Should I buy a Blu-ray player?

[Kail]

I bought my self a new TV the other day at Wal*mart, I know I know, they are dark and evil, but it's the best place in this small town to buy stuff like this, ANYWAY, while I was there I saw WALL*E on blu-ray. Oh my God! It was GORGEOUS!

So here's my dilemma, I've finally replaced all my favorite VHS movies with DVD. Now if I buy a Blu-ray player I'll have to start collecting all over again
I'm also thinking, will Blu-ray last? Will I have bought this player, and collected movies to play on it jsut to have it go the way of the Beta in just a few years?[
I can't decide. What do you think?
Thanks!

 

[Gary Mitchell]

A Blu-ray player will play your DVD collection, so at least you won't have to go out and replace all your DVDs.

 

[Rÿcher]

Seems to me, you've answered your own question. Once you go blu, you'll never go back. (doesn't have quite the same impact, does it?)

I assure you, you'll be spoiled. Remember seeing the difference between DVD and VHS? It's like that.

 

[Kryton]

I mostly really like mine...despite a few HD compatibility issues in getting the full signal to my TV (it's not HDMI compatible...an older model...and while there are converters and such, SOMETHING ain't quite working right).

And the backward-compatability to DVDs is a big plus. Though I haven't managed to find a good region hack for mine yet. But this computer has an HDMI output and runs AnyDVD, so once I work out the bugs I should be able to watch any disc again soon (plus I still have my old hacked Pioneer...it's an audiophile model that plays SACDs and such, so it ain't going anywhere).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Yes, you should buy a BR player. The quality of BR discs is unbelievable. It's so far above standard DVD it's not even funny.

 

[jbrinegar]

definitely buy a bd player!

It will upconvert your current dvds to 1080p. All your new movie purchases can be bd from now on.

then, later on, if you feel like it you could re-buy select dvds in bd format if you wanted.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Actually, upconversion is one thing I leave to the TV itself. I bought the specific Blu-Ray player that I did (Sony BDP-S300) precisely because I can disable its upconversion (the player has a 'Source Direct' option, which outputs to the TV whatever native resolution it is playing from the disc). This is because my TV has a better upconverter than the player's.

The thing to consider here is that ALL HDTVs upconvert. They must do, otherwise you would just see a small box of content surrounded by many inches of black on all four sides. Whether or not the TV's upconverter is better than the player's, is up for debate. If possible, choose a player whose upconverter can be turned off, to test this.

 

[BigFoot]

How about you buy a BD (Blu-ray disc) player and don't replace your DVD collection. Just get new stuff on BD (and maybe replace some of the DVDs that you absolutely adore).

 

[trekkerguy]

Don't bother with it. In five years it won't be the dominant format

 

[BigFoot]

^ And what will be?

 

[Aragorn]

^ Betamax?

 

[Hermiod]

^ Memory implant chips ?

Rekall, Rekall, Rekall.

 

[dragunzng]

Blu-Ray players also play DVD. You can get "special" movies on Blu-Ray and the rest on DVD.

 

[unimatrix7]

Blu-Ray players also play DVD. You can get "special" movies on Blu-Ray and the rest on DVD.

That's what I do

And I only got a Blu-ray player because it kind of came built into my PS3. So I feel like I got one for free.

I'm deluding myself, I know.

 

[Kail]

Thanks to everyone for your opinions!

Seems to me, you've answered your own question. Once you go blu, you'll never go back. (doesn't have quite the same impact, does it?)

I assure you, you'll be spoiled. Remember seeing the difference between DVD and VHS? It's like that.

How about "Once you go Blu, DVD won't do!"
And I know, the picture was AMAZING. It blew me away!

definitely buy a bd player!

It will upconvert your current dvds to 1080p. All your new movie purchases can be bd from now on.

then, later on, if you feel like it you could re-buy select dvds in bd format if you wanted.

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.

Don't bother with it. In five years it won't be the dominant format

This is my biggest fear. The way tech changes, will it be worth it? In 5 years will it be obsolete? Blu-ray has pretty well won the HD war, has it not? VHS lasted 20 years, will BR last that long?

 

[Snaploud]

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

 

[Smiley]

If you can afford it, why not? The format is not going away anytime soon. You can read The Digital Bits for the sales stats. I predict that sometime in 2010, a better economy and a standout Blu-Ray title will dramatically increase the market share of the format.

 

[Rÿcher]

Seems to me, you've answered your own question. Once you go blu, you'll never go back. (doesn't have quite the same impact, does it?)

I assure you, you'll be spoiled. Remember seeing the difference between DVD and VHS? It's like that.

How about "Once you go Blu, DVD won't do!"

Good call! up high!

 

[MPH]

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.

 

[dragunzng]

This is my biggest fear. The way tech changes, will it be worth it? In 5 years will it be obsolete? Blu-ray has pretty well won the HD war, has it not? VHS lasted 20 years, will BR last that long?

No one can predict the future, but BR discs have a current maximum capacity 0f 50GB, plenty big enough for movies, future BRD's will have capacities of up to 1TB.

The most likely replacement for Blu Ray is digital delivery, but unless there's some sort of super magical change in the way the internet works that's not really a viable option for at least a decade.

DVD is a fine format but it simply doesn't have the storage capacity to hang around once HD becomes ubiquitous... how long that'll take is another question.