DVD upscaling: Sony BDP-S350 compared to PS3 vs. S560

[skatalite]

I currently have a BDP-S350 and a 42-inch 720p Samsung plasma. In September, I'll be getting a 50-inch 1080p Samsung plasma and a new BD player. Question I have is which would execute upscaling the best, especially in relation to the larger, higher-def screen I'll be watching movies on?

- With the PS3 Slim coming out, the lower price point and bitstream/decoding options make it a solid contender. I've read the upscaling isn't the best, but this always seems to be compared to the Oppo. Too bad I don't care for some of the Oppo's features, or else I'd be game for the $500 player.

- The S560 is a new BD player, so it might be hard to talk about its upscaling efforts. But if anyone has input, I'm open ears.

- On my 42-inch 720p plasma, the S350 does beautifully with upscaling. I sit roughly 5 to 6 feet away from the screen. "Sweeney Todd" upscaled looks surprisingly stunning.

So, for a 50-inch 1080 plasma, from 5 five away, would a PS3's or S560's upscaling be just as good, if not better, as what I'm getting with my current setup? And, which device would win out: The PS3 or the S560?

Thanks!

[icyteddy]

Originally Posted by skatalite

I currently have a BDP-S350 and a 42-inch 720p Samsung plasma. In September, I'll be getting a 50-inch 1080p Samsung plasma and a new BD player. Question I have is which would execute upscaling the best, especially in relation to the larger, higher-def screen I'll be watching movies on?

- With the PS3 Slim coming out, the lower price point and bitstream/decoding options make it a solid contender. I've read the upscaling isn't the best, but this always seems to be compared to the Oppo. Too bad I don't care for some of the Oppo's features, or else I'd be game for the $500 player.

- The S560 is a new BD player, so it might be hard to talk about its upscaling efforts. But if anyone has input, I'm open ears.

- On my 42-inch 720p plasma, the S350 does beautifully with upscaling. I sit roughly 5 to 6 feet away from the screen. "Sweeney Todd" upscaled looks surprisingly stunning.

So, for a 50-inch 1080 plasma, from 5 five away, would a PS3's or S560's upscaling be just as good, if not better, as what I'm getting with my current setup? And, which device would win out: The PS3 or the S560?

Thanks!

I currently have the S350 and will soon be returning it and purchasing the SLIM PS3.

With the recent confirmed news that the SLIM PS3 will be able to bitstream codecs, The SLIM version will have faster loading time, WI-FI capability and identical PQ as the S560. Upscaling wise, picture quality should be identical to S560 because I have seen the S360 and compared it to my 80g PS3, it looks identical. The S560 is basically a S360 with some upgrade ability such as WI-FI and I believe extra audio inputs.

Just by looking at the specification sheet on the S560 I do not see any kind of advantage it has over the Slim PS3 with the exception of maybe price. But for the extra money, the Slim PS3 will be very hard to beat unless the S560 is in the $150 range. JMO.

[avphile]

Originally Posted by icyteddy

I currently have the S350 and will soon be returning it and purchasing the SLIM PS3.

I got rid of the BDPBX1 (same as the 250) and bought the PS3 slim. I did not do a side by side, but based on memory I can say confidently that the slim produces PQ in Blu Ray equal or better than the 350. It does even better in upscaling, making DVD PQ almost comparable to that of Blu Ray.

[Sherm]

Originally Posted by avphile

I got rid of the BDPBX1 (same as the 250) and bought the PS3 slim. I did not do a side by side, but based on memory I can say confidently that the slim produces PQ in Blu Ray equal or better than the 350. It does even better in upscaling, making DVD PQ almost comparable to that of Blu Ray.

That is one hell of a slim machine if it makes DVD's look like Blu ray's !!!

[Grif32]

Originally Posted by avphile

I got rid of the BDPBX1 (same as the 250) and bought the PS3 slim. I did not do a side by side, but based on memory I can say confidently that the slim produces PQ in Blu Ray equal or better than the 350. It does even better in upscaling, making DVD PQ almost comparable to that of Blu Ray.

LOL.. No way the PS3's upscale is anything close to Blu-Ray PQ.

My Vizio Blu-Ray player has better DVD upscaling then my PS3

[avphile]

Originally Posted by Sherm

That is one hell of a slim machine if it makes DVD's look like Blu ray's !!!

I should have said some DVD movies looked almost as good as some Blu Ray ones that don't even looked that great on a BD player. Obviously the majority of DVD's don't come close to the majority of Blu Ray's.

The thing is, despite a HCC review that said the slim did not upscale as good as the fat PS3, I find the slim does a very good job, at least noticeably better than my BDP-BX1/S350. I did read about others found the S350 upscales better than the fat PS3 so I guess in terms of which one does better, it is a highly subjective matter.