Blu-ray Player Information Resource

Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 by MegaZone

Blu-ray.com has overhauled the player information section of their site. It is a great resource for information on the various Blu-ray players on the market, as well as forthcoming announced players. You can list players by Blu-ray region (A, B, or C), or list them all, search the players, and even compare players to help make your decision.

About MegaZone

MegaZone is the Editor of Gizmo Lovers and the chief contributor. He's been online since 1989 and active in several generations of 'social media' - mailing lists, USENet groups, web forums, and since 2003, blogging.    MegaZone has a presence on several social platforms: Google+ / Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / LiveJournal / Web.    You can also follow Gizmo Lovers on other sites: Blog / Google+ / Facebook / Twitter.
This entry was posted in Blu-ray/HD DVD and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.
  • http://bjdraw.com Ben Drawbaugh

    That’s a nice upgrade from what they had, but still really hard to find anything. I prefer this grid.
    http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=980672

    Or this site.
    http://www.idoblu.co.uk/page2%20Blu-ray%20Players.html

  • http://www.gizmolovers.com/ MegaZone

    I posted about the ‘idoblu’ one a while back, but I don’t think I’d seen the AVS Forum one before. Looking at all three they’re probably best used together to provide a more complete picture.

    I still think the PS3 is probably the best BD player right now. I know, I know – unless you’re a real audiophile who wants DTS-HD HR or DTS-HD MA, since the PS3 doesn’t handle those and falls back to ‘DTS Core’. But it is Profile 1.1 (Bonus View) today and will be upgraded to Profile 2.0 (BD-Live) this year. And it is possible for Sony to add internal decoding of DTS-HD HR/MA like they do for Dolby TrueHD, so there is some hope.

    Otherwise, the Panasonic DMP-BD30 is probably the best choice, but it is Profile 1.1. I wouldn’t recommend a Profile 1.0 player at this point. And there are some Profile 2.0 players coming in a few months with DTS-HD HR/MA support that might be worth waiting for if you really want it.

  • http://bjdraw.com Ben Drawbaugh

    I hear what you’re saying, but I see it as an interactivity vs audio decision.

    Personally I’d rather have the ability to bitstream TrueHD and DTS-HD then to have PIP and maybe even BDLive.

    My biggest beef with the PS3 right now is the IR situation and while it’s easy enough to buy an inexpensive ugly usb ir receiver, the entire power on situation pushes me towards a stand-alone.

    I’ve had a BD-P1000 since day one and it still serves me well. Not one player that’s been released yet has offered enough of an upgrade to tempt me.

    I have a BD-P1400 in for review right now and I have to say, for me it would be the best option right now, if I was in the market. In addition to the bitstream output the BD30 also offers, it’ll also internally decode TrueHD and output it via discrete analog cables to my older Pioneer Elite AV/R. Internally decoding DTS-HD still isn’t an option, and neither is Bonus View, but I’m not the directors commentary type.

    Either way, it’s great to have so many options.

  • http://www.gizmolovers.com/ MegaZone

    It really depends on personal preference and setup right now. My receiver is from 2002, it doesn’t know TrueHD or DTS-HD at all, so bit streaming doesn’t help. And it is only a 6.1 receiver (5.1 + rear center, no side speakers). It knows PCM though. Upgrading my receiver is probably my next step in my A/V system. With the growing number of HDMI devices, and more advanced codecs, my receiver is the weakest link now. It is a decent Pioneer unit, I forgot the model off-hand, but it is just too old for today’s tech. I could feed 5.1 in via analog, but that’s no advantage over feeding it over optical – and fewer cables is nice.

    Most people don’t have setups that can really take advantage of TrueHD or DTS-HD HR/MA. If you don’t have the receiver and speaker setup, and the room, to really take advantage of it, then it isn’t going to be that useful to you.

    The good news is that later this year you won’t have to make the choice. There will be a few players available with BD-Live support (or ‘ready’) *AND* TrueHD & DTS-HD HR/MA support in some form – either internal decoding or bitstreaming, or both. And that will probably continue to spread due to competitive forces as more vendors look to be ‘checklist complete’.

  • http://bjdraw.com Ben Drawbaugh

    “I could feed 5.1 in via analog, but that’s no advantage over feeding it over optical – and fewer cables is nice.”

    Not true at all. If you use 5.1 analog cables you can take advantage of uncompressed audio, with optical you are stuck with the lower bitrate DD, or DTS.

  • http://www.gizmolovers.com/ MegaZone

    Optical carries PCM. My PS3 outputs over HDMI to my TV, which will bypass the audio over optical to the receiver. I can set the PS3 to decode and output PCM.

  • http://bjdraw.com Ben Drawbaugh

    Right, Optical will carry 2 channel PCM, but not 5.1 channel PCM.

    If you had a BD-P1000, you could connect the 6 analog cables and listen to the losless audio with your old AV/R. With the PS3 you’d need a AV/R with HDMI.

  • http://www.gizmolovers.com/ MegaZone

    Hmm, I didn’t realize that optical only did 2-channel PCM. I’ll have to re-check my setup since it has been reporting surround, maybe I didn’t set the PS3 to PCM. Well, another reason to upgrade my receiver to one that handles HDMI. :-)

  • http://bjdraw.com Ben Drawbaugh