Which player to buy?

[JoeSp]

But to say “if you need internal decoding.” is very misleading considering 99% of all receivers don’t internally decode Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD High Resolution, or DTS-HD Master Audio. This flaw will likely keep owners of the Panasonic BD30 from enjoying Hi Def audio.

But there are alot of HDMI 1.3 receivers like the Onkyo's who do decode those audio codecs. And there are more on the way, so this might be a way to lower the cost of a BD player to those who do own a newer AVR that does do the decoding internally.

 

[teamerickson]

But there are alot of HDMI 1.3 receivers like the Onkyo's who do decode those audio codecs.

I wouldn't say there's a lot. There are a few in the whole spectrum.

 

[nonrev]

But there are alot of HDMI 1.3 receivers like the Onkyo's who do decode those audio codecs. And there are more on the way, so this might be a way to lower the cost of a BD player to those who do own a newer AVR that does do the decoding internally.

The BD30 was one of the most expensive BD player out there with a MSRP of $500. Also if all HD DVD and most BD players can decode those codecs how expensive could it be to add it to the player.

OP I don't currently own a BD player and I'm leaning towards waiting for the new cell based upconverters, and then downloading. But if you forced me to select I guess I'd recommend the 60 or 80 gig PS3. You'd just have to forbid the kids from playing games in the living room.

 

[teachsac]

The BD30 was one of the most expensive BD player out there with a MSRP of $500. Also if all HD DVD and most BD players can decode those codecs how expensive could it be to add it to the player.

At $500, it is not one of the most expensive players and can be found for around $400. Only the PS3, BD30, and Denon 2500 are available now that meet 1.1 specs. At $999, the Denon 2500 is only a transport, also. No BD or HD DVD player can decode DTS Master Audio right now. The 3800 coming in March and the BD50 coming (?) will be the first. All other players will either take the core DTS track or bitstream the codec to the receiver.

S~

 

[Poke]

Yeah most of the Sony's have HDMI 1.3 anlong with their audio receivers as well. The Blu-Ray 1.0 1.1 so forth most of their models should be able to update their firmware..

 

[nonrev]

At $500, it is not one of the most expensive players and can be found for around $400. Only the PS3, BD30, and Denon 2500 are available now that meet 1.1 specs. At $999, the Denon 2500 is only a transport, also. No BD or HD DVD player can decode DTS Master Audio right now. The 3800 coming in March and the BD50 coming (?) will be the first. All other players will either take the core DTS track or bitstream the codec to the receiver.

S~

We all know about the$1000 Denon but I couldn't with a straight face mention that to the OP.

 

[JoeSp]

We all know about the$1000 Denon but I couldn't with a straight face mention that to the OP.

I do own a Denon DVD player and it is quite nice, but still, you are really overpaying for that nameplate. I had always purchased Denon AVRs but this time around I purchased the Onkyo 805 and I must say that I really feel that I got my money's worth on this purchase. I am not sure Denon is worth the money anymore?

If one can wait about 3 months (around June) there should be several 2.0 players on the market and they will probably all do DTS-MasterHD decoding (or at least they should!)