Curious about tweaks

[cwall99]

I have a Pioneer Elite VSX-82TXS (or whatever the heck it is; I hate Pioneer's nomenclature), and, frankly, for what it's worth, I'm completely happy with it. It has power to spare, tons of connectivity, etc....

The only thing that I'd like to change about it is that it only supports HDMI 1.2. The problem with this, if I understand these things correctly, is that to get the most out of Blu-Ray's video playback capabilities, I need HDMI 1.3 to get all the True Black or True Color stuff that Blu Ray is capable of.

So, is there anyway to upgrade this receiver's HDMI to 1.3? If so, where can I go for more information?

Thanks.

 

[adk highlander]

The bad news is to go from 1.2 to 1.3a requires an actual hardware change and not just a firmware upgrade or software change.

The good news is that there are no or very very few disks that are using deep color. I think the only really thing you are missing is that you have to use a BD player that can process the new high res codecs (TrueHD, DTS Master HD) and send them to the 82 as LPCM. This sounds identical to having a receiver decode the bitstream although you won't see TrueHD on the front of the receiver.

 

[cwall99]

Thanks ADK. And your point, regarding the media out there with the high-res video capability, is well taken. And one that's also affected by my display. Currently, I'm using a 7-year old, 57-inch Sony RPTV. I run an HDMI to DVI cable to it. Unfortunately, it's maximum resolution is 1080i so even if my receiver had all the goodies in it, I'm pretty confident I'd need a new display.

Given the state of the economy, that just ain't gonna happen (especially since I still need a good subwoofer - thinking SVS or Elemental Designs).

Thanks for your note.

BTW, I'm a total Oppo fanboy, and so am considering their BDP-83, but am wanting to find out if anyone's ever going to come out with a Blu Ray Hi-res audio format. I did take a certain amount of solace in Clint DeBoer's recent article that analyzed the different versions of HDMI out there and showed what you said, that there weren't many, if any, BRD titles that took full advantage of the format.

 

[adk highlander]

BTW, I'm a total Oppo fanboy, and so am considering their BDP-83, but am wanting to find out if anyone's ever going to come out with a Blu Ray Hi-res audio format. I did take a certain amount of solace in Clint DeBoer's recent article that analyzed the different versions of HDMI out there and showed what you said, that there weren't many, if any, BRD titles that took full advantage of the format.

I've got a couple of Blu-Ray concert Vids and they offer some of the best sounding material I own. I have Dave Mathews Live at Radio City and Chris Botti and both are reference quality sound and video. Also with the Oppo I got an AIX calibration disk that also has some high res music videos and they are really good as well. The new Neil Young box set has a Blu-Ray version as well so I think that the adoption has already started to some extent.

Oh and by the way the BDP-83 is a great player.

 

[cwall99]

I'm sure of it. I love my DV-980. Stuck here in Detroit's economic doldrums, so the upgrade will have to wait.

I have a number of DVD-A titles (the Brick compilation of all the Talking Heads' studio releases is incredible) and several SACDs, so my little Oppo (sounds like a child's toy) works pretty well for me right now.

I have the Peter Gabriel DVD Play, and have to say it sounds pretty freakin' amazing in DTS. There's a very audible difference when switching to DTS. I'd love to see it re-mastered to Blu-Ray.

 

[MatthewB.]

All you need is HDMI 1.1 currently, the only reason for HDMI 1.3 is for Deep Color and unless your TV supports that and you have media that has that option it is not needed.

You are fine with HDMI 1.2 and are getting the most out of the sound from Blurays, don't worry about it.