PS3 as Blu-Ray Player with my current kit

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a PS3 to use as a blu-ray player in my modest home cinema setup with the added advantages of being able to play games, view pictures and play mp3's too as background music for parties etc from the hard drive.

My current setup is a Panasonic TH37PV500 TV with Acoustic Energy Aego P5 surround decoder and speaker package with Samsung HD870 DVD Player.

I would appreciate any opinions on this setup and whether, for blu-ray playback, would be held back with my other kit at all as I am not in the position to spend too much money at the moment.

 

[Anonymous]

You'll get 720p on your TV using the PS3. This will be an improvement on any SD sources you had before, however you won't be able to get the other main aspect of Blu-ray, HD sound until you upgrade your receiver.

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for your reply, is the sound a big improvement over what I have currently or is it more subtle as I suspect I will have to wait to upgrade for a while anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

You'll have to connect the PS3 to your amp using an optical cable over which you'll just get SD sound.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, but what I meant was is the HD sound from a better quality amp loads better than sd 5.1, will I notice a big difference?

 

[Anonymous]

Yes if you get a receiver which can accept LPCM over HDMI there will be a difference, though I'd replace the AE speakers as well to get more of an impact.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that.

Will the PS3 dvd upscaling be better playing my current dvd's than the samsung I have, I have heard it upscales really well with the latest firmware.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, you'll see a marked improvement here too.

 

[Anonymous]

shayn:

Thanks for that.

Will the PS3 dvd upscaling be better playing my current dvd's than the samsung I have, I have heard it upscales really well with the latest firmware.

I updated my Son's PS3 with the latest 2.50 version firmware and I have only good things to say on how much better the PS3 is upscaling my DVD's to the extent I have now made by old DENON DVD 1940 redundant. More recently I watched Lethal Weapon via the PS3 and the picture quality is a match for it's blu ray equivalent..whatever Sony did in it's firmware has really done the trick for me...With the 2 Bond Blu Ray's I also have From Russia With Love and Thunderball ( I do hope that MGM will soon be getting Lowry Labs to restore GOLDFINGER too) it's also pushed up picture quality here a notch or maybe even two