The absolute best setup??

[ObiTrentKenobi]

Let's say your parents wanted a new HDTV, Bluray Player and Audio receiver; What specs for each device would you say is THE BEST to look for when purchasing. And let's say for the tv, they already decided on a 42" LCD.

Don't worry about BRANDS, just specs. What are the best for the devices?

Example; for the hdtv you want;
1. 1080p resolution (at least 1920x1080)
2. 24p capable
-what specs will get you the best picture possible right now?

for the bluray player you want;
1. 24p capable
2. so and so specs to get you the best video and audio

for the receiver you want;
1. hdmi in/out
2. so and so audio encoding capable
3. so and so audio specs to get you the best audio



have fun with this!

[Yog-Sothoth]

SONY Bravia KDL-46XBR6 (they have 40 and 46", no 42")

SONY BDP-S550

Onkyo TX-SR706

Not the "absolute best," but the devices above should work nicely.

[brett_day]

[QUOTE=ObiTrentKenobi;1485227]Let's say your parents wanted a new HDTV, Bluray Player and Audio receiver; What specs for each device would you say is THE BEST to look for when purchasing. And let's say for the tv, they already decided on a 42" LCD.

Don't worry about BRANDS, just specs. What are the best for the devices?

Example; for the hdtv you want;
1. 1080p resolution (at least 1920x1080)
2. 24p capable
-what specs will get you the best picture possible right now?

Really picking out a tv is all about how your eyes perceive the picture to be. but look at the following for sure :

contrast ratios (determine the blackest blacks from the whitest whites) the higher the number the better, and do not worry about dynamic contrast ratios, just the native contrast ratios, usually like 20000:1 / 30000:1 etc

If you are looking at LCD you will need to decide if you want 120hz or not. If i were to buy an LCD it would have to have 120hz

what and how many connections does the tv have? i would never buy a tv that had less than two HDMI ports, if you want to hook a computer up to the tv make sure it has a vga port

for the bluray player you want;
1. 24p capable
2. so and so specs to get you the best video and audio

24p is native to blu ray, so the only thing you would need to make sure is if the tv accepts it or not, if not then no biggie, i have never seena huge difference between a set displaying 24p and one that's not, mainly because most sets today handle 3:2 pull down very well. all blu ray players are 1080p as well and all will have HDMI outputs on them

In regards to audio, depends on the receiver you have or will get. I would say if you can get one that can decode the loss less codecs then get it, if not then you will have to have a receiver that can accept and decode the multi channel PCM that the player sends out.

You will want to find out if you will be interested in BD live. Not all players are capable of letting viewers access BDLive, also you will need to think about how firmware updates will be handled. Does the player have an ethernet port for connection to the net, or will it require firmware to be administered via disc or thumb drive

for the receiver you want;
1. hdmi in/out
2. so and so audio encoding capable
3. so and so audio specs to get you the best audio

you want to make sure that the receiver is not just HDMI pass through. If it is just Passthrough , it will just allow the picture through and not the audio. You want one that will accept audio over HDMI. If a receiver says it is capable of receiving multi channel PCM then you are good to go. Onkyo's are a great way to go, especially the 606 as an entry level receiver. it can decode the loss less codecs and will upconvert any analog source plugged into it up to 1080i which is pretty awesome. it sounds great to. Of course a lot depnds on the speakers the receiver will be powering too. You won;t want one that is underpowered for your speakers and you will not want one that is over powered for what you need. if it accepts and can decode DTS-HD and Dolby True HD then you will be getting the best possible audio

[Yog-Sothoth]

Onkyo's are a great way to go, especially the 606 as an entry level receiver. it can decode the loss less codecs and will upconvert any analog source plugged into it up to 1080i which is pretty awesome.

The 606 has gotten good reviews. Besides pre-amp outs, an advantage of the 70x receivers over the 60x ones is they can add PLIIx (or other) decoding to PCM 5.1 soundtracks to fill out 6.1/7.1 systems. You didn't specify a speaker setup, so I'm not sure if that feature is of any benefit to your parents.

[dobyblue]

1. Samsung LED-backlit
2. Panasonic DMP-BD35
3. Pioneer VSX-1018TX

[brett_day]

guys look at the question.

he is not asking for brands and model numbers, but he asking for what he needs to look out for in regards to specs for TV's, Blu ray players and receivers.

[ObiTrentKenobi]

thanks brett for the suggestions

[Yog-Sothoth]

Let's try this again:

LCD TV: 1080p/24 capability; 120 Hz refresh rate (240 and 480 Hz sets forthcoming); people who say 120(+) Hz sets make film look like video are viewing sets with the "motion enhancer" features enabled (leave those off).

BD player: BD Profile 2.0 (can handle the latest discs properly); as far as other features, you'll need to read reviews for things such as disc loading times, etc.

Receiver: at least HDMI 1.3a; Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA decoding; THX certification doesn't hurt

[drago3451]

As far as a 42 inch TV goes, unless you are sitting less than 5 feet away from the set you will not see a difference between 720p and 1080p so they may be able to save money there.

Blu-ray player will depend on the needs. Load times, Audio Decoding, Ethernet/Network connections. ease of use. And the receiver will depend on the Blu-ray player as well. If the player decoded all audio you can save some money on the receiver. If the player only bitstreams all the audio you will need to spend more on a receiver.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by ObiTrentKenobi

Let's say your parents wanted a new HDTV, Bluray Player and Audio receiver; What specs for each device would you say is THE BEST to look for when purchasing. And let's say for the tv, they already decided on a 42" LCD.

Don't worry about BRANDS, just specs. What are the best for the devices?

Example; for the hdtv you want;
1. 1080p resolution (at least 1920x1080)
2. 24p capable
-what specs will get you the best picture possible right now?

for the bluray player you want;
1. 24p capable
2. so and so specs to get you the best video and audio

for the receiver you want;
1. hdmi in/out
2. so and so audio encoding capable
3. so and so audio specs to get you the best audio



have fun with this!

You want quality speakers from a company that specializes in just that...speakers. You want them to be timbre matched and very solid in construction (it should hurt your knuckles to knock on them). Your Subwoofer should be capable of 20hz output. Substance over form when it comes to speakers - go and listen to them

Receiver - you want one that accepts audio over HDMI and that can decode the latest HD codecs via bitstream. You will also want one with preouts (that's just me talking here - some parents may not want that, but my family... ) so you can add a power amp at a later time. You want enough HDMI inputs for your sources - most of us however will probrably have no more than 2 HDMI sources.

BD player - I would get one with everything possible as a just incase. This means one with 7.1 analog outs (one that could do its own decoding if neccessary), bitstreaming capablility, excellent upconversion ability, and one that passes 2.2, 3.2 ect. pulldown test along with 24fps ability. Profile 2.0 is only really neccessary if your parents have high speed internet and if they want to see special content - if they don't, profile 2.0 is no big deal.

Monitor - Get the best and largest one that you can afford! 1080p but there are some 720p sets that do an awesome job also (in other words - I would get an outstandiing 720p set over a substandard 1080p but if you're going for the best - get the best 42 inch/1080p set that you can find)

[ObiTrentKenobi]

Originally Posted by prerich

You want quality speakers from a company that specializes in just that...speakers. You want them to be timbre matched and very solid in construction (it should hurt your knuckles to knock on them). Your Subwoofer should be capable of 20hz output. Substance over form when it comes to speakers - go and listen to them

Receiver - you want one that accepts audio over HDMI and that can decode the latest HD codecs via bitstream. You will also want one with preouts (that's just me talking here - some parents may not want that, but my family... ) so you can add a power amp at a later time. You want enough HDMI inputs for your sources - most of us however will probrably have no more than 2 HDMI sources.

BD player - I would get one with everything possible as a just incase. This means one with 7.1 analog outs (one that could do its own decoding if neccessary), bitstreaming capablility, excellent upconversion ability, and one that passes 2.2, 3.2 ect. pulldown test along with 24fps ability. Profile 2.0 is only really neccessary if your parents have high speed internet and if they want to see special content - if they don't, profile 2.0 is no big deal.

Monitor - Get the best and largest one that you can afford! 1080p but there are some 720p sets that do an awesome job also (in other words - I would get an outstandiing 720p set over a substandard 1080p but if you're going for the best - get the best 42 inch/1080p set that you can find)

thanks!

[Canada]

May I submit Brian Sturgeons's Home Theater https://www.blu-ray.com/community/ga...&folderid=282#

You would probably want to go with a standalone amplifier and processer.

[joegs300]

no one can match brians set up haha

[GunZenBomZ]

..best setup.. jesus, do some research yourself dude. Fk doing the work for some half-wit that is effectively making others do the work. He will still buy shite no doubt.

lol the absolute best setup bollocks...all for £200/£300

[Beta Man]

PLEASE read the post before throwing out insulting replies....

Don't worry about BRANDS, just specs. What are the best for the devices?