I got a BD-35 player for myself this holiday (although I've been really, really BAD), and I must admit that I was expecting some pain in getting it to work. But I am pleased to report that, with only about an hour of fiddling last night, I was able to view the Bladerunner BD version -- and it was so good I almost wet my nappy! Wow, wow, wow...
The reason I wax expecting pain (besides the sorry instruction manual and the general lack of true "plug-n-play" in this industry) is that I am in sort of a transition state between the old world and the new. My receiver is a Pioneer VSX-1016, which has HDMI but only supports video through it (audio has to still be routed through digital coax or optical). Also, my display is the Panasonic TH-50PHD8, which is not full 1080p. In addition, the display was wired with a 60-foot length of AVI cable, so I'm using an HDMI-AVI adapater on the back of the receiver. Lots of possible weak links, huh?
As it turns out, my only real problems were with the receiver, as follows: 1)While the 1016 owner's manual indicates that the "HDMI" light should be illuminated when an HDMI-equipped component is connected, this did not occur and made me crazy for a little bit; 2) It seems that the 1016 does not like having an HDMI input when the HDMI output is not connected.
Ok, so I took digital audio out from the optical port of the BD-35 into the receiver. When I inserted the disc and just went with the factory settings for the BD-35, the receiver indicated "Dolby Digital" for sound. Fine.
I love the movie Bladerunner, and I have it in VHS and regular DVD. For years, I have been looking at it using my Denon 2910, letting the 1016 translate the "regular" soundtrack into 5.1. And it's been good....
...but not like I have just seen. WOW. The color, the detail, the shadow detail, the depth of the image is absolutely just like sitting in a cinema. And that's just 720p!!!! And the surround mix was terrific, with deep, tight LFE but not excessive.
This is a success. Today, I played a regular CD in the BD-35, and I could not tell (from a preliminary listen) any difference between it and my 2910 or my trusty Arcam Alpha 7.
I haven't tried upcoverting a regular DVD, but I'll let you know how that goes.
My next move is getting the VSX-1018 and seeing what that high-def sound is like!!
One question -- how can I see what the true nature of the signal is going into the display (720 p or 1080i or whatever)? Is there some screen I can access for the BD-35 or the display that will tell me?
Cheers for 2009!
