Has the PS3 been surpassed by standalone Blu-ray players yet?

I'm curious because I just ordered the Samsung 46A950 LED tv and wish to have the absolute BEST picture quality available. I already have a PS3, but I want to make sure I do this tv justice. I have up to $500 I'm willing to shell out on a standalone if it's gonna give me a noticeable gain in PQ.

Yes I know this may sound wasteful, but I also shelled out a bunch of dough for the LED display and I love my movies.

Opinions?

As the saying goes; You buy a PS3, comes with blu-ray which is the best deal there is. Standalone can be quite expensive, depending on the model and release date. Basically, if you want to watch Blu-ray movies and play games, your best choice will be PS3.

There aren't any graph comparison on the web that asserts how many PS3 and a huge range of different standalone blu ray players that are sold yearly etc. I find that making an assumption; guessing which product will outsell the other is never correct.

The PS3 is still the best blu ray player in the market imo.

I don't know ..

Research it yourself instead of listening to misinformed, or straight up fanboys on gaming sites ..

I'm curious because I just ordered the Samsung 46A950 LED tv and wish to have the absolute BEST picture quality available. I already have a PS3, but I want to make sure I do this tv justice. I have up to $500 I'm willing to shell out on a standalone if it's gonna give me a noticeable gain in PQ.

Yes I know this may sound wasteful, but I also shelled out a bunch of dough for the LED display and I love my movies.

Opinions?

oldskooler79

1st of all the new Samsung LED tv's look gorgeous. i read that they can handle 3,000,000 to 1 (contrast), and 240hz motion enhancement. so great pick on the new tv, and w/ that said i feel you on wanting the best for your new tv. so about the PS3 compared to stand alone players i believe the only difference that you will find is weight. dvd's suffer from vibration so the heavier the player the less vibration you get. there are a few blu-ray stand alone players that weigh in at about 14 to 15 lbs, but those tend to cost $800 or more. a PS3 i believe weighs in at about 12 1/2 lbs. you do the math. so in all honesty i don't see any good reason to buy a stand alone player. the PS3 has free software updates and with HDMI your PS3 can support up to 1080P/24P. that's the best you can have right now. save your $$$ and maybe purchase a nice surround sound system if you don't already own one.

[QUOTE="oldskooler79"]

I'm curious because I just ordered the Samsung 46A950 LED tv and wish to have the absolute BEST picture quality available. I already have a PS3, but I want to make sure I do this tv justice. I have up to $500 I'm willing to shell out on a standalone if it's gonna give me a noticeable gain in PQ.

Yes I know this may sound wasteful, but I also shelled out a bunch of dough for the LED display and I love my movies.

Opinions?

zmbi_gmr

1st of all the new Samsung LED tv's look gorgeous. i read that they can handle 3,000,000 to 1 (contrast), and 240hz motion enhancement. so great pick on the new tv, and w/ that said i feel you on wanting the best for your new tv. so about the PS3 compared to stand alone players i believe the only difference that you will find is weight. dvd's suffer from vibration so the heavier the player the less vibration you get. there are a few blu-ray stand alone players that weigh in at about 14 to 15 lbs, but those tend to cost $800 or more. a PS3 i believe weighs in at about 12 1/2 lbs. you do the math. so in all honesty i don't see any good reason to buy a stand alone player. the PS3 has free software updates and with HDMI your PS3 can support up to 1080P/24P. that's the best you can have right now. save your $$$ and maybe purchase a nice surround sound system if you don't already own one.

QFT. Defintely get a surround sound system instead of getting another Blu-Ray player.

I don't think PS3's support 7.1 audio and stand alone players do. I tried and it only can get to 5.1. Some say PS3s can but I doubt it unless its enabled on newer PS3s cause my 80 gig motorstorm PS3 sure doesn't get 7.1.

I don't think PS3's support 7.1 audio and stand alone players do. I tried and it only can get to 5.1. Some say PS3s can but I doubt it unless its enabled on newer PS3s cause my 80 gig motorstorm PS3 sure doesn't get 7.1.

Zidaneski

[QUOTE="Zidaneski"]

I don't think PS3's support 7.1 audio and stand alone players do. I tried and it only can get to 5.1. Some say PS3s can but I doubt it unless its enabled on newer PS3s cause my 80 gig motorstorm PS3 sure doesn't get 7.1.

Wild_Card

i thought the ps3 supported 7.1, but wasn't sure since i ownly have 5.1. good to know for future references.

Really your PS3 is enough to do it justice. If you have a perfectly functioning PS3 then there is no reason to buy ANOTHER blu ray player. Sure standalone blu ray players may have some minscule advantages, but nothing compared to the extra money youll be spending for it. Really unless you are just swimming in cash everytime you open up your wallet stick with your PS3.

If you want an the best I would recomend the SONY BDPS5000ES.

Superb picture and audio quality.

Without going into too much detail the decoders and DAC in here are superior.

The build quality and design are also top notch

However i would only look into this if your setting up a home theather room.

If its goign to sit in a lounge room and your main focus is gaming you cant go past the PS3,

it is still better then the majority of players on the market.

Moreover to get something better you looking at about 2-4 times the price.

I'm curious because I just ordered the Samsung 46A950 LED tv and wish to have the absolute BEST picture quality available. I already have a PS3, but I want to make sure I do this tv justice. I have up to $500 I'm willing to shell out on a standalone if it's gonna give me a noticeable gain in PQ.

Yes I know this may sound wasteful, but I also shelled out a bunch of dough for the LED display and I love my movies.

Opinions?

oldskooler79

The PS3 does not send HD audio directly to the receiver to be decoded. The PS3 decodes HD audio and then sends it to the receiver. Most people agree that a proper receiver's decoders do a better job of decoding the HD source than the PS3. The other downside is the fan can be loud and distracting compared to a standalone player. Picture quality is the same, though.

I'm on a Samsung 46A850 and my PS3 with 120hz set to high looks absolutely amazing watching Blu-Ray (it even has that uncanny super clear documentary film grain type look to it). I mean you might wanna go ask the technical guys at Crutchfield or something, but from most reports still the PS3 for the price is still superior to most Blu-Ray players on the market, or even the ones approaching a grand.

You already made a mistake thinking that the LED TV is better than a Pioneer Kuro. Duckman5

I see you've been following my posts at AVS. No, I didn't make the mistake. I have the cash on hand now to buy 10 Elites if I wanted. The fact is, I viewed both the 55" A950 and the new 60" Elite in a pitch black room. BOTH OF THESE SETS WERE...JUST THAT PITCH BLACK. Both were beyond your typical inky blacks founds on high end lcd/plasmas.

I've owned 2 plasmas now (4 year old 50" Elite as a gift to parents and 42" 4271hd) and trust me I was set to pick the Pioneer up. Colors same, contrast same, geometry same, no clouding or flashlights on A950, little better whites on A950, and overall pop goes to A950.

Metal Gear Solid 4 IMO is completely overrated in the graphics department. Yeah, I know it was technical award but on my Sony 34XBR960 (reference set still, today) that game looks average/above average at best. Hell of a game, but sometimes has textures that make me wanna puke.Okay, so I gave this game a spin myself after okaying it at Magnolia (all my equipment since I'm serious about tvs) and could tell right off the bat that the characters were literally jumping off the screen. Insanely gorgeous colors. Iron Man is a good movie to bring the colors out on this set. Tried both of these on the Elite before making final judgement, and nope sorry come again. Colors of Iron Man great, but not as great on every mode, setting, D-Nice settings, etc. Same for MGS4.

I'll be fair though and call this one a tie, for Pioneer owners sake. If I had the Elite in my room now, I'd be tickled pink regardless. I may give it an edge for reaching that all important accurate 6500k scale. It's all what you want. In my case it was close enough to the Elite in accuracy with a bonus...IT FELT ALIVE!

If there were a 10k display today that I thought would outperform the Elite and A950, it would be mine. It's hard coming from a professionally calibrated 34XBR960 when all else takes a backseat lol.

The PS3 does not send HD audio directly to the receiver to be decoded. The PS3 decodes HD audio and then sends it to the receiver. Most people agree that a proper receiver's decoders do a better job of decoding the HD source than the PS3. The other downside is the fan can be loud and distracting compared to a standalone player. Picture quality is the same, though.

coasterdude33

who are these most people?

i want to punch them in the face...

lol jkz

but do you have a link to an article that says this?

just curious as to why, not saying you are wrong?

Actually, now that someone has mentioned it. PS3 features blu-ray support but does not have all the maximum or certain capabilities of a standalone blu-ray. ie, if someone is to purchase Body of Lies blu ray and play it on the PS3, some of the controls won't work or simply wont support; pause function, optimize etc etc.Scieran

Right now for the price and for what you get it is the best. The fact that it gets updates doesn't hurt its case either.plv_2002

There is a great deal of debate on whether the sound you get from the PS3 decoding the new codecs (Dolby True and DTS MA) to PCM is any different from bitstreaming them so that the receiver can decode them (which the PS3 cannot do, send the new lossless codecs in bitstream format). I had the chance to use a new Panny BD35 and did some testing. I took my PS3 and it's set to decode to PCM and send the signal via HDMI to my Denon 3808. Sounded fantastic (used discs in Dolby True HD and DTS MA). Then, I put the same discs in the Panasonic bd-35 and set it to bitstreaming and had my receiver decode the sound. I found that with all 7 discs I tried, the bitstreaming on the Panasonic sounded better (more full, rich, ect). The PS3 decodes (at least DTS hd master audio) by software, but when sending the signals to a capable receiver, the receivers actually have proper decoders in them. I am not saying there is anything wrong with the PS3's decoding of the new lossless codecs, but given a choice, I would use bitstreaming if you have a DTS MA/Dolby True capable receiver. I have found many articles on the net about this, some say there is no difference, some say there is, but it all comes down to what YOU hear in the end. I have found no articles that actually do audio testing and compare the two types of decoding. That said, I gave the Panasonic back to my friend (it was his) and continue to use my PS3 for blu-rays. But I am saving up for a new generation blu-ray player so I can bitstream the formats, because they sounded better to me that way.

[QUOTE="oldskooler79"]

Duckman5

those puppies are dead sexy. i work in the PC section at my work. over in Hifi we have the LED's, and the kuro's not far from each other. watching some movies on the kuro, ur practically THERE with the characters in the movie.

thanks coaster dude!