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Not a review: Sony Playstation 3

Posted by clarkjohnsen (R) on May 28, 2008 at 10:52:12

Got it on approval, and now I'm sold!

Only downsides: Hot and heavy.

My comparison basis: an Oppo 980, then that plus a Calibre Vantage HD (on loan) with its Silicon Optix Realta chip, said by many to be the best available for deinterlacing and upconverting. Ought to be! The unit retails for $3200. (Out in July, a $700 Gefen with the same chip.)

I had been fairly pleased with the results, but not kilobucks worth.

Then the Sony entered my life. Discounts are virtually unobtainable, but with a Blu-ray remote thrown in, I took the plunge. I had been told that its ability to play DVDs was nonpareil among standalone devices, so I was really more interested in that than in Blu-ray per se.

Now I am here to tell you, with well-made DVDs the result so closely resembles high-def that one needn't obsess over any missing quality.

Point of example: The DVDs of Bones, a series I missed but man! is it great! Even apart from that, the DVDs achieve (either on the Oppo or Oppo combo) an image that's among the best I have ever seen, but on the Sony they're breathtaking.

What's the thing here? Resolution, of course, and noticeably fewer artifacts, but color rendition and range are notably superior; complexions appear more lifelike and all colors are deeper, truer. Closer to film, in a phrase.

Now to Blu-ray discs. I bought a handful, including three for comparison purposes: Black Hawk Down and Gattaca (cf. Superbit editions) and The Searchers (same restoration, on DVD). Omigosh! What a surprise. The Superbits were damn close, and the DVD not bad, on the Sony. Very watchable. One must wonder whether the premium price of admission to Blu-ray is worth it.

Last night I went through and checked out a couple dozen DVDs and discovered that, like audio recordings, the quality varies considerably. More variance than I had noted with any previous player, but no complaining as each and every DVD looked better than ever. Why, I almost watched one!

The Blu-rays themselves I'm saving for company.

What's my stuff? you ask. A JVC D-ILA projector (RS-1), an 8' Da-Lite 1.1 screen (too much gain for a darkened room, but there I am), and a thirty-foot room with a fifteen-foot throw. Up front, a pair of large VMPS towers, and thas' all folks. Just stereo. Most mixes, both film and TV, support it superbly. Plus there's the esthetics: the sound should remain within the general space of the action that's happening through your viewing window.

The television season ends tomorrow with the season finale of Lost. Then for the summer, Movies! Movies! Movies!

clark

PS A word on HD-TV. I receive exclusively OTA, and it looks great. The local ABC outlet does the news in HD and it's still the best signal, if overlit, including Blu-ray, that I have access to. Everything else... falls into place...

PPS On the Sony I find that different discs now manifest with variant frame sizes and aspect ratios. For one thing, most of the Blu-rays are 1.5" taller. Anyone?

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Herbie's Audio Lab

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