shopping for player, a few specific ?'s

[caheaton]

Hello, I'm still searching for my blu ray player and have a few questions for the group. First, I'm leaning towards the Sony 550 or the Panasonic 55, but I also find the Samsung 2500 intriguing due to the HQV chipset. For background information, my equipment is as follows:

--Samsung 720p DLP television (HLS5086W)
--Yamaha HTR-5730 receiver (an older DD & DTS receiver, but it does offer analog inputs and was (is?) considered a pretty decent inexpensive receiver)
--Smallish Yamaha speakers that give pretty good sound, but not optimally located in the viewing room due to size and furniture layout contstraints (rear surround speakers are located directly behind and above the sofa, center channel above TV, front left and right about 4 feet from center speaker).

I would like to hook my equipment up using the analog inputs into my receiver and HDMI into my television. However, in the short term I may connect the player to the receiver using the legacy connectors (coaxial preferred but toslink okay...I would need to get a converter for the optical to electrical or disconnect a piece of equipment already connected). I would also likely use the component video cables for the short term. Later I would like to tear the system apart and hook it all up optimally, but might wait until I get a new receiver (likely a couple years in the future).

So, here are my questions.
First, is the HQV processor superior to the other options out there at downscalling 1080p blu rays to 720p, or are the other players listed above up to the task? (I understand that it's superior at uprezzing.)

Second, will I notice a significant difference in picture quality between analog and digital video connections given that the signal has already been downrezzed to 720p?

Next, given my speaker arrangement, would I notice much improvement using lossless audio versus DD or DTS? Perhaps I would be better served to look for a player without the analog outputs?

Thanks for all your help guys....
(I'm probably overanalyzing this, but that's what I do.
Craig

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by caheaton

Hello, I'm still searching for my blu ray player and have a few questions for the group. First, I'm leaning towards the Sony 550 or the Panasonic 55, but I also find the Samsung 2500 intriguing due to the HQV chipset. For background information, my equipment is as follows:

--Samsung 720p DLP television (HLS5086W)
--Yamaha HTR-5730 receiver (an older DD & DTS receiver, but it does offer analog inputs and was (is?) considered a pretty decent inexpensive receiver)
--Smallish Yamaha speakers that give pretty good sound, but not optimally located in the viewing room due to size and furniture layout contstraints (rear surround speakers are located directly behind and above the sofa, center channel above TV, front left and right about 4 feet from center speaker).

I would like to hook my equipment up using the analog inputs into my receiver and HDMI into my television. However, in the short term I may connect the player to the receiver using the legacy connectors (coaxial preferred but toslink okay...I would need to get a converter for the optical to electrical or disconnect a piece of equipment already connected). I would also likely use the component video cables for the short term. Later I would like to tear the system apart and hook it all up optimally, but might wait until I get a new receiver (likely a couple years in the future).

So, here are my questions.
First, is the HQV processor superior to the other options out there at downscalling 1080p blu rays to 720p, or are the other players listed above up to the task? (I understand that it's superior at uprezzing.)

Second, will I notice a significant difference in picture quality between analog and digital video connections given that the signal has already been downrezzed to 720p?

Next, given my speaker arrangement, would I notice much improvement using lossless audio versus DD or DTS? Perhaps I would be better served to look for a player without the analog outputs?

Thanks for all your help guys....
(I'm probably overanalyzing this, but that's what I do.
Craig

A Panasonic BD55 will provide fully decoded hi-rez audio (TrueHD and DTM-MA) through its analog outputs. The BD55 is BD-Live capable (profile 2.0) if that matters to you. You will need to connect it to the internet via its ethernet port in order to take advantage of BD Live and automatic firmware updates.

I'll be honest, with your current audio set-up, I don't think you'll be able to appreciate the hi-rez audio codecs relative to plain ole DD and DTS. But having the BD55 will enable you to upgrade your AVR and speakers in the future and have the best audio possible in the format.

An alternate route is the just buy the cheapest profile 1.1 player you can find and hook it up via coaxial or optical for basic DD or DTS sound. There are now players appearing under $150 and that will at least get you into Blu-ray.

[ADRiiAN`]

With the Sony S550 and Panny BD55, you will get TrueHD and DTS-HDMA using the multichannel analog.

A very worthy upgrade to your setup, don't settle for the Sony S350 or the Panny BD35.