PS3 as a Blu Ray Player

[The HT Guys]

It's pretty clear by now that Blu-ray won the high definition video disk war. By the end of this year HD-DVD will be a distant memory and those who want to watch High Definition movies will need a Blu-ray player. There are a bunch of options out there for those in the market, and the Sony PlayStation 3 has been talked about as the most capable player available. For a long time it was the least expensive way to get a Blu-ray player. That isn't true anymore, but it's still close. It's currently available in two models, a 40 GB model for $399.99 (Buy now) and an 80 GB model for $499.99 (Buy now). Today we'll ignore the gaming side for the most part and look at how the device performs as a home theater device...

[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/reviews/2008/02/ps3_as_a_blu_ray_player.php]Read the Full Article[/url]

[GuyOwen]

80GB PS3 is DISCONTINUED, according to Sony's website. Or so I believe, since it is marked as Not Available for Ordering. Not sure why, unless it's because the end user can easily upgrade themselves with any matching higher-capacity drive. And when I ordered my 40GB it came with an unannounced free coupon for their handheld Remote Control to operate it much like a standard DVD Player. One of the drawbacks, however, is that it doesn't like to be placed in an entertainment console. Some people report great success doing that -- others report problems due to heat and fan noise.

The Free 5 Blu-Ray DVDs Offer seems to take forever to be fulfilled. Weeks and weeks have passed.

I was not all that happy about the prospects of buying a Game Machine as my primary Blu-Ray Movie Player. But the PS3 fans were ready to shoot me in a dark alley for declaring that in other Forums (as if it was some form of disrespect to the PS3 -- shudder the thought). However, the main reason I chose to buy one was Speed of Response in starting a movie. Many Blu-Ray Players reportedly take up to two minutes to actually access the disc. Or refuse to restart the movie from a Pause -- they go back to the beginning, again (how stupid is that?). Where's the "Potty Break Chip" when you need one!!

With the Sony Cell Processor reportedly going into Toshiba HDTV LCDs in the Fall, I may wait to upgrade my TV, as well -- because the PS3 uses that processor and has a ton of video processing horsepower not available elsewhere.

[Braden]

How crazy! That must have just happened. I bought it a few weeks ago and I don't remember seeing that notice when I was compiling info for the show either. The backward compatibility thing isn't huge for me, but there are so many PS2 games, and they're so cheap, I got the 80 GB just for the option.

The 40 Gig is out of stock and you can't order the 80 Gig anymore. I'm glad I got mine when I did.

[GuyOwen]

It shocked me, too. I noticed it just two weeks back, and reconfirmed it before Posting.

[MarkyMark]

We got an 80Gb PS3 during the holiday frenzy. Here are some additional notes...

We had never used a game machine in our lives, but we now have about 10 games. The backward compatibility of the 80Gb model has been useful because friends got us some fun PS2 games as gifts. From what I've read, and people are clearly guessing, perhaps Sony feels there is now a critical mass of PS3 games available and they want to streamline the hardware to just one design to simplify and cut costs. They still sell the PS2 console anyway, of course. It's amazing that with the Internet and millions of these units out there, no one knows if the backward compatibility feature is in hardware, software, or both.

The PS3 does actually remember where you left off in a movie if you turn it off and return to it later.

It's easy to be impressed about anything and everything when you are watching high-def. But we are seriously considering whether to buy some titles in Blu-ray because the PS3's upconversion is so fantastic with regular DVDs, and it's especially difficult to tell the difference with animated/CGI movies. We buy the biggies on Blu-ray. Another forum member here turned us on to Amazon Prime, and if you watch for sales you too might get all the Harry Potters for $10 each, "free 2-day shipping" and no tax like we did.

Yes, the Cell processor in the PS3 is worth mentioning. It's perhaps way-overkill for processing video from the disc and sending it along its way. We probably won't be tapping out its power anytime soon. And as for DTS-HD MA, our Onkyo SR605 bought on Amazon for $379, "free two-day shipping", and no tax is ready to decode it if necessary. Gotta love Amazon.

Our PS3's firmware has been conveniently (and wirelessly) updated a couple of times since we've had it. Haven't tried the picture-in-picture profile 1.1 feature yet though it's supposedly ready to roll. Apparently there were problems with that feature on "3:10 to Yuma." It's still early in the game. That stuff will all arrive when it's ready.

The PS3 also comes with built-in "Folding@Home" software so you can donate your PS3 to science when idle. It will even automatically do that when idle if you ask it to. Be warned that it consumes over 200 watts of power when folding, so it will have an impact on your electric bill. But some is better than none. If we walk away and forget about the PS3 at least it will do something useful until we turn it off.

As for remotes, we bought the Nyko "Blu Wave" infrared remote from Amazon (now $14) and used the remote only to train our Harmony One remote to command the PS3. There is a USB infrared receiver you plug into the front of the PS3 and just leave it there. (The Harmony One is simply jaw dropping, btw). It turns out no infrared control option for the PS3 can perform what the PS3's two front panel controls do -- eject, and power on/off. Two steps forward, one step back. Oh well, we'll just have to get our fat butts off the sofa and walk over to it.

I've never noticed a movie taking "too long" to start up. Hmmmm.

Mark
San Diego, CA

[MarkyMark]

When comparing Blu-ray players, I can see how startup times and menu ease-of-use can be a point of comparison. But what about the digital processing?

Like I said, it's so easy to be impressed by any high-def picture coming from a high-def player. It's always "amazing."

From the moment the digital bits are read from the disk and sent out over HDMI, should we expect that that the result should be identical from player to player. And if not, it would be great to identify and point out EXACTLY where errors occur or additional processing is performed.

Of course, upscaling is definitely introducing someone's idea of what looks better or worse. Forget about upscaling.

As with audio, the speakers are the one place where most of the error in reproduction is introduced, and in video, the display panel is where most of the errors in reproduction are introduced.

Are differences in a Blu-ray player's pickup and transmission of the digital information account for anything that can be seen or heard? And if so, we need to know WHERE the errors are introduced, not simply that one person says that "one player looks better than the other." The people in this forum are savvy and want to understand what's really going on WHERE. That $16K Blu-ray player makes claims that just don't make any technical sense to me.

Exactly where does a one or a zero get changed along the way?

Thanks!

Mark
San Diego, CA

[hharris4earthlink]

Great review of the PS3 guys and I have only a few minor points.

The comment about PS2 compatibility is easily solved if you already have one. I simply networked my PS2 into my system, easy to do since most HD displays have multiple inputs of different types. I actually prefer this arrangement because it lessens the wear and tear on the PS3. Besides, PS2 games are still selling strong.

I agree that the multi-function, multi-datatype interface is amazing. The rule you should follow is if you can imagine an interface, it's probably there. For example, not expecting anything, I plugged my iPod into the PS3 USB port. Album art appeared on the screen and clicking on them played my music on my hi-end audio system. I was in heaven.

Using the game controller for movies is a matter of taste of course, but the functionality is there. In fact I'd rather just use the game controller because I'm running out of room on my coffee table for controllers.

Henry

[Shane]

[quote="GuyOwen"]80GB PS3 is DISCONTINUED...[/quote]

Not so fast ... just saw this come across the wire a few minutes ago:
[url=http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20080228232517_Sony_Unveils_New_Version_of_PlayStation_3_in_the_U_S.html]Sony Unveils New Version of PlayStation 3 in the U.S.[/url]

- Shane

[hendrikus]

I just found out that the PS3 can play multi-channel audio from SACD discs. Has anyone tried playing SACD's via the HDMI connection to a multi-channel receiver? I have the HDMI output connected directly to a tv, with just stereo sound, but would like to know if the PS3 really plays multi-channel audio from SACD's via HDMI. If it does, is it down-converted? To what kind of encoding? What should I look for in a multichannel receiver with HDMI inputs to take full advantage of this feature?

[Richard]

Don't know about the specs... yet... I'll guess it is DSD converted to PCM 24/96 since that is pretty common. Not exactly SACD but close.

Blu-ray / SACD and HD DVD / DVD Audio support
http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9455