Blu-ray Players Buying Tips - ConsumerGuru
What to Look for When Buying Blu-ray Players
GURU says this about buying a Blu-ray Player!The Blu-ray player market is rapidly changing with lower price points and more functionality. It is best to assess needs first along with a budget before being flooded with choices. For example, is internet connectivity necessary for streaming content or is a basic player sufficient? If streaming is desired, will an Ethernet connection suffice or is Wi-Fi necessary? Is on-board decoding necessary with multi-channel analog outputs or is HDMI output sufficient? These are some questions to think about before making a purchase.
What to look for in a Blu-ray player? Blu-ray is all about providing an exceptional audio and visual experience. Its strength is displaying movies in full high definition 1080p and providing high resolution audio. In order to take full advantage of these capabilities, a 1080p HDTV is preferable, an AV receiver and surround sound system. Features to look for are Profile 1.1 support, Profile 2.0 support, DVD upscaling or upconversion, on-board decoding for soundtrack high resolution audio, multi-format file compatibility, network/internet connectivity, streaming video, on-board storage, USB ports, and SD card reader.
DVD upscaling can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer with some doing a better job than others with image quality. DVD upconversion (or upscaling) requires additional pixel generation and this is where quality differences arise. Traditional DVDs (480p) can be played in any Blu-ray player though, so no sacrifices are made on that front.
Profile 1.1 or Profile 2.0 is currently what is offered with Blu-ray players. Profile 1.1 supports BonusView which offers picture-in-picture (PIP) capability. This allows viewing in a small window behind the scenes footage or director commentary while the movie is playing. Profile 2.0 supports BonusView in addition to BD-Live which requires an internet connection typically via an Ethernet port. BD-Live offers downloadable content featuring deleted footage, trailers, message boards, and interactive chats. It requires additional storage for the downloadable content and some players offers on-board storage. Otherwise, a USB port or SD card slot is utilized. This is something to look for if BD-Live is of interest.
The latest offering on Blu-ray players with Profile 2.0 is multi-media streaming with content from Netflix, CinemaNow, Amazon On Demand Video, YouTube and Pandora. Some manufacturers also have applications displaying weather, news, and stock quotes. These options vary by manufacturer and seem to add a cool factor.
Now, with all this internet connectivity and streaming content, Wi-Fi has become a popular feature. Wi-Fi support on all Profile 2.0 compliant models is convenient and tends to increase the price of the player. On some models, it allows streaming content from a network connected PC.
Lastly, there are varying options in terms of audio support and decoding. There are different audio formats supported on Blu-ray discs: Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, dts-HD High Resolution, dts-HD Master Audio, and Linear PCM (LPCM). The difference is primarily in lossy versus lossless compression. Dolby Digital Plus and dts-HD High Resolution use lossy compression which means some data is lost in the compression process. Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Master audio use lossless compression which does not sacrifice any information producing studio master quality. Linear PCM is the universal format and all formats are converted to it which is called decoding. It is either done via the Blu-ray player or AV receiver.
On-board decoding means the Blu-ray player handles the conversion to LPCM format and outputs it via HDMI or multi-channel analog outputs. Multi-channel analog output support is a feature to look for if desired. If the player does not have on-board decoding, it may pass the output to a compatible AV receiver where the decoding can take place. All Blu-ray players will have various logos displaying what they support and are capable of decoding on-board. In short, Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio in theory produce audio quality equal to the studio master. So, audiophiles will look for that feature support.
The Blu-ray marketplace is quickly evolving with new features and dropping prices. The basics are covered here and should simplify the buying process.