I have a Panasonic Home Theater setup (SC-PT770 model) and just upgraded my TV this week to a 50" 1080p Panny plasma. With my home theater, I only have DVD upconvert but I do plan on upgrading to a Blu-Ray player either at the end of this year or sometime next year. Is there a Panasonic Blu-Ray Player/Receiver (that doesn't include the speakers) that I could get so as to avoid having to invest in another set of speakers or total home theater setup?
I just bought the HTIB about three weeks ago and knew I wouldn't be going Blu-Ray until next year probably but I want to plan ahead as best I can while not having to spend $500 on a total Blu-Ray setup right now. What are my options? Am I correct in assuming that using an HDMI cable from a future Blu-Ray player to my current DVD receiver will not work, nor will porting the audio via HDMI from BR-to-TV-to-current DVD receiver (resulting in a loss of audio quality)?
oblioman
10-06-2009, 11:19 PM
I have a Panasonic Home Theater setup (SC-PT770 model) and just upgraded my TV this week to a 50" 1080p Panny plasma. With my home theater, I only have DVD upconvert but I do plan on upgrading to a Blu-Ray player either at the end of this year or sometime next year. Is there a Panasonic Blu-Ray Player/Receiver (that doesn't include the speakers) that I could get so as to avoid having to invest in another set of speakers or total home theater setup?
I just bought the HTIB about three weeks ago and knew I wouldn't be going Blu-Ray until next year probably but I want to plan ahead as best I can while not having to spend $500 on a total Blu-Ray setup right now. What are my options? Am I correct in assuming that using an HDMI cable from a future Blu-Ray player to my current DVD receiver will not work, nor will porting the audio via HDMI from BR-to-TV-to-current DVD receiver (resulting in a loss of audio quality)?
Buy a BD player. Run the HDMI from the BD player to your TV. Run optical from the BD player to your receiver, which can decode DD and DTS. This will give you the best sound possible with your setup.
ShawnMR
10-07-2009, 01:05 PM
Buy a BD player. Run the HDMI from the BD player to your TV. Run optical from the BD player to your receiver, which can decode DD and DTS. This will give you the best sound possible with your setup.
Is there any significant difference (positive or negative) between optical and HDMI audio?
On a related note, I'm using an optical cable from my HD-DVR (Comcast) to my TV which patches the surround through to the home theater. I'm doing this because I couldn't get any audio when I went from the DVR to the HT receiver. Is that normal or is it a problem I may experience with the BD player? I'm just wondering because I wanted to know if this setup is still delivering the best 5.1 sound I can get from my DVR.
Obviously, once I get a BD player, it will be the priority. I'm just trying to learn the minute details about these inputs/outputs and how to maximize them best.
BIslander
10-07-2009, 04:00 PM
Is there any significant difference (positive or negative) between optical and HDMI audio?There's no difference with formats such as DD 5.1 and DTS. HDMI is required for lossless audio. But, lossless is not possible with your receiver. So, optical is just fine.
On a related note, I'm using an optical cable from my HD-DVR (Comcast) to my TV which patches the surround through to the home theater. I'm doing this because I couldn't get any audio when I went from the DVR to the HT receiver. Is that normal or is it a problem I may experience with the BD player?It's not normal. You should get audio from your DVR that way. However, there will be an issue with Blu-rays that have DTS tracks since your receiver cannot decode DTS. Roughly half of all BDs only have DTS tracks.
I'm just wondering because I wanted to know if this setup is still delivering the best 5.1 sound I can get from my DVR.By routing audio through a Panasonic TV, you are almost certainly limited to a stereo PCM output from your DVR. Most TVs only do DD 5.1 from off air TV signals that come through the TV's tuner.
Obviously, once I get a BD player, it will be the priority. I'm just trying to learn the minute details about these inputs/outputs and how to maximize them best.You will need to figure out why you aren't getting audio direct from your DVR to your receiver. Do you have a DVD player you can test and see whether you get audio over optical from it? Also, once you get your BD player, you'll need an optical switch to share the one input on your receiver. Try monoprice.com.
ShawnMR
10-08-2009, 10:33 AM
Thanks for all the information!
It's not normal. You should get audio from your DVR that way. However, there will be an issue with Blu-rays that have DTS tracks since your receiver cannot decode DTS. Roughly half of all BDs only have DTS tracks.
Are you sure? According to the specs and Panny's website, it does have a DTS decoder.
Though I also wanted to mention in regard to my optical cable going from my DVR to the TV that I had called Panasonic's customer support to let them know the problem (that going from the DVR to the surround receiver wasn't producing any audio) and *their* solution was to hook it up from the DVR to the TV. Why would they have suggested that if it should normally work the other way (and the one that makes more sense - to me, at least)?
By routing audio through a Panasonic TV, you are almost certainly limited to a stereo PCM output from your DVR. Most TVs only do DD 5.1 from off air TV signals that come through the TV's tuner.
What is the difference of PCM?
You will need to figure out why you aren't getting audio direct from your DVR to your receiver. Do you have a DVD player you can test and see whether you get audio over optical from it? Also, once you get your BD player, you'll need an optical switch to share the one input on your receiver. Try monoprice.com.
Unfortunately, I do not have another DVD player with any optical or HDMI inputs. I assume you meant that I will need a switch so the BD player and DVR (if I get it working this way) can share the optical input on the receiver?
BIslander
10-08-2009, 02:23 PM
According to the specs and Panny's website, it does have a DTS decoder.Yes. But, that decoder only works when playing discs on the receiver's built-in DVD player, which you won't be using for Blu-ray. The manual says it only does Dolby Digital and PCM from the optical input.
Though I also wanted to mention in regard to my optical cable going from my DVR to the TV that I had called Panasonic's customer support to let them know the problem (that going from the DVR to the surround receiver wasn't producing any audio) and *their* solution was to hook it up from the DVR to the TV. Why would they have suggested that if it should normally work the other way (and the one that makes more sense - to me, at least)?The TV will pass stereo audio that way. But, it's unlikely you will get discrete surround sound through the TV. I'm not aware of any Panasonic TVs that work that way. But, since you already have it hooked up, what kind of audio does your AVR report it is receiving from the TV? Does it ever show a DD 5.1 input? Or, does it always show stereo PCM?
What's the difference of PCM?In this case, the difference is stereo vs. discrete 5.1. The optical interface can send encoded DD 5.1 to a receiver for decoding. But, if the source is already decoded back into PCM, then the output will be downmixed to stereo for transmission over optical. (Without going into a detailed explanation, DD 5.1 is simply a zipped up version of the original PCM. Multichannel PCM tracks are very large and DD 5.1 and DTS are used to save space.)
You should be able to plug the output of your DVR into the optical jack on your receiver and get audio. That's the way the equipment is designed to work. So, you likely have a setup problem with the DVR and/or the receiver that needs to be solved.
PFC5
10-08-2009, 02:56 PM
It might be better to return that HTiB system since you only had it for 3 weeks if there is a 30 day return window.
This is why I recommend that people buy a HTiB system with a real receiver as a separate component so they not only have a fully functioning amp/processor/receiver, but also one that is not proprietary and limited upgrading each component as needs change.
ShawnMR
10-08-2009, 03:51 PM
It might be better to return that HTiB system since you only had it for 3 weeks if there is a 30 day return window.
This is why I recommend that people buy a HTiB system with a real receiver as a separate component so they not only have a fully functioning amp/processor/receiver, but also one that is not proprietary and limited upgrading each component as needs change.
Can you recommend any? I wanted to stay on a budget for now and spend about $250 on this one through an online retailer but if I can get an upgrade-friendly receiver/system that suits my needs right now and then just get a BD player down the road then I may do that.
ShawnMR
10-09-2009, 10:36 AM
I've been doing a little research here and I'm thinking about going with the Panasonic SC-HT56 Blu-Ray HT Receiver ($250) and the Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-Ray player ($150).
Would these be good options for my situation?
Note that I do not need an ultra-high end system right now as I still live in an apartment so that's why I'm looking at consolidating everything to Panny equipment right now.
PFC5
10-09-2009, 11:32 AM
I am not at all impressed with Panasonic's receivers. They are too proprietary IMO.
Look at the cheapest Yamaha, Denon or even Onkyo HTiB that have real receivers. It might cost $100.00 more, but is worth it in the long run to have something you don't have to replace completely.
ShawnMR
10-09-2009, 06:35 PM
I am not at all impressed with Panasonic's receivers. They are too proprietary IMO.
Look at the cheapest Yamaha, Denon or even Onkyo HTiB that have real receivers. It might cost $100.00 more, but is worth it in the long run to have something you don't have to replace completely.
Yea, that's always the downside with system like Panny's but, like I mentioned, I'm still living in an apartment so I don't need anything high-end right now. Honestly, the system will be my main (and only) for about a year or two at the most and will then be decommissioned to the bedroom at which point my new main system will have some heavy financing behind it.
Really, for now, I just need a good system for a small apartment and everything I've heard from my current Panny surround sounds better than any other HTIB I've ever heard.
PFC5
10-09-2009, 10:00 PM
I bet this sounds better AND is upgradeable and industry standard:
http://www.retrevo.com/s/Yamaha-YHT-391-Home-Theater-Systems-review-manual/id/23300dj390/t/1-2/ for only $314.00.
