BLU-RAY PERFORMANCE - Is there really a BIG difference between PS3 and Dedicated Player?

[admin_exported]

Hi Folks

Merry Xmas to you all (bit early).

I'm after some responses to my burning question:

-Would (for eg), a Sony BDP-S760 Blu-Ray player provide me with a considerably more detailed, colourful hi-def experience over my existing player, a 40GB PS3?

I have an Onkyo TX-SR605, KEF 2005 EGGS, Pioneer 4280XD Kuro 8G and Silver Anniversary Cabling with Qunex HDMI-P's. Basically I'm after something to really shake up my system, an upgrade if you like and am thinking a dedicated Blu-Ray player is the answer. Of course, any other ideas would be welcome, is it the panel itself that needs upgrading? Have TV's really moved on to put my beloved 4280XD to shame?

Appreciate any responses!

All the best

Mart

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Hi Mart999

I think an upgrade to a 760 would be a big jump.

TV's yours is 720p so I would probaly wait until you get a killer deal on a tv.

for example 1080p philips at a really good price.

Otherwise I would not bother upgrading your tv.

 

[Anonymous]

MART999:
Hi Folks

Merry Xmas to you all (bit early).

I'm after some responses to my burning question:

-Would (for eg), a Sony BDP-S760 Blu-Ray player provide me with a considerably more detailed, colourful hi-def experience over my existing player, a 40GB PS3?

I have an Onkyo TX-SR605, KEF 2005 EGGS, Pioneer 4280XD Kuro 8G and Silver Anniversary Cabling with Qunex HDMI-P's. Basically I'm after something to really shake up my system, an upgrade if you like and am thinking a dedicated Blu-Ray player is the answer. Of course, any other ideas would be welcome, is it the panel itself that needs upgrading? Have TV's really moved on to put my beloved 4280XD to shame?

Appreciate any responses!

All the best

Mart





Your TV is fine. Your amp (same as mine) is fine. Your speakers are fine. Your HDMI cable is fine. The 760 however, will be a huge jump in performance to your PS3, in my opinion.

 

[bigboss]

Sorry, I beg to differ. Your screen is not full HD & it's only 42". I don't think you'll really achieve any benefits by upgrading your blu-ray player at this stage.

In any case, across the blu-ray players, the main improvement you're going to see is on DVD performance on a full HD TV. In blu-ray performance, the difference (if any) will be marginal. But again, the marginal difference will be noticeable on a full 1080p TV & a very large screen.

Why don't you get a Sony S760 on loan (if possible) & compare it yourself?

 

[Anonymous]

I got a panasonic 42" plasma 720p or 1080i TV and if you can see a MASSIVE, difference then you got better eye sight than I do 20/20

I have watched planet earth on blu-ray and I was gob smacked, I have spoken to many a people in the industry and they said the difference in 1080i to 1080p is so so small, but that was back in the day when 1080p was just entering the market, about 3-4 years ago.

I got a what hi-fi and c-net 5 star panny, 4 years in a row winner, and I have a PS3. and if you can tell me I am going to see a huge difference, I will lay down the cash now.

Yes If I had a 250:000-1 contrast and 600hz 1080p LCD then maybe might see a bit sharper images and better response times, but is it worth the thousands? I dont think so.

Thats my 2 cents.

 

[Anonymous]

i have been thinking about this upgrade next to from a ps3 to sony 760 to play blu-rays, but as my tv is a sony 40w2000 & projector optoma hd800x (not lv model) are older 1080p models i'm not i'm going to find a big improvement in picture compared to what other functions the ps3 con do.
as anyone else changed why using this tv

 

[Anonymous]

ive recently sold my ps3 , and am in the market for a bluray player , a friend of mine is adamant that the ps3 is as good as any sub £400 player , he reckons that the firmware updates that sony regularly release will keep the ps3 competative for at least the next 4 years , is it true that firmware updates can improve the bluray playback of a ps3 that much ?? i wouldnt have thought so , im looking at the lgbd390 or panasonic bd60 , should i expect either of those to be better , and by what margin ?? anyone ....

 

[Anonymous]

your tv is quality mate! i wouldnt swap my 428xd for any other 42 inch tv. iv got the ps3 and recently bought the denon 2500 transport and to me i cant tell them apart picture quality wise, i tested them on my pioneer as well as a infocus x10 projector wich is 1080p.

 

[bigboss]

The performance is determined by 2 aspects: quality of components used & the firmware. Sony PS3 will remain competitive for a few years, that's true. But in the blu-ray player market, there was a time when PS3 was the cheapest blu-ray player. Now, there are a lot of players cheaper than the PS3. There's no difference in the blu-ray performance between my Panasonic BD 60, my PS3 & my friend's Denon 2500BT. I get my Kuro to upscale DVDs, so DVD upscaling in a player is not important for me.

 

[Anonymous]

bigboss:The performance is determined by 2 aspects: quality of components used & the firmware. Sony PS3 will remain competitive for a few years, that's true. But in the blu-ray player market, there was a time when PS3 was the cheapest blu-ray player. Now, there are a lot of players cheaper than the PS3. There's no difference in the blu-ray performance between my Panasonic BD 60, my PS3 & my friend's Denon 2500BT. I get my Kuro to upscale DVDs, so DVD upscaling in a player is not important for me.hmmm , thats interesting , theres such a divide in views regarding bluray players , im sure on your kuro you would notice any difference in quality , yet some reckon the various mid range players easily beat a ps3 for picture quality ,i guess either the a.v.reviewers have ultra sensitive eyes or their just helping to keep the merry go round spinning ...

 

[Clare Newsome]

We wouldn't have given the PS3 such high ratings if we thought it poor! (And I have one myself...)

However, it is an excellent jack-of-all-trades, but no master of Blu-ray for the money. On quick viewing it may appear to match other BD players around the same price, but watch longer and you'll notice others (even the budget BDP-S360 Sony) can better it - especially for smoother motion in, say, tricky panning shots.

Step up a notch to higher-class BD players and you have the potential for richer colours, even greater detail/better contrast etc - and superior DVD upscaling. Plus, of course, noticeably better audio -potential.

As always, however, don't take our word for it: get a demo; preferably with your own set if at all possible. The Sony 'S760 and a host of other impressive step-up players - such as the Pioneer 'LX52 - are available at dealers with demo facilties, so take along your PS3 and a host of your favourite discs (or pay the dealer a deposit to try a BD player on home loan) and treat your eyes and ears.

 

[Anonymous]

bigboss:
Sorry, I beg to differ. Your screen is not full HD & it's only 42". I don't think you'll really achieve any benefits by upgrading your blu-ray player at this stage.

In any case, across the blu-ray players, the main improvement you're going to see is on DVD performance on a full HD TV. In blu-ray performance, the difference (if any) will be marginal. But again, the marginal difference will be noticeable on a full 1080p TV & a very large screen.

Why don't you get a Sony S760 on loan (if possible) & compare it yourself?

I beg to differ with what you beg to differ

My TV is a HD-Ready set and it's fantastic. Infact, it's better than my friend's Samsung Full HD set.

I've ensured that my TV is calibrated to it's optimum and I use very good cables and it has made a huge difference.

I still maintain that the 760 will be superior to the PS3 in terms of picture and sound quality.

I see Clare has been kind enough to confirm this fact.

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:
We wouldn't have given the PS3 such high ratings if we thought it poor! (And I have one myself...)

However, it is an excellent jack-of-all-trades, but no master of Blu-ray for the money. On quick viewing it may appear to match other BD players around the same price, but watch longer and you'll notice others (even the budget BDP-S360 Sony) can better it - especially for smoother motion in, say, tricky panning shots.

Step up a notch to higher-class BD players and you have the potential for richer colours, even greater detail/better contrast etc - and superior DVD upscaling. Plus, of course, noticeably better audio -potential.

As always, however, don't take our word for it: get a demo; preferably with your own set if at all possible. The Sony 'S760 and a host of other impressive step-up players - such as the Pioneer 'LX52 - are available at dealers with demo facilties, so take along your PS3 and a host of your favourite discs (or pay the dealer a deposit to try a BD player on home loan) and treat your eyes and ears.

hi clare , in your opinion would a panny bd60 be capable of showing a better image than a ps3 ??? ive read its dvd upscaling is very good , and i can get one at a cheap price .. ta max..

 

[Anonymous]

i think if i wanted my blu-ray player to play dvd's as well i would'nt think twice about an upgrade, but most people who are interested in home cinema still have a dvd player they are happy with in there set up. so they only want a blu-ray player to play blu-rays, i've never seen a dvd on my ps3. i think the biggest gain i can see with a ps3 upgrade for me would be with the sound
i found i was so happy when i had ice age playing on my sony 970 dvd recorder & letting my onkyo 905 do the upscaling to my projector i did'nt see the point in paying extra for ice age 3 on blu-ray when i could get it for £8 on dvd, i still find myself buying dvd more than blu-rays because of the price. the main reason i can see me upgrading from my ps3 & getting a sony 760 in the new year is because i want to move my dvd recorder player to my bedroom, & i'm sure the sony 760 will do a lot better job with dvd's than the ps3

 

[Anonymous]

To All Of You Who Responded .............

Many thanks indeed, interesting mix of responses!

Some of you discussed my screen and it not being 1080p etc., but I was of the opinion that you can't notice the difference between 720p and 1080p on screens 42" and smaller, with the added figure that I sit 6 feet from my 4280xd.

Nice to have Claire's views and I think my first move will certainly be to try and get a loan S760 and see what I think.

We have a Sevenoaks near us, any know if they can take a deposit and loan a machine?

Thanks all again

Mart

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 60gb PS3 (Fitted with a 320GB HD) and a Sony 350 player. Not much difference between them on Blue ray, picture wise the 350 is a touch sharper with more viberence.
It's the soundtrack where the 350 really shines, with it being able to bitstream the signal to the AV amp and get full Dolby Digital processing.

Only bought the 350 because my PS3 broke after 23 mths, (I finally got compansated).
To sum up any of the latest crop of 5 star rated players will show an improvement mainly due to the bitstreaming, and the better / bigger your system the more enjoyable it will be.(IMHO)

The PS3 is still a great all rounder, able to part of a 'Home network', play Games, Music, BBC i player, do Blue Ray quite well. I wouldn't be without one.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

The question was, is thee a "really BIG difference". The answer is NO.

They are both 1080p at 24Hz. The PS3, if anything, has more processing power.

The PS3 has picture options that allow you to adjust it to suit your display for optimal performance.

The PS3 is, contrary to implications here, a great upscaler of DVD's.

The only thing with the PS3 is that it has so many options to set, both soudn and picture, that you need to understand and apply these to give you the best picture.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

For me know Mart999 you are only getting slight version of what blu ray can do with your combination.

For me 720p plasma and a playstation 3 is about the worse way to watch blu ray.

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:

We wouldn't have given the PS3 such high ratings if we thought it poor! (And I have one myself...)

However, it is an excellent jack-of-all-trades, but no master of Blu-ray for the money. On quick viewing it may appear to match other BD players around the same price, but watch longer and you'll notice others (even the budget BDP-S360 Sony) can better it - especially for smoother motion in, say, tricky panning shots.

Step up a notch to higher-class BD players and you have the potential for richer colours, even greater detail/better contrast etc - and superior DVD upscaling. Plus, of course, noticeably better audio -potential.

As always, however, don't take our word for it: get a demo; preferably with your own set if at all possible. The Sony 'S760 and a host of other impressive step-up players - such as the Pioneer 'LX52 - are available at dealers with demo facilties, so take along your PS3 and a host of your favourite discs (or pay the dealer a deposit to try a BD player on home loan) and treat your eyes and ears.

Totally agree with Clare's findings ,as a PS3 owner I have found the most impressive difference in upgrading was in the audio

Now by bitstreaming and letting my Yamaha Z7 do it magic the sound is awsome

There is a difference with video as well but not so noticable

 

[lobby]

I would say that any of the new Sony models will be an improvement, but not massive, so really it all depends on whether after borrowing one you can justify the extra outlay, audio will definetly improve and like Clare said motion and camera panning will be be slightly smoother and the depth of colour will improve. Im very happy with mine at the moment, and in the new year will be planning a tv upgrade to possible Panny 46" plasma or Philips 47" lcd. Hopefully then i would notice an improvement with one of the lastest crop of blu-ray players, i feel youve got more to gain the bigger and newer the screen, but try before you buy and report back what you find. Hope this helps.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes. While it may not hit you immediately, you will notice enhancements in all areas related to picture and sound over a period of time.

Whilst the PS3 has many strengths and flexibility, which is why it is still so popular, a dedicated blu-ray player will produce a better picture and sound.

The same applies to hi-fi...many here ask if playing a cd on a blu-ray player will be as good as playing a cd on a dedicated cd player - the answer is no.

 

[GazzyP]

I understand the new PS3 SLIM is able to bitstream? Does that bring it closer to the 350?

Do you think the difference between the 350 and PS3 picture is instantly noticable? Or is this something that only a trained eye would see???

 

[Anonymous]

Well my Mrs thought it looked and sounded better as well, so noticable when you are sitting down with a system you use for hours every day. The biggest improvement was in the sound track.

My Onkyo 875 and Monitor Audio modded RS8 AV system are able to take full advantage of it.

 

[Dalesman]

Admit it folks,you want a dedicated BD player,yet want to hang on to the PS3 for sheer capabilities of the machine.So just have both,like I do

 

[bigboss]

Just google it online, & you'll find many scientific results which say that when a 1080p/24 disc is being played back on a 1080p/24 display, there
is usually no appreciable difference in the quality between players. That's the achievement of the blu-ray format.

I've myself compared the PS3, Panasonic BD60 & Denon 2500BT & there's really no difference in blu-ray performance that I could appreciate. Yes, in DVD performance, there is a significant difference.