Playstation 3 as a Blu-Ray player

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Can someone tell me if this machine does a good job at playing blu-ray films, or do you think i would need to buy a seperate blu-Ray player? And does the PS3 play standard DVD's? and Does the PS3 upscale them? thanks.

cheers
 

Andy Clough

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Yes, yes, and yes! The PS3 plays Blu-ray discs to a good standard, plays regular DVDs and can upscale them to 1080p.

In fact, we have a test of the PS3 and all the other Blu-ray/HD DVD players coming up in the October issue of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision, on sale August 23.

The PS3 has just had a number of firmware upgrades, and these have made a big difference to its performance.
 

mlamb64150

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Hi Andy,

This interests me greatly, I already have a PS3 running through my Panasonic TH-42PX70 and it looks devine, but I don't have any method of comparison hehe.

Obviously the PS3 wouldn't hold a torch to the best standalone BR players but does it compare favourably against some of the entry range £400-£500 models that are currently available from Sony/Samsung for instance?

Cheers!
 

Clare Newsome

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That's precisely what the forthcoming review will tell you.....We've reviewed every HD player we could get our hands on, from the PS3 up through the Sony and Toshiba to the Panaonic and Pioneer models. One of the most debate-generating tests I can remember for years!
 
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Anonymous

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A note of CAUTION!!!

I did precisely this. I've been thinking of using the PS3 as a Blu-Ray source for a while, and teh recent What Hi-fi review swung it for me. I got a good deal at HMV with 2 movies, 2 games and a controller for £425.

The Blu-ray playback is superb in terms of definition and image quality. A little bit jerky on motion watching Casino Royale - I haven't upgraded HDMI cables yet, which I was going to ask about being a possible cause of this... but I was distracted from this....

by the HORRENDOUS fan noise! About 10 minutes into the movie, the fans in the PS3 ramp up to full whack, and the resultant whine can easily be heard from 10ft away over the quiet bits of the soundtrack.

A quick google on "PS3 fan noise" revealed a rash of complaints from all over Europe. Almost every forum seems to have a fan noise thread. In fact, google search is still bringing up complain hits on the third page! Sony apparently are denying its existence. I contacted Sony and they gave me scripted answer, saying "it's normal". I challenged this by saying it might be normal for a toy, but not for a piece of serious AV equipment. They folded immediately and directed me back to the retailer for replacement or refund.

Mine is going back tomorrow for a replacement unit, and if that isn't quieter I will pursue a refund, and wait until the design matures.
 
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Anonymous

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I had that problem, but then I turned the sound on. You only hear it in really quiet scenes.
 

Clare Newsome

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[quote user="abssorb"]
A note of CAUTION!!!

HORRENDOUS fan noise! About 10 minutes into the movie, the fans in the PS3 ramp up to full whack, and the resultant whine can easily be heard from 10ft away over the quiet bits of the soundtrack.

A quick google on "PS3 fan noise" revealed a rash of complaints from all over Europe. Almost every forum seems to have a fan noise thread. In fact, google search is still bringing up complain hits on the third page! Sony apparently are denying its existence. I contacted Sony and they gave me scripted answer, saying "it's normal". I challenged this by saying it might be normal for a toy, but not for a piece of serious AV equipment.

[/quote]

If that bothers you, I wouldn't recommend a) a Sky+/Sky HD box or b) most brands of home cinema projector....
 

D.J.KRIME

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Part and parcel of owning a highly powered games console I am afraid as you have to keep those circuit boards cool somehow, the XBOX 360 is equally as bad with fan noise.
 

strobo

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Was it definitely fan noise?

Could it have been the drive itself spinning up to a faster speed (like a CD-ROM in a PC spinning up as an example)? I guess Blu-Ray discs aren't read at multiple speeds like CD-ROMs in PC's, but it just seems odd that the fan noise was so bad. Most computer-standard fans are very quiet these days, even on full bore. I have an 80mm fan here that will shift over 60cfm and it doesn't keep me awake at night, let alone disturb film watching.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the HD-DVD drives for the XBox360 came in two different flavours - a noisy one and a quiet one (one from each of two different manufacturers). Maybe Sony has the same issue.
 
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Anonymous

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The whirr sounded like fan noise and neither disc-player noise or hard drive noise. When switched on from cold, the noise was not present until 10 / 15 mins into the movie. I would expect noise from the disc to be a constant from the start. The key point is that the increased fan noise was accompanied by increased air-flow. I have a replacement unit now and it seems to be an improvement, but it's early days.

A agree that lots of other AV equipment has fans. However, it seems there are a quite a few PS3s which are extraordinarily noisy. Apparently, there are a number of substitute component parts which are put into some machines and not others. The point being, not all PS3s are made from the same components and consumers don't have an easy way of telling them apart. One example:
http://community.eu.playstation.com/showpost.php?p=1547559&postcount=25

My original was louder than a home projector, for instance. I took the unit to a friend's house to get a perspective in a different environment, and his IN74 projector was quieter than the PS3 when plaved side by

The point of caution is that I wanted to share with people that if they are concerned, they should do a little more of their own research first. Many reviews declare the PS3 to be whisper quiet. If, as I did, you read these reviews, and speak to a few friends - and they all say the same, it's easy to draw the conclusion that complainants are speaking from a subjective viewpoint and are just too fussy. Yet the fact that same product is being made from different parts and there are accounts of differences in performation shouldn't be ignored if you're bothered about background noise.

HMV replaced mine without any concerns. Now I said the replacement is better. But, I have not yet performed the latest software update, which is another story and some believe that software changes are modifying fan settings. Given that the replacement is very likely to be from the same batch, I'm probably going to find this out the hard way.
 
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Anonymous

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Good luck with the new one! I'm thinking of buying one, as I said, and I'll keep an eye on how you're doing if you post again. Cheers!
 
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Anonymous

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I want to spend a bit more time playing discs before doing the latest software update, so I can be more objective about the difference. I'm not bothered about on-line gaming or any of the other aspects which won't work unless I upgrade. I'll post back with my experiences :).

Did I really say "performation" in my last post?? I think my spell-checker must have been written in the white-house.
 

FoxJA

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My PS3 fan is fairly quiet, I don't even notice it when watching Blu Rays. It does kick up occasionally when playing games though.

The Xbox 360 on the other hand is very loud, it has put me off buying the HD DVD drive as it is so loud. I do have an original release one though and have heard they have improved the fan in later models.
 
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Anonymous

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My PS3 is fully updated and the fan noise has not changed at all.

You must have had a duff console because the fan on mine is no louder than my skyhd box.

In answer to the orginal question the blue-ray playback is outstanding and as I say the fan noise is barely audible (and thats from only a couple of metres).
 
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Anonymous

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This machine has proved, in the short time I have had it, to be my bargain buy of the year. I can honestly say that it up-scales better than my Panasonic and Sony players. So well in fact that I am watching a load of my old dvd collection over again rather than chase the latest blu-ray releases. Add on the regular firmware upgrades that keep on coming, plus HD, plus meaty audio sent to my Dav-is10. And it plays games!.

It looks though that Sony were serious when they said they were planning on stopping selling the 60 Gb version as soon as stock ran out. Amazon no longer have it, their cheapest sellers have upped the price to over £430 (with a used one advertised for £600 ) whilst at the same time they have dropped the price on the 40 Gig to under £280.

I'm also thinking of making mine look pretty!! Check out www.decalgirl.com .
 

mlamb64150

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I'm surprised anyone who is a home cinema/hi-fi buff would be remotely annoyed by the PS3's fan noise. The only time I notice it is when it first boots up, after that it is firing out some lovely noises via the HDMI cable and cannot be heard at all :)

Solution, get louder speakers ;)
 
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Anonymous

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[quote user="mlamb64150"]
I'm surprised anyone who is a home cinema/hi-fi buff would be remotely annoyed by the PS3's fan noise. The only time I notice it is when it first boots up, after that it is firing out some lovely noises via the HDMI cable and cannot be heard at all :)

Solution, get louder speakers ;)
[/quote] DITTO!
 
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Anonymous

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emotion-2.gif


Well, after several months use I can confirm that the second PS3 is a huge improvement over the first one I received.

There was apparently enough faulty units that pressure was being put onto Sony to stage a recall. I'm not sure how far that went, but it annoyed a lot of customers.

So, if you get the same problem, it's worth talking to your retailer.
 

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