Sabot68 Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 I have had my HD montior now for about 6 months and now that the hd-dvd/blu-ray format wars is over I need to add a blu ray player. I have been told that the PS3 makes a poor Blu-ray player. Is this accurate? Would it be better to have a dedicated blu ray player? I already have an xbox360 so I'll don't really need another games console, however the ps3 is selling for about the same price as entry lvl blu-ray decks, so if it plays back bd content aswell as a dedicated player plus I can use it for games aswell, does it make sence to get a PS3?
jayweb Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 I have had my HD montior now for about 6 months and now that the hd-dvd/blu-ray format wars is over I need to add a blu ray player. I have been told that the PS3 makes a poor Blu-ray player. Is this accurate? Would it be better to have a dedicated blu ray player? I already have an xbox360 so I'll don't really need another games console, however the ps3 is selling for about the same price as entry lvl blu-ray decks, so if it plays back bd content aswell as a dedicated player plus I can use it for games aswell, does it make sence to get a PS3? Plenty on this around the forum, but I have found searching for PS3 seems to be hit and miss. Heres some reasons that I put in a previous post http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=67102&hl=
SDL Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 player. I have been told that the PS3 makes a poor Blu-ray player. Is this accurate? I guess you have to assess who told you that, and what their reasons were? It has some limitations, but then also excels in other areas. Read the sticky. I wanted a standalone player initially, but while these profiles get sorted was far happier to get the PS3 as it suited me to have something that was upgradeable and worked for all the HD Codecs over HDMI.
AndrewW Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 there are a couple of threads that already go into this in detail, but the short answer is yes. It is a superb BD player, as long as you can get past using the PS3 controller as a remote (or buy a IR dongle so you can use your all in one remote).
ajm1503559545 Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 Value for money, there isn't anything to compare to the PS3. It's an excellent player and is already profile 2.0 equipped. On the downside it's a games console, looks like a pimped version of a George Forman grill, can suffer from noisey fans, the bluetooth remote is an additional cost and isn't compatible with any of the all-in-one remote. You hit the nail on the head with the "why not" idea. I think there'd be a big percentage of PS3 owners who bought it primarily for movies with gaming as an additional feature - myself included.
daztheclipper Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 I bought the ps3 purely for blu ray, it is a fantastic blu ray machine, is firmware, software etc upgradeable profile2. already and very simple to use, get the bluetooth remote, $35 from Big W well worth the investment and enjoy the system
50mxe20 Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 I have had my HD montior now for about 6 months and now that the hd-dvd/blu-ray format wars is over I need to add a blu ray player. I have been told that the PS3 makes a poor Blu-ray player. Is this accurate? Would it be better to have a dedicated blu ray player? I already have an xbox360 so I'll don't really need another games console, however the ps3 is selling for about the same price as entry lvl blu-ray decks, so if it plays back bd content aswell as a dedicated player plus I can use it for games aswell, does it make sence to get a PS3? By all accounts it makes a very good BD player. However, I and others have opted for a proper (??) BD player for various reasons. You are in the correct forum for doing some reading. I suggest you scroll to the top and read: Pinned: Blu-ray / Ps3 Enthusiast Thread Pinned: The Ultimate Blu-ray Player Buyers Guide
Sabot68 Posted June 6, 2008 Author Posted June 6, 2008 (edited) Thanks for the links.... I'm upto page 8 of the ultimate Blu ray plare guide. There are 3 things i have learned from that thread so far. 1. It looks like NO current player will do everything (e.g all of the audio formats.) 2. I don't understand all of the terminology. and 3. One particular person posting in that thread is a huge PS3 fanboy. Reading the first 8 pages has put me off getting a PS3 for a blu ray player, I want a player that can bitstream all HD audio formats to my AVR (yet to be purchased) can decode it, from what i understand that is something the PS3 cannot do. Edited June 6, 2008 by Sabot68
Arecsa Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 Correct. The PS3 cannot bitstream anything except Dolby Digital. It will however decode all of the HD audio formats and send them to the AVR over HDMI.
legahr Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 I was also considering buying the PS3 for blu ray purposes until i found out the following below. - the PS3 while watching a Blu-ray movie uses a whopping 170 watts of power while your average Blu-ray standalone uses on average 25 - 27 watts. Now that was a deal breaker for me ... whether u are willing to use and pay for such power usage is totally up to you. Panasonic has on its website the power consumption of its products including Bluray readily available (assuming that you are considering buying a Panasonic) So in my opinion a standalone is the best way to go.
The_Preacher1973 Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 I was also considering buying the PS3 for blu ray purposes until i found out the following below. - the PS3 while watching a Blu-ray movie uses a whopping 170 watts of power while your average Blu-ray standalone uses on average 25 - 27 watts. Now that was a deal breaker for me ... whether u are willing to use and pay for such power usage is totally up to you. Panasonic has on its website the power consumption of its products including Bluray readily available (assuming that you are considering buying a Panasonic) So in my opinion a standalone is the best way to go. Electricity cost = $0.14 /kw.hr 150 watts x 2 hours x 365 days / 1000 =109.5 kw.hrs per year Extra cost = $15 / year if you watch 365 movies (which would cost around $10,000 to buy).
daztheclipper Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 i may seem a little technologically challenged but I was under the impression that uncompressed PCM audio is betta than bitstream audio for the simple fact that it is just that, uncompressed, also if you select bitstream in your ps3 you get your little dolby digital light to light up, but in order to get the DTSHDMA to work it has to be set to linear PCM but as i said I thought that uncompressed audio is betta, and no your little DTSHDMA light doesnt light up when you choose linear PCM. That being said DOLBYTRUEHD AND DTSHDMA is supposed to be lossless, isnt that what uncompressed audio is? I reckon the PS3 rocks!!!!!!!!
djmm Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 (edited) I am not a PS3 fanboy, but in defense of PS3, I think the 'older' version of 60GB PS3, which seems to be the one they tested, is more power consuming than the current 40GB model. Unless you watch Bluray 8 hours everyday, I don't think this power consumption should be a problem. I am using PS3 to watch Bluray, and I have to say, it's an awesome player, plus it's always firmware-upgradable unlike stand alone BD player. The only minor drawback is the remote thing, maybe a problem if you tend to fiddle around with remote all the time. Me personally, I just use the remote (wireless controller) to press "Play" and leave it and just watch the movie, and sometimes occasional pause for toilet break. You also have to take into account that if utilised properly, PS3 is an excellent media player, so that's a bonus too. I don't use the PS3 to watch DVD though. For that, I am using my multi-region Pioneer DV400, which is a great performer especially considering the price. Edited June 6, 2008 by djmm
theslydog Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 Really for the money you cant go past the ps3 - the new 40gb features a 65nm chip and this uses much less power than the earlier 60gb models so less of a power issue. Not only does it play games you can stream your movies to it - playes HD divx and h264 real well.
jmone Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 For what it is worth I've been using my sons PS3 (original 60GB) as a Blu-ray Player (and Media Streamer over the NW) as my HTPC is in the shop with a BIOS problem. Here are my impressions: Noticably Better PQ than the HTPC Not a great UI for a player Happy with the decoding and outputing of LPCM Limited in support of some media types (as a media streamer) A bit louder but not too bad OK to control with the Playstation RC but you don't want to try to use the games controller It also plays games I've seen some instability (eg picture corruption / dropping audio) on some blu-ray rental disks (but as my HTPC is dead I can not say if it is the disks or the players handling of it In short I was surprised at how capable the PS3 was as both a disc and media player (over streaming) compared to my dedicated HTPC. It does lose out on Flexibility but wins hands down on Simplicity, PQ, and is really a great price! I'm even considering buying a PS3 to replace the HTPC if it turns out to be expensive to fix......but then I'd had to remux/transcode my HD-DVD and other media that is not compatible with the PS3.....
ArthurDent Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 Reading the first 8 pages has put me off getting a PS3 for a blu ray player, I want a player that can bitstream all HD audio formats to my AVR (yet to be purchased) can decode it, from what i understand that is something the PS3 cannot do. No it can't bitstream all the audio HD codecs, so do yourself a favour and buy a proper standalone Blu-ray player as the PS3 is just a stupid games console pretending to be a Blu-ray player. It's noisy, it chews up the juice, it's an odd shape so it won't fit in with any of your other gear and you'll have problems finding a spot to put it, there's no IR remote, or cup holder, it's Blu-ray playback performance is below par and don't even mention it's woeful DVD capabilities.
ajm1503559545 Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 No it can't bitstream all the audio HD codecs, so do yourself a favour and buy a proper standalone Blu-ray player as the PS3 is just a stupid games console pretending to be a Blu-ray player. It's noisy, it chews up the juice, it's an odd shape so it won't fit in with any of your other gear and you'll have problems finding a spot to put it, there's no IR remote, or cup holder, it's Blu-ray playback performance is below par and don't even mention it's woeful DVD capabilities. Dammit, I forgot my own golden rule! We must never ever criticise the PS3 no matter that the criticisms are entirely accurate - with the exception of the cup holder Sorry Ken, won't happen again.
ArthurDent Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 (edited) Dammit, I forgot my own golden rule! We must never ever criticise the PS3 no matter that the criticisms are entirely accurate - with the exception of the cup holder Sorry Ken, won't happen again. Good morning AJM, and the lack of a cup holder is the least of the PS3 problems as surely my previous rather negative post pointed out. Edit: PS. Sadly that $79.99 PS3 scam Google add link is still popping up. Edited June 7, 2008 by Ken Tripp
Highjinx Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 (edited) I guess I am the "PS3 fanboy" you refer to........no not really, just a firm belief that the PS3 would be an exceptional BluRay player and that BluRay would prevail over Hd-Dvd. As what Ken said was obviously tounge in cheek...........does it matter if the decoding is done in the PS3 or by your reciever? as long as you are getting the best possible end result......? 1080p/24 output.....well encoded BluRay looks terrific........and DTS HD MA sounds awesome. The Bluetooth remote or an IR one is a must and Logitech have a nifty keyboard designed with the PS3 in mind. Logitech Keyboard for the PS3 Edited June 7, 2008 by Highjinx
betty boop Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 I guess I am the "PS3 fanboy" you refer to........no not really, just a firm belief that the PS3 would be an exceptional BluRay player and that BluRay would prevail over Hd-Dvd.As what Ken said was obviously tounge in cheek...........does it matter if the decoding is done in the PS3 or by your reciever? as long as you are getting the best possible end result......? 1080p/24 output.....well encoded BluRay looks terrific........and DTS HD MA sounds awesome. The Bluetooth remote or an IR one is a must and Logitech have a nifty keyboard designed with the PS3 in mind. Logitech Keyboard for the PS3 dont mind ken, he jsut hasnt had is coffee yet by the sounds. HJ so you have finally bought that ps3 yet ? what did you end up using as receiver/pre-pro ?
Highjinx Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 dont mind ken, he jsut hasnt had is coffee yet by the sounds. HJ so you have finally bought that ps3 yet ? what did you end up using as receiver/pre-pro ? Hi Al!, Yes, finally bought a PS3(....using a Yamaha RX-V1800 as a pre amp. Love to be able to afford the calibre of equipment you have....one day....one day!!
betty boop Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 Hi Al!,Yes, finally bought a PS3(....using a Yamaha RX-V1800 as a pre amp. Love to be able to afford the calibre of equipment you have....one day....one day!! thanks, and good to hear HJ on the new toys ! would go well with the new pj you seem to have accumulated as well. love to have a pj myself ..one day
littlePiG Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 Electricity cost = $0.14 /kw.hr150 watts x 2 hours x 365 days / 1000 =109.5 kw.hrs per year Extra cost = $15 / year if you watch 365 movies (which would cost around $10,000 to buy). It may not be a lot that it costs one individual in the way of cash but those extra watts for a whole bunch of people using it as a Blu-Ray player isn't doing a lot for our environmental footprint. Oh and I'm no tree hugger either because I use a HTPC which is little better than a PS3 in regards to power consumption.
Highjinx Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 thanks, and good to hear HJ on the new toys ! would go well with the new pj you seem to have accumulated as well. love to have a pj myself ..one day Sim CX3 1080p on the cards?
hobotivo Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 I'm using a 60GB PS3 for BluRay and I'm perfectly happy with it. Did have to get the Bluetooth remote though, didn't like using the sixaxis controller for playback at all. I'm happy with SD playback too, it's as good as SD via my upscaling Sony SD player (might have the same chips?) Games are a bonus, didn't think we'd play them much, but Gran Turismo 5 Prolog is alot of fun! Also does a good job at streaming media to the TV too, although we don't use that aspect much. Good buy I think. Cheers Ron
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