Ted: What's your point?
Tommy: The point is, how do you know the 1080P Fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy, but we're not buying it. Next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser and your daughter's knocked up, I seen it a hundred times.
Ted: But why do they put a 1080P sticker on the box then?
Tommy: Because they know all they solda ya was a 1080P piece of sh*t. That's all it is. Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it 1080P? I will. I got spare time. But for right now, for your sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality item from me.
Ted: Hmm. Okay, I'll buy from you.
Tommy: Well I... What?

All of the lcds and pdps said 1080p compliant. the v250 from sony and a samsung lcd would get the player to go to the 1080p setting. the $8000 elite pdp did get 1080p but I am unsure why.

I like the analogy. Funny. I think I will watch that tonight.

Next you'll tell us that "HDMIs don't shake hands, HDMIs gotta hug"

Because the FHD1 accepts 1080p/24, which very few do. The FHD1 then displays that signal as 1080p/72.

Other non-180p24 displays cannot accept this signal. With these displays you must change over the LG to 1080i. Most panels will then upconvert to 1080p.

Then why buy a 1080p player when you can get a 1080i player for half that and let the display upconvert it?

There are many on AVS here who will tell you 1080i and 1080p
are the same. That is TRUE and NOT TRUE.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post9755102

It is True for those who have low-end displays and can't tell the
difference.

It is NOT TRUE for those who have high-end Displays or Projectors
-- WHO CAN SEE the DIFFERENCE on 12 ft. Screens.

Who says SIZE DOES NOT MATTER [GRIN]?

This a common mistake, 1080i to 1080p is not "upconverting" it is essentailly the same signal. Its just a difference on how it is "painted on the display" Either every other line every 30th of a second or painted progressivly across the screen continually side to side back and forth like a computer monitor. So in reality it doesnt matter if the player is doing the deinterlacing or the display. Only the quality of the deinterlacing is at question. Also, regular upscaling players are working with only 480i signals not 1080 like blu-ray and HD-DVD so even if it "upconvets" it cant create extra information out of nothing to create 1080 source. I believe the first Toshiba HD DVD players for some reason interlaced the 1080p signal internaly then output it and let the display do the deinterlacing, i cant remember excactly so if someone knows how it is done correct me.

Athansios

Love this new CRT addiction i have!

Let me add one important addition for those who are not knowledgeable. Nashou66 is talking about 1080/60i versus its counterpart 1080/60p, he is not talking about the 1080/24p which is the native encoding on BluRay and HD-DVD discs.

Thanks for the added input Simple theater!

1080p60 or 1080i60 output from a 1080p24 source should end up the asme on an y progressive device as the entire 1080p24 stream is sent using both methods.

A cable sat or OTA 1080i60 can sometimes in early 1080p capable displays, be actually missued by bobing half the interlaced signal of 540 lines and doubling it to 1080p. without properly weaving the interlaced 1080i60 signal and displaying it as 1080p60.

Nut those sets that did that would get the full 1080p24 signal out of a Blu-ray or HD DVD disc asa bobing or weaving is not needed.