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Blue Ray player advice please?

M

Mr Pig

^'- -'^
I'm looking to replace my Blue Ray player but I'm somewhat confused by the new tech and options.

I use it for playing disks, it'd hooked up to a projector (HDMI) and a DAC (Optical). I want to replace it with something that can do more. There is a PC in the room but the PC and Blue Ray player are not connected.

I'd like a player that plays disks, multi-region would be a bonus, but can also play video from the PC and/or over the network. NetFlix for example. I can hook the player up to the network easily. It must have an optical output to feed the DAC or I may be able to use coaxial but it's a long run. Not bothered about streaming from a phone.

What should I be looking for? I've looked at current Blue Ray players but a lot of them seem to have dropped the digital audio outputs in favor of just having a few HDMI outputs.

Fang queue :0)
 
Budget needed to point you at a couple makes/models?

Assuming you want a 4K UHD Blu-Ray not just a bog standard BD?

Bog standard BD - Panasonic T380 with optical is £100 should do all you need features wise.

£2-300 from JohnLewis/Richer/7Oaks will get something decent UHD wise.

None are BD Multiregion out of the box, likely need a chip/switch special kit, £100 or there abouts. Multiregion for DVD is fairly common, often out the box or by a remote handset key press shuffle.

Panasonic, LG and some Sony have some models with Optical out, others have Coax out instead, very few have both.

Apps wise nearly all have the usuals like Netfix/Prime and can play from a PC by DLNA.

Pioneer and Cambridge (Oppo clone) are higher end and generally are less well specced for Apps. Oppo were the dogs but now discontinued and go for silly money.
 
I bought a PS3 that could do all of this, it was Blu-ray with HDD and the ability for apps like Netflix etc
Hardly use it now, not sure what the newer stuff is capable of but Playstation might be an option?
 
I have a Samsung 4K blu ray player, (the M7500) which plays all the main disc formats, and has a very wide range of streaming apps - Netflix, Amazon video, BBC iPlayer, all4, Youtube etc. It has an optical out. It sounds to me like it's the kind of thing you might be after.

The M7500 doesn't have wi-fi, but I connect it with an ethernet cable. There are other models (e.g. the M8500, I think ) that have wi-fi.

However Samsung stopped making 4K blu ray players over a year ago. So you'd have to look at a used one, or buy a different brand. I think Sony and Panasonic are still in this market, but I believe they have a more limited range of apps. (And I had huge problems with a Sony one I tried, which basically wasn't compatible with my telly.)
 
Yeah a PS4 or XBoX is a great option , but in the past people said they wanted a hifi looking box plus the normal style remote is extra and fan noise can be annoying. Using a console as a multimedia hub is very good value though based on all the features you get and it gets regular updates and new Apps like Disney usually ahead of TV’s, Set Top boxes and Blu-rays.
 
I can't recommend a specific model but if you do want multi-region Blu-ray (as opposed to simply multi-region DVD) I'd try these folk - http://mrmdvd.com/catalog/ - I've had two players off them over the years and they've been very helpful.

Mick
 
If you see one you like without digital audio outs, you could try an HDMI audio extracter - that's what I use
 
Thanks for all the replies, excellent! I'll check out some of the options suggested.

We actually have a PlayStation in the house which never gets used! It belongs to my son though who'll be moving out soon, he's got a job out past Helensburgh, and he'll be taking it with him. So it can get not used in his new house ;0) In fact yeah, I need a new player because the current one will get moved through to the TV room to replace the PlayStation.

I'm not bothered about ultra mega definition. The projector is not 4K and I'm happy with it. In fact the TV we have is a plasma which I'm sure is only 720, or whatever you call it, and I think the picture is nicer than a lot of the fancy new TVs I've seen. Has a natural look to it, a lot of newer TVs look 'digital'.

So an HDMI audio extractor gets the sound from the HDMI cable into a coax or optical cable? That would work. A lot of the players I've seen have two HDMI outputs.

I'm not bothered about buying a used player but I don't want to spend a fortune for features I don't need. The projector is the limiting factor for picture quality anyway and the DAC is dealing with the sound so really just the cheapest box that will keep what I have now but add computer connectivity.

Thank you all again :0)
 
Used to be a simple button shuffle on the handset or use a OneForAll, but that's less common now so best buy it ready hacked, usually only a tenner more than Amazon/Argos. If you buy from an independent they will usually do it for you using a gizmo or you can borrow/buy one yourself, like this:
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=110602620681

Or they use a hacked firmware for the stubborn gits like LG

Oppo made it simples but you'd need to spend a couple/three hundred on a 103EU - good box I have one myself - here's the previous one an 83 fully MultiRegioned BD and DVD http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=274385358560

A Google on the make/model will usually bring up what you need - pretty much all BD Players can be made DVD MultiRegion - some easier than others - or buy a used one off AVForums
 
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Mr Pig said:
So an HDMI audio extractor gets the sound from the HDMI cable into a coax or optical cable? That would work. A lot of the players I've seen have two HDMI outputs.
Click to expand...

Yup.
It also means you can play SACDs (should you have any; and you get a universal disc player), and get the digital out from those as well.
 
I'm not sure if of any interest but I'm selling my friends Pioneer Blu Ray player on AVF.

Not sure if it meets your needs but he asked me to reduce from £120 to £80.

Thanks
 
The Pioneers generally lack some of the Apps/Online Services so I'd double check it's spec. They are nice players though, great build quality.
 
Amber Audio said:
Used to be a simple button shuffle on the handset or use a OneForAll, but that's less common now so best buy it ready hacked, usually only a tenner more than Amazon/Argos.
Click to expand...

I've mailed the eBay seller of the PANASONIC DMP-BDT380EB to ask if it's region free as standard or if they've hacked it. It looks like it might do the job. Pretty similar to what we have, it's a Panasonic player too, but it can stream from other machines etc.

I wonder when they'll stop making DVDs and Blue Rays? I can't see it being too long before so few people are buying them that they can them. I think they'l go the way of the VHS tape soon.
 
I was in the same situation as you as I wanted a blue ray and didn't know what to do.

Did a quick check and ended up buying a Sony from Richer Sounds.

It plays blue rays well and CD's and was only £130. If you pay more it may be better but Sony is the way to go. It also plays SACD's but I can't get the only one to work. Don't know why.
 
fegs said:
I bought a PS3 that could do all of this, it was Blu-ray with HDD and the ability for apps like Netflix etc
Hardly use it now, not sure what the newer stuff is capable of but Playstation might be an option?
Click to expand...
You missed out on a lot. A swiss army's knife will *do* things, but as a knife it's just half as good. The PS3 and PS4 are pretty average as a Blu Ray playing source.

I had a Camridge Azur BD640, really excellent player. Fitted a BR multi-zone chip, it worked brilliantly. The player featured very good sound, excellent picture, miles ahead of the $150 units from the box shifters or any game box.

The Cambridge crapped out after 7 or 8 years service, so I recently replaced it with 4K in the form of a Pioneer UDP-LX500, which is exceptional. The picture is incredible, upscaling of mere blurays is jaw-dropping. Sound is rather good. Build quality is lovely. The archilies heel for some use cases is that it doesn't do the app thing - not an issue as I also use Apple TV 4K, and Amazon Fire HD. Those devices are cheap enough that compromising on a lesser player for features alone would be foolish, in the contect of an AV system; if you were tacking AV onto a main HiFi and wanted streaming capability for music etc you may need to look elsewhere. My next step - get a multi-region bluray chip fitted. It plays 4K BluRay beautifully, and the bonus is they are region-free, too.

HTH
 
daytona600 said:
Pioneer UDP-LX500 +1
Click to expand...

Costs a grand! Remember:

I don't need great audio outputs as it's feeding a DAC.
I don't need ultra high defo picture quality as it's not feeding an ultra high defo projector.

I'm sure it would do the job great but it's about ten times more than I think I'll need to spend by the looks of it.
 
For those with a limited number of non-region-2 DVDs and a region-2 (i.e. Europe only) player...

I have found that makemkv handles all regions even on a region-2 computer drive and the resulting mkv file is region-free.
 
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