HDTV Forum

This Panasonic blu-ray player is bad to the bone!...I love my HD-DVD player too!.... but this Panny rocks. I am watching "Ice Age the Meltdown" and the DTS-HD audio is awesome!...You HAVE to hear this movie!...One thing I was wondering about was when you set the resolutions to "auto" it is supposed to automatically set the player to the best video resolution for your display. Well my projector is native scan 720P and yet on auto the Panny Blu-ray sets to 1080i,,,Anyways, I manually set it to 720P and I like the picture better. Also make sure you leave the audio settings in the default setting. PCM down conversion--off....Dolby Digital----Bitstream....Dolby Digital Plus-----PCM.....DTS----Bitstream....,That last one hung me for a loop, but if you set it to PCM you will lose your rear channels if you have 7.1.....The picture is at least as good as the Tosiba HD-A1 but this player is fast. It acts more like a regular DVD player.

I LOVE THIS THING!!!!....The audio ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....

BTW, I bought it at Tweeters (hifibuys). There you can compare it to the new Pioneer Elite Blu-ray which came out today. The official release is Dec 5th to buy...But they let me flop in a copy of "Eight Below" and switch it from the Panny to the Pioneer.....I could tell no difference...they were both excellent!...The Pioneer is 1500.00 and the Panny is on sale for 1049.99...

The store was the Kennisaw location on Barrett Prkwy near Hwy 41...Next to CC.

Well, I had some problems with my Panny Blu-ray player...(was not able to do 1.2 upgrade)...anyways, when I got up to hifibuys (Tweeters)...They didn't have any more to exchange so he asked if I wanted the Pioneer Elite for $1249.99 I said yeah!...So anyways he let me take the Panasonic floor model (in hopes that the 1.2 updrade will work on it)...if not at least I can use it until the Pioneer's come in on the 4th of Dec!!!!...That's right!...He checked with his inventory and he said the Pioneer's are coming 1 day early and that they were only getting so many units...So I will be getting the first one!...Will post my findings on the unit on the 5th...I am kinda pumped...The sale just started today on the Pioneer BDP-HD1. You can buy at tweeters for $1249.99 and pick up on Dec 4th. I will post my findings on the new Pioneer... Just want to add that tyhe Panny is a great player...I think I just got a dud. The loaner they gave me did accept the update and I am watching "Kingdom Of Heaven" right now and the picture and sound are incredible...I swear it is better than the HD-A1 Toshiba player...It looks like Blu-ray has caught up and then some................ Richard, This unit is really incredible. If you are ever near Acworth and want to check it out PM me and I'll give you a time and directions....I am really blown away!...This thing makes the Samsung Blu-Ray look like crap.

I swear it is better than the HD-A1 Toshiba player...It looks like Blu-ray has caught up and then some...

Kinda hard to determine unless you are comparing the same movie, from the same master encoded the same way.

Setting it for 1080I or 720P really depends on who has the better scaling. Remember, a picture that appears to look better is not necessarily so. If that was true then ISF calibration would be irrelevant. Either way it will be very hard to determine that since there is no calibration or test disc available yet. On that note, DVE is to be released as an HD DVD/DVD combo within the next week and I look forward to finally making some objective evaluations.

Either way, thanks for the post and I am pleased to hear that these two players are smoking the Samsung as well they should!

The picture is at least as good as the Tosiba HD-A1 but this player is fast. It acts more like a regular DVD player.

That should be resolved with the two new models being released in about 30 days!

I am watching "Kingdom Of Heaven" right now and the picture and sound are incredible...

Just read about that title. It is supposedly the first 50GB bluray disc using the MPEG4 AVC codec. That means it should look and sound really good! I wish the same could be said of the rest of the current library... Saw the 5th Element at Blockbuster - so what, it is the cheese version and Sony has yet to commit a date for the 50GB release...

Richard...Yeah, I read that too about KOH. The audio on this Panny is really good considering the DTS-HD is not enabled yet...There is supposed to be firmware update for this.....It's weird though cause it sounds like it's working now!...The audio is really good!...I don't know if you've heard much about it, but over at AVS everyone that has purchased the Panny has said the same thing. Wife and I just watched the new "Ice Age" flick and WOW!!! ...Simply icredible!...(sound and picture)...Tweeters have treated me great concerning this whole Blu-Ray delay thing...The Sales rep in Merietta said if you buy the Panny he will give you 90 days to return for the Pioneer (which is what I want)...It has ethernet like the HD-DVD players and also does 1080P 24 Frames... Will look sweet sitting next to my VSX-84TXsi... I will be stepping up to the new Panasonic PTAE1000U 1080P projector and when I do I was hoping to retain your services for calibration...I am finally in a financial position to do this...Happy thanksgiving!

Hard to believe the sound can get better but it can. At this time you are listening to the bit stream used at your local cinemaplex which has the least compression; SD DVD used far more compression to get it all to fit ini some cases slightly better than MP3. Back to Bluray cheese, most of their library is native 16/24 bit stream, ARGH. The HD audio side of this is no compression at all and either 24/96 or 24/192 bitstreams; yes, it can get a lot better!

Looks like we all may have that Panny FP... I am thinking about getting one too, mostly based on price and hoping the performance is really there to be delivered.

As for the calibration, I look forward to it and you know where to find me...

Decided to take back the Panny blu-ray and get the Sony...but only till Pioneer Elite comes out then I'm trading it in for the Elite..Will then sell my PS3 also...I "love" the PS3 but has no IR codes...

Well, I started out with the Panasonic, swapped for the Sony, then bought the PS3...Finally got a Pioneer Elite, and I can't believe it myself but it turns out that in my honest opinion the Panny is the best all around player!...The original Panny I bought was defective, so I (in my haste) went and bought a Sony...Problem with the Sony is no rear channel support through HDMI for PCM+ modes on the receiver, plus it freezes alot. Sooooo, I buy a PS3 and it has lock-up problems as well as no 720P and the SD DVD ability sucks...top it off with no IR remote!...Finally I grab the Holy grail (Pioneer Elite) has great picture, and like the Sony, does 1080P/24...BUT!...No future upgrade support for the new lossless audio formats comming out on Blu-Ray discs. Plus, like the Sony, it does not allow for rear channel support of PCM+ modes such as PCM + PLII X MV etc...So it the end, I wind up going to HiFiBuys and picking up another Panasonic, and this time no lemon!...This unit plays perfectly has no lock-up problems, is going to have firmware updates for all the new audio formats, and even plays java blu-ray discs that will not play on the Sony or the Pioneer!...Such as the movie "Descent"...So alas..."The Silver Lining"...I have the new HD-DVD player HD-XA2 for HD-DVD, and the Panny for Blu-Ray, and I am "finally" one happy camper!...(for now anyways)...

Bought this player from Amazon.com for $699 and am quite happy with it...I also have a Toshiba HD-A2 and like that a lot as well but give a very slight edge to Phillips & Blu-Ray...except the Phillips splash screen is almost unbearably bright white!

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