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The HT Guys HDTV and Home Theater Podcast #388 - Popular Options for Blu-ray Players
By The HT Guys
Braden Russell and Ara Derderian
Posted on August 27, 2009
Category: General Interest
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Today's Show:

Popular Options for Blu-ray Players

Now that you can find Blu-ray players at Wal*Mart for less than $150 we thought it would be a good idea to present five slightly more expensive options that you may want to consider. Spending a little more can get you a more capable player that won't feel obsolete by Christmas.

PlayStation 3 120 GB ($300 Street Price)

The PS3 120GB system is a Blu-ray player and more. You get free PlayStation Network membership, built-in Wi-Fi and 120GB of hard disk drive storage for games, music, videos and photos. And now the PS3 has support for bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio tracks.

Features

  • HDMI + Bravia Sync functionality that provides both 1080p output resolution, and instant in-sync connectivity between your PS3 and other Sony HDMI enabled products without the use of multiple remote controls.
  • A new 33% slimmer, 36% lighter PlayStation 3 entertainment system that is also more energy efficient.
  • Includes a Dualshock 3 wireless controller and a built-in 120GB HDD for storing games, music, videos, and photos.
  • Built-in Wi-Fi for connectivity anywhere and multiple media format compatibility, including Blu-ray for crystal clear video on High-Definition TVs, CD-ROM, DVD, and others.
  • Free membership and access to all the events, as well as game, movie, TV and other media content available on the PlayStation Network (PSN).

 

Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray Disc Player ($195 Street Price)

A capable sub $200 player that supports profile 2.0, Next Generation Audio, and Panasonic's VieraCast. It has great performance but load times are a little slow. You'll also need to add a 1GB or larger SD card for BD Live support.

Features

  • Viera Cast connecting you with YouTube, Picasa, Weather.
  • BD-Live
  • SD Card Slot and USB slot
  • 1080P Upconvert
  • Film makers version with PHL Chip for accurate color

 

Sony BDP-S360 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player ($210 Street Price)

The Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray Disc player supports BD-Live technology, Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD audio codecs. Unfortunately the player has slow load times, no Internet streaming and no Wifi Support.

Features

  • Blu-ray Disc player with Full HD 1080p output for Blu-ray Discs and upconversion of standard DVD video to 1080p
  • BD Live capable for accessing bonus content from BD-Live Blu-ray Discs via Ethernet port connected to your home network
  • 24p True Cinema capable lets you watch films at their intended 24 fps (frames per second); Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD

 

LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player ($320 Street Price)

Blu-ray Disc Player w/1GB Memory onboard, 7.1 discrete analog output, BD-P, Netflix HD, YouTube, CinemaNow Full HD 1080P Output via HDMI, DVD 1080p Up-conversion.
Features
  • Networked Blu-ray Disc player connects to Netflix and YouTube streaming video without a computer via Ethernet and Wi-Fi (802.11n)
  • Full HD 1080p output for Blu-ray Discs and upconversion of standard DVD video to 1080p
  • BD Live capable for accessing bonus content from BD-Live Blu-ray Discs; Dolby TrueHD/Digital Plus and DTS-HD; 1 GB built-in memory

 

OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player with SACD & DVD-Audio ($500 Street Price)

The Oppo is a high quality Blu-ray player that supports the complete Blu-ray specification and plays SACD or DVD Audio discs. It has the best upconversion of any Blu-ray player we have seen. It is also the most expensive Blu-ray player on the list.

Features
  • Universal Blu-ray disc player providing playback for a myriad of video formats
  • Supports Blu-ray, SACD, DVD-Audio, DVDs, and CDs
  • Two USB ports allow for playback of media stored on a flash drive
  • Uses award-winning video processing chip for a clear, true picture

 

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Posted by The HT Guys, August 27, 2009 11:14 PM

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About The HT Guys

The HT Guys, Ara Derderian and Braden Russell, are Engineers who formerly worked for the Advanced Digital Systems Group (ADSG) of Sony Pictures Entertainment. ADSG was the R&D unit of the sound department producing products for movie theaters and movie studios.

Two of the products they worked on include the DCP-1000 and DADR-5000. The DCP is a digital cinema processor used in movie theaters around the world. The DADR-5000 is a disk-based audio dubber used on Hollywood sound stages.

ADSG was awarded a Technical Academy Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2000 for the development of the DADR-5000. Ara holds three patents for his development work in Digital Cinema and Digital Audio Recording.

Every week they put together a podcast about High Definition TV and Home Theater. Each episode brings news from the A/V world, helpful product reviews and insights and help in demystifying and simplifying HDTV and home theater.