Recommend me a blu-ray player please! - Home Entertainment Technology

Keefy-boy · 17-01-2008, 11:08

I was going to but the Samsung hybrid, now going to buy just a blu-ray player.

I want one that is multi-region (either out of the box or software hackable) for ordinary DVDs.

Can anyone recommend me one please?

simon69c · 17-01-2008, 15:31

Not sure that any are multi-region hackable for DVD I'm afraid. To be honest at the moment the PS3 is very difficult to beat as a Blu-ray player. It is still (I believe) the only Profile 1.1 player available in the UK (and it will likely be upgradeable to Profile 2.0 in the future) - and it is also far faster than any standalone player available (in terms of starting up and getting a film playing - many of the current standalones are notoriously slow). Then of course you are also getting a network media player, music jukebox, and games console as well.

Don't let the fact that it is a games console put you off - it is actually a very accomplished Blu-ray player in its own right, and the only real downsides to it are that it is a bit limited when it comes to the High Definition sound formats (i.e. Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD HRA, DTS MA). For starters it can only pass these to an amp via HDMI (i.e. no 5.1 analogue out for if your current AV amp doesn't have HDMI), and also it can't actually pass Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD HRA out as the raw bitstream (i.e. what is encoded on discs with those formats) - instead it decodes them itself and then passes them out as "5.1 Linear PCM" (which is what many Blu-ray discs have anyway), so your AV amp has to be able to accept multi-channel PCM via HDMI if you want to enjoy High Def sound from a PS3. Now that isn't actually all that bad in itself - all the PS3 is doing essentially is "unzipping" the soundtracks before sending them to the amp, though some people with the latest AV amps (which can decode Dolby TrueHD etc.) prefer their amp to take care of that sort of thing. Oh and currently the PS3 can't decode DTS MA either - so with those discs it will only play the core DTS (though it is hoped an update will allow it to decode DTS MA in the future).

If your surround system isn't Dolby TrueHD / DTS MA / multichannel PCM capable, or doesn't have 5.1 analogue inputs, then this downside to the PS3's Blu-ray abilities probably won't even make any difference to you - you can still enjoy traditional Dolby Digital and DTS via the optical out of the PS3.

At the moment if you don't think the PS3 is suitable for you I would be inclined to wait for some newer standalones to be released.

Hope that helps and wasn't too technobabbly!

Keefy-boy · 18-01-2008, 09:21

Thanks very much for the detailed response Simon.

PS3 is not really what i'm looking for, it doesn't appear from what you've said to be multi region for old dvds? also, apart from other factors i need a standard player sized unit to fit in a custom-built slot.

I've found one player that appears to fulfil my requirements:

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=65287

it's region-free out of the box for standard dvds but i've never heard of the make (Oppo), I'd prefer a better known brand! i can't believe this is so difficult to find!

bobcar · 18-01-2008, 09:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keefy-boy

Thnaks very much for the detailed response Simon.

PS3 is not really what i'm looking for, it doesn't appear from what you've said to be multi region for old dvds? also, apart from other factors i need a standard player sized unit to fit in a custom-built slot.

I've found one player that appears to fulfil my requirements:

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=65287

it's region-free out of the box for standard dvds but i've never heard of the make (Oppo), I'd prefer a better known brand! i can't believe this is so difficult to find!

Your post was about BluRay but that box is a standard DVD player?

Keefy-boy · 18-01-2008, 09:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobcar

Your post was about BluRay but that box is a standard DVD player?

You're right! I didn't read it properly.

simon69c · 18-01-2008, 10:03

That Oppo isn't a Blu-ray player though - it only plays regular DVDs. It is however one of the best upscalers on the market so will help make your DVDs look as good as possible on a large screen HDTV. Don't worry that you've never heard of them - it's an excellent piece of kit!

As I mentioned before, I don't think that there are currently any Blu-ray capable players that will play multi-region DVDs - you may have to just keep hold of your existing multi-region DVD player for the time being.

I think the only standalone I would consider at the moment is either the profile 1.1 Panasonic BD-30 (if and when it is released in Europe), or the not yet released BD-50 (which is profile 2.0). Not sure if and when either of these will be available over here though.

Keefy-boy · 18-01-2008, 10:21

It would appear that the Samsung BDP-1000 blu-ray player is multi-region hackable:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-BD-P...&s=electronics

Reading the user reviews though it seems like it can cause problems if you make it multi-region so i don't think this will be a sensible option!

Fatwaz · 18-01-2008, 10:52

the ps3 is the best option surely as you can update the profile

dennisspooner · 18-01-2008, 21:32

Over the last 2 weeks I've owned (for a few days only) a Toshiba HD DVD player and a Sony Bluray player.

The Tosh went back a few days after the Warner announcement and the Sony went back because it was crap. (and faulty)

Today I got the PS3.

The Tosh remains the best I've seen for dvd upscaling but as the Bluray player was only £20 cheaper than the PS3 its hard to recommend anything other than the PS3.

Having played about with the console today (and I'm not a gamer and currently have no games so not even looked at that side yet)) the sheer weight of its features makes it hard to understand why a standalone isnt under £100.

With wireless internet access for surfing the net and getting software upgrades,a 40Gb HDD that can store cd's ,videos photos etc and ,lots more I've yet to explore its one hell of a beast - and it plays Bluray too.

The only thing is the instruction book which is worse than useless- as is the separate Bluray remote that will be invisible in a darkened room so is of little use for what it was made for.

17-01-2008, 11:08	#1
Keefy-boy Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brighton, UK Services: SKY HD Posts: 3,353	Recommend me a blu-ray player please! I was going to but the Samsung hybrid, now going to buy just a blu-ray player. I want one that is multi-region (either out of the box or software hackable) for ordinary DVDs. Can anyone recommend me one please?

17-01-2008, 15:31	#2
simon69c Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Southampton Services: skydsl max, sky hd Posts: 790	Not sure that any are multi-region hackable for DVD I'm afraid. To be honest at the moment the PS3 is very difficult to beat as a Blu-ray player. It is still (I believe) the only Profile 1.1 player available in the UK (and it will likely be upgradeable to Profile 2.0 in the future) - and it is also far faster than any standalone player available (in terms of starting up and getting a film playing - many of the current standalones are notoriously slow). Then of course you are also getting a network media player, music jukebox, and games console as well. Don't let the fact that it is a games console put you off - it is actually a very accomplished Blu-ray player in its own right, and the only real downsides to it are that it is a bit limited when it comes to the High Definition sound formats (i.e. Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD HRA, DTS MA). For starters it can only pass these to an amp via HDMI (i.e. no 5.1 analogue out for if your current AV amp doesn't have HDMI), and also it can't actually pass Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD HRA out as the raw bitstream (i.e. what is encoded on discs with those formats) - instead it decodes them itself and then passes them out as "5.1 Linear PCM" (which is what many Blu-ray discs have anyway), so your AV amp has to be able to accept multi-channel PCM via HDMI if you want to enjoy High Def sound from a PS3. Now that isn't actually all that bad in itself - all the PS3 is doing essentially is "unzipping" the soundtracks before sending them to the amp, though some people with the latest AV amps (which can decode Dolby TrueHD etc.) prefer their amp to take care of that sort of thing. Oh and currently the PS3 can't decode DTS MA either - so with those discs it will only play the core DTS (though it is hoped an update will allow it to decode DTS MA in the future). If your surround system isn't Dolby TrueHD / DTS MA / multichannel PCM capable, or doesn't have 5.1 analogue inputs, then this downside to the PS3's Blu-ray abilities probably won't even make any difference to you - you can still enjoy traditional Dolby Digital and DTS via the optical out of the PS3. At the moment if you don't think the PS3 is suitable for you I would be inclined to wait for some newer standalones to be released. Hope that helps and wasn't too technobabbly!

18-01-2008, 09:21	#3
Keefy-boy Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brighton, UK Services: SKY HD Posts: 3,353	Thanks very much for the detailed response Simon. PS3 is not really what i'm looking for, it doesn't appear from what you've said to be multi region for old dvds? also, apart from other factors i need a standard player sized unit to fit in a custom-built slot. I've found one player that appears to fulfil my requirements: http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=65287 it's region-free out of the box for standard dvds but i've never heard of the make (Oppo), I'd prefer a better known brand! i can't believe this is so difficult to find!

18-01-2008, 10:03	#6
simon69c Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Southampton Services: skydsl max, sky hd Posts: 790	That Oppo isn't a Blu-ray player though - it only plays regular DVDs. It is however one of the best upscalers on the market so will help make your DVDs look as good as possible on a large screen HDTV. Don't worry that you've never heard of them - it's an excellent piece of kit! As I mentioned before, I don't think that there are currently any Blu-ray capable players that will play multi-region DVDs - you may have to just keep hold of your existing multi-region DVD player for the time being. I think the only standalone I would consider at the moment is either the profile 1.1 Panasonic BD-30 (if and when it is released in Europe), or the not yet released BD-50 (which is profile 2.0). Not sure if and when either of these will be available over here though.

18-01-2008, 10:21	#7
Keefy-boy Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brighton, UK Services: SKY HD Posts: 3,353	It would appear that the Samsung BDP-1000 blu-ray player is multi-region hackable: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-BD-P...&s=electronics Reading the user reviews though it seems like it can cause problems if you make it multi-region so i don't think this will be a sensible option!

18-01-2008, 10:52	#8
Fatwaz Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Essex Services: 20" Matsui CRT,betamax vcr,BBC Micro computer,BSB squarial ;PSN ID-Fatwazz Posts: 1,918	the ps3 is the best option surely as you can update the profile

18-01-2008, 21:32	#9
dennisspooner Banned User Join Date: Nov 2007 Services: SkyHD,FreeviewPVR,Virgin tv,Pioneer dvdr x2, Toshiba hddvd,PS3,Panasonic tv Posts: 2,153	Over the last 2 weeks I've owned (for a few days only) a Toshiba HD DVD player and a Sony Bluray player. The Tosh went back a few days after the Warner announcement and the Sony went back because it was crap. (and faulty) Today I got the PS3. The Tosh remains the best I've seen for dvd upscaling but as the Bluray player was only £20 cheaper than the PS3 its hard to recommend anything other than the PS3. Having played about with the console today (and I'm not a gamer and currently have no games so not even looked at that side yet)) the sheer weight of its features makes it hard to understand why a standalone isnt under £100. With wireless internet access for surfing the net and getting software upgrades,a 40Gb HDD that can store cd's ,videos photos etc and ,lots more I've yet to explore its one hell of a beast - and it plays Bluray too. The only thing is the instruction book which is worse than useless- as is the separate Bluray remote that will be invisible in a darkened room so is of little use for what it was made for.