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How to Buy a Blu-ray Player
By
Shane Buettner • Posted: Feb 28, 2011
Getting the Best Blu for Your Buck In addition to supporting the legacy lossy surround formats we’ve enjoyed for years on DVD, Blu-ray Disc offers lossless audio in the form of DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD. This means that while the digital data file that contains the audio content is compressed to save
storagespace
on the disc, the signal is fully restored on playback, bit-for-bit identical to the soundtrack master. The DVDs we’ve lived with for years got a lot of sound out of an often MP3-sized bit bucket, albeit by discarding some information. Lossless audio is a sea change in terms of dynamics, detail, and overall transparency. You don’t need a set of golden ears to hear the difference; with even a moderate system, we think you’ll be wowed.
Most BD players today can transmit DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD as native bitstreams or perform full internal decoding to PCM. When you’re buying a player, be mindful of the A/V receiver or surround processor you’ll use with the player. If it’s a newer model with HDMI audio processing capability, welcome to single-cable heaven. Older HDMI-equipped AVRs and processors may not be able to decode DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD internally, which means conversion to PCM in the player is required. That’s A-OK, as both transmission methods are qualitatively similar if not identical in the end result. Both offer the full lossless audio experience. Just be aware that with bitstream audio, you’re forgoing access to secondary audio for commentaries, PiP streams on the fly, and the various sounds that accompany menu selections. If you choose PCM out from the player, you won’t have to jump into the player’s setup menu to access such features when you want them.
Many pre-HDMI A/V receivers and surround processors have multichannel (5.1 or 7.1) analog audio inputs. If this describes your equipment, you’re still not out of the lossless audio market. If you’re not ready to upgrade, you’ll have to spend extra bucks on a player that not only has internal decoding for DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD, but has multichannel analog audio outputs as well. While this too offers full-resolution, lossless audio, it’s not our first-choice connection method for lossless audio. Your AVR or surround processor will typically have more sophisticated bass-management options for your surround sound system than a BD player will. And with many AVRs and processors using the multichannel analog inputs, this bypasses advanced, performance-enhancing post-processing features like DSP modes or even room EQ. HDMI offers the best combination of performance and flexibility.
Blu Basics: All That Video
The simple truth, which manufacturers of expensive BD players won’t be thrilled to read, is that our testing of BD players has consistently revealed that basic 1080p Blu-ray playback over HDMI yields essentially perfect performance regardless of the player, even on a large screen. If you’re a videophile (like we are), the purchase of a player with superior video processing will primarily buy you improved performance with upconverted DVDs and the few Blu-ray Discs that are mastered at 1080i (some concert videos and TV programs, for example). But even that won’t cost you an exorbitant amount of money. Sub-$300 players we’ve tested from Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony offer very good processing with a broad variety of discs, while OPPO’s $499 BDP-93 is totally beyond reproach. Among the processing sets we’ve tested in BD players, proprietary solutions from Panasonic have consistently passed all of our tests, and we’ve seen great performance from name-brand solutions like HQV (Denon’s players) and Anchor Bay’s VRS (OPPO’s first players, Marantz, and others). This isn’t to say that these are the only solutions that offer fine performance, or that these are the only players that offer great performance and value. Sony’s PS3 remains one of our favorites, and it doesn’t even offer processing for HD signals. But if you’re a videophile and you’re looking for the best pure video performance, these standouts offer the best potential to make your entire existing library of DVDs and the variety of material on Blu-ray Disc look their best. But there are other factors to consider too.
Blu Basics: Firmware Updates Are a Sad Fact of Life
With Blu-ray Disc players, firmware updates are a necessary evil. Most often, these updates don’t offer anything new or exciting in terms of updated features or functions; they merely ensure that you’ll be able to play the next blockbuster release without any hiccups.
Sony’s PlayStation 3 is popular, and it’s apparent the studios work hard to ensure proper playback on that platform. The PS3 is more devoid of playback issues than any player we’ve experienced. OPPO’s players have been nearly as solid, but perhaps just as importantly, OPPO has been ultra swift on the trigger finger when issues have arisen, delivering fast, easy-to-implement firmware updates when needed. Overall, player stability seems much improved since Blu-ray’s early days. These players probably aren’t the only platforms that provide this level of reliability, but since our firsthand experience with them is extensive, they’ve earned this shout-out.
Performing updates from the Internet is the fastest, simplest way. So consider whether the equipment rack your player will be located in has a hard-wired Ethernet connection, or look at players that either come with or offer accessories for Wi-Fi Internet connectivity. Even if you’re not a fan of BD-Live Internet-based interactivity, you’ll need Net access to keep your player up to speed with the latest firmware updates.
Blu Extras: Interactivity and the Need for Speed
The only way in which Blu-ray Disc is a step back from DVD is in its loading and disc-access times. Early players were plagued with agonizingly slow load times, especially for discs heavy with the Java coding that powers all of BD’s compelling interactivity—the real-time chapter menus and PiP, games, BD-Live connectivity, etc. The PS3 became an early sensation for its speed and reliability and remains so for those same reasons. OPPO’s BDP-83 was the first standalone player to challenge the PS3 in terms of speed and reliability, and the other current standouts include recent players from LG and Samsung. Depending on your frustration tolerance, speed might be the best reason for you to buy a certain player over another and the best motivation for those who bought sluggish first- or second-generation BD players to look at an upgrade.
Blu Extras: Stream Away
It’s not a dramatic stretch to call the PlayStation 3 the set-top box that won the format war for Blu-ray. If the PS3’s evolution as a multiplatform media hub has taught us (and manufacturers) anything, it’s that Blu-ray players don’t need to be dirt cheap to move off the store shelves; they just need to offer desirable features and therefore more value. Today’s BD players are Internet-connected devices that offer a host of streaming applications and features to grab content off the Web. YouTube videos (for all you Double Rainbow Guy fans out there), Flickr and Picasa photos, and Pandora Internet radio are all regulars on a variety of players from the major manufacturers. We’re currently recommending players from LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba that have compelling streaming feature sets (OPPO’s next generation of players will follow suit). Fans of movies on demand can look for Blockbuster, Netflix, and Amazon apps. But we’re especially high on VUDU’s HDX streams. When the bandwidth is there, VUDU delivers the highest-quality 1080p streams we’ve seen and is now offering 5.1-channel Dolby Digital Plus surround sound. (Netflix is also rolling out Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 with its streams as well, but at press time, the hardware platforms supporting it were very limited but sure to grow.) VUDU isn’t Blu-ray quality, but we’re still impressed. Just check the spec sheet for the streaming apps you want before you buy. Also note that the quality of your streaming video feeds will depend heavily on the speed of your
Internetconnection
. If your broadband pipeline is too slow, it’s time to call your ISP and ask for that turbo-charged data package.
To 3D or Not to 3D
Not all 3D will be created equal. As we go to press, the only way to get full 1080p 3D at each eye is from Blu-ray 3D. All of the 3D formats in use for cable and satellite appear to be half-resolution 3D masquerading as high def. Unfortunately, at present some of the best Blu-ray 3D content is only available in exclusive bundles of 3D equipment from specific manufacturers, but that’s a story for a different day. For now, whether you’re looking for a Blu-ray 3D player or the right manufacturer’s bundle with a 3D player and 3DTV, we have some hot tips.
First, beware of a player labeled “3D ready.” While the word ready means good to go to you and me, in this arena, it means that the player requires a firmware update to play back Blu-ray 3D Discs in 3D. While that update may arrive in all haste, the update will happen on the manufacturer’s timetable, not yours. If you want 3D now, your safest bet is to be sure the player you buy is 3D capable the day it comes home with you. Sub-$200 players are already out there, so it’s an affordable proposition.
When you’re shopping for a Blu-ray 3D player, you must again consider the A/V receiver or surround processor you’ll be connecting the player to. While you can connect the player directly to the 3DTV, you’ll get the best audio performance if separate components provide lossless audio capability. If you’re a big spender and are buying a new AVR or surround processor with your 3DTV and Blu-ray 3D player, just make sure to get an HDMI 1.4–equipped model that the manufacturer specifically calls out as 3D capable. However, if you just bought an AVR or surround processor of the HDMI 1.3 or earlier variety, don’t panic. OPPO, Panasonic and Samsung make Blu-ray 3D players with dual HDMI outputs, and other manufacturers will undoubtedly follow suit. This allows a direct video HDMI connection to the 3DTV and a lossless-audio-capable HDMI audio connection to your AVR or surround processor.
Note too that Blu-ray 3D players are backward-compatible with 2D Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, and CDs. If you think you’re a candidate for a 3DTV down the road, you can cover your bases by investing in a 3D player now and playing all the 2D Blu-ray Discs and DVDs you can handle until you get to the third dimension.
Good Hunting
Home Theater magazine has been front and center with the Blu revolution. We get our hands on every significant player out there, and these are the hot tips we’ve distilled over time. This is the best head start we can give you in finding the right Blu-ray player for you and your system.