My Panasonic BD-30 and PS3

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Ok - let me start by saying that I wasn't trying to attempt any comparison here. This was more an accident than anything. That said, I picked up a Panasonic BD30 a few months back as I was after bitstreaming the HD Codecs (I was glad I did for that reason - very noticeable difference in AQ). The PS3 went upstairs in the game room and to also serve as a 2nd blu-ray player. After picking up Motorstom II the other day and trying to play 4 player split-screen on a 42", I decided to move the PS3 back downstairs for a bit on the 61" which served much better for split-screen. Anyway, I popped in Iron Man on the PS3 last night, and to my surprise I was wondering why the picture looked a little soft/hazy. Even the wife noticed on her own. So I threw it in the BD30 and instantly the difference was noticeable. I checked all the PS3 settings (they were optimal) and went so far as to swap cables/inputs, and the BD-30 was still a bit sharper, and blacks were noticeably deeper. The difference was most notable in the cave sequence. I tried a few other movies (Die Hard 4, Pirates 1), and the results were the same. Going from the PS3 to the BD30 I remember thinking the BD30 looked a little better, but after living with the BD30 a few months and going back to the PS3 the difference was instantly noticeable.

So anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone trying to decide between a PS3 and stand alone. I still love my PS3 as an overall unit, but after seeing the difference the BD30 is surely the unit I'll use to demo Blu-ray for people. If I had to do it again, I'd still probably go with a PS3 first for games and streaming, then get a standalone later.