Should I buy a Blu-ray player?

[Kail]

What kind of new tv did you purchase? Obviously, the better tvs will see more of a difference between Blu-Ray and regular DVD.

I bought one the other day and it is clearer than normal DVD's but I only have a 720p HD TV so the difference for me isn't that aparent. The upscaling thing isnt that noticable especially with older films.
All my new films will now be bought in Blue Ray and maybe I will upgrade some of my favourite films in the future. The problem is with HD TV's is that it makes your old films look shit where they looked fine on a standard TV so making you upgrade them to Blu Ray.

The TV says 1388 X 768p resolution on the box. I'm not sure what that means to be honest. Is that good? I did ask as I was paying for it if it would be good for Blu-ray should I decide to go that way, and they said yes. Can someone explain to me what the "upscaling" thing is about? I'm not familiar with that concept.

 

[FordSVT]

BluRay will become seriously popular only once you can buy a good player for $100-150 and the disks come down to about $20 for a new release. No, most people don't care about the occasional sale online where you can get them cheaper, it doesn't matter.

This is the same cycle DVD went through, so I've no doubt BluRay will stay around for a while. Whether or not it will become as popular as VHS or DVD is up for debate.

It might well be one of the last wide-release physical media platforms though, depending on how fast internet infrastructure develops. Even now I hardly buy or rent anything physically any more.

 

[BigFoot]

The TV says 1388 X 768p resolution on the box. I'm not sure what that means to be honest. Is that good? I did ask as I was paying for it if it would be good for Blu-ray should I decide to go that way, and they said yes. Can someone explain to me what the "upscaling" thing is about? I'm not familiar with that concept.

That means you got an HD ready TV. There are also Full HD TVs which use 1920x1080 resolution.

Is that good? Depends mostly on the size of the TV, the viewing distance, and what you plan to watch on it. When viewed from about 2x the diagonal (or less), Full HD makes sense. Otherwise HD ready is just fine. Full HD also makes more sense if you plan to watch a lot of Blu-rays.

Upscaling is basically where the DVD/BD player uses a bunch of algorithms to blow up the video to HD (from SD). Some players (high-end DVD, most BD) do this better then cheaper DVD players. For instance my PS3 does a better job then my $100 Philips DVD player. My Philips still looks much better (when upscaling to 1080p) then my older DVD player which didn't do upscaling.

 

[DBR]

I've had a blu-ray player for a few months, and my only gripe is the cost of movies on that format.

I refuse to double-dip, but the movies I do have on BD look phenomenal. Wall-E, Speed Racer, Hulk, Iron Man, Prince Caspian, and Dark Knight in particular: watching these on my set-up at home was a far, far more enjoyable experience than going to the theater.

Plus, as mentioned, there's up conversion. I had never had this before, but my DVDs look better than they ever did. You can buy a DVD player that up-converts, apparently.

Blu-ray is worth it, IMO.

 

[Kail]

So Blu-ray discs will not look as good as they could on my brand new HD TV, because it's not 1080p?

 

[stoneroses]

So Blu-ray discs will not look as good as they could on my brand new HD TV, because it's not 1080p?

I play play Blyray through a HD ready TV and it still looks loads better than DVD. The quality is really good. I bought some movies I have on DVD to compare and you see detail that you didn't see before. Heroes on Bluray is another thing I bought and again it looks great. i am not just going to go out and buy everything on Bluray though for the sake of it, however when I buy new things now I will buy them on Bluray like Dexter for example.

Here in the UK you can get a player for just £98 now. Not sure how that compares to The US.

 

[jeff lebowski]

So Blu-ray discs will not look as good as they could on my brand new HD TV, because it's not 1080p?

Yeah, I probably wouldn't bother on a 720p tv.

 

[Kail]

So Blu-ray discs will not look as good as they could on my brand new HD TV, because it's not 1080p?

Yeah, I probably wouldn't bother on a 720p tv.

Maybe I'm not understanding this "p" thing. If the box on my TV says it has a 1388 X 768p resolution, is that the same thing as simply 720p? Am I missing something?

 

[Kryton]

p and i stand for progressive scan and interlaced. An interlaced pic is really half-a-pic combined with another half-a-pic, compared to a full pic like progressive scan provides which is what makes it the preferred option. But if not available, 1080i is STILL pretty damn impressive looking..

 

[Bad Bishop]

This article argues that there are obstacles to Blu-ray ever becoming as popular as DVD:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10128598-17.html

 

[Kryton]

If you really want to I could dig up a few links about why vinyl and VHS are superior to digitial....

 

[Bad Bishop]

If you really want to I could dig up a few links about why vinyl and VHS are superior to digital....

Knock yourself out. But the truth is that the difference between DVD and high-def is not as dramatic as DVD vs. VHS.

 

[Kryton]

Oh crap...I just read 'em too...but they're not in my browser history. Must've been at work. I'll check it and get back to you tomorrow (if that isn't too Palin an answer...though she never did get back to Katie on that ).

Actually, I'm not a proponent of those formats...I'm just saying I have read links recently by folks who are. If you're asking me to justify MY opinion, I won't be. I will only be relaying the opinions of those with whom I disagree.

 

[Arrqh]

Any article that's stated reasoning against Blu-Ray is widespread HD streaming is not something I can really take seriously. That sort of thing is becoming more difficult, not easier, thanks to the business practices of the ISP's.

 

[JoeZhang]

Any article that's stated reasoning against Blu-Ray is widespread HD streaming is not something I can really take seriously. That sort of thing is becoming more difficult, not easier, thanks to the business practices of the ISP's.

Really depends where you are - we don't all live in the USA you know and blu-ray is intended to be a global format.

 

[hamudm]

Yes, this is what I would do. Cherry pic the best F/X movies for BR. I own a lot of classic movies, but those are fine on DVD. I don't think they can improve the picture from DVD on a movie made 40 years ago.

Actually, it's often the older titles that benefit the most from BD/HD-DVD re-mastering. Try Watching John Carpenter's The Thing blu-ray and you'll know what I'm talking about

 

[hamudm]

What kind of new tv did you purchase? Obviously, the better tvs will see more of a difference between Blu-Ray and regular DVD.

I bought one the other day and it is clearer than normal DVD's but I only have a 720p HD TV so the difference for me isn't that aparent. The upscaling thing isnt that noticable especially with older films.
All my new films will now be bought in Blue Ray and maybe I will upgrade some of my favourite films in the future. The problem is with HD TV's is that it makes your old films look shit where they looked fine on a standard TV so making you upgrade them to Blu Ray.

The TV says 1388 X 768p resolution on the box. I'm not sure what that means to be honest. Is that good? I did ask as I was paying for it if it would be good for Blu-ray should I decide to go that way, and they said yes. Can someone explain to me what the "upscaling" thing is about? I'm not familiar with that concept.

I have an LG 50pg10, 720p, 50" plasma. It displays a better picture than ANY 1080p TV (LCD or Plasma) in its price range. It's far better than the 1080p I replaced actually! I watched Kung Fu Panda on it today on blu-ray and it was incredible!

It all depends on several factors: resolution, plasma vs. LCD (I firmly believe plasmas inherently have better picture quality), refresh rate (not an issue with plasma), etc... Viewing distance plays a big part too. I watch my 50" from about 10 feet away and I defy anyone to tell me the difference between my TV and any comparable television (price-wise). Even close up, it's razor sharp!

 

[paudemge]

Yes, this is what I would do. Cherry pic the best F/X movies for BR. I own a lot of classic movies, but those are fine on DVD. I don't think they can improve the picture from DVD on a movie made 40 years ago.

Actually, it's often the older titles that benefit the most from BD/HD-DVD re-mastering. Try Watching John Carpenter's The Thing blu-ray and you'll know what I'm talking about

I think 35mm film negative can have around 2400 lines of resolution, much higher than 1080. And 70mm no idea, but i think it would be far higher still.

 

[Saturn0660]

If you really want to I could dig up a few links about why vinyl and VHS are superior to digitial....

Vinyl IS superior to digitial..

 

[Saturn0660]

Any article that's stated reasoning against Blu-Ray is widespread HD streaming is not something I can really take seriously. That sort of thing is becoming more difficult, not easier, thanks to the business practices of the ISP's.

then you need a better ISP.. Mine puts NO limits on downloads nor do they intend to.