I am new to the blu ray world. I just bought a receiver that has DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. So does that mean if I buy a blu ray player, it needs to have DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD built in decoder as well? I just want to find a blu ray player that will handle DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD for my receiver.
Also, when I buy a blu ray movies, do I need to make sure that it has DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD?
Also, what are some good quality blu ray players? I was looking at brands like:
- Samsung - Sony - Pioneer - Philips - Magnavox - Panasonic - Sharp - LG
Well, I just don't want to buy a Blu-Ray player this year and it become extinct next year. Now I am stuck with this player and my receiver with DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD is worthless.
By the way, does anyone know a good website that will provide you with all the Blu-Ray movies with DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD sound format? I was searching on the net and found no such website.
For perspective: the entire movie studio system is dependent on DVD sales to turn a profit on most movies. And since 2007 the trend on DVD sales has been straight down... while rental sales have remained flat.
So it is no particular wonder that BluRay sales are taking off slowly, especially in this time of great prosperity.
I have seen figures indicating that there are some 10 million BD players already out there in the US - this is impressive market penetration when you remember how expensive the first units were, and that it was only two years ago that most consumers sat on the sideline trying to figure out whether HD or BD would be the new format.
Beyond consumer priced machines, the thing that is driving BD sales is that flat panel sales remain strong through June - one of the few CE retail bright spots.
I would assume (because I don't know for a fact) that the majority of these displays are 1080p - which IMHO is the only real reason to buy BluRay.
The forecast for 2009 is 100 million BD discs in North America, Europe and Japan combined. The same analyst projects that "...by 2012, around 50 per cent of US and 35 per cent of Western European video disc retail sale volumes will be Blu-ray."
IMHO one of the bigger barriers to adoption is that the studios are strapped so they are not spending the extra money to do the remastering, remixing and incorporate the advanced technologies (think BD2, deep color etc) that will really differentiate BD from DVD for the consumer.
In the same vein, most of the BD releases are of new films, while the DVD catalog offers wonderful diversity.
For me, the superior quality of BD makes it my choice but with my Oppo handling the upscaling, the quality of DVDs is generally very good. Where DVD will never be able to compete with BD is in the new audio formats which are dazzling.
Like Ozzy, I rent most of my BD discs. Netflix offers an ever increasing number of BD titles. In fact they recently added a $2/month premium if you want BD instead of DVD. We have a "one at a time" subscription and find that we can watch about 8 Netflix BDs a month which brings the rental price down to about $1.25 each - pretty competitive for an evenings entertainment.
Generally prices will decrease as volume increases so we may all start buying more discs in a year or two, especially if the catalog broadens to include more kinds of material, more remastered materials come out like the Coppola Godfather project etc.
One thing I do noticed is when I am at a shopping store, I don't see very many selection of Blu-Ray movies. The selection of Blu-Ray movies are very limited in selection compare to regular DVD movies. I don't think people are catching up to Blu-Ray players yet or Blu-Ray players are going out of business. I hear Blu-Ray players may come to an end in production do to prices and in this awful economy.
If that's the case, why should people continue to buy Blu-Ray players? Remember laser disc players? It was pretty cool for a very short time frame. I remember buying a laser disc player and it went out of business the next year!
The PQ on the JVC is excellent. What I really like about this player is disk compatibility and speed of operation. Many players have problems loading disks, and are very slow in operation. Not the JVC. I use my JVC to feed a CIA VDA2 DAC via coax. The 2 CH audio quality is excellent. The new Chris Botti Blu-Ray is very, very nice with the 48/24 bit PCM soundtrack.
Well, so far, I like the JVC XV-BP1 for the modern new look and performance. Too bad JVC don't make design matching CD player, receiver and DVD player to the Blu-Ray XV-BP1 model. I would love to have the whole matching set for my audio rack. It has some nice styling to it. Maybe their next line will all matches! Samsung also makes nice looking Blu-Ray players but not matching set as well.
I saw other pricier Blu-Ray players but they looked quite boring. I am sure they all perform at the same level regardless of prices. In reality, nobody you bring home to watch movies will start criticizing the quality of your Blu-Ray player. Like your friends are going to bring their magnifying glasses and come closeup to your TV and get all technical and detail. ha ha ha
I have auditioned some Blu-Ray players from $50 - $500 and they looked the same to me in picture quality.
I have not yet detected any differences in performance with short lengths (1-2meters) and use fancy cables interchangeably with those from Monoprice. For the long cables and those I put in the wall(!), I have used some fancy brands, if only to sleep better.
My recommendation, though, is to look at cables (or adapters) which will more firmly anchor the connections than does the standard HDMI connector. That, IMHO, is the Achilles' Heel for all of them.
Alright, now there are way to many HDMI cables out there. Does it matter what brand I use? Are all HDMI cables alike? Some brands cost more than others. Like Monster Cable which makes a lot of cables. But can a generic brand HDMI cable perform just as good as Monster Cable? Or is it just a marketing thing with Monster Cable and other well known brand names?
The JVC XV-BP1 has a blue bar and blue back-lit buttons. A bit of "bling", but I can live with it for the performance of the unit.
Page 36 of the owners manual (on-line) describes the audio outputs for each connection. To get the HD codecs I suspect you would need to run HDMI to the receiver and then to the TV. I had a Samsung before, and it was terrible! Perhaps the newer ones are better. The biggest problem is having to get software updates to run newer discs. Seems the studios are always playing around with the BD-Java. Samsung was slow in providing updates.
Another thing is some units are "picky" or slow loading discs. So far, the JVC has played everything I've tried, and loads quickly. It feels more like a DVD player. On the AVS Forum some are calling it the "poor mans OPPO" (referring to the BDP-83).
To get the DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD sounds, do you connect the Blu-Ray player to your receiver using HDMI cable or can you use either optical cable or coaxial cable? I was looking at some of the user's manual on Blu-Ray players and got confused on hooking it up to a receiver.
Can I get DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD sounds by doing this:
1. For video, connect the Blu-Ray player using HDMI directly to my TV.
2. For audio, using either the optical cable or coaxial cable directly to the receiver.
Will my 2 steps above work to get the best video and audio? If not, what are other ways to get DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD sounds coming from my receiver?
Mooglie, I was looking at the JVC XV-BP1 and it looks pretty nice. I want to ask you something. On the front face, there are 5 buttons on the left side, do all the blue lights up or is it just a blue plastic surrounding each button? Also, there seems to be a blue light line that goes vertical in the middle on the front face.
I tell you what, JVC and Samsung makes some pretty nice looking products not. They have improved their designs a lot! Back then, their products looks awful!!!
Only problem with their current products is that all the products don't match! For example, the JVC XV-BP1 looks really cool but their regular DVD player don't match with their Blu-Ray player. The same goes for Samsung and probably many companies out there.
I have an audio rack and I would like to fill my audio rack with all the same manufacturer line. If JVC can design a Receiver, DVD player, Blu-Ray player, CD player and they all matches each other would be fantastic looking audio rack!!!
It's hard to find a company that make all matching products. By the way, why don't eithere Samsung or JVC make Receivers anymore? Don't they use to make receivers and CD players???
For under $250, I really like the new JVC XV-BP1. It doesn't do SACD or DVD-Audio, but it's very fast and plays everything I've thrown at it. It handles the codecs that you mention via HDMI to your receiver. AVS Forum is a good site to get info on individual players.
i didn't mean it like that my freind. i may have offered my opinion improperly, mr. ray. i was just trying to support what mr. reynolds was saying. from what i have read many are happy with the oppo.
Regarding companies making dvd players thinner and lighter is to cut cost I believe. I think it all about marketing.
However, it's not the same when you pick up a heavy dvd player and you know it's built solid all around. They don't make them like they use to. To me, these new thinner and lighter weight styling makes them looks cheap like a portable walkman. Some of these new blu ray players are only an inch tall and weighs only a few pounds. I am wondering if people are buying empty boxes.
Well, for sure, I won't be buying a VHS tape player. HA HA HA
Maybe for now, I want to get a blu ray player. I kinda want to hear the DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. I heard it sounds far way better than the regular DVD players on DTS. That way, I am moving forward and get the 1080p TV later.
Since I have a Samsung TV, I was looking at the Samsung BD-P3600. I was also looking at the Phillips BDP7200. They both seems to look pretty cool and got the DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD sounds I am looking for.
All the players out there today seems to be shorter and shorter in height and weigh so light. They don't built them like a tank anymore. I have a Sony DVP-S9000ES universal player and it's 5 inches high and weighs at 27 pounds! I use my DVP-S9000ES as my SACD player and now I want get just a blu ray player.
it would seem, to me at least, that it would be a waste to invest in a powerful new receiver and then go backwards in technology with a standard dvd player. i would suggest simply making a choice as to which peice of equipment to upgrade NEXT. either the tv or the dvd player. in either case you're moving upward instead of lateral, which i feel is a waste of money and time. with that said, my 2 cents is go with the blu-ray first. quick, simple, low cost, and plenty of gains choice(hi def audio and video). bear in mind that 1080i is still very high definition(which is actually defined as 720i or higher).
I just installed a new Panasonic BD-80 a couple days ago. It decodes the new formats but I needed that, because my preamp doesn't. I ran analog out to the preamp.
I also have a Panny projector that is only 720P capable and firing a 90" screen.
Although I have some tweaking to do, there is very little improvement in the picture. I expected that. You'll need to upgrade your TV to get the full benefit of BluRay.
But the sound from the uncompressed tracks are stunning. It will take your system to a new level (assuming you have good speakers).
In your situation can buy ANY player that bitstreams audio and improve your experience sonically or go for the Oppo 83 if you have "exotic" music discs.
Oppo is good stuff. I have their original player and it's a keeper.
No, you're not wrong Al, of course all Blu-Ray disks played into 720p/1080i, but you're not fully utilized the pictures quality of the neither the Player or the disk. When you have a chance to watch a Blu-Ray disk at 1080p, you can go back and make the comparison yourself. My whole idea is, when you're going to purchase something expensive, but not be able to utilize it's potentials, then why waste money on it?
Correct me if I am wrong (as I have no Blue-Ray experience), but based on what I have read my understanding is that a well-made Blue-Ray disk played into a 1080i/720p hi def tv set, especially a large one such as the op's, will typically look better than a standard definition dvd played on a high quality upconverting dvd player.
In which case the suggestion to delay getting a Blue-Ray player until the TV is upgraded may not necessarily be correct.
I just looked that up, your Projection TV displays 1080i. Which is a tad under the Blu-Ray requirement. If you're not ready to upgrade your TV to LCD or Plasma, I said, get a high quality DVD player, as you can see their prices really gone under since Blu-Ray players came out. With your current TV, that will put on quite a nice display for standard DVD movies.
After looking at the specs of my TV, do you still think I should get a blu ray or not? If my TV is not 1080p, than I probably should not get a blu ray player until I buy a new TV with 1080p.
There's the most important piece of information missing here, your TV. Does your TV/LCD/PLASMA can displayed at least 1080p? or it's just a waste of money with Blu-Ray players. All the sounds that your Receiver can provide, any Blu-Ray players can do at least that and even more. The pictures quality only as good as your TV can be.
you are getting solid info from our most knowledgeable poster - let me try and clarify a bit by taking it from a newbie perspective
Usually people look for a BluRay player that can decode the new formats because they want to run a set of analog ICs to a non-HDMI capable AVR - in other words they want to add BluRay to their existing installation
IMHO, with an HDMI capable receiver like the one you have purchased, you will be very happy to when you realize that you only need one cable for both audio and video instead of a witches brew of audio and video cables between a BD and an AVR
Net this means that you can buy a BluRay player that doesn't decode locally so long as it is HDMI 1.3 which is required to carry that type of signal. In fact just don't buy anything but a HDMI 1.3 standard unit
I have an "older" Panasonic BD-30 which I am very pleased with. Newer BD players support the BluRay 2.0 standard which means they can be connected to the Internet and used for interactive content that the studios are expected to provide. I am not aware of anything compelling at the moment. If you have kids or are a devote added content person you might.
A couple of other considerations. One significant difference between various models and brands of players is how quickly they load the menus on each disc. The difference is measure in (a few) minutes not nano-seconds. Bugs some folks and not others.
Second many BD players have a bad reputation for the way that they handle DVDs. Based on this, and the fact that all this gear is very inexpensive, I purchased a dedicated Oppo to go with the Panasonic.
If I were doing it today I would purchase the Oppo BDP-83 and use it for everything. And too, as Kal points out it is a universal player if you are into the high end audio formats.
This is a fairly potent machine, imho, and you should have no problems with any modern player that will bitstream or decode the HD codecs. I cannot make any specific recommendations for BR players as my knowledge is pretty much liimited to "universal" players that will also handle SACD/DVD-A and those may not be of interest to you.
My "least common denominator" recommendation these days is the Oppo BDP-83 but, for BluRay only, there are other options.
First, can you tell us which AVR it is? Some advertise misleadingly and it is important to know if yours will decode these signals from its HDMI input.
Second, you will have no choice on the audio with any BR offering although you can read the fine print on the back of the box. It is what it is. Some have dtdHD MasterAudio, some have Dolby THD, some have both, some have neither. You can play any of them.
Third, if your AVR can decode the HD formats, the player can just bitstream them to the AVR. However, there is, sometimes an advantage to having a player that will decode them internally and send them, via HDMI, to the AVR as PCM signals. So, that gets us back to point #1..........
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