Is Blu-Ray playback on PS3 gimped?

N

NEODARK

Gawd
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Aug 10, 2004
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Thinking of picking up one of these strictly as a BD player, I already have a 360 and no games on PS3 really interest me thus far.

I love the idea of getting a PS3 bundled with BD playback, its a nice extra. (for future games like GT5, FinalFantasy). However, back in PS2 days DVD playback sucked. Can you guys give me some feedback on PS3 as a viable BD-player, how about HD media streaming from a share?

I'm a bit of an HT nut

Thanks
 
from my experience with 300 and casino royale i love the playback of bd and dvd on my ps3. When playing a dvd/bd you cannot hardly tell the system is on. when navigating i don't have any "lag" that i have felt with standalone dvd players so that is good.

I am setting up a media server for it right now so I will update more on how that goes later.
 
I love it as a media player. It's very fast and quiet. Just make sure you get the remote.

But I'm sure in a few years stand-alone players will be much better and I can pick one up then.

I purchased my PS3 to play games though. The fact that it plays HD movies is just a bonus. I feel it's still too early in the war to align myself with one side or the other....
 
If you read reviews you'll find that the PS3 is on par with the top of the line BR players. The fact that it upscales 480p DVDs to 1080p is a huge bonus. I got rid of my set top DVD player and only use the PS3 now.

Streaming media works great, unless you want HD content. H.264 isn't supported and transcoding it on the fly doesn't work well (I think the PS needs a larger read buffer). Xvid, mpg1, mp3, images, etc. all work just fine.

They update the firmware all the time, I'd expect h.264 to be added sooner or later.
 
The PS3's Blu-Ray capabilities and DVD playback capabilities are on par with any high end player you can find. And it is firmware updateable, easily i might add.

PS3 BD far from gimped.
 
^ on par if not one of the leaders. add the upscaling and its a no brainer. I hear they throw in a gaming system as well =P
 
Yeah, I don't own any BR disks, but I Netflix 'em like crazy. Everything works rather well.
The one thing I've noticed is that BR disks seem to be affected by scratches a lot more than normal DVD's. I've had two BR's that wouldn't play certain chapters with almost no visible scratches on them at all. Yet, I have some normal DVD's that'll play fine and look like they've been in a warzone. It might be the format, it might be the PS3, but it's a minor gripe.
As far as visual quality - the PS3's the only Blu-Ray player I've seen in good conditions (ie. my basement) and recent movies look stunning in 1080p. However, older movies seem to gain nothing from it...but that applies to their HDTV versions, too. I've seen old movies like Krull and even the 5th Element that look minimally better than the normal 480p version.
 
Domingo said:
Yeah, I don't own any BR disks, but I Netflix 'em like crazy. Everything works rather well.
The one thing I've noticed is that BR disks seem to be affected by scratches a lot more than normal DVD's. I've had two BR's that wouldn't play certain chapters with almost no visible scratches on them at all. Yet, I have some normal DVD's that'll play fine and look like they've been in a warzone. It might be the format, it might be the PS3, but it's a minor gripe.
As far as visual quality - the PS3's the only Blu-Ray player I've seen in good conditions (ie. my basement) and recent movies look stunning in 1080p. However, older movies seem to gain nothing from it...but that applies to their HDTV versions, too. I've seen old movies like Krull and even the 5th Element that look minimally better than the normal 480p version.
Click to expand...


I should add that the remastered rerelease of the 5th Element, blu-ray has been getting rave reviews on the video quality. Its on my list to grab.
But yeah, the original 5th element blu-ray was craptastic.
 
Old movies don't gain from it because the source material isn't HD, so they're just resampled for 720/1080p output.

I'm pretty sure SW Episode 1 was the first movie shot in full digital and would be the cutoff for movies in HD. If it wasn't made after 1999, there's no chance the source is in HD.
 
Domingo said:
I've seen old movies like Krull and even the 5th Element that look minimally better than the normal 480p version.
Click to expand...

lmao. Krull rocked! Did they seriously make a HD version of that movie?

I'd also like to add that I agree with Squishy. The upscaling of DVD's is amazing on PS3. It made me realize how shitty my old stand-alone DVD player was.
 
Thanks guys,

I know of reviews which say its good, but there is nothing like first hand consumer experience. I already have an HD-DVD (360), so I'm just picking the "other" format. I hate media wars, but anyway, thanks for the feedback. (I really feel like I'm buying a BD player, with a game system thrown in :p

That said, I was really hoping it would stream HD content because the good old xbox won't do HD due to its age, too bad because XBMC rocks.
 
Remastered Fifth Element FTW!! haha


Taking pictures of the TV is kinda hard though:(...stupid crappy camera.

But ya..I agree with all others. The PS3 is GREAT for media playback. They really need to add support for H.264 with an update though....like badly:) I have a ton of video in that format which I want to use.
 
squishy said:
Old movies don't gain from it because the source material isn't HD, so they're just resampled for 720/1080p output.

I'm pretty sure SW Episode 1 was the first movie shot in full digital and would be the cutoff for movies in HD. If it wasn't made after 1999, there's no chance the source is in HD.
Click to expand...

Actually old movies shot on film can be converted to HD somewhat easily because film has a very high "resolution" higher than HD. If you watch some of the old movies that Universal has been re releasing on HD-DVD you can see how good they can look.
 
We'll to put the quality to the test I purchased a Sony upconverting player that recieved alot of good reviews about 2 months after I purchased my PS3 before it recieved the firmware update to allow upconverting and needless to say after seeing the upconverting that the PS3 does it puts most standalone upconverting players to shame. And as a Blu-ray player the quality is up there with several high-end players.

Trust me, I'm also a HTheater nut and I'm extremly pickie and if your into HT alot you cant go wrong with the PS3 it has alot of funtionality and it's extremely quiet for what's inside it.
 
Sunkist said:
Actually old movies shot on film can be converted to HD somewhat easily because film has a very high "resolution" higher than HD. If you watch some of the old movies that Universal has been re releasing on HD-DVD you can see how good they can look.
Click to expand...

And yes 35MM Film has a higher resolution than 1080, I think I remember reading somewhere it was around 1400. So you could pull from the original film and get HD movies......old films would actually improve the same as any film if they put into HD Media

Here is the article I read: http://www.hometheaterblog.com/hometheater/2006/04/mailbag_hd_movi.html
It explains that even though a lot of movie theaters don't display HD resolution the Film itself is more than capable. Which should excite everyone to get old movies in HD:)
WOO!!

Cheers
 
4saken said:
I should add that the remastered rerelease of the 5th Element, blu-ray has been getting rave reviews on the video quality. Its on my list to grab.
But yeah, the original 5th element blu-ray was craptastic.
Click to expand...
yeah its a tier4. why the fuck they'd ever do that is a stupid move especially since it was a so called first gen bd. good to see a remix out
 
Wait a second!!

New for 1.82: Support for playback of AVC High Profile (H.264/MPEG-4) format video has been added. *
* High image quality encoding method used by Blu-ray Discs and other media
Click to expand...
Seems H.264 has been supported since 1.82 update. Hmmm, why are mine showing up as unsupported formats then??? Grrrrr...
Does anyone know if you need to set specific settings for the playback of H.264? I guess I will just upload one of the downloaded HD videos and see those settings:( Have to wait until I get home.
 
from everything i've read the PS3 is as good or better than other DVD upscalers and BD players...
 
so basically to sum it up: the PS3 is a great BD player :) Pretty much one of the best, if not the best, considering price.
 
The only downside I see right now is that my harmony remote wont work, arg...

Thanks for all your opinions.
 
I have a Harmony as well. I'd say there's a market for a USB IR receiver that would work for the PS3.
 
Domingo said:
The one thing I've noticed is that BR disks seem to be affected by scratches a lot more than normal DVD's. I've had two BR's that wouldn't play certain chapters with almost no visible scratches on them at all. Yet, I have some normal DVD's that'll play fine and look like they've been in a warzone.
Click to expand...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o5jEbZt6AIQ
Stands up to steel wool :D , but gets owned by a knife.

There was a thing about BR discs before rotting away.. it looks like theres bubbles within the disc itself.. that might be your problem.
 
CopyCat said:
Remastered Fifth Element FTW!! haha


Taking pictures of the TV is kinda hard though:(...stupid crappy camera.

But ya..I agree with all others. The PS3 is GREAT for media playback. They really need to add support for H.264 with an update though....like badly:) I have a ton of video in that format which I want to use.
Click to expand...

Mila's butt... Damn I want a ps3
 
make sure your discs are free of finger smudges, which can be worse than scratches as far as reading the disc. There have been a few times where I had one of my really really really old scratched up cd's that would play just fine until I got my greasy fingers on them. A microfiber cloth fixed that.
 
squishy said:
Old movies don't gain from it because the source material isn't HD, so they're just resampled for 720/1080p output.

I'm pretty sure SW Episode 1 was the first movie shot in full digital and would be the cutoff for movies in HD. If it wasn't made after 1999, there's no chance the source is in HD.
Click to expand...

Wow, you have ABSOLUTELY no idea what you're rambling on about. Film has a higher resolution than HD. Older movies in HD are NOT upconverts. They are sourced from the original film into the current HD spec.
 
Ethug said:
Wow, you have ABSOLUTELY no idea what you're rambling on about. Film has a higher resolution than HD. Older movies in HD are NOT upconverts. They are sourced from the original film into the current HD spec.
Click to expand...

Indeed you're correct, but that has been pointed out several times in this thread, weeks ago, but in a much more elegant fashion.

Way to pay attention.
 
Don't have a PS3, but I can chime in on high def versions of older movies. They look their absolute best when done properly from my experiences with HD-DVD, and by all accounts the image quality of the two is basically identical.

Goodfellas in HD is awesome. My girl picked up Blazing Saddles and it looks great too believe it or not. I'm sure the same is true of BD.
 
just got a ps3 last thursday w/ a 1080p samsung lcd.. watched 300 and I know 300 is grainy because the way it was filmed.. but still, my god did it look good! I'm only dissapointed that transformers won't be coming to bluray and now i'm forced into getting an HD-dvd player
 
squishy said:
Indeed you're correct, but that has been pointed out several times in this thread, weeks ago, but in a much more elegant fashion.

Way to pay attention.
Click to expand...

I read the post, I hit reply. I need not read the rest of the entire thread to reply, its the way the forum works, so I really don't give a flip. As for an "elegant fashion", why be nice to someone who is entirely clueless and spouting that cluelessness to the rest of the world as fact?
 
Ethug said:
I read the post, I hit reply. I need not read the rest of the entire thread to reply, its the way the forum works, so I really don't give a flip. As for an "elegant fashion", why be nice to someone who is entirely clueless and spouting that cluelessness to the rest of the world as fact?
Click to expand...

edit: nvm, no point in arguing with the janitor.
 
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