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Posted By: avdude PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/07/07 03:30 PM
With the rumoured sale/pricedrop on the PS3,I was wondering if anyone who had one already would share there thoughts on it..Is it any good at upscaling regular dvd and how is it as a cd player.. I believe it has the ability to play dvd-a and sacd although it only has digital out for sound... Also do you need to use HDMI to get the upscaling to 1080i/p.. My TV only accepts a 1080p signal through component.. It has HDMI but only displays 1080i through the HDMI imput.. I have heard that you can only watch Blueray through the hdmi... Is this true or can you watch BD when hooked up with component and get 1080p.. Do ps2/1 games get upscaled to 1080 like the X360??? Thanks for any help you can give me .... I tried to poke around the gammer sites but it is hard to tell fact from fiction on those sites.. Hence why i posted this here... Hoping to get a straight answer... if one exists..

Avdude
Posted By: CV Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/07/07 04:23 PM
I don't have all of the answers, but I'll share a couple of things.

The upscaling is all right--better than no upscaling--but I still prefer my Toshiba HD-A1 for watching DVDs. However, some days I'm listening to SACDs, then feel like putting in a DVD, but I don't want to wait for the Toshiba to boot up, so I watch it on the PS3. I don't feel like I'm missing out TOO much.

I use it as my CD player almost all of the time. I can't tell a difference between its CD playback and any other player I've ever owned.

I've only ever had it hooked up via HDMI, so I can't help with your component video questions, and I also don't have any PS2/PS1 games. I'm not sure if they get upscaled or not. If I recall correctly, they're not, unless it was part of a more recent update and I didn't see it slip through.

Oh, and it doesn't play back DVD-Audio discs any more than a regular DVD player will. It will play the Dolby Digital or DTS, but not the advanced resolution portions. Yes, you need the audio to go through HDMI for SACD playback.

Hope I've helped a little!
Posted By: avdude Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/07/07 04:43 PM
Thanks CV.. from poking around the "fanboy" sites it would seem that PS1/2 games are now upscaled after the latest update. To what degree Is not clear.. My reciever can only pass through the hdmi video so the sacd's will have to be playded in my oppo. I will most likely just switch my cable box over to comp from Hdmi to free up an imput for it ..
With a 37" lcd I can not see a difference between 1080i/p they both look great... I don't think it becomes an issue until you reach the 50" or better size..once again thanks for your imput..

Avdude
Posted By: CV Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/07/07 04:59 PM
Yeah, I still have trouble seeing a difference between 1080i/1080p on my 60", but that's just a general impression. I haven't switched back and forth to see how much of a difference I can see.
Posted By: nickbuol Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/07/07 11:21 PM
Quote:

With the rumoured sale/pricedrop on the PS3...




I hate to burst your bubble, but news out as recently as today says that there will be no price cut from Sony... At least not for a while. Some news links...

Despite poor sales, Sony will not cut PS3 price
Sony denies $100 PS3 price cut
Sony has no plans to cut PS3 price

Now on the flip side, I've heard rumors that certain Target stores are going to offer it at $100 off at SOME (by no means "all") stores. Circuit City is thinking about the same.

So some stores may do it, but Sony denies it. Who knows what will actually happen. I jsut wanted to make sure that you knew to check around. One place may have it for the regular $599, and the next $499.

I know that you were more wondering about upscaling, but I thought that since you are doing your homework on that, I could try to help you by encouraging you to call around for the price. Maybe you will get a deal.

Good luck!
Posted By: avdude Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/08/07 12:15 AM
Like I said "rumoured"..It has been confirmed that "some" Target's are already selling for $499 and that starting on the 17th Circut City will sell for $499 for a week..There are spy pics floating around the internet of next week's BB ad for Canada showing a Price of $549 (can).It would seem at the least there is going to be a price drop or at least a tempory sale.. It is widely believed that Sony was going to anounce this at E3 next week.. Of course Sony is going to deny it.. I doubt they want to stall sales for 10 days while people wait for the sale price to kick in.. Either way .. I will be in the US next weekend and if the price is not $549 here before I leave I will hunt down a $499 one in the US while I'm there.. Anyone know of a good site to buy extra controls and stuff from at a good price..

Avdude..
Posted By: JohnK Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/08/07 02:37 AM
Stan, one point to keep in mind is that your TV can't "display 1080i" in any case. It's an inherently progressive scan set with a "native resolution" of 1080, so to even show a complete picture any incoming material which isn't 1080 has to be scaled to that and incoming i material has to be deinterlaced to p; in both cases the set itself would have to do this. So as always the question would be whether a player or receiver would do a visibly better job of scaling or deinterlacing than the set itself does. For example, in your case it's possible that the 1080i input would look just as good as the 1080p input.
Posted By: avdude Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/08/07 03:10 AM
Ya this Acer I have is a little funny.. It accepts a component signal and shows it as "p" 1080, but when the signal is going through the hdmi imput it is only capable of 1080"i".. The Hd chn's on cable hooked up through the HDMI are excelent.. The only other source I have used that put out a 1080p signal was an xbox360 through the comp imput's..With comp the Tv displayed 1080p for games made to output it... Im not a gamer but I'll tell ya Gears of war and stuff that is 1080 is amazing to watch/play. It seems Sony has improved video output(ie upscaling dvd/ps1/2 games, setting of output modes,etc...I just can't seem to find out if these updates enable 1080p through component.. They talk about hd sound only being able to be output through HDMI but you get DTS and dolbypl through the digital out.. I got this set for a great price just to tide me over until I decide what I want in a "big" screen. I didn't find out about the 1080p only through Comp till after but it was still too good of a deal to return.. At the moment I run my oppo and my cable box throught HDMI to the reciver (switching only) to the TV.. HD chnls and original copies of movies are excelent(or at least I'm satisfied) with the pic at 1080i... My next Tv will be able to do whatever the standard is at the time I'm sure.. I guess I'm just fishing for answers as to what I can expect with this sets Inferior HDMI imput that only puts out the "i" if that is the only way to watch BD movies..

Avdude
Posted By: avdude Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/09/07 04:25 AM
It's official .. after all the denials .. Sony has announced that as of Mon July 10 the PS3 60g will be priced at $499us and $549can.. Lets see how long it takes for all the existing stock to dissapear.. lol ...

Avdude
Posted By: nickbuol Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/09/07 01:43 PM
Yup. Those sneaky Japanese.... They "officially" say "NO" just last Friday, just to officially say "YES" today....

Here's the linky...
Sony Drops PS3 Price $100

Sony is so far behind in the "next generation" console race that they HAVE to do something. XBox 360 is still the "champ" in relationship to sales (of course it was out a year longer than the rest), but the Wii is catching up quickly. Of course Microsoft is going to pay a fortune to extend warranties to try to keep their customer base going. It only made sense that Sony try something to spur on sales of the PS3 since they are lagging behind, and price is a critical factor.

Happy shopping to you today. Enjoy your purchase!
Posted By: dllewel Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/09/07 05:39 PM
Was looking at the 60GB sold from Amazon yesterday at $599. Just looked today and it is at $499.
Posted By: avdude Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/09/07 10:15 PM
Yup $524 here this afternooon ... $549 - $25 (coupon BB had for Ps3) So a pretty good deal .. I also used the "new" BB card to get another 10% off the whole purchase.. Planet Earth Tonight !!!! Oh and a BD movie will only output to 1080i through the component.. Looks stellar on my set.. Just incredable.. Happy shopping..

Avdude
Posted By: autoboy Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/10/07 04:04 AM
The PS3 lacks any hardware upscaling and has to do it with software. It make comprimises with the scaling that are not ideal and would not make a good upscaling DVD player. Your scaler in your TV would likely outperform it unless you have a really bad TV.
Posted By: nickbuol Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/10/07 05:27 PM
Quote:

The PS3 lacks any hardware upscaling and has to do it with software. It make comprimises with the scaling that are not ideal and would not make a good upscaling DVD player. Your scaler in your TV would likely outperform it unless you have a really bad TV.




WOW... You signed up as a member 7 months ago, and this is your first post?

Ah, welcome to the forums, I guess...

OH, looks like the XBOX 360 will go down $50 now too... If only they had the option to have the HD-DVD INSIDE the unit and not as an external peripheral....
Posted By: autoboy Re: PS3 as Upsacle dvd/ cd player??? - 07/11/07 12:25 AM
Quote:


WOW... You signed up as a member 7 months ago, and this is your first post?

Ah, welcome to the forums, I guess...

OH, looks like the XBOX 360 will go down $50 now too... If only they had the option to have the HD-DVD INSIDE the unit and not as an external peripheral....




Yeah, I guess this is my first post here. I thought I had posted before...As I remember, it seems the only way to search the posts when I signed in was to signup. That is why I signed up but never posted. Thanks to all your historical posts, I was able to find all the info I needed without posting.

7 months ago I picked up:
m60v2
vp100
qs8
SVS PB-12 (I got this one from searching the audioholics forums. The EP500 was a little too expensive for me and I'm loving the SVS PB-12)

This Axiom equipment was the best audio equipment I've ever gotten and now I can't stand the rest of my equipment. (some old B&W 602s and some really old B&W bookshelves with graphite drivers - I don't even know the model. I got them as handme downs when my parents bought a house and the audio system came with it) That is why I am back to the forums considering M3s for my living room. Or maybe pull the m60s out of the HT, put them in the living room, and get some M3s or M2s for the HT. But that is for another thread that I will have to start. Really, I'm getting to be an expert on video quality and I am an expert on silent cheap HTPCs. If you have any questions there PM me. I'm still a noob when it comes to audio.

The Xbox 360 does have scaling hardware that is quite good. All games are rendered in 720p and upscaled to 1080p if you use a VGA or HDMI connection, but DVDs are not scaled (sent out in 480p) and the deinterlacing (progressive scan) from the Xbox 360 is done using a software package from Cyberlink that fails to give great quality because there is no deinterlacing hardware in the 360. However, for HD-DVDs the quality is fantastic because there is no deinterlacing and I really don't care if it is an external box. I also really enjoy the HD movies you can download through Xbox live. Noise for me is not a concern and the starup time is much faster than the standalone players.

The Playstation does not have any scaling hardware and only recently got a software update that uses software hacks to get 1080p upscaling for DVDs. The quality has proven to be marginal and will never be able to match good hardware. Proper 3:2 pulldown and Inverse Telecine is not really possible with software yet. This could change though with another software update. The PS3 does have a lot of CPU horsepower. Anyways, I hope that explains things
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