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OFFICIAL "HELP ME CHOOSE A PLAYER" THREAD: Can't decide? Start HERE. - Page 485

post #14521 of 15133
12/27/12 at 7:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by teachsac View Post

Even though the Marantz would match my gear, I would still get the Oppo. Sorry. The Oppo offers much more for the price plus excellent CS. I have owned Marantz and Denon in the past.
S~

What "more" does the Oppo offer??? While I appreciate that you have experience with the Oppo, do you have personal experience with the ud5007?

I keep hearing Oppo on here, but nobody can seem to distinguish the benefits of the Oppo (other than -$100) over the Marantz ud5007. And just because you've owned Denon and Marantz in the past does not lend itself to this discussion. The Marantz ud5007 is NOTHING like the Marantz players of the past.
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post #14522 of 15133
12/27/12 at 8:08am
The 5007 is not that different than the 5005. Marantz added DVD-A support and VUDU support. The Oppo offers Pandora, 2D->3D conversion, QDEO Kyoto-G2H video processor, 4K scaling, MHL input (supports ROKU streaming stick), an HDMI input to allow the 103 to be used as a video processor for other sources. The Oppo can also be modded for Region Free playback.

S~
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post #14523 of 15133
12/27/12 at 8:37am
cssnms, it is your money, so go with whichever is best for you. My main point was that I would not pay more for the Marantz than the Oppo 103. For the same price, it's probably a toss up, although again, I think most here would go with the Oppo. No, I do not have personal experience with the Marantz, and yes, Marantz does have a great reputation. But so does Oppo, and professional reviews are pretty much all favoring the Oppo's over all other players at their respective price points. If you are going digital for audio, and only need the player for BluRays, again you should also consider a less expensive Panny or Sony.

Why are you so interested in a Marantz if going digital audio? A main reason to pay for the higher priced players in general is for the audio DACs. Will you be using it as a universal player for SACD/DVD-A? Streaming? Upscaling a lot of SD DVDs?
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post #14524 of 15133
12/27/12 at 2:08pm
Okay you convinced me,,, I purchased the Oppo 103 today. biggrin.gif

Thanks for the 411 guys.
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post #14525 of 15133
12/27/12 at 5:21pm
Got a nice low-price deal on the ten year set of Red vs Blue box set on blu ray... now I better get a player to watch them on smile.gif

Was just gonna buy a cheapie lg bp200 when I saw a deal on them, and a few positive reviews...

But did a little more reading and now am nicely confused.
I'm running an onkyo tr-606 receiver and a samsung 67" led rear projection tv.

I want a player to load as quickly as possible (but not to break the bank on price for that feature)
good-excellent upscaling (I'm running a toshiba hd player right now, and it upscales great...don't wanna lose out on that).
wifi's ok... but i've got easy access to hardwire... so wifi's not required.
i may wish to play netflix/amazon through it... but i run my computer directly to the system as well, so even that's not a requirement

currently have read about the samsung 5300, the sony 390/590, etc, panasonic 220, lg 200 and 620. and have no clue which road to go down.

lower price is attractive...but if that means the thing is buggy or slow as hell, i'd pay more money.
tiaa for suggestions.
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post #14526 of 15133
12/27/12 at 6:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carphunter View Post

Got a nice low-price deal on the ten year set of Red vs Blue box set on blu ray... now I better get a player to watch them on smile.gif
Was just gonna buy a cheapie lg bp200 when I saw a deal on them, and a few positive reviews...
But did a little more reading and now am nicely confused.
I'm running an onkyo tr-606 receiver and a samsung 67" led rear projection tv.
I want a player to load as quickly as possible (but not to break the bank on price for that feature)
good-excellent upscaling (I'm running a toshiba hd player right now, and it upscales great...don't wanna lose out on that).
wifi's ok... but i've got easy access to hardwire... so wifi's not required.
i may wish to play netflix/amazon through it... but i run my computer directly to the system as well, so even that's not a requirement
currently have read about the samsung 5300, the sony 390/590, etc, panasonic 220, lg 200 and 620. and have no clue which road to go down.
lower price is attractive...but if that means the thing is buggy or slow as hell, i'd pay more money.
tiaa for suggestions.
I would go Sony 590 or Panasonic 220. Personally, I would stay away from Samsung. They are not highly regarded here. I've had two. One lasted a day (1st gen), the other about 6 months before I gave it away with a TV I sold. The Sony will allow you to have 5.1 audio on Amazon when available.

S~
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post #14527 of 15133
12/27/12 at 6:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by teachsac View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Carphunter View Post

Got a nice low-price deal on the ten year set of Red vs Blue box set on blu ray... now I better get a player to watch them on smile.gif
Was just gonna buy a cheapie lg bp200 when I saw a deal on them, and a few positive reviews...
But did a little more reading and now am nicely confused.
I'm running an onkyo tr-606 receiver and a samsung 67" led rear projection tv.
I want a player to load as quickly as possible (but not to break the bank on price for that feature)
good-excellent upscaling (I'm running a toshiba hd player right now, and it upscales great...don't wanna lose out on that).
wifi's ok... but i've got easy access to hardwire... so wifi's not required.
i may wish to play netflix/amazon through it... but i run my computer directly to the system as well, so even that's not a requirement
currently have read about the samsung 5300, the sony 390/590, etc, panasonic 220, lg 200 and 620. and have no clue which road to go down.
lower price is attractive...but if that means the thing is buggy or slow as hell, i'd pay more money.
tiaa for suggestions.
I would go Sony 590 or Panasonic 220. Personally, I would stay away from Samsung. They are not highly regarded here. I've had two. One lasted a day (1st gen), the other about 6 months before I gave it away with a TV I sold. The Sony will allow you to have 5.1 audio on Amazon when available.

S~

The area where the Sony might fall short would be upscaling. A number of users have complained about that on the 390/590 owners thread. I am very happy with my 590s (I have two), but use with 40" TVs, not a 69". While I have not used the Panasonic, it sounds to have better options for upscaling. You could also step up to the Sony BDP-S790 which has upscaling features not included on the budget Sony players.

I would stay away from LG players as they tend to be buggy.
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post #14528 of 15133
12/27/12 at 7:57pm
Can you explain more about the Sony and Panny upscaling features? What exactly do they do to upscale (improvement by how much) and how do they compare to the more expensive Oppo players, because everyone says Oppo's upscaling is great.
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post #14529 of 15133
12/27/12 at 8:06pm
I don't need upscaling at all because my onkyo 818 has one of the best inside it and I do not watch regular DVDs. I need a player that can play all the best audio formats for the newer movies and maybe the ability to play mkv files . Any suggestions
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post #14530 of 15133
12/27/12 at 11:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tbraden32 View Post

Can you explain more about the Sony and Panny upscaling features? What exactly do they do to upscale (improvement by how much) and how do they compare to the more expensive Oppo players, because everyone says Oppo's upscaling is great.

The Oppo's use a marvell processor. As do some pioneer receivers. These processors probably sweeten the signal, by boosting color, contrast, and sharpness. Panasonic uses an in-house processor. They also have specific settings to boost sharpness and otherwise 'enhance' the signal.

I can't speak for oppo, but panasonic and sony upscaling look pretty similar, until you use panasonic's player specific settings, which can add a bit of pop and sharpness to dvd's.
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post #14531 of 15133
12/27/12 at 11:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tbraden32 View Post

Can you explain more about the Sony and Panny upscaling features? What exactly do they do to upscale (improvement by how much) and how do they compare to the more expensive Oppo players, because everyone says Oppo's upscaling is great.

Well, I think upscaling perception depends on personal preference. There are a variety of different methods that can be used which determine how hundreds of thousands of pixels are multiplied to represent millions of pixels. Some methods can make the image look soft, others may be sharper, but may exhibit more artifacts.

The Sony BDP-S590 has basically one setting that is not customizable. I understand the Panasonic 220 and Sony BDP-S790 have more options, though I can't speak to what specific options are provided. The 790 has a higher end processor and 4k upscaling which the lower end Sony players do not have.

I used to use an LG player which had options to set sharpening (or turn it off), noise reduction, etc. which impact the perception of upscaling, though personally I pretty much turned all of the enhancements off when I had the choice.
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post #14532 of 15133
12/28/12 at 7:12am
To me, sounds like a coin flip from the 220 to 590. reading amazon reviews, 220 gets dinged more, but its review count is higher.
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post #14533 of 15133
12/28/12 at 8:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carphunter View Post

To me, sounds like a coin flip from the 220 to 590. reading amazon reviews, 220 gets dinged more, but its review count is higher.
The Panny is slightly faster loading, but the Sony is better for certain files. I agree it's a coin flip, depending on the features most important to you.
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post #14534 of 15133
12/28/12 at 9:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillP View Post

The Panny is slightly faster loading, but the Sony is better for certain files. I agree it's a coin flip, depending on the features most important to you.

Which file types are we talking about?
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post #14535 of 15133
12/28/12 at 9:34am
Do any players play back full iso bluray files
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post #14536 of 15133
12/28/12 at 10:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Holiday121 View Post

Do any players play back full iso bluray files

No, you'll need one of the media server products for that: http://www.avsforum.com/f/39/networking-media-servers-amp-content-streamers

-Bill
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post #14537 of 15133
12/28/12 at 3:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cssnms View Post

Okay you convinced me,,, I purchased the Oppo 103 today. biggrin.gif
Thanks for the 411 guys.

Ordered my Oppo yesterday from Amazon and it showed up today - love Amazon.

I got it hooked up and broke it in with Avatar. The movie took a little longer to load up than I thought but overall pretty quick by comparison to my outgoing Elite BDP 05FD, which would not play the movie at all.
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post #14538 of 15133
12/28/12 at 4:35pm
If I'm not doing 3d... is there any reason to get the 590 over the 390 sony?
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post #14539 of 15133
12/28/12 at 4:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by johncourt View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbraden32 View Post

Can you explain more about the Sony and Panny upscaling features? What exactly do they do to upscale (improvement by how much) and how do they compare to the more expensive Oppo players, because everyone says Oppo's upscaling is great.

The Oppo's use a marvell processor. As do some pioneer receivers. These processors probably sweeten the signal, by boosting color, contrast, and sharpness. Panasonic uses an in-house processor. They also have specific settings to boost sharpness and otherwise 'enhance' the signal.

I can't speak for oppo, but panasonic and sony upscaling look pretty similar, until you use panasonic's player specific settings, which can add a bit of pop and sharpness to dvd's.

So I have a Pioneer SC-07 avr. Assuming its processor is as good as or better then these lower end players?
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post #14540 of 15133
12/28/12 at 7:47pm
Tossed the coin, went with the 220.

Thanks for the assistance.
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post #14541 of 15133
12/28/12 at 9:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carphunter View Post

Tossed the coin, went with the 220.
Thanks for the assistance.

I just got one for Christmas. Loving it so far. Good luck with yours!
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post #14542 of 15133
12/29/12 at 12:55pm
Trying to decide between the Oppo 103 and Panasonic Bdt500. Don't need 3D but need analogue audio output. No need for streaming really, since I have a AppleTv 2. Really only watch Bluray (don't have any sacd or DVD-audio). Have a Pioneer 5080 which has pretty good processing, so don't know if I really need the Oppo for the HMI input, but think it will be better? Also the Bdt500 is more affordable compared to the Oppo. Any thoughts?
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post #14543 of 15133
12/29/12 at 2:06pm
Hey guys,

Need some help quick. I have a Toshiba HDTV serial code - 46G300U, Yamaha HTIB serial code - YHT 497BL, XBOX 360. Looking for a blu-ray to add to my collection! So many choices I'm starting to lose my mind haha. I would want wi-fi connection for my blu-ray player, a fairly reasonable price (150$ and under). For this price what are some good recommendations?

Thanks in advance,

Devin
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post #14544 of 15133
12/29/12 at 2:17pm
I currently have a Sony BDP-BX2 (Costco branded version of the S360). It is dying, so I am looking at a new player.

It sounds like the Panasonic DMP-BDT220 is highly recommended, and it is on sale from Fry's for 79.99 with free shipping. Does that make it a no-brainer? Are there any other contenders in the $100 or less price range?
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post #14545 of 15133
12/29/12 at 2:35pm
Hi all. New here. Our DVD player just went bad on us so I figured I might as well get a Blu-ray player.

Our TV is just a regular TV. I don't know how big it is but I would guess maybe 27". I totally understand that the TV will never be able to keep up with any Blu-ray player we might buy, but I'm sure we'll upgrade the TV someday.

As far as inputs, the TV has component inputs (Y, Cb, Cr, L, R) and then regular input (Video, L, R) and then an old style antenna input. My main concern is buying a Blu-Ray player that will force us to switch TV's. I don't want to have to do that until the TV gives up.

My normal method in life is to buy good to high quality stuff and keep it forever. I absolutely do not like things that break or otherwise cause problems. That being said, I don't need every gadget out there. I'm not terribly concerned about whether I'll be able to watch in 3D 5 years from now when we have a better TV. I am absolutely not willing to spend more than $500 but if I can get something that won't cause me grief for 1/5 of that, I'll be a happy man. After briefly looking things over I was thinking maybe the Panasonic DMP-BDT220 might fit the bill. Does that sound like a decent choice or is there anything else I should be considering? Thanks.
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post #14546 of 15133
12/29/12 at 3:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spec1alk View Post

I currently have a Sony BDP-BX2 (Costco branded version of the S360). It is dying, so I am looking at a new player.
It sounds like the Panasonic DMP-BDT220 is highly recommended, and it is on sale from Fry's for 79.99 with free shipping. Does that make it a no-brainer? Are there any other contenders in the $100 or less price range?

I think the current Sony model (S590?) is available for under $100. It seems to be a toss up here between the Panny you mention and the Sony. Fry's does have good prices - however - they don't always clearly disclose whether the object they are selling is new or used. (The use euphemisms like "reconditioned"," remanufactured", "factory inspected"/)
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post #14547 of 15133
12/29/12 at 4:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dpilot83 View Post

Hi all. New here. Our DVD player just went bad on us so I figured I might as well get a Blu-ray player.
Our TV is just a regular TV. I don't know how big it is but I would guess maybe 27". I totally understand that the TV will never be able to keep up with any Blu-ray player we might buy, but I'm sure we'll upgrade the TV someday.
As far as inputs, the TV has component inputs (Y, Cb, Cr, L, R) and then regular input (Video, L, R) and then an old style antenna input. My main concern is buying a Blu-Ray player that will force us to switch TV's. I don't want to have to do that until the TV gives up.
My normal method in life is to buy good to high quality stuff and keep it forever. I absolutely do not like things that break or otherwise cause problems. That being said, I don't need every gadget out there. I'm not terribly concerned about whether I'll be able to watch in 3D 5 years from now when we have a better TV. I am absolutely not willing to spend more than $500 but if I can get something that won't cause me grief for 1/5 of that, I'll be a happy man. After briefly looking things over I was thinking maybe the Panasonic DMP-BDT220 might fit the bill. Does that sound like a decent choice or is there anything else I should be considering? Thanks.
I don't think the 220 or any affordable 2012 or 2011 model has component outputs. You'll need to look at older models on ebay. The sony 570 is a good one with component. Panny from that year had Netflix, Hulu and Amazon issues but was fine for discs. I think there is a thread listing a few other models with component.

On the other hand, since you have a just a 27" TV, you could just use a current model player's composite output (Y/R/W). You'll take a hit in picture quality, but you may not even notice on that set. The most popular around here are the panasonic 220 you were thinking of and the sony 590. Both will work fine over composite, but the menus won't look so hot.
Edited by mdavej - 12/29/12 at 4:56pm
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post #14548 of 15133
12/29/12 at 4:57pm
Happy new years! I am filling the pieces of my audio/video system and I need some help making the right decision. It basically looks like this :

Video
-Panasonic UT50 HDTV hooked up to cable directly via coaxial (no set top box, don't want one), XBOX 360 via component and ethernet for streaming movies

Audio
-Marantz stereo receiver (1972, RCA inputs only) hooked up to an Airport Express, turntable and a Sony DVD player which I use exclusively for CDs.

I would like to find a way to connect the Marantz receiver to the Panasonic hdtv so I can use the stereo instead of the tv for streaming, Blu-Ray and regular DVD audio.

I was hoping I could use HDMI ARC with the hdtv and output to the stereo thru the BDP analog output. But Im not sure if I correctly understand how ARC works with Blu-Ray players. If the hdtv is the audio source, will ARC enable the BDP to send an analog "downmix" to the receiver?

If I just use streaming services on a Sony BDP S590, for example, is that better video quality, worse or the same?

Done a lot of reading and searching on this but I can't find a definitive answer and was hoping to avoid trial and error.

thanks!
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post #14549 of 15133
12/29/12 at 6:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

I don't think the 220 or any affordable 2012 or 2011 model has component outputs. You'll need to look at older models on ebay. The sony 570 is a good one with component. Panny from that year had Netflix, Hulu and Amazon issues but was fine for discs. I think there is a thread listing a few other models with component.
On the other hand, since you have a just a 27" TV, you could just use a current model player's composite output (Y/R/W). You'll take a hit in picture quality, but you may not even notice on that set. The most popular around here are the panasonic 220 you were thinking of and the sony 590. Both will work fine over composite, but the menus won't look so hot.

Thanks for the response. So you're saying that on both of these they probably have some other output such as HDMI that will hook up to a new TV (when we get one) and will not degrade quality I assume? So the only drawback that we'll experience is the menu's will look ugly until we get a new TV?
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post #14550 of 15133
12/29/12 at 6:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crystalfinger View Post

Happy new years! I am filling the pieces of my audio/video system and I need some help making the right decision. It basically looks like this :

Video
-Panasonic UT50 HDTV hooked up to cable directly via coaxial (no set top box, don't want one), XBOX 360 via component and ethernet for streaming movies

Audio
-Marantz stereo receiver (1972, RCA inputs only) hooked up to an Airport Express, turntable and a Sony DVD player which I use exclusively for CDs.

I would like to find a way to connect the Marantz receiver to the Panasonic hdtv so I can use the stereo instead of the tv for streaming, Blu-Ray and regular DVD audio.

I was hoping I could use HDMI ARC with the hdtv and output to the stereo thru the BDP analog output. But Im not sure if I correctly understand how ARC works with Blu-Ray players. If the hdtv is the audio source, will ARC enable the BDP to send an analog "downmix" to the receiver?

If I just use streaming services on a Sony BDP S590, for example, is that better video quality, worse or the same?

Done a lot of reading and searching on this but I can't find a definitive answer and was hoping to avoid trial and error.

thanks!

ARC is for use with HDMI receivers. For instance, if you purchased a new AVR, ARC could allow you to use a single HDMI cable to connect the receiver to the TV. In addition to that HDMI sending video from the various input sources from AVR to the display, the ARC could send audio from the TV sources (tuner, SmartTV apps, etc.) back to the AVR to output the audio using the same cable using to feed video to the display from other HDMI sources.

In your case, you have no need for ARC. You simply need to connect the analog RCA outputs from your TV to an input on your receiver, then any source plugged into the TV should pass audio through to the receiver. Then configure the TV not to use the built in speakers.

The Blu-ray player will automatically downmix the audio to stereo when it sends the audio to the TV over HDMI.
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AVS › AVS Forum › Blu-ray & HD DVD › Blu-ray Players › OFFICIAL "HELP ME CHOOSE A PLAYER" THREAD: Can't decide? Start HERE.