Any reason to buy a stand alone BD player if you have a PS3? - Blu-ray Forum

kruser79 · 02-24-2009, 12:55 AM

I'm new to BD, buying my 80GB PS3 this month, and have a question (I hope it hasn't been asked here yet).
Is there anything that my PS3 can't do with a BD disc that a BD player can? I have an Onkyo 606 sitting in the box that is getting hooked up once I return home. I originally got it for the HDMI switching. But plan on upgrading and expanding my HT to a 7.1 and want to be able to reproduce anything embedded on these discs.
Like, can the PS3 reproduce Dolby Digital Plus (DD+)? Can it do DTS-HD?

I don't plan on buying a stand alone just yet. But the truth here might speed up the process, lol

Kryptron · 02-24-2009, 12:58 AM

The answers is the PS3 can pretty much do it all, and it does it very well too. Only reason i bought a standalone was because i wanted a little bit quieter player and i was using my ps3 drive too much for games/Blurays/dvds/cds i didn't want to wear out the drive lol.

See this thread for more info:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=40872

sokrman14 · 02-24-2009, 12:59 AM

although the ps3 always gets good reviews for booting quickly, having extra features, gaming, etc, you can get improved picture and sound with a stand alone bluray player. Im not talking a $300 player, but some of your better panny's, sammy's, Sony ES, and Pioneer/elite. Stand alones are also quieter and there are benefits with universal remotes.

SkantDragon · 02-24-2009, 02:21 AM

Any standalone is going to have a tough time besting the PS3 at Blu-ray presentation.

Some people prefer a standalone because the shape of it fits in with their AV equipment better, or because they feel like buying a game machine is somehow silly. But other than those reasons, it's pretty hard to justify.

Suntory_Times · 02-24-2009, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkantDragon

Any standalone is going to have a tough time besting the PS3 at Blu-ray presentation.

Some people prefer a standalone because the shape of it fits in with their AV equipment better, or because they feel like buying a game machine is somehow silly. But other than those reasons, it's pretty hard to justify.

Some of the better standalones produce a better blu ray picture then the PS3. Plus the PS3 is quite loud in comparison to most stand alones. The first reason to me is why one would go with a standalone player rather then a PS3.

andyman1970 · 02-24-2009, 03:02 AM

First, the PS3 cannot bitstream DTS HD master audio or Dolby TrueHD via HDMI, which means your Onkyo 606 will not be doing the decoding. Also, my 40GB PS3 cannot decode 7.1 DTS audio internally, check your owners manual to see if your model can. If so you should be fine using the PS3. If not and you plan to upgrade to 7.1 and use DTS HD master audio you will need a standalone player that can bitstream to the receiver and let it decode the audio for the full benefit of the HD audio codecs.

mr.hidef · 02-24-2009, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkantDragon

Any standalone is going to have a tough time besting the PS3 at Blu-ray presentation.

Some people prefer a standalone because the shape of it fits in with their AV equipment better, or because they feel like buying a game machine is somehow silly. But other than those reasons, it's pretty hard to justify.

O.K. now this is a bit ridiculous.......

The Picture quality of the PS3 is nowhere near as good as MOST of the stand alone players. I and my colleges have run side by side tests with the PS3 vs. Sony,Samsung,Pioneer,and LG players, and the PS3 seems to come out a little on the short end as far as clarity.

ckent22 · 02-24-2009, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.hidef

O.K. now this is a bit ridiculous.......

The Picture quality of the PS3 is nowhere near as good as MOST of the stand alone players. I and my colleges have run side by side tests with the PS3 vs. Sony,Samsung,Pioneer,and LG players, and the PS3 seems to come out a little on the short end as far as clarity.

Then why have numerous references like consumer reports call the PS3 the best Blu-ray player on the market?

sokrman14 · 02-24-2009, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckent22

Then why have numerous references like consumer reports call the PS3 the best Blu-ray player on the market?

Because of the reasons I mentioned in my post earlier...features, which is the same reason people buy LCD over plasma and crap like that. It is a very good machine filled with good features and gaming. For the price it goes for it is an amazing value. But not the best. Its like comparing Vizio vs Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Panny, LG and pioneer. A good value, but definitely not the best thing on the market.

andyman1970 · 02-24-2009, 03:16 AM

I have a PS3 and I can say from my personal experience it is extremely OVERRATED. If I knew as much about Blu-ray a year ago when I bought my PS3 as I do now I would have went with a stand alone.

quest88 · 02-24-2009, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sokrman14

Because of the reasons I mentioned in my post earlier...features, which is the same reason people buy LCD over plasma and crap like that. It is a very good machine filled with good features and gaming. For the price it goes for it is an amazing value. But not the best. Its like comparing Vizio vs Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Panny, LG and pioneer. A good value, but definitely not the best thing on the market.

post pictures!!!!! I would love to see it

quest88 · 02-24-2009, 03:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyman1970

First, the PS3 cannot bitstream DTS HD master audio or Dolby TrueHD via HDMI, which means your Onkyo 606 will not be doing the decoding. Also, my 40GB PS3 cannot decode 7.1 DTS audio internally, check your owners manual to see if your model can. If so you should be fine using the PS3. If not and you plan to upgrade to 7.1 and use DTS HD master audio you will need a standalone player that can bitstream to the receiver and let it decode the audio for the full benefit of the HD audio codecs.

I thought all PS3's code decode 7.1 ??????

sokrman14 · 02-24-2009, 03:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quest88

post pictures!!!!! I would love to see it

post what?

iamgosu · 02-24-2009, 03:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyman1970

First, the PS3 cannot bitstream DTS HD master audio or Dolby TrueHD via HDMI, which means your Onkyo 606 will not be doing the decoding. Also, my 40GB PS3 cannot decode 7.1 DTS audio internally, check your owners manual to see if your model can. If so you should be fine using the PS3. If not and you plan to upgrade to 7.1 and use DTS HD master audio you will need a standalone player that can bitstream to the receiver and let it decode the audio for the full benefit of the HD audio codecs.

the ps3 had a firmware patch a few versions back where it now decodes DTS-HD and DTS-HD Master Audio

so it can now decode all the audio formats known to peoplekind

sokrman14 · 02-24-2009, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamgosu

the ps3 had a firmware patch a few versions back where it now decodes DTS-HD and DTS-HD Master Audio

so it can now decode all the audio formats known to peoplekind

you are right, it will decode it, but it wont send the signal out for the receiver to decode. Some people argue that the receiver does a better job decoding than the player because the Digital to analog converters (DAC's) are better. Some disagree. I would rather have a player that sends it out for the receiver to decode (that is called bitstream). I believe that the DAC's in the receiver are better, I just cannot afford the bluray player that I want.

quest88 · 02-24-2009, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sokrman14

post what?

sorry wrong guy

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.hidef

O.K. now this is a bit ridiculous.......

The Picture quality of the PS3 is nowhere near as good as MOST of the stand alone players. I and my colleges have run side by side tests with the PS3 vs. Sony,Samsung,Pioneer,and LG players, and the PS3 seems to come out a little on the short end as far as clarity.

again post pictures please !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sokrman14 · 02-24-2009, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quest88

sorry wrong guy

again post pictures please !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even if he could, a computer monitor wouldnt be good enough to show the differences between them. He could take pictures, but they would look the same, you need to do a personal comparison.

SkantDragon · 02-24-2009, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sokrman14

you are right, it will decode it, but it wont send the signal out for the receiver to decode. Some people argue that the receiver does a better job decoding than the player because the Digital to analog converters (DAC's) are better. Some disagree. I would rather have a player that sends it out for the receiver to decode (that is called bitstream). I believe that the DAC's in the receiver are better, I just cannot afford the bluray player that I want.

This and many of the other claims that have been made on this thread are rather dubious.

Whether the PS3 decodes the audio itself or bitstreams it, it's still running through the receiver's DAC's. And I'm not aware of any device that can make lossless codecs more lossless.

And what of these nebulous claims of better picture quality than the PS3 produces? How? There's a lot of different choices a video codec can make while encoding video, but decoding it again is invariable. There is only one correct output.

Frankly, these comments strike me as being similar to the claims that Monster HDMI cables produce brighter colors.

There seems to be a strong desire for these dedicated boxes to do the job better than a jack-of-all-trades PS3. But the reality is that the presentation of Blu-ray on a properly configured PS3 is very very good.

The OP is not going to be unsatisfied with it.

mr.hidef · 02-24-2009, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sokrman14

Even if he could, a computer monitor wouldnt be good enough to show the differences between them. He could take pictures, but they would look the same, you need to do a personal comparison.

Nicely said.

mr.hidef · 02-24-2009, 05:18 AM

"And what of these nebulous claims of better picture quality than the PS3 produces? How? There's a lot of different choices a video codec can make while encoding video, but decoding it again is invariable. There is only one correct output."

So you are saying there is NO difference between the Sigma chip, or the NEC chipsets? what about HQV or Reon chips? hmmmmmmm.......try again.

02-24-2009, 12:55 AM	#1
kruser79 Junior Member Member since:Feb 2009 Location:Temple, TX	Any reason to buy a stand alone BD player if you have a PS3? I'm new to BD, buying my 80GB PS3 this month, and have a question (I hope it hasn't been asked here yet). Is there anything that my PS3 can't do with a BD disc that a BD player can? I have an Onkyo 606 sitting in the box that is getting hooked up once I return home. I originally got it for the HDMI switching. But plan on upgrading and expanding my HT to a 7.1 and want to be able to reproduce anything embedded on these discs. Like, can the PS3 reproduce Dolby Digital Plus (DD+)? Can it do DTS-HD? I don't plan on buying a stand alone just yet. But the truth here might speed up the process, lol

02-24-2009, 12:58 AM	#2
Kryptron Expert Member Member since:Sep 2007 Location:Tampa Bay, FL Home Theater Gallery:21 4K collection:83 Blu-ray collection:450 Trading Score:4	The answers is the PS3 can pretty much do it all, and it does it very well too. Only reason i bought a standalone was because i wanted a little bit quieter player and i was using my ps3 drive too much for games/Blurays/dvds/cds i didn't want to wear out the drive lol. See this thread for more info: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=40872 Last edited by Kryptron; 02-24-2009 at 01:01 AM.

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02-24-2009, 12:59 AM	#3
sokrman14 Special Member Member since:Mar 2006 Location:Omaha, NE Home Theater Gallery:9 Blu-ray collection:32 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:1	although the ps3 always gets good reviews for booting quickly, having extra features, gaming, etc, you can get improved picture and sound with a stand alone bluray player. Im not talking a $300 player, but some of your better panny's, sammy's, Sony ES, and Pioneer/elite. Stand alones are also quieter and there are benefits with universal remotes.

02-24-2009, 02:21 AM	#4
SkantDragon Active Member Member since:Oct 2007	Any standalone is going to have a tough time besting the PS3 at Blu-ray presentation. Some people prefer a standalone because the shape of it fits in with their AV equipment better, or because they feel like buying a game machine is somehow silly. But other than those reasons, it's pretty hard to justify.

02-24-2009, 03:02 AM	#6
andyman1970 Blu-ray Guru Member since:Aug 2008 Location:Birmingham, Alabama, USA DVD collection:9 Blu-ray reviews: 45 Trading Score:7	First, the PS3 cannot bitstream DTS HD master audio or Dolby TrueHD via HDMI, which means your Onkyo 606 will not be doing the decoding. Also, my 40GB PS3 cannot decode 7.1 DTS audio internally, check your owners manual to see if your model can. If so you should be fine using the PS3. If not and you plan to upgrade to 7.1 and use DTS HD master audio you will need a standalone player that can bitstream to the receiver and let it decode the audio for the full benefit of the HD audio codecs.

02-24-2009, 03:16 AM	#10
andyman1970 Blu-ray Guru Member since:Aug 2008 Location:Birmingham, Alabama, USA DVD collection:9 Blu-ray reviews: 45 Trading Score:7	I have a PS3 and I can say from my personal experience it is extremely OVERRATED. If I knew as much about Blu-ray a year ago when I bought my PS3 as I do now I would have went with a stand alone.

02-24-2009, 05:18 AM	#20
mr.hidef Power Member Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Sep 2007 Location:Twin Cities Home Theater Gallery:113 Blu-ray collection:570 Blu-ray reviews: 6 Trading Score:17	"And what of these nebulous claims of better picture quality than the PS3 produces? How? There's a lot of different choices a video codec can make while encoding video, but decoding it again is invariable. There is only one correct output." So you are saying there is NO difference between the Sigma chip, or the NEC chipsets? what about HQV or Reon chips? hmmmmmmm.......try again.

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