which hd-dvd player to get for my 720p display?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

first things first. yes, i know hd-dvd is dead. i figure the enjoyment of 7 free dvd's will pay for itself, plus the upscaling it will do for regular dvd's.
that plus the cost of a regular quality upscaling dvd player is around the same ballpark WITHOUT free dvd's.

with that said, i will be using this in my panasonic 720p plasma, onkyo sr800 receiver. which player will give me the best bang (features) for the buck?

 

[Shawn]

Just get the A3. Costco has it for $79 now.

 

[Blayze]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Just get the A3. Costco has it for $79 now.

Thats what I would do. Its labeled the D3, but its the same as the A3. Depending on the stock at your Costco you might get 300 and Bourne, or the first 2 Bourne movies. I think the package includes a HDMI cable as well.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

i don't have a costco membership 🙁

so is it still recommended to get the a3? it's $100 at CC, while the a30 is $112 at TigerDirect (a3 is $90 at TD).

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

His receiver can't decode those formats...

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

what's teh diff between the a3 and a30?

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

what's teh diff between the a3 and a30?

1080p

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

what's teh diff between the a3 and a30?

1080p

hmm.. that might be worth the extra $20-30 since i plan on getting a 1080p display down the road.
will it upconvert regular dvd's to 1080p as well?

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

what's teh diff between the a3 and a30?

1080p

hmm.. that might be worth the extra $20-30 since i plan on getting a 1080p display down the road.
will it upconvert regular dvd's to 1080p as well?

Yup

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

His receiver can't decode those formats...

The A35 has 5.1 analog outs so he could still get TrueHD and DD+.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

His receiver can't decode those formats...

The A35 has 5.1 analog outs so he could still get TrueHD and DD+.

can someone briefly explain what bitstreaming is and why i would want it?

 

[pennylane]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

His receiver can't decode those formats...

The A35 has 5.1 analog outs so he could still get TrueHD and DD+.

can someone briefly explain what bitstreaming is and why i would want it?

TrueHD and DD+ are higher resolution audio formats than regular Dolby Digital (in case you didn't know). However, for a couple reasons, surround sound TrueHD and DD+ can't be sent through regular optical/coax cables.

So to get TrueHD and DD+, you can use HDMI from the A35 into the receiver (your receiver would have to support the audio formats through HDMI, which I guess it can't)--this is the bitstreaming TastesLikeChicken was referring to.

The other option is through multi-channel analog outputs that plug into the multi-channel analog inputs of your receiver. Using analog outputs would require an RCA cable for each channel of the audio format (thus, 6 for 5.1 or 8 for 7.1).

If neither of those options is viable, you're stuck with either plain vanilla Dolby Digital, or the A3 (I'm guessing the higher-end players can do this also) can re-encode the higher-res audio formats into plain vanilla DTS, which is a higher bitrate than Dolby Digital, so it may sound better than regular Dolby Digital. I'm not sure if "re-encode" is the right term there. Depending on how much you care about audio, how good your speakers are, etc., this may be good enough for you. DTS can sound pretty good already.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

His receiver can't decode those formats...

The A35 has 5.1 analog outs so he could still get TrueHD and DD+.

I feel like a broken record...

His receiver does not have 6 ch analog inputs.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: fanerman91

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

His receiver can't decode those formats...

The A35 has 5.1 analog outs so he could still get TrueHD and DD+.

can someone briefly explain what bitstreaming is and why i would want it?

TrueHD and DD+ are higher resolution audio formats than regular Dolby Digital (in case you didn't know). However, for a couple reasons, surround sound TrueHD and DD+ can't be sent through regular optical/coax cables.

So to get TrueHD and DD+, you can use HDMI from the A35 into the receiver (your receiver would have to support the audio formats through HDMI, which I guess it can't)--this is the bitstreaming TastesLikeChicken was referring to.

The other option is through multi-channel analog outputs that plug into the multi-channel analog inputs of your receiver. Using analog outputs would require an RCA cable for each channel of the audio format (thus, 6 for 5.1 or 8 for 7.1).

If neither of those options is viable, you're stuck with either plain vanilla Dolby Digital, or the A3 (I'm guessing the higher-end players can do this also) can re-encode the higher-res audio formats into plain vanilla DTS, which is a higher bitrate than Dolby Digital, so it may sound better than regular Dolby Digital. I'm not sure if "re-encode" is the right term there. Depending on how much you care about audio, how good your speakers are, etc., this may be good enough for you. DTS can sound pretty good already.

cool, thx for the explanation.

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

His receiver can't decode those formats...

The A35 has 5.1 analog outs so he could still get TrueHD and DD+.

I feel like a broken record...

His receiver does not have 6 ch analog inputs.

actually i think it does.
Text
Multi-Channel Input = 7.1

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: fanerman91

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

His receiver can't decode those formats...

The A35 has 5.1 analog outs so he could still get TrueHD and DD+.

can someone briefly explain what bitstreaming is and why i would want it?

TrueHD and DD+ are higher resolution audio formats than regular Dolby Digital (in case you didn't know). However, for a couple reasons, surround sound TrueHD and DD+ can't be sent through regular optical/coax cables.

So to get TrueHD and DD+, you can use HDMI from the A35 into the receiver (your receiver would have to support the audio formats through HDMI, which I guess it can't)--this is the bitstreaming TastesLikeChicken was referring to.

The other option is through multi-channel analog outputs that plug into the multi-channel analog inputs of your receiver. Using analog outputs would require an RCA cable for each channel of the audio format (thus, 6 for 5.1 or 8 for 7.1).

If neither of those options is viable, you're stuck with either plain vanilla Dolby Digital, or the A3 (I'm guessing the higher-end players can do this also) can re-encode the higher-res audio formats into plain vanilla DTS, which is a higher bitrate than Dolby Digital, so it may sound better than regular Dolby Digital. I'm not sure if "re-encode" is the right term there. Depending on how much you care about audio, how good your speakers are, etc., this may be good enough for you. DTS can sound pretty good already.

cool, thx for the explanation.

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

His receiver can't decode those formats...

The A35 has 5.1 analog outs so he could still get TrueHD and DD+.

I feel like a broken record...

His receiver does not have 6 ch analog inputs.

actually i think it does.
Text
Multi-Channel Input = 7.1

Ah, my bad. I looked at a picture of the back and couldn't read the text. I didn't see the dedicated sub preout on the right side and assumed those 7.1 inputs were actually preouts. So yes, you could use the A35 to decode the better audio formats. Not sure if you would notice much of a difference with this system however. I can't say for sure as I have not heard the new audio formats yet due to not having a receiver that supports HDMI or a player that can decode the audio.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Ah, my bad. I looked at a picture of the back and couldn't read the text. I didn't see the dedicated sub preout on the right side and assumed those 7.1 inputs were actually preouts. So yes, you could use the A35 to decode the better audio formats. Not sure if you would notice much of a difference with this system however. I can't say for sure as I have not heard the new audio formats yet due to not having a receiver that supports HDMI or a player that can decode the audio.

no prob, i should've done more research before i purchased... i wasn't aware of this trueHD, DD+ stuff.

so let me see if i understand-

the receiver itself does not have a chip to decode TrueHD, DD+.
so i need a player that will decode those formats, and then pass it along to the receiver to output to the 7.1 speakers.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Ah, my bad. I looked at a picture of the back and couldn't read the text. I didn't see the dedicated sub preout on the right side and assumed those 7.1 inputs were actually preouts. So yes, you could use the A35 to decode the better audio formats. Not sure if you would notice much of a difference with this system however. I can't say for sure as I have not heard the new audio formats yet due to not having a receiver that supports HDMI or a player that can decode the audio.

no prob, i should've done more research before i purchased... i wasn't aware of this trueHD, DD+ stuff.

so let me see if i understand-

the receiver itself does not have a chip to decode TrueHD, DD+.
so i need a player that will decode those formats, and then pass it along to the receiver to output to the 7.1 speakers.

Correct. All the receiver will be doing is amplifying and changing individual levels and delay of each signal(to compensate for speaker distance from listener and sensitivity of each speaker).

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

His receiver can't decode those formats...

Oops. My mistake. I read his OP as saying he had the sr805.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Ah, my bad. I looked at a picture of the back and couldn't read the text. I didn't see the dedicated sub preout on the right side and assumed those 7.1 inputs were actually preouts. So yes, you could use the A35 to decode the better audio formats. Not sure if you would notice much of a difference with this system however. I can't say for sure as I have not heard the new audio formats yet due to not having a receiver that supports HDMI or a player that can decode the audio.

no prob, i should've done more research before i purchased... i wasn't aware of this trueHD, DD+ stuff.

so let me see if i understand-

the receiver itself does not have a chip to decode TrueHD, DD+.
so i need a player that will decode those formats, and then pass it along to the receiver to output to the 7.1 speakers.

Correct. All the receiver will be doing is amplifying and changing individual levels and delay of each signal(to compensate for speaker distance from listener and sensitivity of each speaker).

so if the a35 had 7.1 analog outs, i would be able to plug those into the analog ins of the ht-sr800 and get DD+ and TrueHD?
and unfortunately the a35 can only pass those signals through hdmi and the sr800 cannot decode them?
so in the future, if i wanted to get TrueHD, i would need 2 things. a) player that decodes those formats, b) player needs multi channel analog outs.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Ah, my bad. I looked at a picture of the back and couldn't read the text. I didn't see the dedicated sub preout on the right side and assumed those 7.1 inputs were actually preouts. So yes, you could use the A35 to decode the better audio formats. Not sure if you would notice much of a difference with this system however. I can't say for sure as I have not heard the new audio formats yet due to not having a receiver that supports HDMI or a player that can decode the audio.

no prob, i should've done more research before i purchased... i wasn't aware of this trueHD, DD+ stuff.

so let me see if i understand-

the receiver itself does not have a chip to decode TrueHD, DD+.
so i need a player that will decode those formats, and then pass it along to the receiver to output to the 7.1 speakers.

Correct. All the receiver will be doing is amplifying and changing individual levels and delay of each signal(to compensate for speaker distance from listener and sensitivity of each speaker).

so if the a35 had 7.1 analog outs, i would be able to plug those into the analog ins of the ht-sr800 and get DD+ and TrueHD?
and unfortunately the a35 can only pass those signals through hdmi and the sr800 cannot decode them?
so in the future, if i wanted to get TrueHD, i would need 2 things. a) player that decodes those formats, b) player needs multi channel analog outs.

In the future(assuming Blu-ray) you would need either a player capable of bitstreaming the new formats and a receiver capable of decoding them OR a player capable of decoding them(analog outs) and a receiver with 5/6/7.1 analog in(which you have).

 

[JackBurton]

Just get an A35 AND A3. A player (A35) that has bitstream capabilities in the living room and a cheap HD-DVD (upscaling DVD) player (A3) for the bedroom. Hey, that's what I did. 🙂

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Just get an A35 AND A3. A player (A35) that has bitstream capabilities in the living room and a cheap HD-DVD (upscaling DVD) player (A3) for the bedroom. Hey, that's what I did. 🙂

i'd like to get an A35 but they're hard to come by. does it have multi-channel analog outs?

also, an aside question rather than creating another thread.

DD+, TrueHD, DTS-HD, etc. are those only available on HD DVD and BD?

are those ^ formats the only ones that support 7.1 or does regular DD and DTS also do 7.1 (without that prologic business)?

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Just get an A35 AND A3. A player (A35) that has bitstream capabilities in the living room and a cheap HD-DVD (upscaling DVD) player (A3) for the bedroom. Hey, that's what I did. 🙂

i'd like to get an A35 but they're hard to come by. does it have multi-channel analog outs?

also, an aside question rather than creating another thread.

DD+, TrueHD, DTS-HD, etc. are those only available on HD DVD and BD?

are those ^ formats the only ones that support 7.1 or does regular DD and DTS also do 7.1 (without that prologic business)?

DD and DTS do not support 7.1.


As far as I know, DD+, etc. can only be had on HD DVD and BD.

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
The A35 would give you one advantage the others wouldn't - bitstream for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master through your Onkyo. Whether or not that feature justifies the price premium is up to you.

what's teh diff between the a3 and a30?

1080p

hmm.. that might be worth the extra $20-30 since i plan on getting a 1080p display down the road.
will it upconvert regular dvd's to 1080p as well?

a 1080p display would de-interlace the 1080i signal to give the exact same picture. There would be no difference in quality. In your situation, get the a3 for now.