PS3 Blu-ray settings: Ask the Editors
The Sony PlayStation 3 has a lot of settings that pertain to Blu-ray playback.
(Credit: CNET)I had a question regarding hooking up my PS3 to my Panasonic TH-50PZ800U HDTV. I want to use my PS3 as a Blu-ray player for my TV. Would you be able to tell me the best settings/configuration for watching Blu-ray movies? Thanks. -- Khurshid, via e-mail
Well, Khurshid, it's no secret that the PlayStation 3 is the best Blu-ray player-- it's the reference Blu-ray player we use here at CNET, and we're not the only ones. To get the most out of your PS3 as a Blu-ray player, however, you'll need to get the settings right. What follows are the settings we use for our reference PS3 units here at CNET for testing HDTVs, including your Panasonic. The two menus referenced below can be found under the main Settings menu.
BD/DVD menu:
This setting affects how the player deals with film- and video-based standard-def material originating on DVD and Blu-ray. Automatic works well to differentiate between the two.
This setting fills the screen properly when dealing with standard-def content converted to high-def by the PS3.
This setting affects the color space output via the PS3. RGB is best for video games, which use the same color spce as computers, while Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr is best for video, including DVD and Blu-ray discs. Auto usually works to detect the source properly, so we recommend most people stick with this setting. If you experience discoloration or other issues, try another setting.
Most Blu-ray discs are encoded at 1080p/24 natively, which means they have 1,920x1,080 pixels per frame delivered at 24 frames per second, the native film rate. Many HDTVs cannot accept 1080p/24, however, and many more can but don't get any benefit from this setting, and can look choppy or otherwise incorrect. Unless your TV is designed to accept 1080p/24 signals--this includes most LCD models with 120Hz processing, as well as select plasmas with different refresh rates--you should leave this setting turned off. (Khurshid, for your 800U, we recommend choosing Off and ignoring Panasonic's 48Hz mode, which introduces unwelcome flicker). We also recommend avoiding Auto, because it can sometimes mistakenly output an incorrect format.
Display Settings menu:
This setting controls the resolution(s) output by the PS3. You should select all of the resolutions with which your TV is compatible. If you have a TV that can accept 1080p signals, you should select all of the check boxes. On HDTVs that cannot accept 1080p, you should check off every resolution except 1080p. The only exception is if you know your TV looks much better with 720p sources than 1080i. If that's the case, we recommend you leave 1080i unchecked as well.
This setting only applies to S-Video and composite-video output, not HDMI.
This setting controls the range of information output via HDMI. Contrary to what you might think, this setting is best left on Limited for video-based material like Blu-ray and DVD for the majority of HDMI televisions. Some newer HDTVs can receive a slight benefit from Full if calibrated properly, but in general Limited is the best choice, and we use it in the lab to ensure compatibility of the reference player with all displays.
This setting controls whether the PS3 will pass blacker-than-black and whiter-than-white parts of the video signal. It's really only useful during calibration, which is why we leave it turned on. Many discs don't contain material in above white or below black.
Want more information on PS3 settings, particularly those that pertain to audio? Head on over to this excellent thread on AVS forum where every setting is explained accurately and clearly. You may also find the need to consult the PS3 manual. And if you want recommended picture setting for your HDTV, check out our FAQ.
What do you think? Do you agree with these settings or do you prefer others, such as RGB Full Range: Full? Are you happy with your PS3's Blu-ray playback in general? Let us know in comments.
David Katzmaier reviews HDTVs for CNET. E-mail David.
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I take major exception with the generalization that one should just roll over and turn off 24Hz output for blu-ray off. That's like saying "there's a twenty to twenty-five percent chance you have just inherited a mint condition Ferrari like the one from Ferris Bueller/Magnum PI/Miami Vice/whichever one you would love to have, but it will take five minutes of easy work to find. And those five minutes out of your life just isn?t worth it to spend on this task. Besides, you might not even like the Ferrari if you actually had it.? OK, so it?s not as grand as getting a free Ferrari, but if your TV supports 24Hz output, it?s one of the better features of the PS3 and of big screen movies in general. The slower frame rate is what creates the dreamlike effect in the movies, and if your TV supports it, it?s great to have and it doesn?t take much work to find out. You can either look it up on the internet, or you can just turn your system on, pop in a high quality well mastered blu-ray that is encoded in the native 24Hz rate that movies are generally shot in, and see if you get that movie like effect. If you do, then great, leave it turned on. If you don?t and there is a visible degradation in quality, well turn it off. That wasn?t so hard was it? I realize most people are kind of dumb and can?t tell their head from their posterior, but David, if you treat people as stupid and incapable of figuring out simple things like whether or not their TV supports 24 Hz, you are feeding the growing stupidity of America. A lot of things TV related and technical in nature may be over most people?s head and may not be worth explaining. But some things do provide a tangible reward. 24 Hz output is one of those things that provide a great reward and which is rather easy to see if it works on your particular TV. I have a pretty run of the mill Samsung (LNT4661) that?s a very popular mid grade level TV and which handles 24Hz beautifully. I prefer watching blu-ray movies encoded in 24Hz to anything else on my TV specifically because 24Hz creates that dreamy movie effect that 24Hz was intended to create. 60Hz content is more lifelike, but not as much fun because it lacks the magical quality. When content is only available in 60Hz, like say concert footage, I notice right away because of the generally more clinical nature of the video and wish that the material were in 24Hz instead. Why would you just want to take something so great away from other people when it is so easy to determine whether or not 24Hz works?
I appreciate the comment, and if you see a major improvement by in going in at 1080p/24, then by all means keep doing so. But I'm not changing my recommendation.
Nearly every HDTV refreshes at 60Hz (including your Samsung 61F), so what it comes down to is this: where does the conversion take place, the player or the TV? I have seen no benefit to the conversion taking place in the TV as opposed to the player (which is what happens in your case, with the PS3 outputting 1080p/24 to your 60Hz TV), and according to a Samsung labs manager I asked, there is none. That's why, for the vast majority of HD televisions (most of which cannot even accept 1080p/24), the correct setting is Off.
-- David
Of course, the Onkyo can't do that, because it's already receiving 7.1 channels from the PS3, so there's nothing to matrix -- even though 5.1 of those channels happen to consist of dead silence. This infuriates me UNBELIEVABLY, which is why I always find it inexplicable that CNET consistently says there's no benefit to having your Blu-Ray player send DolbyTrueHD in bitstream format. OF COURSE THERE IS! If it sent everything bitstream, then I could have my receiver accept the TrueHD format and decode it, AND the PS3 would send stereo audio bitstream, and the receiver could matrix it... rather than just having the PS3 constantly send 7.1 channels of audio even where there's not a 7.1 channel source, and preventing my receiver from actually, you know, doing its job and using all the speakers.
Anybody have any suggestions? Other than "change your audio output settings before changing every single media you play on the PS3 so that your receiver gets the proper information to process for that particular source"... the kludgiest solution alive.
Another question I have is about shadow detail, which has been hard to get on either set without paying a price. I can't get good shadow detail on the Sony without washing out the whole picture to some degree. The Panasonic plasma has two settings - dark and light - nothing in between. This is insane in a TV with this kind of price tag.
I appreciate any help!
Thank you so much.
This improvement is easily visible in the BBC Blu-ray series "Planet Earth" in the (Disc 1) "Fresh Water" Angel Falls scene. There is more detail of rock surfaces and water droplets and fine detail of vegetation is also improved. Also in the (Disc 1) "From Pole to Pole" episode great white shark scene, this setting shows water droplets striking the water more clearly and with increased three-dimensional rendering. I'm not sure why this would be true, but several comparisons confirmed this to be the case.
When playing SD material I switch the "Upscale" setting back to "Normal" with very good results.
I'm trying to play a BD disc via my PS3 on a standard def TV. I've set the display settings accordingly and turned off 1024p/24fps and yet the image still flickers uncontrollably. I also get this when trying to play video content from the harddrive, (although - biazrrely - I never used to!).
Any suggestions?