Blue Ray Questions.

Hey alright i'm new to the whole blue ray topic and i wanted to ask some questions.

One: What's betterhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129037that ( a computer blue ray drive ) or a ps3 slim ( which has been said to be better then regular blue rays).

Two: Say i where to get a plasma/lcd tv screen that would be hanged up on the wall, how would i plug in for example the ps3, since the tv would have to stand,

For the first question...I can't tell you for sure but I would say the PS3. My understanding is that the PS3 is considered one of the better bluray players available without spending a ton of money. Plus if you buy a bluray drive you don't have a PS3. A bluray player and a PS3 is better than just a bluray player

I'm not sure I totally understand your second question...I'm assuming your concern is with the wires hanging down. If that is your question there's a few options. 1, just let the wires hang...it looks tacky but won't give you any problems.2 Drill a hole in the wall near your ps3, run the cable into the wall and then drill another hole near the TV where thecable can come thru.3 Just get a stand for the TV instead of mounting it on the wall and hook it up like usual.

i'll love to answer your questions for you.

first off, it's actually spelled blu-ray.

that aside, a blu-ray drive for the pc can be a bit tricky to get proper video quality out of. it's dependant on not only the video card that you use, but also the blu-ray playback software. then you have to keep in mind that the pc uses a different color spectrum than typical blu-ray players. computers use the RGB spectrum with an "expanded" black level of 0 IRE. most blu-ray, dvd, and tv shows are using what is called a "limited" IRE of 7.5 and use the CMYK color spectrum. basically, the black level of a pc and video game console is greater than that of a dvd player so the image will look darker. if you choose the wrong setting, the entire image you see will either be too dark or too light. since it's also on a pc, you'll have to keep in mind that you need to change the IRE and gamma level settings of ONLY the video, not for the rest of the pc. you'll also need to calibrate the display so that the color, contrast and brightness of the display doesn't make the computer image look messed up while simultaneously making sure that the video quality is also being displayed in the way that it was created and meant to be seen.

as for the ps3, the ps3 is considered one of the best blu-ray players on the market. it has very good video quality for blu-ray movies (not so much for dvd upconversion however) and can bitstream the audio to an external audio/video receiver for processing. the upcoming ps3 slim has the ability to bitstream HD audio tracks like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. to explain, bitstreaming means that the audio information, which is in the form of 1's and 0's, binary numbers, is sent out of the player as is. that means the audio has not been processed and would allow the AVR to process the audio. this usually leads to better results because the audio decoding chips in AVR's are higher quality than the processors found in most blu-ray and dvd players, including the ps3. HD audio bitstreaming can only be done using an HDMI cable simply because the HDMI cable is the only cable on the market (aside from professional cables found in studios and theaters) that has enough bandwidth to carry the information. bandwidth, you could think of as a highway. the larger the bandwidth/highway, the more information/cars can go through simultaneously without any slowdown or overcrowding.

now as for the TV, you could hookup the PC or ps3 to the tv using just one HDMI cable. your pc may require a DVI to HDMI adapter if your video card doesn't have an HDMI slot. here's a pic of a video card with an HDMI jack. it's the one on the top.

in my opinion, if you don't want to deal with all of the calibrations necessary for the pc, get a ps3. you'll need to do some calibration on the tv and the ps3 however, but not nearly as much as for the pc. also, a standalone blu-ray player is an option. may i suggest the Panasonic BD-60?

edit:

if you're going to hang the tv on the wall, you have 3 options for connecting the player.

1) use a flat hdmi cable and plug it into the side hdmi jack (if the tv has it, other wise look for an hdmi cable that has one connector at a 90 degree angle.)

2) use a wall mount that can swivel outwards or can hold the tv out further away from the wall.

3) you have to cut holes in the wall and run the wires inside the wall. this is the best option if you don't want to see wires hanging from the tv.

I would ge with the PS3 becasue of the great track record with blue-ray plus you get a game console. media player, web browser, ability to run linux, plays MP3 nad avi and Mp4.

The problem with having a PC Blu-Ray drive is that you have to hook up to your TV. So unless you like watcing movies on your computer or your computer is next to your TV, I would suggest getting a Stand-alone Blu-Ray player or a PS3.

General Rule:

Unless you're gonna get a Blu-Ray burner, don't get Blu-Ray for your computer; and also don't buy a Blu-ray player unless its a PS3...LOL

If you're happy gaming on PC and wanna connect your PC to your TV get the Burner; if not get the PS3.

I'd tell you to get the Burner, but thats cause I can game better on PC than PS3.

I'm happy gaming on the computer, and hope to gladly continue. If i were to get a ps3, i wouldn't play games on it. I don't really see any games that interest me other then the Madden Series. So the question now is, which blu-ray burner for the computer, and How do i hook up my PC to my TV. And can you play games or do something on your computer, while watching a movie on a tv, which is hooked up to your computer for the blu-ray?RedxSniper

2. Via HDMI out the back of any modern graphics cardor out of one of those new HTPC Xonar sound cards

3. Yes if you set it up as dual monitors though most rigs will struggle with this.

If you're serious about your movies then invest in a HTPC, it don't have to be anything special, if you've been building PCs or PC gaming for a while you probably have most of the parts sitting around anyway. Make it a dedicated media PC that's quiet, cool and low power consumption (if you use it as a PVR it's definitely an advantage). Then if things move more towards netflix and DD you've already gort a system set up that can manage all that without bringing your gaming rig to it's knees.