blue ray players

[jokerpaulonline]

What is the difference between a cheap and expensive blue ray players?

When buying a new player, what is the most important things to look for?

would a good quality dvd player be better than a cheap entry level blue ray player?

Any comments on the blue ray player/recorder

 

[davejberry]

jokerpaulonline:
What is the difference between a cheap and expensive blue ray players?

When buying a new player, what is the most important things to look for?

would a good quality dvd player be better than a cheap entry level blue ray player?

Any comments on the blue ray player/recorder

In general terms the more expensive players will give, better picture and sound, offer more features and be built of better materials.

For me, picture and sound quality rather than features or what the box itself looks like.

For playing DVDs, maybe, but obviously they won't play bluray discs.

Don't have freesat HD or sky HD so don't see the point as I don't record HD broadcast material to keep, if I'm out and want to watch them later, a normal PVR with HDD is good enough for me.

 

[jokerpaulonline]

So when looking to buy a blueray player, how can you tell the difference between a over priced poor quality blueray player to a cheap good quality blueray player?. My point is you cant always go by price, just because it is more expensive it dont mean it is better

 

[chudleighpaul]

Take advice from these forums

 

[jokerpaulonline]

that is what I am trying to get, "Advise"

If I go into a shop and they have got 20 different blueray players, apart from just the price, how can I tell which is the best 1?

 

[sta99y]

Richer sounds do a 14day exchange so if u no like u take it back. Ask for a demo of the player on a tv similar or same as yours.

Darrell

 

[Anonymous]

a sony bdp-s760 will be more than good enough .. at around £280 i think , very good at upscaling dvds too.

or you could take a look at the newer sony players , you dont have to spend big to get a quality bluray player , the difference in picture quality when going up the ranges is very very small..

 

[scene]

I'd agree with Max, you can't fault a sony bdp-s760 - mine gives stunning pictures. And on the fact that if you BD player is outputting a 1080P signal from a Blu-Ray to a screen of not huge proportions, the differences in PQ are relatively small.

Having said that....

On what to look for in a new Blu-ray player, I'd draw up a short questionnaire for myself:

1. What will the player be used for just Blu-rays, or DVDs as well
2. Will the player be used as a CD-spinner for music
3. Can my display take a 1080P/24 feed, or 1080P/60 or only 1080i
4. Will I use the BD player to upscale, or will the AMP/Display be doing this
5. Can my AMP take an HDMI feed, if not will I need analogue outputs on the player
6. Can my AMP decode HD sound formats, or will I need the player to do this?
7. Do I want 3D?
8. What is my budget?

The answers to these change the sort of BD player you'll need and it's cost. For example: if you answer yes to 2, 3 & 4 and no to 1 (i.e. DVDs as well), 5 & 6 - then you need to look at a high-quality audiophile BD player, with good upscaling capabilities. However, if you answer No to 1, 2, 4 and yes to 3, 5 & 6 then a the BD is doing less work and you could go for a cheaper player, or even a straight transport.

I would add two final questions to the list:

9. How big is my display
10. How long am I going to keep the BD player for?

The first is a decider on quality. If the BD player is only going to feed a 32" screen then it doesn't need to be as high quality, as any small picture artifacts will be less noticeable than on a 120" projector screen. The last is a decider on investment and return. If you're looking to keep the BD player for several years, then you might well want to invest more money in it and future proof it. That is, if you are only looking at a 1-2 year lifespan for your player, I'd spend less (reduce answer 8) and worry less about 3D.

After that, I would recommend drawing up a shortlist of players, look at reviews on this site and in the forums (and elsewhere) and above all try to get demos of your shortlisted players...

 

[bigboss]

jokerpaulonline:

What is the difference between a cheap and expensive blue ray players?

When buying a new player, what is the most important things to look for?

would a good quality dvd player be better than a cheap entry level blue ray player?

Any comments on the blue ray player/recorder

The expensive blu-ray players generally have better quality components. However, the beauty of the HD blu-ray technology is that you'll be hard pressed to notice much difference between players unless you look very closely frame by frame on a large TV (as scene mentions). The main difference would be on DVD upscaling, again more noticeable on larger TVs. Some players are better than the others on that. Not to forget that some TVs compete hard with blu-ray & DVD players at upscaling.

What TV have you got, & what's your budget? If you have a 32 inch Goodmans TV for example, there's no point in spending on an expensive £1000 blu-ray player.

Not sounding patronising, but it's actually a "blu-ray player" & not a "blue ray player".

 

[Anonymous]

jokerpaulonline:

that is what I am trying to get, "Advise"

If I go into a shop and they have got 20 different blueray players, apart from just the price, how can I tell which is the best 1?

Have you tried looking at the reviews within this site for Blu-ray. At the end of the day, its your choice. As a starting point,the Sony BDP S-370 reviewed in the June issue of this Mag is a good all-ronder.

 

[The_Lhc]

bigboss:Not sounding patronising, but it's actually a "blu-ray player" & not a "blue ray player".

You evil swine! How could you? Get out! We don't want your sort here...

Honestly, correcting someone's spelling, the depths people will sink to, what's next, statements based on fact instead of wild speculation? I hope I never live to see the day...

 

[bigboss]

the_lhc:

bigboss:Not sounding patronising, but it's actually a "blu-ray player" & not a "blue ray player".

You evil swine! How could you? Get out! We don't want your sort here...

Honestly, correcting someone's spelling, the depths people will sink to, what's next, statements based on fact instead of wild speculation? I hope I never live to see the day...

Since the technology is relatively new (sort of), I think it's good to let people know the correct spelling.

 

[Dermondo]

As previously mentioned the Sony BD 760 is a cracking piece of kit which i have just purchased, great at upscaling and fab with Blu Rays, another bonus with this player & one of the reasons I choose this is the 7.1 multi channel outs which are a bonus if like me you have an older AV amp with pre-outs and works a treat with a little tinkering in the settings.

 

[The_Lhc]

Dermondo:As previously mentioned the Sony BD 760 is a cracking piece of kit which i have just purchased, great at upscaling and fab with Blu Rays, another bonus with this player & one of the reasons I choose this is the 7.1 multi channel outs which are a bonus if like me you have an older AV amp with pre-outs and works a treat with a little tinkering in the settings.

Yup, that's why I bought mine, sounds perfectly ok through my ten year old Sony AV amp.

 

[scene]

+1 on that comment, except I've got an Arcam AVR250

 

[andy_s]

i will second that comment,

by rocky66

 

[Anonymous]

Need some help please.

have a pansonic tx-46ps10b, and trying to set it up with a panasonic dmp-bd45eb-k.

I know they are not the best qulaity products, however, it is like wacthing tv in the 80's, really bad picture quality. not sure of the hdmi cable brand but can they make that much difference? it was £30.

 

[Anonymous]

andy-s, can you help with the point below?

 

[Anonymous]

andy_s:

i will second that comment,

by rocky66

Yup, I went out and brought the Sony S-370. Tesco £159. Excellent sound and vision. My wife noticed the swich from our old Panasonic DVD to blu-ray.

 

[caddyhound]

Richard_Gman

Try starting a new thread with your problems.I have a Panasonic 37" plasma and BDP 35 blu ray and the picture is fantastic through HDMI with both Blu ray and DVD so there is obviously a problem somewhere,either in equipment or set up of television.

 

[Anonymous]

How is it possible that the new sony BDP-S370 produces better picture and sound quality than the BDP-S760, which has 'technology' from the BDPS-5000ES?

This seems to work the other way

 

[jokerpaulonline]

scene:

I'd agree with Max, you can't fault a sony bdp-s760 - mine gives stunning pictures. And on the fact that if you BD player is outputting a 1080P signal from a Blu-Ray to a screen of not huge proportions, the differences in PQ are relatively small.

Having said that....

On what to look for in a new Blu-ray player, I'd draw up a short questionnaire for myself:

1. What will the player be used for just Blu-rays, or DVDs as well
2. Will the player be used as a CD-spinner for music
3. Can my display take a 1080P/24 feed, or 1080P/60 or only 1080i
4. Will I use the BD player to upscale, or will the AMP/Display be doing this
5. Can my AMP take an HDMI feed, if not will I need analogue outputs on the player
6. Can my AMP decode HD sound formats, or will I need the player to do this?
7. Do I want 3D?
8. What is my budget?

The answers to these change the sort of BD player you'll need and it's cost. For example: if you answer yes to 2, 3 & 4 and no to 1 (i.e. DVDs as well), 5 & 6 - then you need to look at a high-quality audiophile BD player, with good upscaling capabilities. However, if you answer No to 1, 2, 4 and yes to 3, 5 & 6 then a the BD is doing less work and you could go for a cheaper player, or even a straight transport.

I would add two final questions to the list:

9. How big is my display
10. How long am I going to keep the BD player for?

The first is a decider on quality. If the BD player is only going to feed a 32" screen then it doesn't need to be as high quality, as any small picture artifacts will be less noticeable than on a 120" projector screen. The last is a decider on investment and return. If you're looking to keep the BD player for several years, then you might well want to invest more money in it and future proof it. That is, if you are only looking at a 1-2 year lifespan for your player, I'd spend less (reduce answer 8) and worry less about 3D.

After that, I would recommend drawing up a shortlist of players, look at reviews on this site and in the forums (and elsewhere) and above all try to get demos of your shortlisted players...

Answers to these questions,

It will be used for blue-rays, dvd's and the odd music cd,

My av/amp is a yamaha dsp z7, so that can do all the upscaling, and does take hdmi, I am not bothered about 3d tv, I need a slimline blue-ray player to fit inside my cabinet, I would like to get one that would last quite a few years before i need to upgrade again. also wireless internet connection would be an added bonus. TV a 32 inch screen still to be updated but will probably be a 40 inch screen .

So with all this in mind, what would you reccomend?

 

[jokerpaulonline]

scene:

I'd agree with Max, you can't fault a sony bdp-s760 - mine gives stunning pictures. And on the fact that if you BD player is outputting a 1080P signal from a Blu-Ray to a screen of not huge proportions, the differences in PQ are relatively small.

Having said that....

On what to look for in a new Blu-ray player, I'd draw up a short questionnaire for myself:

1. What will the player be used for just Blu-rays, or DVDs as well
2. Will the player be used as a CD-spinner for music
3. Can my display take a 1080P/24 feed, or 1080P/60 or only 1080i
4. Will I use the BD player to upscale, or will the AMP/Display be doing this
5. Can my AMP take an HDMI feed, if not will I need analogue outputs on the player
6. Can my AMP decode HD sound formats, or will I need the player to do this?
7. Do I want 3D?
8. What is my budget?

The answers to these change the sort of BD player you'll need and it's cost. For example: if you answer yes to 2, 3 & 4 and no to 1 (i.e. DVDs as well), 5 & 6 - then you need to look at a high-quality audiophile BD player, with good upscaling capabilities. However, if you answer No to 1, 2, 4 and yes to 3, 5 & 6 then a the BD is doing less work and you could go for a cheaper player, or even a straight transport.

I would add two final questions to the list:

9. How big is my display
10. How long am I going to keep the BD player for?

The first is a decider on quality. If the BD player is only going to feed a 32" screen then it doesn't need to be as high quality, as any small picture artifacts will be less noticeable than on a 120" projector screen. The last is a decider on investment and return. If you're looking to keep the BD player for several years, then you might well want to invest more money in it and future proof it. That is, if you are only looking at a 1-2 year lifespan for your player, I'd spend less (reduce answer 8) and worry less about 3D.

After that, I would recommend drawing up a shortlist of players, look at reviews on this site and in the forums (and elsewhere) and above all try to get demos of your shortlisted players...

Answers to these questions,

It will be used for blue-rays, dvd's and the odd music cd,

My av/amp is a yamaha dsp z7, so that can do all the upscaling, and does take hdmi, I am not bothered about 3d tv, I need a slimline blue-ray player to fit inside my cabinet, I would like to get one that would last quite a few years before i need to upgrade again. also wireless internet connection would be an added bonus. TV a 32 inch screen still to be updated but will probably be a 40 inch screen .

So with all this in mind, what would you reccomend?

Looking at the Sony BDP-S760 that looks good, or are there any others would reccomend on my answers?

 

[Anonymous]

the sony bdp=s760 is as good as you could ever want or need for blu-ray or dvds ...dont waste your money on a blu-ray player that costs far more money , designed and marketed for people that have money to burn ..

 

[scene]

As I said, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the BDP-s760, but...

If the latest Blu-Ray head-to-head test in WHFS&V is to be beilieved, the BDP-s370 beats it hands down and is just over half the price and is pretty slimline. However, it doesn't have wi-fi out of the box, and I believe the dongle takes up the USB slot on the front, so that might be an issue. If that's an issue, the Panasonic DMP-BD85 looks very good, if more expensive. (I considered its predecessor, the BD80, but decided the s760 was better.) Not sure of its dimensions, though...