PS3 vs recent state of the art set top players

[gadgtfreek]

Don, I run against that very problem with closed glass doors. Especially when I added the Onkyo 805 into the mix. That baby runs very hot. Can you elaborate how you accomplised the forced air cooing in your stack? Are you directing the air flow inside the stack? Thanks

There are plenty of 110v fan kits that are made to fit inside the back slot of enclosed ent centers.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Just curious... how long does it take to power up the PS3, insert a disc, and begin playing?

It may have changed some, but when I had my PS3 last year, it was very fast. Id say 5-7 to boot to the XMB, then the movies loaded very quickly.

 

[navychop]

I can vouch for that.

 

[allargon]

I already posted a list of reasons why someone might choose a standalone instead of a PS3 in a different thread.

To sum it up: region free playback, PAL playback, better PQ, bitstreaming of high res audio, DVD-A playback, lower noise levels and lower power consumption.

There's nothing wrong the PS3. I recommended one to a friend that wanted Blu-Ray playback and a media center extender for his torrents.

 

[TheForce]

Fans- Very simple installation. I used a couple of the 12 VDC fans left over from some old computers. I installed them on the back at each shelf level on one side and the air flows in one side across the glass front and back out the opposite side vent. Downside is the fans will increase the dust across the glass door so I have to clean it more often. Noise isn't bad. These computer fans are pretty quiet. I purchased some 110vac fans originally but they were way too loud. I needed a good 12vdc source for several things, including my screen and matts controller so I installed a small computer 12 vdc power supply and used that voltage. Cheap and works very well.

allaergon-

I am interested in playing DVD that I burn either BD in mpeg2 as standard DVD or AVCHD versions. I use DVDA5 and the Picture Motion Browser DVD authoring. Do I understand you correctly, the PS3 will not play these?

Whats the deal with picture quality? Is the PS3 running in 1080p x 1920 via HDMI worse PQ than I get from my BD1400 samsung?

Unfortunately, I didn't get the PS3 installed yet. I had to switch gears this past weekend and get ready to have a second VIP622 installed in the Kitchen. I had been waiting for Dish to contact me with a FREE offer and they finally did si this week I had to get prepared and needed to wire the Dish Farm for Dish feed to the Kitchen. Once I got into it I decided to redo the grounding system on the lines going into the house and long story short, the antennas and mount location for the 622 became a major project.
Next, I discovered I need to redo the rack of equipment in a more orderly fashion so that will take a couple of days to give the system rack a new face lift. It told my wife, Its good I'm not an installer, I'd never make any money. It why I call it a hobby, Installing a Dish is like building a model airplane. Takes several days.

 

[diogen]

The specs of the encode - for all three formats: MPEG-2, VC-1 and H.264 - have to be
right for it to be playable on standalone players (including PS3).
Here for example are the presets when using MeGUI for x264 encodes:
New MeGUI x264 presets - Release Candidate. - Doom9's Forum

Standalone-AVC-HD
Standalone-PS3-Xbox360
Standalone-PS3-Xbox360_Fast
Standalone-Xbox_HiRes
Standalone-Xbox_LoRes
Standalone-Blu-ray
Standalone-Blu-ray_Fast
Standalone-HD-DVD
Standalone-HD-DVD_Fast

Diogen.

 

[allargon]

Fans- Very simple installation. I used a couple of the 12 VDC fans left over from some old computers. I installed them on the back at each shelf level on one side and the air flows in one side across the glass front and back out the opposite side vent. Downside is the fans will increase the dust across the glass door so I have to clean it more often. Noise isn't bad. These computer fans are pretty quiet. I purchased some 110vac fans originally but they were way too loud. I needed a good 12vdc source for several things, including my screen and matts controller so I installed a small computer 12 vdc power supply and used that voltage. Cheap and works very well.

allaergon-

I am interested in playing DVD that I burn either BD in mpeg2 as standard DVD or AVCHD versions. I use DVDA5 and the Picture Motion Browser DVD authoring. Do I understand you correctly, the PS3 will not play these?

Whats the deal with picture quality? Is the PS3 running in 1080p x 1920 via HDMI worse PQ than I get from my BD1400 samsung?

Unfortunately, I didn't get the PS3 installed yet. I had to switch gears this past weekend and get ready to have a second VIP622 installed in the Kitchen. I had been waiting for Dish to contact me with a FREE offer and they finally did si this week I had to get prepared and needed to wire the Dish Farm for Dish feed to the Kitchen. Once I got into it I decided to redo the grounding system on the lines going into the house and long story short, the antennas and mount location for the 622 became a major project.
Next, I discovered I need to redo the rack of equipment in a more orderly fashion so that will take a couple of days to give the system rack a new face lift. It told my wife, Its good I'm not an installer, I'd never make any money. It why I call it a hobby, Installing a Dish is like building a model airplane. Takes several days.

The PS3 won't enter my house, unless i win the lottery and just want one around for the heck of it. Many who have both the PS3 and certain standalones say the standalones have much better Blu-Ray playback. Elwaylite and quite a few people on AVS say the DMP-BD30 has sharper PQ on Blu-Ray's than the PS3. There is an article in this month's or last month's Home Theater Magazine questioning the PS3's upscaling capabilities as well.

DVD-A playback on a Sony product? Come on... Toshiba will make a Blu-ray player before Sony supports DVD-A.

The PS3, most Sony and Panasonic standalones and the LG BH200 play AVCHD. Where did I say that the PS3 won't playback AVCHD? FYI, AVCHD is NOT part of the Blu-Ray spec. If you are burning Blu-Ray on MPEG2, AFAIK you better be burning it on a BD-R/RE. There's no guarantee all players will play it back, either.

BTW, don't get me started on the noise of the Dish VIP622. It's not as bad as the 625, but daaaaaaang....

 

[gadgtfreek]

Id agree with questioning the PS3's upscaling. Its a good unit, and was a great unit. They promised PQ enhancements but never delivered, now the standalones are passing it by.

Still great for media sharing though.

Your 622 was noisy? Never noticed much on the 622 or 722. PS3 is loud.

 

[jayn_j]

It is a different issue entirely for me. I expect most of the folks considering a PS3 have total control of their theaters. I have teenagers, and have already lost control of a 36" Sony XBR to the XBOX360. If I bring a PS3 into the main theater, I will never get to watch a movie again, and I will end up repurchasing about a zillion titles that I have already bought three times already for XBOX, PC and DS.

When I finally get a BD player, it will definitely be a standalone.

 

[wyldk9]

A nice advantage of the PS3 that I don't think current or announced standalones will have (inlcuding the forthcoming LG that streams Netflix) is wireless Internet capabilites. Not too mention the PS3 acts as an all purpose media player, allowing you to stream from a network or HDD, music, photos, and video.

Yes, indeed! There is an option in Windows Media player to broadcast as a media server to serve up all your pics, videos, etc. wireless......I use my laptop to broadcast through media player to the PS3.

The PS3 has an advantage over standalone players, as the firmware can be upgraded to compliment upcoming BD features (to a point).

The PS3 hard drive can be upgraded to a bigger drive, and it is better to have just 1 item that acts likes a BD player, gaming machine, media server/player & as well you can put Linux on it to be a semi-powered PC. It was well worth the $ to buy the PS3 and have all that, rather than spending the same amount of moola and just having a BD player. There may be better standalones for BD quality, but I find the PS3 suitable if you want all the other features as well.

 

[TheForce]

Can't believe 10 days has past now and I finally got arround to installing the PS3.

First impressions were not as good as the xbox due to a lack luster GUI. It was simple, almost dos like, well, actually Windows Media gui look alike. After configuring the system settings I was ready to play my first BD. The incentive to get this thing going was sparked by the rental of a new release BD- Prom Night. First of all, my settop player the Samsung BD1400 with the latest firmware upgrade wouldn't even recognize the disk and just remained with a blank screen. I stuck the disk in two different computer drives and it played but with flashing popup menus and stuttering audio. Other Blu Ray disks had all played fine on these two players. I have a surprising number of failures on the Samsung Player.
So, I stick the Prom Night BD in the PS3 and bingo! it plays flawlessly. The game controller was a bit awkward but I had this IR traditional remote control for the PS3 and once I installed that it worked easy as a set top player. We watched the full movie with no issues.

The first go around with the PS3 was a bit cryptic as I had not read the manual. I discovered the default setting for HDMI was 1080p24 and since I was plugging into my VP50Pro with older firmware it would not pass the 24 through. I bypassed the VP50Pro processor and connected the projector direct and it worked fine. Then I reset the PS3 for 1080p60 output and reconnected the VP50Pro so I could tap its HDMI switching feature.

The performance of the PS3 with the IR remote control is great. Right away I noticed the speed on a new disk. With the Samsung, I had to wait 15 seconds for the tray to open after pressing the button and then some disks would take 5 minutes to load if they loaded at all. The PS3 takes the disk and even the Prom Night which loads slow took just a few seconds to get to the previews and then I could skip past those and begin to play. I'm impressed.

Another feature I think I will enjoy is having a web browser in the home theater. No longer will I need to run to the other room or have a laptop handy to check something on the internet. I don't know how capable this will be but it would be nice to have a wireless keyboard and mouse. Anyone else doing this?
The XBOX may be a better game machine but I am thinking the PS3 is a better accessory for the home theater.

 

[Zookster]

Another feature I think I will enjoy is having a web browser in the home theater. No longer will I need to run to the other room or have a laptop handy to check something on the internet. I don't know how capable this will be but it would be nice to have a wireless keyboard and mouse. Anyone else doing this?
The XBOX may be a better game machine but I am thinking the PS3 is a better accessory for the home theater.

As much as I love the PS3, I was quite disappointed in the web browsing functionality. Perhaps it was because I'm connecting to a 34" 1080i CRT TV, but I was unable to read most Web pages at standard full screen resolutions. I had to zoom in on everything, standing a foot or two from my TV, just to read anything.

Also, it's not like browsing with MS Internet Explorer, or even Safari or Firefox. It's very cumbersome, I found, but then again due to the resolution issues, I didn't play around with it enough to get used to their system and menus.

I wouldn't bother buying a wireless keyboard or mouse until you see if it will work for you. Me, I'd rather drag my laptop into the living room.

 

[TheForce]

Zookster- I understand. The difference is I am looking at a much larger and much higher resolution screen. I can read the text on a google search page quite easily from a distance of 15 ft. My biggest difficulty was the typing in the on screen keyboard. The auto suggest speller was a big help but a keyboard would be much nicer, IMO.
Last evening, actually early this morning I wanted to watch Michelle Obama's speech and as it was so new, finding it wasn't easy. I ended up searching through digg site and then found the entire 19 minute speech and when the embedded video was only 1/6 screen size I discovered the Zoom feature on the controller and that worked nicely, even for the low quality video the poster did. I can see a good keyboard will make my desire to do quick internet references a reality for me.
I found a $60 Keyboard designed for the PS3 from Logitec that is BT and has a mouse pad. Should do the trick. I'll report back on how it works out later in the week.

Note that I don't intend to do laptop level work in my home theater on the projector, just have the ability to do a quick informational search and minor research when necessary. I wish the keyboard did light up though.

 

[TheForce]

I got this Logitech Blue Tooth keyboard and touch pad combo paired now to the PS3 and I'm typing this response right now. OK, so it is a bit slower than sitting at my work station but using the keyboard with the PS3 is about 90 % as easy. I need to get used to how to control the browser better but that will come with time. As far as the keyboard is concerned, I'm typing at my full speed and it is working fine. The touch pad works well too. Only complaint is that I have to turn up the room lightingand wish the keyboard had a light. Too bad Logitech didn't have the foresight to put a USB power jack for an led light like I use on my laptop.

BTW- Once in satelliteguys.us the PS3 on screen look is identical to my IE display on my computer. It does feel strange that I'm sitting 15 feet away and looking at a 92" wide display of the forum.

 

[waltinvt]

The only possible BD feature coming down the road that I see is maybe going to more layers. Maybe the PS3 can read up to 4 layers (I doubt it) but beyond that- no way. However, I also don't see that catching on for movies, if indeed they ever release these 400 & 500 GB models. If they do, it's years off and nothing on the market today would work with them. That size will be for data storage.

Even the murmurings about 3D movies are moot- the PS3 can handle it. Remember, the PS3 has way more than the minimum required memory and way more CPU horsepower.

I also am no gamer and have no games for my PS3.

Aw come on, you know you enjoyed that "Drake's Fortune" demo. Seriously though, gaming aside, the PS3 is still a great all around BD player. Just spend the extra $25 for the dedicated remote as the vibrating sixaxis is a bit much for simple dvd playing .

OH and btw, don't be afraid to go for the full version of "Uncharted" - it's a way fun game.

 

[waltinvt]

I bought a bundle on amazon for $409 shipped (40GB), remote and Spiderman 3 Blu-ray; not sure how that deal stacks up vs others online; but it sure beats what I can find local after taxes and my time. Got 3 movies that should come tomorrow in the mail via Blockbuster online (unlimited, 3 out, with free in-store returns for $19.99 / mo AND a $25 credit by using PayPal)

That's similar to our deal at BestBuy. We got $100 off buying it with a Sony LCD so it ended up being $399 (no tax in NH) and they gave us a 3 pak of BDs but I can't remember the titles (and I'm too lazy to go downstairs and look). I know "Invincible" is one.

 

[waltinvt]

So what is it the PS3, as a Blu-ray device, won't do? All I want it to do is play my movies well; and output multi-channel audio to my A/V receiver just like my current DVD player does. Screw the internet and other crap.

It's a great BD player and more. It's built in wireless is simple and besides keeping the unit current with firmware upgrades, you can download games & movies (rent or purchase), check email and even cruise SatGuys.

But if you do get into gaming, the graphics are stunning and being able to download free demos is a great way to try something out before sinking $60 into the full version.

On the minus side, I find our A3 HD-DVD player does a better job up converting regular dvds but the PS3 doing a 1080 24p BD is IMO the best viewing experience I've had yet! The only other (minor) aggravation is (because of bluetooth I guess) there doesn't seem to be a way to control it with another remote.

 

[hbk409]

The only other (minor) aggravation is (because of bluetooth I guess) there doesn't seem to be a way to control it with another remote.

you could get this Amazon.com: PlayStation 3 Blu Wave Remote: Video Games
and if you have a learning remote program it for the ps3

 

[waltinvt]

you could get this Amazon.com: PlayStation 3 Blu Wave Remote: Video Games
and if you have a learning remote program it for the ps3

Excellent, thanks.

 

[TheForce]

Walt- I have yet to test this so consider it a theory for now-

The IR remote you can buy comes with a dongle you plug into the front USB port and installs very easy. Now that the PS3 can respond to IR commands, I plan to add those commands in IR lingo to my Home Theater Master and put the IR PS3 remote away but just keep the dongle connected. I believe that should work. No codes, just a learning remote.
I have already tested the keyboard that connects via Blue Tooth and it works quite well but I didn't mention that having the BT KB connected doesn't undo the IR remote nor the gamer control that I really find alien to my Home theater.

Here is a bit more detail on that remote.

So far, my experience with the PS3 sans gaming, has been very positive. It has not only added a Blue Ray player that has yet to suffer the glitches I get on my other 3 - THREE thats right THREE players. So that part is very nice and it works like a set top box player with the IR remote control. But to my surprise, it adds web surfing capability now with that keyboard touch pad combo.

Last night I looked at some of my TV shows that are published on the internet for VOD that are in WMV files compressed at 320 x240 and in full 92" screen size they actually looked much better than I expected. Internet video in large screen all looks pretty good with the PS3 including You Tube stuff.