Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners BluRay PSIII question?

OK, I've sensed that the PS3 is a killer option for a person to consider interested in getting a Bluray player? From reading the many threads on this forum, it appears it performs better than most of the standalone players on the market.

Also, my kid has a PS2 with many games, and I believe they will play on the PS3 for the most part? If I remember correctly, the 60gB model was the one of choice as it is the most compatible and the 40gb model has some cons?

In addition, there is a guy I work with who has given me the opposite response about the performance of the PS3 for Bluray. He says the picture is not near as good compared to the Xbox with HD DVD driver? Everything I"ve heard is that the PS3 is killer on performance.

Could it be he has something setup incorrectly, or missing a firmware update? He claims he is using HDMI to his 1080p tv and has looked in the setup menus.

Any help would be nice.

Randy, the 40gb is not compatible with PS2 games.

I've used my PS3 to watch "Cars" and "3:10 to Yuma" on Blu-ray, and both looked and sounded spectacular. It really is the best option in terms of a player right now.

I can only speak for myself and my experiences with my PS3, but i'll give you my take and responses to the questions and impressions of others. First, the 40 GB version has a HUGE downside in that it will not play any legacy (PS2/PSone) games at all. I'm confused on why that is. The 60 GB version played the games through a hardware solution, the 80 GB supposedly played the older games through a software solution, which confuses me as to why the 40 GB version can't also play through a software solution. if you can dig up anything on that I'd be interested. So in short, unless you can get your hands on a 60 or 80 GB, don't count on PS2 at all, which isn't the end of the world if you already have a PS2, you can just consider the money you are saving (500$ vs 400$) as saving the cost of a PS2.

Second, I have the Sony 50E2000 (720p), which besides the SSE on the screen, is beautiful and I can't imagine how your friend could feel that the picture was severely lacking. Most people that I have talked to, experts and otherwise feel that the PS3 is definitely the best solution and that no blu ray player is significantly better. The consensus seems to be that besides some of the very early models, the latest generation, and the one before it are all great and none significantly outperform any other, except in bitstreaming the soundtracks vs internally decoding.

I also have the Xbox HD DVD drive, which is very nice, I was surprised with what it can do, but I couldn't say one blows the other away, it all depends on the disc you are watching. Also the downside of the Xbox solution is NO uncompressed soundtracks, a big downside in my book.

I think you should feel just great about a PS3 all said. I'll let you know tomorrow after I listen to some DTS HD MA how much happier I am with my little black box!

Randy,

I have either the 40 gig, or an even smaller version. I don’t recall what it is other than it was the first generation unit to hit the shelves. I do not play games. I bought it for Blue Ray only. My kid plays a couple games on it, but I don’t dare get caught up with that habit. I also bought a Panasonic BD 30 so I could hear DTS-M. I got tired of waiting for the PS3 to decode this format and bought the BD 30 when it came out. I also have a Toshiba HD-A35. I sit 12’ away from an 8’ 2.35 screen. I have all three set up to output 1080P/24.

So, in regards to video performance between the PS3 and the other two, I can’t tell a difference. They all look fantastic. The PS3 is truly an impressive machine. It loads immediately, never gives me trouble in any way and you can do all sorts of cool things with it. Now that it will decode DTS-M (or will shortly), the only two negatives I can think of are: 1) it’s ugly and looks weird on an EQ rack with the other electronics 2) the blue tooth remote and lack of discrete commands.

There’s also a never ending debate in regards to where the decoding needs to take place; the source or the audio processor. I can not tell a difference between the two.

Its appearance is something only you can determine if it is worth worrying about. The remote issue can be over come by using a cheap Bluetooth to IR converter. It still lacks commands, but it does help.

There is also a PS3 bluetooth remote for about $25, which is easy to find, and may be found for cheaper. I assume it works well, although I can't vouch for it personally, i've never found using the game controller to be SO horrible, although one can't help but feel a little dorky. I suggest that mostly because I don't know how much a bluetooth to IR converter is. Just a thought.

I will answer it the most basic way. Does not matter how good HD-DVD looks it is dead. So unless you are into necrophilia it is a moot point. Also I have a PS3 and most titles look great, some not so great but still better than DVD.I just order the IR adapter for $18 so i can use my harmony remote for movies. Will be here thursday can't wait.

Also the official 2.30 update rolled out this morning, i tested it on The Simpsons movie and saw that DTS-HD MA up in the corner, so it's officially the most versatile Blu-Ray player around. Enjoy.

I bought the Nyko IR remote. I programmed it into my Harmony so most of the functions are there, w/ the exception of actually powering on the PS3...

I have a PS3 (for a while anyways) and a Toshiba A2 HD-DVD player.

I rented Batman Begins in BD so I could compare it to the HD version I already owned. I could not tell the difference between the two.

I borrowed the Satellite Dish HDMI connection on my receiver to hook em both up at the same time and flip back and forth using the remote. I couldn't really sync them up and switching took a few seconds for it to go back and forth so it's not overly scientific but If I couldn't tell the difference at this level, I'm certainly not concerned with what I might have missed.

Murph,

What TV are you using? Resolution?

Greg

TV = 46" Rear Projection - Toshiba 46H84
at 1080i

A very nice looking set, IMHO. A dark picture if you change the versicle angle by standing up and walking a bit close but crystal clear when you are sitting down or standing further back.

Randy, piling on here... this reminds me of when I was first asking about Axiom and saying "I heard they are harsh/they have a bad center/etc. etc." and everyone said... "Come on! These things are amazing, whoever said that must have had an axe to grind or very particular non-standard listening tests!"

When I watch Blu-Ray on PS3, I still am constantly amazed after having it for about 6 months. The picture quality is nothing short of stellar on a 92" 1080P projected image. Also, I have the 60GB version, and have once even put a PS2 game into it to confirm it works. Other than that one time, the extra $100 I spent for the 60GB was basically throw away money.

Further, Sony has made it clear they are committed to continuing to update the PS3 with new features and functionality through regular firmware upgrades, which very few if any standalone BR players can do. Now, on top of it all, it has some very cool networking capabilities that allow video and audio streaming from your home network. All in all, it's a very complete package at an amazing price compared to the standalone players that don't do half of what the PS3 does.

With that deal just posted in the other thread to get a 40GB for < $300, I'd be all over it.

Murph,

I have a 1080i and a 1080p Panasonic plasma and there is a significant difference between the two when I view a movie with my Blu-ray player.

Interesting. How big are they and how close do you sit to them?