I am planning on buying a Panasonic BD 50 but am confused about the 7.1 Dolby TureHD conversion.

I have read that fiber optic audio can only support 5.1 audio and that Dolby TureHD is only available through the HDMI output. I was going to connect the BD 50 HDMI output to my TV and connect the component audio output of the BD 50 to the component audio input of the 990.

If I hook the BD 50 up this way will I lose the Dolby TrueHD sound? Can someone please recommend a better way to hook up the BD 50 player if my thinking is wrong? I would like to make sure I have the cables needed when the BD 50 is available locally.

Thanks again for all your help.

Optical (and coaxial) can only carry a Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 bitstream or PCM stereo. The BD50 can decode TrueHD, DD+, and DTS-HD (including Master Audio), but the only way to deliver that to the Model 990 is via multichannel analog cables. You will want to connect the BD50's multichannel analog output to the 990's 7.1 Direct input, as this will give you access to TrueHD, DD+, DTS-HD, and the multichannel PCM tracks provided on many Blu-ray discs.

This new Panasonic player will be a hot item for those of us that aren’t ready to dive into a new pre/pro or receiver. Even though the BD50 will cost quite a bit more then some other players it will save even more by enabling us to experience the new audio formats with our existing equipment. Hopefully this player will hit the market soon.

skitlboy,

After you score your BD50 we would really like to hear your thoughts on it.
I am really curious on how the DTS-HD MA is going to sound like through the 990.

Thanks again for your help. Component cables it is.

I'd be glad to post a review of the BD 50. I'm really anxious for this thing to come out. Right now I have a Toshiba HD-A30.

It is my understanding that using HDMI for audio you setup the player for bitstream. Would I set the player to PCM when I hook it up to my 990 using the analog inputs?

Thanks again.

I just downloaded an owner's manual for the BD50 and it looks like the analog outputs are only for 5.1. Not sure what to do now. Below is a link to the manual if anyone is interested.

http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPER...MPBD50-MUL.PDF

Thanks again.

Because you aren't using the HDMI output for audio, the digital audio output settings aren't really going to affect you. The multichannel analog output only works because the player is decoding internally, and since the BD50 supports decoding for all of the possible formats it should be always doing that decoding to make the multichannel analog output active.

If you were using the BD50's HDMI output for audio, you would need to choose between "bitstream" (leave the new formats undecoded) and "PCM" (decode them internally and output multichannel PCM).
There are a few options.

One is to get the BD50 and connect it's 5.1 output to the 5.1 portion of the 990's 7.1 input. This will mean that the (small number of) 7.1 titles will be downmixed to 5.1 and that the 5.1 titles (the majority) will be played back with no opportunity to expand to 7.1.

Another is to get the BD50 and use splitters to connect the left and right surround outputs to the left side/back and right side/back surround inputs of the 990's 7.1 analog input. The 7.1 titles will still get downmixed, but now all titles will be played back in a sort of 7.1 (duplicating the side surround signals in the back surrounds).

A third is to wait for someone to start selling a player with the BD50's decoding capabilities and a 7.1 analog output. That could put you into 2009, though.

Link got truncated. Here is a link to the BD50's manual.

Thanks very much for all your help. I'm going to forget about getting the BD50 and go with the Denon DVD-3800BDCI. I has 7.1 analog outputs.

Thanks again.

Have you checked into what processing the 3800BDCI offers for 5.1 tracks? Even though the new formats (DD+, TrueHD, DTS-HD, and even good ol' multichannel PCM) support 7.1, there are still a ton of Blu-ray titles that only provide 5.1 tracks. If the Denon can't do something internally for you (a la Pro Logic IIx), the scenario of a BD50 with splitters might end up being as good as the 3800 overall (and for less than half the money, and for profile 2.0 instead of profile 1.1).

In flipping through the manual, I found no mention of such processing being included (or at least no mention of how to control it, which in my mind amounts to almost the same thing).

Do any of the Blu-Ray players inlude DVD-A or SACD?

I looked for, and answered my own question. I'll have to wait till someone includes all formats before I buy a Blu-ray deck.

At present, there have been no players announced with support for both DVD-Audio and SACD. The PS3 (at least most versions of it) will do SACD, and Panasonic's BD10 will do DVD-Audio, but that's it so far. I think Denon recently mentioned that they were considering support for at least one format in future Blu-ray players, but now I can't find the site that mentioned it. There's some supposition that OPPO Digital might include support for both in whatever they do with Blu-ray, but it's hard to get too fired up for that when there's no official word on specs and the best guess for a release date ends in "2009"...

Is the Pro Logic IIx format significant for use with the 990? I don't see any support for this format in the Denon either. If the Panasonic will end up being as useful as the Denon I'd rather use the jumpers (y-connectors?) with the Panasonic.

I would rather have profile 2.0 but I'm not sure I'd use it for anything other than updates. I'm really not a gamer.

I don't have the technical expertise to know if the Denon is a waste of money or not. I prefer Denon to Panasonic but I don't want to waste my money either. If the Panasonic is more compatible with the 990 then I will go that way.

Thanks again for your help.

Wait for the Sony 550 Blu Ray Player
7.1 analog outs
2.0 Compliant out of the box

It decodes all HD audio formats and puts them out over analog(7.1) or HDMI LPCM
of course if you have a capable processor it can bitstream all formats over HDMI also

The Sony 550 might be the way to go, if it has 7.1 analog output. Having said that, I have a few more thoughts about the Panasonic vs. Denon question.
The 990's 7.1 Direct input (as with just about every other receiver or processor's multichannel analog input) bypasses the processor's DSP section - the 990 does offer bass management, which is rare, but it doesn't offer surround processing. That means that if you want to expand a 5.1 source to 7.1, you need to do it at the player - which is where Pro Logic IIx or something similar comes in.

I don't know that profile 2.0 will have a lot to do with games. It will have more to do with things like downloadable content (extra commentary tracks, bonus features, and the like). The only HD-DVD that I've seen use this (in my meager connection of HD-DVD's) is Transformers. It's not necessarily going to be a terribly big deal.

I see the initial Denon Blu-ray player offerings as a way for Denon to finance some R&D. The feature set for their top-of-the-line player (the one that you need if you want multichannel analog output) is really not substantial enough to justify the $2000 price tag. By comparison, I think that Panasonic is going back to their early DVD player days - from 1998 (when I got into DVD) until around 2002 or maybe even 2003, I recommended Panasonic players to anyone who asked me for help in shopping. They were competitively priced, had good feature sets, and performed very well (no chroma bug, which was a big deal at the time). Starting around 2003, their DVD player offerings took a real hit as players became commodities ($50 players at the grocery stores...). With the BD10A and BD30, they are looking more like the Panasonic of six or eight years ago.

I want to thank you for taking all the time to explain this stuff for me.

My son also mentioned that I should check out the Sony S550. I have to agree that the Sony would probably be the best solution for my system. It certainly has everything I am looking for. Except for being available soon enough for me. I understand it won't be available till September.

Again, thank you for all your help.

When you are using the USB port for the upgrade should'nt I have to move the SVC switch to the down positon before I start?

Thanks
Working up the nerve to do this......RIGHT

Yes, when doing the firmware update with either USB or RS232, you will need to move the switch to SVC.