PS3 for Blu Ray, Are they really any good

[admin_exported]

I am considering a PS3 to play Blu ray films and hook up to my av amp. I keep reading mixed reports and i could just do with some peoples thoughts on this.

I have looked at various Dedicated Blu Ray players from Panasonic to Denon and they vary in cost from the fairly well priced to boardering on ridiculous.

So i have decided to look at the PS3 as it is a multimedia hub aswell but i am just not sure if the quality will be any good, also the ps3 decodes the HD sound onboard, is this something that could possibly be changed in the future with updates so that the av amp will do all the work as my amp would more than likely do this much better.

 

[Big Chris]

I believe the popular consensus is, "Good, but not great". Can't elaborate a great deal more as I don't own a PS3. I do however own a Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray player, and it is excellent.

 

[professorhat]

If you're only after a Blu-Ray player, go for one of the decent dedicated players like the Panasonic or Sony. If you really want the multimedia / gaming capabilities, go for the PS3. The PS3 is still a 4 star rated player by WHF and the quality is good, just not the best you can get for the price. I have one and the Sony BDP-S550 and there isn't a massive difference between the two.

As for the decoding, my understanding is it is a hardware limitation which prevents the PS3 bitstreaming the HD signals, so it will only ever decode onboard.

 

[Garth Man]

I have a dedicated Bluray machine, though I have been told by several people that there is a huge improvement, an improvement yes but not a massive one

Plus doesn't the PS3 have the quickest loading time out of all Bluray machines?

 

[Garth Man]

sorry meant NOT a huge improvement

 

[Anonymous]

I have a PS3 and have to say it is pretty good for blu-ray and standard dvd,plus it plays other formats like divx! loading times are pretty good,best to use sony's offical blu-ray remote which is a nice remote! pretty cheap to buy now the consoles and also the hard drives can be easily upgraded so can store lots of files i.e pictures,music,videos! but if u only want a blu-ray player and not a games console/multimedia center then opt for a blu-ray player i think

 

[Anonymous]

Also i think the remote for a PS3 is blue tooth so a learning remote can't be used to control it. This may or may not matter.

 

[yiannis550]

I have a PS3. I cannot compare to a dedcated blue ray player but my experience with the PS3 is great. The quality of the product is very good, It loads the blue ray discs fast and the video is excellent. I can't commment on Audio as I still dont have a proper sound system, ( I get the audio through my Pioneer's Kuro speakers). However even through that audio sounds really good. I am not much into Games but I got Little big planet for free with my PS3 and it is highly addictive! I just love it.
Finally I like thefact that I can stream anything from my PC to the PS3 through my Home network. Movies, music and photos wirelessly. I get some trouble when the video is high definition but most of the time it is smooth. when I try with a wire then the trouble vanishes and it plays ok.

So my verdict is, PS3 does a lot of things and the difference in quality is not big (according to everybody who compared a PS3 and a standalone player).
That is the reason I chose the PS3 in the first place and I haven't looked back!

 

[Anonymous]

Swuk37,

i was looking at the Denon 2500BT but at £400 difference for what the PS3 can do it just seems better value. Dont get me wrong i know the stadalone Denon would be good and it is raved about but would it be £400 better.

 

[Anonymous]

see also the answers to your earlier posts asking pretty much the same question which received pretty much the same answer:

http://whathifi.com/forums/t/218164.aspx

http://whathifi.com/forums/t/218191.aspx

Now go and get yourself a PS3 and enjoy it

 

[Torres09]

I got the Sony BDP-S350 recently, also have a PS3, however the 350 edges it on PQ, also you can pick one up for less than £180 not sure what the PS3 costs in the UK

Suppose it depends, if you want the mulitmedia features-you've answered your own question......the PS3 is still a great BluRay 'player'

 

[Anonymous]

I have a PS3 and a BD55. The picture on the PS3 is pretty good but in terms of sound the BD55 blows it away. Much more scale, depth and drama.

 

[Anonymous]

Two things, if you feed the PS3 and the rest of your system with a clean mains supply you get an outstanding Blue-ray picture.

(Ducks behind wall) If you bitstream to the Amp and let that process the sound whilst it is in THX DD and not one of the full HD soundtracks it sounds so much fuller and better IMHO.

With Mains conditioning issues addressed there is little in it in performance between the good old PS3 and stand alone players.

 

[Messiah]

I would also have to say that the PS3 is a very good Blu-Ray player.

I think you should also bear in mind that if you did a side-by-side comparison I'm sure a dedicated player would be better. (Not greatly, but better). But just watching a Blu-Ray on the PS3 in the comfort of your living room I feel it would be very difficult not to be impressed!

For example, at the recent Bristol Show when I watched the What HiFi demo on the 103 inch TV using a very expensive Denon player did I think that it produced a much better picture than my PS3?? Not really.

As for the sound, I have also found the PS3 to be very good. Playing games in Dolby Digital is certainly something to be experienced!!

 

[aliEnRIK]

trevor79:Two things, if you feed the PS3 and the rest of your system with a clean mains supply you get an outstanding Blue-ray picture.

(Ducks behind wall) If you bitstream to the Amp and let that process the sound whilst it is in THX DD and not one of the full HD soundtracks it sounds so much fuller and better IMHO.

With Mains conditioning issues addressed there is little in it in performance between the good old PS3 and stand alone players.

Id have to agree with you there Trevor ~ at least with the mains conditioning part as I dont have a hidef amp anyways

Ive recently been watching Band Of Brothers through my PS3 and it looks and sounds incredible (again, fed through a proper mains conditioner ~ an Isotek Sigmas in my case)

 

[jase fox]

trevor79:Two things, if you feed the PS3 and the rest of your system with a clean mains supply you get an outstanding Blue-ray picture.

I dont know Trevor, you & your mains supplies?

In the movie Forrest Gump, the bit were the coloured fella (bubba i think his name is)is always going on about "shrimps" thisll be Trevor soon saying "what these forums need is good MAINS?? " ha.

 

[Anonymous]

As the actress said to the Bishop, don't knock it till you'ved tried it!

 

[jase fox]

trevor79:As the actress said to the Bishop, don't knock it till you'ved tried it! Im certainly not knocking it Trevor as im a believer in mains supplies, im just not as obsessed as you ha I just havnt heard you say much about your actual equipment or the quality of components & so on.

At least one things for sure, we certainly know who to ask regarding the mains?

Keep up the good work !