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Another thing that I don’t think was mentioned here, but you need to watch out for, is that even though an A/V receiver may have HDMI 1.3, and all the decoders of the day, you need to check that they actually decode audio from the HDMI port.
I recently bought a Onkyo TX-SR506, only to realise that although it has 3 HDMI inputs, and 1 output, it doesn’t actually do anything with the signal, except pass it on to the TV, so in that instance, it is a very expensive HDMI source switcher! Although I believe the TX-SR576 does.
At the same time, I also have a pioneer PDP-508XD, and have just realised that the only audio that it supports through the HDMI sockets is 2 channel!!

I don't understand why the 'all in one' home theatre blu-ray players don't have HDMI inputs. Seems illogical to me. How do you connect a sat receiver or games console's HDMI outputs.

You've got me worried about my Onkyo TX-SR705 now... gonna check out Onkyo.com

OK, now I see the difference:

* HDMI Pass-Thru (1080p Compatible; 3 Inputs and 1 Output)*
* HDTV-Capable HDMI Video Switching

* A separate audio connection is necessary to process multichannel audio.

That's your TX-SR506.

The spec for my TX-SR705 says: "HDMI 1.3a Audio and Video Processing (3 Inputs and 1 Output)" so I think I'm safe. Unlucky about yours though mate :(

will everyone cut this rubbish about 24fps - it aint that great... in fact I hate it...it is not the ultimate in picture quality

the industry as a whole needs to move to 60fps or higher if they want to advance or they want me to be impressed.

It's a film, not a game - what's the advantage of a 60FPS movie??

The whole point of 24p is that it matches the original film, so you see the movie as the director intended it.

erm...I said the Industry as a whole....
I'm not argueing that 24fps does not match the original film....its that original which needs to change...

24fps has been around since the dawn of time....it needs replacing
and while they are at it....gimme a proper 3d standard

besides - I see 'flicker' at 24fps at projection sizes during fast action esp when panning the eyes - really annoys me...

Well, to start with everyone would have to shoot digitally, since shooting with regular film stock at 60FPS is gonna get rather expensive (and noisy). Then you'll need cameras that shoot at 60FPS - again, that's more cost (I've no idea about the technical requirements / limitations).

I feel bad for you if you see flicker at 24p, as I imagine it's not a wide-spread problem and thus unlikely to be addressed any time soon. Indeed, "3D" is the flavour of the month these days so we're more likely to see development there.

In regards to HD Audio, isn't an A/V reciever that decodes the new HD audio formats a bit redundant? To take advantage of any of the new audio features of Blu-Ray (such as on the fly audio mixing etc) doesnt the player have to do that? Which meants the decoding is being done in the player and output as multichannel PCM. This then means that the reciever does not do any decoding at all.

@Hugo: Should that not be `4:1 (96Hz) or 5:1 (120Hz)` or is this some weird notation that ignores mathematical ratios?

Also if the TVs are `scaling up` the refresh rate then it isn`t really displaying it at 24fps is it? If so what IS the point of 24fps? (I understand the scaling side but 1:1 would seem pointless if its actually worse than scaled fps).

To be honest I don`t know much about the old 24fps malarkey - I have lost touch a bit with TV technology since I became skint (-er than usual) ad not upgraded for nearly 4 years - ouch! :(