So I have an issue with my PS3 playing back movies in 720p. It actually only plays Blu-Ray movies in 480p. I called up the Sony tech support for help and they pushed the blame on everything except the PS3. They said the movie studios only support those resolutions. Which is fine even though I don't see why they can't do 720p as well. Fine I'll except that answer even though I don't get why the PS3 can't downsample te movie to 720p. That's my issue however the final quote by the Sony rep pissed me off. "Why would you want to spend all that money to just watch a movie in only 720p anyways." I guess since I don't live up to their standards of 1080p then I shouldn't support them without checking with them first.

WOW! that's harsh. As much of a fuss as sony has been making about their Blu-Ray drive, you'd think it would support all tiers of HD, not just the top of the line. Sorry to hear that noizy

I know one would think. Oh well my 360 HD DVD plays at 720p.

Unless there's a specific compatibility issue with your TV, it should play them in 720p--mine does on my el cheapo Westinghouse LCD.

I can play everything else on 720p. However according to Sony unless the Blu-Ray disc states it supports 720p then you can't play it in 720p. Also according to them the PS3 can not downscale to 720p only 480p. Oh well that kinda helps me decide on which format would fit my needs.

I've read that the problem is because the PS3 does not have a hardware scaler built into it. If a show is made for 1080p, it can't scale it down to 720p, so it ends up playing at 480p. That is also the problem for people who only have televisions that play 1080i. Any games or movies end up playing in 480p because they are programed for either 1080p or 720p, not 1080i. Hey, it's just another one of those strange things Sony did with the PS3.

It'll be a firmware upgrade when Sony finally gets to it.

The movie isn't really high on the entertainment scale, but Open Season is, without a doubt, the most impressive HD movie I've ever seen. Every damn frame of that thing is jaw-dropping.

i can honestly say i have o faith whatsoever in sony when it comes to the ps3 in my opinion i believe that it has been the biggest flop since the video game crash, cmon look nevery where you go do u see good PR for the ps3 or bad? it may just be me but all i see it bad things and yes another peron with prob whenit comes the the ps3.... do all your selves a favour and buy.....Xbox 360 lol, naw im jus messin,the ps3 is good it jus needs a lil help with some good app's and some harware issues.

Wow. This thread is just what my friend needed to see.

I've been telling him to hold off and just buy a stand alone Blu-Ray player, but he just wouldn't listen to me. He claims he won't play the games, but once that shiny exterior owns you, it will only lead to your own demise.

Just ask Darth Vader!

However, I had the HD DVD addon and I was happy except for the lack of movies. Blu-Ray has all the hot titles. I'll just wait and buy a combo LG player in one year.

Until then, I'll download whatever I can off Xbox Live or...other places.

Thanks for the confirmation of Sony's shady service. My friend will owe me one after this!

I think that the PS3 is a fantastic blu-ray player. For all you having problems not being able to see movies in high def (720p) just set the player to 1080i. If you have a 720p set, there is virtually no difference between 720p and 1080i. The issue will eventually be fixed via an update (something Sony does very frequently, not 2 times a year). Quite bashing Sony. I'm tired of seeing countless posts saying how stupid and horrible Sony is. You'd think that they were attacking you personally.

Or attacking you personally.

To say that Sony is on top of things pertaining to their updating, that is just not the case. At least with the 360, you know when to expect an update. Sony releases them when they feel like, and an issue such as this should affect many in their client base. It isn't a smart business move to not address this issue ASAP. This is old news, and has been on other forums and in tech news like Joystiq.com and engadget. Even with the bad press, SOny still does nothng to fix this problem.

As an aside, Walmart has adopted HD-DVD as their standard. Not a good sign for Blu-Ray.

At least with HD-DVD, the players have built-in scalers. It isn't a software patch.

That's definitely interesting--potentially tide-turning--news. Some of it isn't exactly true, however:



The Samsung is already dropping to $400-$500.

Semantics.

And that is Samsung, not Sony. Samsung has always tried to stick it to Sony, and if they build a blu-ray machine cheaper than Sony, oh well. I am just surprised Sony didn't take the standpont on their players as is well known in the console arena: Take the loss on the hardware, make it up on the software.

Sony could easily win this war by producing players for under $400, taking a hit with the hardware, but sell more blu-ray disks.

Well said.

As far as attacking Sony, I just always have a bad rub with them. I remember working at Gamestop as a manager a few years ago and my Sony rep continuously blasted Microsoft for something or other. I thought it made him look insipid and very jealous.

Broken PS2s, disc errors, LOUSY customer service, and ignorant PS2 loyalists all have added to my loathing for Sony.

To them...bigger is better and the dollar is prime. People keep complaining about Xbox LIVE not having this and that. GOOD! Microsoft will listen. SONY will tell you tough cookies!

Irony.

I've heard Wal-Mart will be carrying HD-DVD stand alone players for about $300 starting in '08. The studios will put their content on what ever sells, be it Blu-Ray, HD-DVD or digital downloads. As the general public gets HD-TV's from Wal-Mart and is looking for something to show what it can do, the $300 HD-DVD player stands a good chance. Theres so much time and so many factors that this 'war' won't end any time soon. I don't have a PS3 or any Blu-ray player, but I did get the HD-DVD drive for the 360. I have about 6-10 HD-DVD's and love the way they look. I've also heard they are working on a 3 layer HD-DVD to make a 51GB disc which would be 1GB more than a 2 layer Blu-Ray disc. I don't know if it will work or will be compatible with current players. That woiuld be the big issue there.

I think it's most likely that digital downloads will take up much of the market and there will be combo format players, hopefully more friendly to the HD-DVD format than the current combo players. There's a good chance that there will be NO winner. Kinda like the DVD+/-R/RW 'war'. (I use -R)

This is pretty interesting. I'm going to see tomorrow...



http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/deals/dealzmodo...r-72-255161.php

Wow, if that's true...awesome deal. Great find.

Looks like the Wal-Mart announcement was a little premature:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/26/fuh-yua...-dvd-statement/

I'd still expect to hear something similar in the very near future though. And hopefully the fact that the Blu-Ray diode production costs have dropped from ~$100 to $7.50 we'll see a drop in those players as well.

I did some research on that $72 dvd player, including calling the store in which it was bought. The store said that they dropped the price as their stock decreased, and some reports even suggested the sku is clearanced in other sam's clubs. The lady at the store said that that price was on a store by store basis, but if the sku is a clearance one, then perhaps we'll be seeing these things drop in price soon. One person was able to take that exact image to best buy and somehow get a price match.

Wow. That's got to be at least worth a try.

Agreed, that's a pretty good idea.