Let's Discuss HD Combo Players!

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 24 Jul 2007, 17:35

I've tested juderry bits, and they seem the same. Perhaps it's LCD response time, but it looks more like judder to me.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 24 Jul 2007, 18:15

I'm pretty sure that most LCD screens with 24Hz support simply take the 24Hz, and use 3:2 pulldown to convert it into 60Hz. That is why I am seeing no improvement, *sigh*.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 25 Jul 2007, 14:15

You didn't read my post at all did you?!

All LCD & plasma screens have to be able to use 3:2 pulldown to convert the 24 FPS source into 60Hz! That is, unless they support a multiple of 24 (usually 72Hz), whereby they use 3:3 pulldown which eliminates the judder because every frame is shown 3 times each (smooth motion).

I would be very surprised if your LCD TV supports 72Hz. To my knowledge very few LCD / plasma TVs support 72Hz. In fact, the only ones that spring to mind are the stupidly expensive (and burn-prone) Pioneer plasmas support 72Hz...

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 25 Jul 2007, 14:40

What I'm saying is, mine accepts a 24Hz signal, and then uses 3:2 pulldown to output it at 60Hz. Normal LCDs don't accept a 24Hz signal, they accept a 60Hz signal outputted by the player. Yes, I did read your post.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 Aug 2007, 18:28

WOW the Samsung Combo has an RRP of only £375 but has been delayed in Europe to October:

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news. ... nced.phtml

£375 for an BD + HD-DVD + Full BD-Java (hopefully) Player - WOW!

Some screenshots, even confirming 7.1 Analogue output:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/bd_up5000/

Fingers crossed it does support BD-Java properly, it does have the Java logo on the back after all.

You do have to wonder why they bother to put Composite and S-Video outputs. I guess so you can play DVDs using it on a standard TV.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 21 Aug 2007, 21:46

surely the usa version of the samsung would be the one to get,given the vastly superior choice of usa blu-ray discs.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Aug 2007, 03:21

Oh agreed for sure. I just meant at that price it's worth pointing out but Tom says it's wrong:

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... 9151#89151

Are there that many more USA to UK discs then?

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 22 Aug 2007, 09:33

bradavon wrote:Are there that many more USA to UK discs then?

Yes, the Lionsgate releases. Region A also includes all of East Asia (all the countries of relevance anyway).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 Sep 2007, 13:41

Lots of info on the upcoming Samsung Combo Player:

Now locked but 10 pages - http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=508200
Current thread confirming the initial BD profile will only be 1.0 - http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=612513

It's suspected Samsung will soon be confirming a 1.1 profile playing player (1.1 is the minimum profile that support BD-Java). It's also suspected all the BD hardware makers are rushing players out before the October deadline.

The UK version is up for pre-order at Amazon for £529.99 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-BD-UP50 ... B000VBKVOI

I'm waiting until Samsung releases a version that supports at least 1.1. I've waited this long I can wait a while longer.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 02 Sep 2007, 18:16

Venturer are releasing the first budget HD-DVD player soon,around $150 i believe.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Sep 2007, 16:15

It's getting hotter with news that LG this October will be launching their second attempt at a Combo Player, this time with HDi support:

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/ ... next_month
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=616791

It better bloody be BD 1.1! I hope it has 5.1 Analogue too. The price looks good (enough).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Sep 2007, 20:15

According to this the Samsung Combo will support BD Java and is out in October in America, and November in Europe:

http://www.samsungexhibition.com/ifa200 ... 5&select=5

It will also support 1080/24 too. Not long now!

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 24 Sep 2007, 22:00

multiplayer £600

http://www.richersounds.co.uk/showprodu ... 91b0311bcf

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Sep 2007, 22:56

That's the Mark 1 as I'm calling it. Richer Sounds lie it doesn't support BD-Java or at least not full BD-Java.

Thanks though.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 28 Sep 2007, 19:46

wow this is a good deal-might buy it for the bedroom

7 free hd-dvds

or flog my E-1

http://www.av-sales.co.uk/DVD-20/HD-DVD ... 0-369-.htm

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Sep 2007, 22:18

That is a good price. How does it better the E-1?

The Samsung Combo is also a good preorder deal at Amazon for £529 though

(it was £489.99 for a while).

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 28 Sep 2007, 22:27

You can get a 60GB PS3 for £380 or less, PS3+HD-DVD player is a much better buy than any combo player.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 28 Sep 2007, 22:29

bradavon wrote:That is a good price. How does it better the E-1?

The Samsung Combo is also a good preorder deal at Amazon for £529 though (it was £489.99 for a while).

it does 1080p for a start and also has hdmi 1.3.i hear play may be doing the same deal for an amazing £199.99

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Sep 2007, 22:38

Isn't your TV 1080i/720p though? HDMI 1.3 isn't much use unless your Amp can handle any of the Lossless Dolby or DTS-HD Audio formats.

Lourdes wrote:You can get a 60GB PS3 for £380 or less, PS3+HD-DVD player is a much better buy than any combo player.

Nah, both have their place. Neither is the better choice or the other. It depends what you want it for. A dedicated HD Player will give you better AV quality, as good as the PS3 is the technology has moved on since then.

£380+£250 is £630. That's £100 more for a useless games function, for me anyway. The PS3 has no Analogue outputs immediately discounting it for me, they're crucial for me until I upgrade my Amp.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 28 Sep 2007, 22:43

my tv indeed is 1080i but i'm considering going for a 50 incher next year which would definitely be a 1080p model.besides this new player is 3rd generation so theoretically should be an improvement on mine.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 28 Sep 2007, 22:45

from what i've heard the PS3 is the best performing blu-ray player released so far.the first samsung was a disaster apparently and the £1000 panny had issues as well.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 29 Sep 2007, 00:28

saltysam wrote:my tv indeed is 1080i but i'm considering going for a 50 incher next year which would definitely be a 1080p model.

Awesome! My next TV will definitely do 1080p too but I don't want one "much" bigger than 32" (my current TV's size), maybe 37". From what I've found it's rare to find a 1080p TV under 40".

Two HDMI connections would be nice too.

saltysam wrote:besides this new player is 3rd generation so theoretically should be an improvement on mine.

Is there anything you wish would be improved on your player?

saltysam wrote:from what i've heard the PS3 is the best performing blu-ray player released so far.the first samsung was a disaster apparently and the £1000 panny had issues as well.

Those are a wee bit old now. I'm more talking about the models coming out over the next few months. The ones that do 1080p/24 for example.

Also the PS3 cannot output DTS-HD period (meaning all you get is the 1.5Mbps core, i.e - the same as Full-rate DTS on DVD) which the newer players can do.

The PS3 isn't Profile 1.1 compatible, which granted neither is any other Player on the market but those are coming, no word AFAIK on Sony releasing a new 1.1 compatible firmware or even for sure if the PS3 will ever be 1.1 compatible (the hardware "should" be up to the job).

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 29 Sep 2007, 00:59

The 3rd genaration Toshibas will load quicker (takes a while to boot up my second genaration, more on older machines! nearly 60 seconds) and navigating extras etc.. will be quicker, as standard def extras esspecially take ages to load and finished! your looking at a black screen for 20 seconds before and after on mine sometimes!

Picture will be better, sound etc.. basically the 3rd Genaration will be better and more stable, hopefully

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 29 Sep 2007, 00:59

bradavon wrote: Those are a wee bit old now. I'm more talking about the models coming out over the next few months. The ones that do 1080p/24 for example.

The PS3 does. And it constantly gets firmware updates.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Oct 2007, 22:38

The Samsung BD-UP5000 is up for preorder at Dabs and the BT Shop for £468.98 (plus £6.50 postage at DABS, postage at unknown):

http://www.shop.bt.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4QL2
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=4QL2

BT owns Dabs. With Quidco's 3% off it drops to £454.91. £450 is a great price considering all the bang you're getting for your buck.

The USA Region A version is $855.99 here:

http://www.buy.com/prod/samsung-blu-ray ... 67082.html

You can knock $15 off using this link:

http://www.buy.com/retail/coupon.asp?prid=84773074

It seems a bit pricey for US Dollar pricing.

p.s - For those who're interested it's worth keeping an eye on this AV Forums thread:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=612513