Is the A30 worth getting

[Viking61]

Regarding the speaker settings on an "A32.5".

With the A35 firmware on an A30 you will have 2 additional options under Sound: 'Digital Direct Audio Mode' and 'Speaker Setting'. The speaker setting has 2 choices; 5.1ch and 2ch. What is the locked speaker setting on a standard A30? Is it 2ch.?

If so, if you have an HD amp and set the speaker setting on an "A32.5" to 5.1ch. Will the sound be better on a film with Dolby True HD or DTS-HD MA sent as PCM than on a regular A30? I mean, will a standard A30 send the sound as 5.1?

P.S. On a sidenote, do you say 'an HD amp' or 'a HD amp'?

[Rich86]

Originally Posted by Viking61

Regarding the speaker settings on an "A32.5".

With the A35 firmware on an A30 you will have 2 additional options under Sound: 'Digital Direct Audio Mode' and 'Speaker Setting'. The speaker setting has 2 choices; 5.1ch and 2ch. What is the locked speaker setting on a standard A30? Is it 2ch.?

If so, if you have an HD amp and set the speaker setting on an "A32.5" to 5.1ch. Will the sound be better on a film with Dolby True HD or DTS-HD MA sent as PCM than on a regular A30? I mean, will a standard A30 send the sound as 5.1?

P.S. On a sidenote, do you say 'an HD amp' or 'a HD amp'?

I can't say for sure since I have not loaded the custom firmware on my A30, but, I believe the "speakers setting" entry effects only the analog output connections of a player, and has no impact on any digital audio stream sent. Since the A30 only has 2 channel analog connections, I would expect a speaker output setting of 5.1 is bound to either strip away all but the left and right front channels - or just confuse the player completely?

[Viking61]

Originally Posted by Rich86

I can't say for sure since I have not loaded the custom firmware on my A30, but, I believe the "speakers setting" entry effects only the analog output connections of a player, and has no impact on any digital audio stream sent. Since the A30 only has 2 channel analog connections, I would expect a speaker output setting of 5.1 is bound to either strip away all but the left and right front channels - or just confuse the player completely?

That sounds like a reasonable explanation for the lack of speaker settings on the A30. Thanks.

[redfirebird2008]

Originally Posted by Rich86

I have had and been using my A30 since December 2007. It has been excellent. I leave video set at "up to 1080p/24", but since my 46" Sharp 1080p LCD can't due 24fps, the player backs off to 1080P/60. I have never seen any video issues with that setting on my TV. I have had firmware 4.0 loaded ever since it came out. I experienced 1 problem with the title "Contract" where the menus would not work correctly fairly early on (firmware 1.3 as I recall). As I recall it was firmware version 3.0 that fixed that for me. I have had no problems with combo discs playing, with the exception of 1 title (I Am Legend) that was defective (the replacement Amazon sent me played perfectly).
All that being said - I would go for an A35 over the A30 if you come across one priced attractively (to get full bitstreaming and analog audio outputs). I actually have a brand new (opened, tested, and boxed back up) A35 stashed away for the future. Enjoy.

Which Sharp model do you have? I have a 60 Hz 46 inch Sharp that can handle 24 fps. I didn't even know about the 24 fps issue until I first popped in a Blu-ray and the TV told me it was running at 24 fps. So then I started researching online and realized that I'd been one of the lucky ones to have a 60 Hz model that can handle it.

[Rich86]

Originally Posted by redfirebird2008

Which Sharp model do you have? I have a 60 Hz 46 inch Sharp that can handle 24 fps. I didn't even know about the 24 fps issue until I first popped in a Blu-ray and the TV told me it was running at 24 fps. So then I started researching online and realized that I'd been one of the lucky ones to have a 60 Hz model that can handle it.

Yeah - the newer Sharp models can handle 24fps. Mine is about 2 1/2 years old and was made before Sharp started supporting 24fps unfortunately. However, we have been extremely pleased with the performance of this TV, and both HD-DVDs & Blu-rays look consistently excellent on it at 1080p/60, so we're still quite happy with it.

[redfirebird2008]

Originally Posted by Rich86

Yeah - the newer Sharp models can handle 24fps. Mine is about 2 1/2 years old and was made before Sharp started supporting 24fps unfortunately. However, we have been extremely pleased with the performance of this TV, and both HD-DVDs & Blu-rays look consistently excellent on it at 1080p/60, so we're still quite happy with it.

I got mine in May 2008 but it was officially released in the fall of 2007. It's part of the D64U series. If I'm not mistaken, the series immediately before D64U did not support 24 fps. I was pretty fortunate to randomly buy a 24 fps TV without even knowing it. I did not buy the thing for gaming. I bought it for watching high def movies primarily. I got a great deal on it (at the time) during a Memorial Day sale at Best Buy. Their normal price was $1800 and I got it for $1400. It's amazing how fast the technology has changed in a year and a half though. I've seen similar looking TV's from major brands for under $1000 at normal prices (not on sale) lately.

I have to say I've been very happy with my TV. Only thing I don't like about it is the digital tuner. The channel numbers don't seem to match. For instance, NBC is on 81.1 instead of the correct 9.1 and Fox is on 81.2 instead of the correct 8.1. CBS is on the correct 7.1 and ABC is on the correct 2.1, but for some reason my local ABC station drops out every couple of minutes. I'm not sure if it's the strength of my TV's tuner or if it's ABC's fault. It took the douche bags a really long time to even bother broadcasting in HD. In fact, they waited until the government forced them to. So it's possible that the dropouts are a result of their signal being lousy.

[Splicer]

For instance, NBC is on 81.1 instead of the correct 9.1 and Fox is on 81.2 instead of the correct 8.1. CBS is on the correct 7.1 and ABC is on the correct 2.1, but for some reason my local ABC station drops out every couple of minutes. I'm not sure if it's the strength of my TV's tuner or if it's ABC's fault. It took the douche bags a really long time to even bother broadcasting in HD. In fact, they waited until the government forced them to. So it's possible that the dropouts are a result of their signal being lousy.

Chances are this is not the TV's fault. If the stations are not sending out the proper information that your set cannot decode then you get what you are getting now. From the channels you are listing, you are using the TV's QAM tuner to pick up unscrambled cable channels. I may be wrong, you have to confirm or deny if you want any help with this. But if you are using the QAM tuner then this is how the cable co is sending out the information and there is no TV in the world that can change it.

Now the dropouts, if you are using QAM is a signal issue either from the cable co (unlikely but possible) or your home wiring (likely and actually probable). If you are using an antenna then the dropouts are most likely a reception issue, not because of low signal strength of the station but because of either multipath, distance from the transmitting tower, wrong antenna type or wrong antenna position.

This isn't the thread for discussing these issues, but if you are interested in resolving them, feel free to start a new thread, or better yet, PM me with the info I requested about your setup and I will do what I can to help you out.

[redfirebird2008]

Splicer, I sent you a PM.