[JakeJ]

...which means not much.  It's just a function of economy.  The dollar, or whatever denomination is used in your neck of the woods, simply doesn't go as far as we'd like.

I knew I was cutting corners when I bought a Panasonic DMP-BDT225 Smart Wi-Fi 3D Blu-Ray player.  Price $99.99 at the time I clicked "Submit", now $77.09 on Amazon.  But I figured it was a cheap way to find out if Blu-Ray was an upgrade for me when played through my older Panasonic 42" 720p plasma TV.  My ultimate goal was to find out if I would see an appreciable increase in resolution and avoid upgrading the TV too.

I bought three Blu-Ray movie titles for testing and all three did not play.  After installation and setup I got a message saying "Disc not compatible" on all three.  Very depressing.  I sent the player back as defective, no replacement just refund my money.  My old DVD player is an Oppo that was bottom of the line and still works fine so I guess I'll wait and get the current Oppo BD-103.  Kind of a bummer, though, as I still don't know if I really need to upgrade the TV which is a much more significant investment.

So ends my squishy rant about what a $100 will buy in 2013.  But if y'all have opinions about what I can expect from my old 720p plasma with Blu-Ray i'm all ears, or eyes as the case may be.

[RDavidson]

Did you try updating the Panasonic's firmware? As you're new to Blu Ray, this is a fairly common thing that needs to be done and is not unique to any brand, including Oppo.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Ohh......  I feel your pain brother. I feel your pain.

More than likely, the problem you had was with the HDMI/HDCP (layman's terms, "the man" is worried about your bootlegging the material).
Some HDMI equipment won't work with other HDMI equipment. There are no hard and fast guaranteed rules about who plays well with who.

Trust me on that one.   

For $100, the PS3 just recently became outdated when the PS4 came out. I would imagine they're cheap and plentiful on the used market.
They're a fantastic source player. Assuming what's on the other end of that HDMI cord has been blessed by the Content Protection Gods. 

Good luck on your journey. Bluray is cool. You should try again.

Bob

[RDavidson]

Some HDMI equipment won't work with other HDMI equipment. There are no hard and fast guaranteed rules about who plays well with who.

Oh man..........I totally forgot about the stupid HDMI virtual "handshake" that has to happen between equipment. I thought we were pretty much past all that now that we're at HDMI version whatever.
The PS3 is a solid recommendation and a robust system. You can't go wrong with Oppo either.

[JakeJ]

Well now, that is interesting.  So it's possible that the player and the TV were not "playing nice" even though I went with same brand?

The TV is about 5 years old.  That's old enough to cause this?  I am totally not into piracy and do not rip or download ripped movies.  But apparently there has been so much of it that the copyright content lords had to do something about it, yes?  The three titles I bought (from Amazon) are factory made and came with all the standard packaging.  Can I be sure that they are not rips?

I will clarify that maybe I did give up too easily as there was no shipping damage to the outer or inner boxes.  So maybe I should have done my homework as I did read online that firmware updates are done even when stuff is new out of the box.  Computer geek that I am I just didn't realize that something as simple as a cheap player would need a firmware flash right out of the box.  I don't know how new or old this particular model was but it could have been sitting on the shelf for 12, 18, maybe even 24 months.

Oh, I fully plan to try again, I was just trying to do a cheap experiment to see if the TV was up to the task.  Wasn't really looking for 3D but thought maybe the LAN connection might be nice for Netflix.  Part of my entertainment upgrade plans for 2014 is to dump the phone company and get cable internet.  Cell can handle the communications side just fine.

Bob, the PS3 suggestion might be the best alternative.  A brand new PS3 250GB can be had locally for $250 and then I can play some games too.  Been away from gaming for many years.

I lusted for the Oppo BD-105 for about 15 minutes then shook it off as it just doesn't fit my need and plans right now.  I would need to plan to combine my two channel and multi channel rigs into a single entertainment system and room and that's just not financially feasible at this juncture.

I guess I need to sit down and do my homework on this.  Sorry but a $700 TV and $100 Blu-Ray player shouldn't have to shake hands to work IMO.  They should be plug and play.  Sounds like some kind of Microsoft fantasy world, huh?

Thanks for your input, gents.

[wushuliu]

Well now, that is interesting.  So it's possible that the player and the TV were not "playing nice" even though I went with same brand?

The TV is about 5 years old.  That's old enough to cause this?  I am totally not into piracy and do not rip or download ripped movies.  But apparently there has been so much of it that the copyright content lords had to do something about it, yes?  The three titles I bought (from Amazon) are factory made and came with all the standard packaging.  Can I be sure that they are not rips?

I will clarify that maybe I did give up too easily as there was no shipping damage to the outer or inner boxes.  So maybe I should have done my homework as I did read online that firmware updates are done even when stuff is new out of the box.  Computer geek that I am I just didn't realize that something as simple as a cheap player would need a firmware flash right out of the box.  I don't know how new or old this particular model was but it could have been sitting on the shelf for 12, 18, maybe even 24 months.

Oh, I fully plan to try again, I was just trying to do a cheap experiment to see if the TV was up to the task.  Wasn't really looking for 3D but thought maybe the LAN connection might be nice for Netflix.  Part of my entertainment upgrade plans for 2014 is to dump the phone company and get cable internet.  Cell can handle the communications side just fine.

Bob, the PS3 suggestion might be the best alternative.  A brand new PS3 250GB can be had locally for $250 and then I can play some games too.  Been away from gaming for many years.

I lusted for the Oppo BD-105 for about 15 minutes then shook it off as it just doesn't fit my need and plans right now.  I would need to plan to combine my two channel and multi channel rigs into a single entertainment system and room and that's just not financially feasible at this juncture.

I guess I need to sit down and do my homework on this.  Sorry but a $700 TV and $100 Blu-Ray player shouldn't have to shake hands to work IMO.  They should be plug and play.  Sounds like some kind of Microsoft fantasy world, huh?

Thanks for your input, gents.

Your experience is definitely not the norm. Either the player was defective or there was some other issue with setup at play. You do not need to get an Oppo just to use blu ray. And yes even on a 720p the increase in resolution over DVD is not debatable. Granted we are now in the crank 'em out cheep phase of blu ray where even the $100 range gets you cheap build quality so you do need to be more wary. As is common in audio as well, the previous generations were better built.  That said I have had several Panasonic blu ray models and have been impressed with all but the new $50 which has subpar image quality compared to the BDT220.

I would get another Panasonic and try again. Not having blu ray I'd say you're missing out.

EDIT: After looking at Amazon reviews it looks like the 225 is a crappy product rife with issues. Seems that Panasonic's quality control has indeed trended downward the past couple of models. Too bad, their earlier ones were highly rated and their proprietary processor was considered a cut above. I think Secrets of Home Theater Hifi singled them out as having image quality as good as Oppo. I would grab one of the older ones off ebay or third party retailer... I see that my 2yr old BDT210 is now selling for more than I paid for it. Think that says everything.

[Charles Calkins]

JakeJ:
 I've a dvd player and a bluray player. I can honestly say I really can't see much difference in the picture quality between the two. I will say that IMHO the bluray player has better audio sound. I'm talking about surround sound. Not a whole bunch better than the dvd player but just a little bit better sound to my ears.

                                                                             Cheers

                                                                               Charlie

[Doublej]

From what I read about the current crop of Panasonic players you did yourself a favor. If you had got it working it would have subject you to watching ads while using it.

Panasonic does it with their TVs too but supposedly it can be disabled on their TVs but not on their Blu-Ray players.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I've had two issues with the "handshake" in my life.

Several years ago, the Oppo DVD player wouldn't play nice with a Sanyo projector. I returned the Oppo and bought a different DVD player.

This summer, a I went from a PS3 "fattie" (HDMI 1.1 or 1.2?) to a PS3 "slim" (HDMI 1.4) and it wouldn't work with my Harman Kardon receiver. I returned it and bought a new receiver.

So yea, the HDCP is still alive and well.   

Bob

[mcgsxr]

I have not yet felt the pain of this HDMI failure, thankfully!

I wonder if any of the guys comparing DVD vs Blu Ray are connecting to a receiver in between?  Most modern receivers upsample to 1080p prior to sending along the way, so in some cases the engine in the receiver may make the difference very minimal.

I bought a cheap ($60) Samsung Blu Ray in the Spring.  Works fine connected to my Pioneer AVR, then on to the Panny plasma.

[JakeJ]

More good info, guys.  Thank you.  I most definitely haven't given up.

Can anyone say whether they got better sound using a player with coaxial digital sound output vs optical?  My ancient Sony ES-9000ES surround preamp has no HDMI connection so video goes direct to the TV and audio from the Oppo is via coaxial.  I was going to get an optical cable for the Panny but never got that far.

I'm still in the research phase so chime in with your opinions and experiences please!

[srb]

I've consistently (and very subjectively) felt I had better sound with coaxial vs optical.  Analogous to a camera slightly out of focus, the coaxial seems to give me a more focused sound, with leading and trailing edges of notes more precise.

I imagine it's the byproduct of jitter, optical S/PDIF generally having a lot more measureable jitter than coaxial.  The optical transceivers are all very consumer oriented quality, as well as presenting an additional layer of conversion from electrical S/PDIF to optical and back to electrical.

The end result will vary though, depending on how well the receiving DAC re-clocks or reduces jitter.

That being said, if the source component only has an optical output or the receiver/processor/DAC only has an available optical input, then the optical sounds sweet and is the way to go!

Steve

[wushuliu]

JakeJ:
 I've a dvd player and a bluray player. I can honestly say I really can't see much difference in the picture quality between the two.
                                                                           

Wow. I really don't see how that's possible.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Possible problem with the cables?

[Don_S]

I have a Panny DMP BDP210 and it works fine with an older Sharp LCD. Maybe it is the TV but I do not notice much difference in picture quality. I do think audio on Bluray is better in my system. Confession, the audio system for my tv is only small, 2-channel. There is no center channel and no decoding.

[wushuliu]

I have a Panny DMP BDP210 and it works fine with an older Sharp LCD. Maybe it is the TV but I do not notice much difference in picture quality. I do think audio on Bluray is better in my system. Confession, the audio system for my tv is only small, 2-channel. There is no center channel and no decoding.

I guess this is a great example of how different people are in how some see/hear stuff others don't cause that's just hard for me to believe unless someone is using an old pre-HD tv. There is not a single DVD that I own that could possibly be confused with its blu ray counterpart and I have a 720p tv, no exotic cables or anything.

[RDavidson]

Wow. I really don't see how that's possible.

Yeah. Me neither.

Unless the Blu Ray and TV aren't set up correctly to send and receive the HD signal, then yeah, it might not look much better than DVD. Blu Ray players are not plug and play like DVD players mostly were. You have to make sure the Blu Ray is sending the appropriate signal (720p or 1080p) and your TV is set up to receive / display the 720p or 1080p signal via the setup menus.

[sharpsuxx]

Yeah it is kind of a double edged sword with firmware updates.  Basically everything, no matter how cheap is some sort of computer nowadays.  This forces you to occasionally hook it up to the internet for newer sometimes better versions of themselves FOR FREE, but it also means that sometimes a studio uses some new version of software to produce better playback, more features, or better encryption.  this causes the Disc Incompatible error to sometimes happen.  Overall, unless it was some Black Friday knock off version of a Panasonic bluray player, Panasonic makes probably the second best Blu Ray player overall to the new Oppos.  The Oppo does cost at least 5 times as much, but will still need periodic firmware updates.  As far as picture quality, since you are posting on this website I assume you like to tinker.  Most Blu Ray players have endless Menus and sub-menus to tinker in to fiddle with this part or that of the picture, maybe you should check those out as well.  I have been over to friends houses many a time to find their HD TVs hooked up to their "HD" cable boxes, but they hadn't gone into the menu to enable the highest resolutions.

Almost everything requires a little bit of setup now, if you know what you're doing though, you can get a lot more out some devices by fiddling a little bit.

Good Luck,

[JakeJ]

I'll admit I did nothing to update the firmware, nothing to tweak settings, and nothing in basic setup.  The player was billed a as a smart unit so I assumed it would do some snooping and self-configure.  Perhaps I screwed the proverbial pooch on that but the 8 page "destruction" manual made no references to needing to get down and dirty with settings.  Still, my bad and I need do my due diligence.

I also think I'll just buy electronics locally to eliminate the possibility of shipping damage.  Even though Amazon double boxed it there was only padding on two sides to keep the factory box from sliding around in the outer box.  Just sayin'.

[RDavidson]

I'll admit I did nothing to update the firmware, nothing to tweak settings, and nothing in basic setup.  The player was billed a as a smart unit so I assumed it would do some snooping and self-configure.  Perhaps I screwed the proverbial pooch on that but the 8 page "destruction" manual made no references to needing to get down and dirty with settings.  Still, my bad and I need do my due diligence.

I also think I'll just buy electronics locally to eliminate the possibility of shipping damage.  Even though Amazon double boxed it there was only padding on two sides to keep the factory box from sliding around in the outer box.  Just sayin'.

I would go to the sinking ship known as Best Buy, pick up a Blu Ray player to trial, then return it per their return policy (I think 30 days). I hate Best Buy.