Panasonic DMP-BD55 (DMP-BD55K) Blu-ray Player

[MrBoylan]

Panasonic does it again with a feature-packed Blu-ray Disc player at an affordable price.

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[don3831]

Seams like you have it going on when it comes to the new Panasonic DMP-BD55
DVD player. I have a Panasonic DMP-BD30K & Yamaha Receiver 3800. I'm a
little confused about decoders, which product has them and what can they
decode. I have a 7.1 speaker set up but can't get DTS-HD or True Dolby HD
audio. I have demo Blu-ray dvd which will output 5.1 and 6.1 but when it
comes to 7.1 I'm not getting it. Also on the demo DVD it has audio test
tones for DTS-HD no sound out of the rear surround speakers. I do get sound
from them and the same time in 6.1 mode.
Is this because the DMP-BD 30 doesn't have decoders built in for DTS-HD &
Ture Dolby HD. And what Bitstream I was thinking about buying this new DB55 or DB35 when it comes out.


Thanks, for any input
Don

[MrBoylan]

Seams like you have it going on when it comes to the new Panasonic DMP-BD55 DVD player.

Thanks. I try.

I have a Panasonic DMP-BD30K & Yamaha Receiver 3800. I'm a
little confused about decoders, which product has them and what can they
decode. I have a 7.1 speaker set up but can't get DTS-HD or True Dolby HD
audio. I have demo Blu-ray dvd which will output 5.1 and 6.1 but when it
comes to 7.1 I'm not getting it. Also on the demo DVD it has audio test
tones for DTS-HD no sound out of the rear surround speakers. I do get sound
from them and the same time in 6.1 mode.

Is this because the DMP-BD 30 doesn't have decoders built in for DTS-HD &
Ture Dolby HD. And what Bitstream I was thinking about buying this new DB55 or DB35 when it comes out.

Thanks, for any input
Don

Hi, Don and welcome to the forum! Your BD30 should be able to pass any Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD signal to your Yamaha RX-V3800 receiver as long as you set the digital audio output to "bitstream" in the Audio Set-up Menu for both formats. To get to this setting, enter the BD30's set-up menu, then select "Audio" then "Digital Audio Output." You also *must* set "BD Secondary Audio" output to "Off." There's a screen cap in my BD30 review which might help (Look in the "Big Sound" section).

If you don't do this (if the outputs are set to "PCM" or if the secondary audio is on) then you may not get all of your channels. Please confirm that your settings are as described above and try again and let me know if that helps.

In order to bitstream the next generation surround codecs to your receiver you do have to disable the secondary audio output. This means you won't hear anything from PIP commentary tracks on BonusView-enabled Blu-ray titles. But you can always switch it back to "PCM" in the menu if you want to listen to commentary tracks.

The newer BD35 and BD55 Blu-ray players do have on-board decoders which decode the DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD soundtracks to full resolution PCM multi-channel out, so you can get your full resolution audio and the secondary audio track at the same time.

Which demo disc are you using, by the way? Is it one of the DTS Blu-ray demo discs? And which track is it in 7.1 that is failing? I have a couple of DTS demo discs as well and I can do some testing on the BD55 if it helps.

Do you get the same problem on Dolby TrueHD material or is it only DTS-HD that is failing?

Regards,

-Chris

[don3831]

Chris thanks for the info. Answer to some of your questions.
Audio output set to "bitstream" / BD Secondary Audio output to "Off"
Not that interested in PIP commentary tracks so I will leave it set to the settings above. Which I have been using.
As far as the dvd's I'm using: Blu-Ray Demo Disc - DTS Demo #12 from CES 2008 which has an audio set up with test tones. / The Dolby Blu-Ray demo DVD - The Ultimate Blu-Ray Demonstration Disc "The Sound of High Definition"
Also keep in mind that the audio formats are not lighting up on my reveiver, the HDMI light is on.
It's both formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD

I was also told, which I'm not sure if it's true or not the the dvd player can out put these formats but the receiver has to decode them for play back.

Are the decodes in the newer BD35 and BD55 Blu-ray players different than the DB30?

Thanks Again,
Don

[MrBoylan]

Chris thanks for the info. Answer to some of your questions.
Audio output set to "bitstream" / BD Secondary Audio output to "Off"
Not that interested in PIP commentary tracks so I will leave it set to the settings above. Which I have been using.
As far as the dvd's I'm using: Blu-Ray Demo Disc - DTS Demo #12 from CES 2008 which has an audio set up with test tones. / The Dolby Blu-Ray demo DVD - The Ultimate Blu-Ray Demonstration Disc "The Sound of High Definition"
Also keep in mind that the audio formats are not lighting up on my reveiver, the HDMI light is on.
It's both formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD

Well that's decidedly odd. As long as you have set the HDMI AUDIO output to ON and you have bistream ON for all formats and you have secondary audio OFF then you should be seeing some indication on the Yamaha that it is getting a Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD signal. The only connection you should be using between the Blu-ray Player and the receiver is HDMI, right? You don't also have the fiberoptic digital or analog RCA jacks connected to the receiver, do you?

I was also told, which I'm not sure if it's true or not the the dvd player can out put these formats but the receiver has to decode them for play back.

True. The BD30 cannot decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD to PCM but it *can* bitstream them out to a compatible receiver or preamp/processor for decoding.

Are the decodes in the newer BD35 and BD55 Blu-ray players different than the DB30?

Thanks Again,
Don

The BD35 and BD55 can both decode DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD to PCM. The BD55 can also output the surround signal in multi-channel analog (5.1 or 7.1), but this is not something you'd need with your specific receiver.

Anyway, please confirm that HDMI is the only way the player is connected to the receiver and I'll try out those demo discs on a BD50 (which should be similar to the BD30).

Regards,

-Chris

[don3831]

I'll double ck the hook up between the player and the receiver. I believe it has an analog hook-up so the receiver will play the audio to zone 2 when needed. I have a projector out side on the deck, using zone 2 audio (2 channel speaker set-up)

Just looking on Yamaha's web site: My receiver RX-V3800 info listed (· HD audio format signals capability: Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD,
· DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio

Info on the RX-V3900: Decoders for HD Audio formats: Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio (192kHz); Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio

Is there some difference between (signals capability..) my receiver - the 3900 (Decoders for..)

Don

[MrBoylan]

I'll double ck the hook up between the player and the receiver. I believe it has an analog hook-up so the receiver will play the audio to zone 2 when needed. I have a projector out side on the deck, using zone 2 audio (2 channel speaker set-up)

Ah, well this might explain it then. If you have a single input (let's say "DVD") on your receiver which is getting the 2-channel analog audio signal and an audio signal via HDMI, your receiver may be set up to give preference to the analog signal or the receiver might just be configured for the analog input to be active. You may actually be listening to a 2-channel mix decoded to multi-channel via Dolby ProLogic II instead of getting a true multi-channel digital signal.

Here's a couple of other things to check/try: Make sure HDMI AUDIO is set to ON in the Panasonic set-up menu. Now unplug the 2-channel analog audio output from the player entirely. Do you still get sound from your receiver? If you do, does anything change on the receiver's display regarding the surround sound format and does the sound change in any way?

It's possible that you'll need to get into the Yamaha's configuration menu to specify that you want the sound and picture to come from the HDMI input. And then you may need to connect the BD30's analog output to a different input on the receiver in order to route it to zone two.

Anyway, try that and let me know what happens.

Is there some difference between (signals capability..) my receiver - the 3900 (Decoders for..)

Don

The 3800 as on-board decoders for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD. I'm not sure why they chose to change the wording but I know the 3800 has on-board decoding so you should be fine from that perspective. I suspect it's the analog vs. digital input that's causing the problem.

-CB

[don3831]

I'll give it try. I have a new TV coming in this week. As soon as I get everthing hooped up I will send you a message to let you know how it went.

Thanks,
Don

[Darrell Terry]

I just received my Panasonic DMP-BD35 and have a question regarding set-up.
My home theatre is set-up for 1080P with the exception of my projector.
I will be upgrading the projector later this year.

DVD - Panasonic DMP-BD35 Blu-Ray
AV - Onkyo TX-SR875
TV - Infocus IN76
Screen - 106" / 16:9
Connections - All HDMI including projector

The IN76 is native 720P, should I set the output of the BD35 to 720P or 1080P.
Which setting would give me the best/clearest picture and why?

Thanks

[BADuHamel]

I just received my Panasonic DMP-BD35 and have a question regarding set-up.
My home theatre is set-up for 1080P with the exception of my projector.
I will be upgrading the projector later this year.

DVD - Panasonic DMP-BD35 Blu-Ray
AV - Onkyo TX-SR875
TV - Infocus IN76
Screen - 106" / 16:9
Connections - All HDMI including projector

The IN76 is native 720P, should I set the output of the BD35 to 720P or 1080P.
Which setting would give me the best/clearest picture and why?

Thanks

The Panasonics have very good video processors. Personally, I'd let the BD35 do all the scaling and send the native 720p signal into your IN76.