I want your opinion on 3D TV...RIGHT NOW!

I'll check and see if I can disable BD live. I could unplug the Ethernet at the router, I guess. But I'm afraid it might take just as long searching for the now-disconnected network. I also use the player to stream Netflix content, so I'd be connecting and disconnecting all the time.

 

AFAIK, most all blu-ray players will let you disable ethernet if not BD-Live right in the setup: it does make it easier then having to search in back of the player to unplug the ethernet....and running the risk of inadvertently nudging some other component

 

Exactly. When you cheap out, you get a sub-par experience. The PS3 is instant in loading any BD, and still the best bluray "player" on the market. Even if you don't play video games, it is the best available.

Similar to how when "720" was the fancy buzzword, my mom's friend hooked up her VHS player and was disappointed at the quality... To prove my point I brought over a DVD player hooked it up and she was amazed.

Indeed. It should be possible. But I think the slow times are more related to cheap processing power than internet timeout issues.

 

Processing power and full Javascript support do help....but load times also differ with each blu-ray title. As stated earlier, I notice Universal is bad with loading unnecessary ads and clock applets. One title that I have that also seems to take its time in loading is the Avatar, collector's edition feature disc. I assume it's more the way the menues were programmed then downloading BD-Live content (because it has a seperate bonus features disc).

 

The PS3 has seven operational cell processors, a hard drive, and a boat load of memory. It is massively powerful when compared to an ordinary BD player.

Tom

 

My player is a Panasonic DMP-BD65. It is a lower-end player. Loading discs is not too terribly slow, though not fast. Launching its network program (for streaming media) is extremely slow.

It's actually the second player I tried. The first one (I don't remember the brand and model, but I kind of think it was a Sony, but probably the cheapest one) had several annoying quirks which made it unacceptable, and a remote that was impossible to operate in the dark because the entire remote was filled with identical rectangular buttons, in a perfect grid, which made it impossible to find any button by feel, and fully half the buttons did nothing at all for the player, but were for TVs, cable boxes, etc.

I went low-end on the player because I had no use for the features of higher-end players. I got a very high-end projector, and kept my old sound system, which is as good as my ears can detect.

 

Thanks. I call mine low-end because it was relatively inexpensive. I could have spent hundreds more. But I didn't need 3D because my projector is not capable of it, and I didn't want any features other than the ability to stream Netflix. I don't need the ability to put in more than one disc at a time. Mine does have Wi-Fi, but I don't use it because I can plug it into my router.

 

Much of the problem comes from overly cute menus and trying to force users to watch advertisements for other movies. DVDs suffer from this too. It makes me angry when a disk disables menus until after the previews. I can always get around it, but why should I have to jump through hoops?

Blu-ray adds to this nonsense by downloading previews from the Internet. I don't mind the option of doing that, but it smacks of pure arrogance when they try to force this stuff on you. I don't like it.

Likewise with cute menus. They are cute the first time through, maybe, but after that I just want to play the disk. Please don't make me sit through songs and graphics just to see the menu.

Tom

 

Speaking of Blu-Ray, have the disc prices come down at all yet? When I looked a year ago, they were like $40-50/each, I think. For me, most of my DVD watching is done when I fly, so I've yet to upgrade from DVD equipment. Can Blu-Ray players play regular DVDs too?

I still have a *gasp* VHS player at home. I only held onto it because I have a stand-alone DVD recorder, and I was able to hook up the RCA cables to the DVD recorder and transfer VHS to DVD. I also found the DVD recorder played burned DVDs better than most of the low-end DVD players did. I still have issues with some of the ones I burned on my computer to take with me when I fly playing properly in my portable DVD player, but they'll work just fine on the computer using the burner.

 

Exactly. And for the price they go for now adays, it is a wonder why anyone even considers a standalone player.

All the other bluray players are like varying sizes of hamsters running on a wheel while the PS3 is just a beast.

 

I bought my PS3 because at the time it was the least expensive way of getting a Blu-ray player. Now there are cheaper units on the market, but the PS3 remains by far the best player.

The down side of a PS3 for a player is that it lacks front panel controls, and it can be noisier due to the cooling fan. Mine is one of the older original units, which were bigger with louder cooling. On the other hand, I have a Mitsubishi Diamond-Vision DLP TV that also makes a bit of noise. While not objectionable, I prefer dead quiet, although it doesn't matter much given my 1,000 W amplifier for the sub-woofers.

Tom

 

br discs are $10-20. usually a couple bucks more than the dvd and the player can play dvd's as well. i also have vhs which i thought i would use, but the tapes degrade quickly.

 

The lack of front panel controls (except power and eject) could be a downside, but I can't say I have ever touched a front panel control on an AV unit other than power or eject. And with power it is only when walking past it and I see it is on, usually I use the remote.

I wouldn't think that would be too much of an issue for people. The cooling fan might be. I too have a 60GB unit which is louder than the new slim units. However the 60Gb and even old 20GB units are superior to the newest ones in my opinion. Especially if you like being able to play PS and PS2 games on the PS3, capacitive touch, and the card readers.

To be perfect for the average joe, the addition of a remote control controller instead of the gaming controller would probably be preferred as well.

 

I don't buy discs. I think I own 2 or 3 movies. Chicago, and The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Both on DVD from a few years ago. I rent movies from Netflix. The BD plan is a bit more expensive than the DVD-only plan. I seldom watch a movie twice. If I do on occasion, I rent it again. Oh, one exception: I bought the 4-disc Blu-Ray set of the BBC's Planet Earth series.

 

Agreed. I have the old 80GB, which I bought on the day it hit the shelves. It is a better unit than the new ones.

My only problem with the lack of front panel controls is playing music. To play a music CD I have to power up the TV to navigate the menus. I don't like to do that, given that I have a large TV with a discharge projection bulb. Usually I can click through the menus blindly, but it isn't the best way to do it. I may eventually add an additional small screen just for this sort of operation.

Tom

 

Well it depends on what you're looking for. The PS3 is the most versatile moderately priced blu-ray player. There's some advantages about it being a multicore processor: it can be updated to support better sound or video: as long as those processes can be handled by its hardware. There in lies a limitation. Take 3D: it's almost taxing the hardware of the PS3 since you're requiring a fast refresh full HD rate on top of a 5.1 lossless audio stream. The main advantage of a PS3 is that it is upgradable and it won't be obsolete. When it comes to pure quality, it's a bit more complicated.

One standard that was being finalized before stereoscopic 3D was lossless audio. It took a longer while for developers to be able to find a way to get the PS3 to bitstream DTS-HD (part of it was the software and part of it was the HDMI spec on the PS3). Even now adays, I do read reviews as far as ubber high end blu-ray players having impressive audio from either being a high end transport or having high end op amps if it's the one decoding digital audio to analogue.

One thing I've been surprised about is how quickly all these players are trying to be multimedia units: even the cheapest bu-ray player these days will have BD/DVD, audio, photo slideshow, MPEG4/DIVX, and Netflix/Hulu all bundled in. I've been starting to use my BD and DVD player more to watch MPEG4/DIVX downloads...so my HTPC isn't used as much.

 

Interesting (possibley) article on the rise and fall of 3D over here;

BBC News - Can Martin Scorsese's Hugo save 3D?