OFFICIAL "HELP ME CHOOSE A PLAYER" THREAD: Can't decide? Start HERE. - Page 452

Originally Posted by wi1ll

Between panny 220 and sony 590, which one, or if there are better 2012 models for under $400? I just need basic setup. Also any recommendations on a decent soundbar to go along with this? I just got a new samsung 46ES6500 tv and just looking for a basic minimalistic config. Thanks.

Originally Posted by wmcclain

The OPPO BDP-95 does have an upgraded power supply compared to the -93. I don't know how it compares to the Primare.

-Bill

Originally Posted by Stew4msu

It might be a different animal, but it won't play Blu Rays any better than a $50 Coby. The price we pay for vanity.

Originally Posted by JKent

Very interesting. I agree with Stew when it comes to a lot of "high-end" voodoo. OTOH, there are important qualities like reliability and build quality that would make me shy away from the $50 Coby.

I have an Oppo DV-980H (standard DVD). It works very well and does a good job. Even "upconverts" but so do my TV and AV receiver. My aging Pio PDP-5060HD plasma is "only" 1080i but it still has a beautiful picture and since it cost over 5K I'm not in a hurry to replace it.

So what BD player? I don't want to drop $500 on an Oppo because these things become obsolete so quickly (witness my "old" Oppo and Pio).

I watch Ben's Bargains, but every time a BD player comes up at a bargain price, I check various ratings and inevitably find complaints.

So--any suggestions? I'd like something under $200. Closer to $100 would be great. Don't need 3D of course. Streaming would be a plus but not absolutely needed (I have a Roku). Would not want a Sony, only because I've had a number of Sony products over the years, even "ES" and none of them lasted very long .

Kind of leaning toward Panasonic but the last one I saw on sale had a lot of negative comments. My old Toshiba DVD is about 2 decades old and built like a tank but I don't think they're built as well these days.

So... Recommendations?

Originally Posted by BillP

Panny 220

Originally Posted by ace5000

I need to upgrade from a Blu Ray panny bd60. I need the best up-converter / scaler for STD def DVD pic quality for under $100.

No 3D is needed or other fancy features - just pic and sound quality.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by King$nake

I just picked up a new Samsung 40" LED, but it is not a Smart TV. I was hoping to offset that by getting a Smart BD player.

I kind of want to stick with Samsung for a BD player, only because I have a Samsung TV - but not if there is a better player out there (sony, panasonic).

I was kind of looking at the BD-EM57C model and the BD-D5700 (both samsung) but Im not sure which is better.

My big thing is I want to be able to stream 1080P YouTube movies.

I guess my big question is which player has the best capabilities right now?

Also, my new LED TV is NOT a 3D TV, so I don't need a 3D BD player.

My budget is under $170

Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by DLCPhoto

I have a brand new Panasonic TC-P65VT50 which looks great. I'm now looking for a Bluray Player to use with it, but have a few questions.

I have an older Onkyo TX-SR600 Audio Receiver. No HDMI connectivity. I currently use it with my Panasonic RP91 DVD Player, using a Digital Optical Audio connection. Works fine.

As my new TV is 3D capable, I obviously want a good 3D capable Bluray player. I would be inclined to think that going with a Panasonic would be a good idea, as 2 Panasonic products might play together better.

The TV has full Viera Internet connectivity, so I would think I wouldn't need redundancy of this function in the Bluray player (but realize it might be unavoidable).

I also see mention of using 2 HDMI cables to connect the Bluray player, but I'm not sure what this is about.

Suggestions on an appropriate 3D capable Bluray Player appreciated, that will work well with both my new Panasonic VT50 series TV, and my older Onkyo 600 Audio Receiver appreciated, along with info about the 2 HDMI cable connection matter.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by teachsac

Don,

The Panasonic BDT500 might be the ideal player for you. You can run the HDMI Main to your VT50 for all video and use the multichannel analog outs to your receiver for lossless audio.

The dual HDMI is for receivers that don't support 3D (HDMI 1.4). The main HDMI is run to the TV for video and the HDMI Sub is run to the receiver for audio. The 500 has them, but you won't use the second in your set-up.

S~

Originally Posted by Selden Ball

When using HDMI devices from the same manufacturer and when you've turned on CEC (Consumer Electronics Control; most manufacturers have a proprietary name for it) in them all, turning one on will turn on the others. Other control conveniences may be included, too. Sometimes CEC works with a mix of manufacturers, more often not. A programmable universal controller (e.g. Logitech Harmony) can provide many of the same features.

A player with dual HDMI outputs is useful if you have an HDMI-capable receiver with an older version of HDMI (prior to 1.4a) which doesn't support 3D video. One port can be connected to the TV to send it the 3D video, and the other to the AVR for high definition audio.

Since your AVR doesn't support HDMI at all, then dual HDMI ports are unnecessary, but you do need a player which has a digital audio output; either optical or coax, depending on what's available on your AVR. (Sonys have both; according to its manual, the Panasonic DMP-BDT220 has only optical.)

The Sony BDP-S790 has features you don't need (like the dual HDMI output), but does have more upscaling options for standard-definition video than the BDP-S590 does. If you decide to get a Sony 3D player, you'd have to decide if those upscaling options are worth the extra $100 to you. The Sony players include access to the Sony Entertainment Network, FWTW. They also display the bitrates in the video and audio data streams. While not critical, this feature gives you a measure of the quality of what's recorded on the disc you're playing. That's a feature some people like a lot. The Panasonic DMP-BDT220 (very popular here) doesn't seem to show that information.

I know the Sonys won't play all-region PAL (50Hz) discs. Apparently Panasonic players won't either. That feature is very important to some people. Sharp/Pioneer players can, but their user interface is quite poor, and the one I have has HDMI mis-features which are a problem for my DLP projector, but probably not for a plasma display.

Originally Posted by Selden Ball

They also display the bitrates in the video and audio data streams. While not critical, this feature gives you a measure of the quality of what's recorded on the disc you're playing. That's a feature some people like a lot. The Panasonic DMP-BDT220 (very popular here) doesn't seem to show that information.

Originally Posted by Selden Ball

An optical connection is better than a multichannel analog connection in that it allows all of your AVR's digital processing features to be used. Analog connections nominally allow full resolution audio, but
a) The compressed digital audio streams included on BDs have a significantly higher bitrate than those on DVDs. Most people cannot hear the difference between them and lossless audio due to limitations in their speaker setup, room acoustics, or other issues.
b) Most currently available AVRs cannot even apply bass management to the multichannel analog inputs, requiring that and speaker distances to be handled in the player, which often has very limited capabilities.
c) All those extra cables can be very inconvenient, especially if the player has to be a significant distance from the AVR.

Originally Posted by DLCPhoto

Sounds like a winner - using Optical doesn't require me to change anything cable-wise, while providing all the benefits you list.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Selden Ball

A deficiency is that if you enable (or fail to disable) "Mix" of secondary audio tracks or menu sounds in the player, the player will have to downconvert the audio from multichannel Dolby or DTS to stereo PCM in order to do that mixing. You might want to consider upgrading your AVR to one with HDMI at some point.

Originally Posted by DLCPhoto


Sounds like a winner - using Optical doesn't require me to change anything cable-wise, while providing all the benefits you list.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by moxie1617

The only downside you may encounter is if the Onkyo can't handle the higher bit rate of the lossy audio tracks. Although they are not DTS Hd Master nor DD Tru HD, they are at the maximum bit rate for the spec and have caused problems with some older receivers.

Originally Posted by DLCPhoto

The TV has full Viera Internet connectivity, so I would think I wouldn't need redundancy of this function in the Bluray player (but realize it might be unavoidable).

Originally Posted by BillP

Sounds like the Panny 220 is all you need. One comment about redundancy. My Panny 110 streams Netflix with significantly better PQ than my VT30 streams Netflix, so it doesn't hurt to have streaming capabilities with both the display and BD player (you never know which will be better - I suspect the 220 will stream better than the VT50).

Originally Posted by Selden Ball

My understanding is that Netflix uses an adaptive streaming technology. If you have a slow connection, or a system which can't keep up for other reasons (slow CPU, perhaps), it'll reduce the bitrate that it sends: it's better to have a low resolution image than image dropouts.