Playstation 3 Blue Ray quality - How good is it ?

You bet, and the fact its software can be updated on line makes it future proof to a degree. Don't waste your money on a standalone yet. Be sure to have the remote that is made for the ps, it does it all. Be sure to get the blu-ray version of Planet Earth, video wise it is the acid test of performance. Recently tried the first audio blu-ray and stella was the performance and quality of the sound. Hopefully, since Sony is the mother and father of blue-ray, some of the great SACD's will be re-issued on that format. It will become the audio standard for the high end with more and more material being re-mastered for the medium. But now the bad news, no one will be able to 'mod' blu-ray in a PS3, so it will get bad press from the mod people. Best as I can tell the video press gives the PS3 the edge over everthing out there.

What he said!

I love watching new releases in blue-ray....WOW, Diehard rattled the windows in a big way, it was so fun! Not to mention, Gan Tourismo Prolog...

Then when the market stablizes, I'll get a dedicated player

I agree with both of the previous posters. It can't be beat right now... not unless you have an ungodly amount of money to blow on stereo equipment.

Best as I can tell the video press gives the PS3 the edge over everthing out there.

I totally disagree, while the PS3 is currently the only v2.0 player made, the video (mine is running F/W 2.35) is still significantly inferior to any other Blu-ray player I have had, even the first one out, the Samsung BDP-1000. Yep, it plays games, and GTA IV is in mine now, but I wouldn't consider it a great Blu-ray player by any means.

I am sure some will attack me for this, bring it on! I have A-B'd this to several stand alones and each and every one I used bested the PS3 for video, and audio as well (though last time I did this I was using the optical digital out for audio) and the test was done with two copies of the same disc, which was swapped out to be sure they both played equally.....

If you want a new gaming platform, and it has the games you'd like, it will tide you over until you buy a stand alone, but it really has no place in a audiophile/videophiles system as the primary Blu-ray player.

what Kenny said! Get one if you have kids or a game nerd but its not a far leap to think a dedicated player will outperform what amounts to a toy (an advanced and expensive one)........but when you want a player with the most adjustments and actual movie and audio performance get dedicated deck.

Over at www.avsforum.com they are still really happy with the PS3...at least until something better comes along. It has the least problems with new Blu-Ray formatted discs and it is really reliable. The latest firmware update now allows for upconversion.

WOW, if Kenny and Zombie are correct, I cannot even fathom just how good a stand alone player is, as the PS3 is pretty awsome. Granted, I am much more of an audiophile then a videophile...

Enjoy the search and report your finding please....jtb

Running PS3 for Blu Rays... I haven't taken the time to A/B compare, but Planet Earth (and other Blu Rays) look pretty amazing on my 50" plasma. Much better than DVD deinterlaced with an Anthem D2.

I really don't think you'd be disappointed with the PS3's video performance. Also, it decodes the lossless audio formats, and will send them PCM to my processor. No complaints here.

The demographics of typical posters at avsforum are high school or college kids who firmly believe their own $500 CD player sounds best. There are a few excellent contributors there, but I wouldn't make purchase decision based on the recommendation over there.

As others have suggested I bought mine as a stop-gap measure. It works well for me as I have a young son that will grow into the gaming portion... I get HD (blu-ray) and get to lose my old DVD player.

Personally I think streaming HD will be the way of the future... but until then I'm in.

Tony

My 14 year old nephew has a PS3 (he can afford one, I can't) and I've seen 4 or 5 BDs on my brother's 47" 720p LCD with the PS3. It seemed to me that the picture could only be improved with a 1080p TV.

But, even if I had the money now to buy a PS3 or a stand alone BDP, I would wait a year. If history is any lesson, the BDPs will get even better and the prices will come down.

Mike19

Doesn't the PS3 downgrade to 480p if not used with a 1080p set?

"Doesn't the PS3 downgrade to 480p if not used with a 1080p set?"

Nope. The PS3 can output both 1080i and 720P as well.

I have a LCD-driven 55" rear-projection HDTV by Hitachi, which accepts 480p, 720p, and 1080i. Its native mode is 720p, but somehow, the picture is just a *little* bit better when I feed it 1080i signal. We just got a PS3 yesterday, and when we set it up for 1080i output, it looked really good and I have no complaints. It certainly didn't demonstrate any slowness or softening compared to my Toshiba HD-D2 HD DVD player. I consider them pretty much equal in picture quality; eventually with the downloadable upgrades, the PS3 may surpass it. On the other hand, my 720p TV may have trouble revealing the difference.

Anyway, at $399 for an 80MB PS3 and having added Blu-ray to my Netflix profile, I'm very satisfied.

I was under the impression that the PS# did not do Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD.

08-27-08: Cerrot
I was under the impression that the PS# did not do Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD.

The PS 3 can read and extract the uncompressed codecs, but it doesn't decode them internally. This article explains that the PS 3 can read Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio from the disk and converts it to an uncompressed PCM bitstream which is output via HDMI to be processed by an HDMI-equipped pre/pro that can decode the uncompressed PCM bitstream.

That's the beauty of the PS 3's high processing power and Ethernet and wi-fi connections; whenever Sony adds improvements, they can be downloaded to the PS 3 to bring it up to the latest revision level.

Does anyone know if the PS3 streams internet radio?

PS3 will stream internet radio, but development is still in its infancy stage. Due to restrictions w/ flash player playing on PS3, you will only be able to play on very few websites. I am no expert, but I have done a bit of research over time. Just make sure you constantly check for Sony's latest software updates.

I have last years 40 gig PS3. I play BluRay at 1080P on my Sony XBR 60" projection (I really wish Sony had released the 70"!)
The video quality is excellent, in fact it was considerd the best back then, I now understand the new Denons and the like at $2K etc are better, but how much at how much more $?
Now sound, I have Cambridge Audio CD players and server. A very noticeable difference in warmth, richness and even clarity. I guess they had to save money somewhere.

One of the best...if not the best.