So, is Blu-Ray worth it, yet?

[Cutter John]

I don't know. I just don't like the feeling that I'm being forced to convert. One one hand I like that you can fit more content on fewer disks. On the other, I'm a big fan of bonus features, and more and more dvd releases are being short changed in favor of BR.

Of course my biggest obstacle is that its going to be a lot of years before I can afford $$$$ for the massive HD tv I need to take full advantage of the format.

SO, I plan on being a dvd luddite for at least 3-4 more years.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

HDMI

what the heck is up with all of the $100+ HDMI cables I see, when others are at $0.01?

The capitalist market says that a vendor will try to get as much money as possible for his product or services.
Ignorant customers are their favorite.

 

[Scout101]

^monoprice.com is pretty much always the answer there. High quality cables, only costing pennies a foot. I did my entire home theater setup, using all 35' cables run through a wall and ceiling, and it was like $85...

 

[Dar70]

I was one of the first among my friends to jump onto HDTV, and one time when I had people over they wanted to see the difference between Blu-ray and DVD. So I took a movie with great picture and color quality, and flipped back and forth between upscaled DVD and Blu-ray during the same scene, and they could all see the difference like night and day. So I'm just of the mindset of to hell with anyone who can't see any differences or think DVD upscaling is the same thing. Not my problem.

I dont think anyone is saying there isnt any difference or that upscaling is on par. But I myself have seen blueray played on HD Sets and its not THAT mind blowing. Yes there is a difference,(bluray look very nice) but, my tube tv and regular dvds are just fine for now. Most of the stuff I have are older tv shows and movies. In fact I have about 50 dvds movies/sets total Thats it. So its not a big deal for me. That said I WILL eventually be getting a HD set and than a bluray player.


As for Blu-Ray itself. I can see it sticking around for about the same time as regular dvd, maybe even less.(aout 13 years or less) Afterall Bluray is just an extension of regular dvd. I probably wont ever buy blu-ray unless its a tv show I really want.(I have most of what I want right now on regular dvd) I dont purchase movies any longer. I found that I dont rewatch them and its just a waste of money. Tv shows though I do rewatch so there is an outside chance that I may get a tv show or two. I may even repurchase Star Trek TOS. Other than that I will be treating DVDS and Bluray as I did VHS for years. Something that I just rent out or borrow. Plus many tvshows and movies can be watched legally for free online now. Silly to fill you house up with big honking discs nowadays.

Technology has been moving so fast in regards to memory and video quality that Im betting in 10-20 years we will have a much much more portable medium for movies and tv series.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Dar70
There will always be a need for a large screen viewing device for entertainment.
As far as portability the Apple iPhone3G/itouch is the defacto standard or portability for media. You do not want a smaller screen.
As far as physical media you get your media from iTunes Store. Live TV is currently available from O2 in England on the iPhone3Gs.
Back to Blu-ray it will be around for 10 years.

 

[Dar70]

Dar70
There will always be a need for a large screen viewing device for entertainment.
As far as portability the Apple iPhone3G/itouch is the defacto standard or portability for media. You do not want a smaller screen.
As far as physical media you get your media from iTunes Store. Live TV is currently available from O2 in England on the iPhone3Gs.
Back to Blu-ray it will be around for 10 years.

I agree. Bigger screens are great. I meant portablility in regards to storage of the movies and films.

 

[Smiley]

I don't know. I just don't like the feeling that I'm being forced to convert. One one hand I like that you can fit more content on fewer disks. On the other, I'm a big fan of bonus features, and more and more dvd releases are being short changed in favor of BR.

Of course my biggest obstacle is that its going to be a lot of years before I can afford $$$$ for the massive HD tv I need to take full advantage of the format.

SO, I plan on being a dvd luddite for at least 3-4 more years.

During the VHS/DVD transition, it was the DVDs that had the bonus features, and VHS tapes were lucky to have a short making-of featurette after the film. It's not too surprising that the studios want to give more extras to the newer format. It's kind of a raw deal for those who love the bonus features and want to stick to DVD, but that is the reality of the marketplace.

Regarding taking full advantage of the format, I don't see it as necessary for the upgrade. I still don't have surround sound speakers or an HDTV, but it hasn't stopped me from buying and enjoying DVDs and now Blu-rays. When I do buy the new equipment someday, it will just be an automatic enhancement of my collection.

I don't blame anyone who chooses to stick with DVDs right now for any reason, but I do think that within five years, it will be very hard to find new DVDs on the shelves. It happened at around the eight-year mark with VHS, and the adoption rates of Blu-rays are pretty similar.

 

[Corran Horn]

One nice thing about Blu-Ray which was not true about VHS/DVD is that 'regular' DVDs are playable by Blu-Ray players.

 

[davejames]

I've got a 50 inch 720p and I love it. I considered getting a 1080, but the jump in picture quality from my old TV was already dramatic enough for me (plus I don't yet have enough of an expert eye to tell the difference between the two anyway).

And anyone who thinks they have to stop buying the cheaper DVDs once they get a blueray doesn't have to worry about that. I buy TV shows like Tru Blood, Big Bang, and Burn Notice on DVD and they still look plenty spectacular.

 

[JediKnightButler]

Prices definitely seem to be dropping all of the sudden. For instance, Amazon.com has the latest Harry Potter movie ON BLU-RAY selling (pre-order) for $16.99 and Star Trek for only $21.99, which IMHO are pretty comparable with DVD, particularly when DVD was first establishing itself.

 

[payndz201]

^does the quality of a standard dvd suffer when played on a blu-ray machine or does it look the same?

Depends on the DVD. I've been watching an assortment of my discs upscaled via the PS3; Star Trek: TOS and The Matrix Reloaded were absolutely incredible, pin-sharp and vivid throughout, whereas episodes of The Prisoner, even in 4:3 format to maximise image quality, looked like shit on a big screen. The Prisoner has had a reportedly great BR boxset released, so it comes down to the encoding of the DVDs rather than the source material.

 

[cultcross]

One nice thing about Blu-Ray which was not true about VHS/DVD is that 'regular' DVDs are playable by Blu-Ray players.

Indeed - this is one reason Blu-Ray doesn't bother me as a format switch - I have a lot of DVDs and would have been very annoyed if the format was being phased out to obscurity a la VHS. But the CD/DVD/Blu-Ray design of media has got a good few years in it yet.
Not least because back-compatibility is basically essential now because people have collections of DVDs of a size that would have been unthinkable with VHS. I've amassed about 800 DVDs and I consider myself a fairly conservative buyer People have simply taken to the format much more and won't look kindly on not being able to play them.

 

[melancholymecha]

^does the quality of a standard dvd suffer when played on a blu-ray machine or does it look the same?

No. In fact, usually the Blu-ray player makes the DVD quality look much better (although nowhere near Blu-ray quality). So it's win/win.


J.

thats cool. That plus the fact that a BR player will work on my 720p set makes me much more eager to get one. Im not about to go buy a player right away but its nice that it is a viable option in the future.

yeah I too give thumbs up to Monoprice, it was recommended to me right on this forum. I bought an hdmi cable from there super cheap.

 

[Aragorn]

If anyone cares, Barnes & Noble actually has a legitimate sale on Blu-ray and DVDs -- all Criterion titles are 50% off, so you can get such Blu-rays as Bottle Rocket, Chungking Express, The Last Emperor, Howards End, Kagemusha, El Norte, The Seventh Seal, Monsoon Wedding, Wings of Desire and more for $20 a pop, or less if you're a member. Not sure how long the sale will last, at the very earliest through this Saturday.

 

[KB24]

I don't know. Some films need blu-ray. Classics and action and visual oriented films look superior. Unfortunately, they are so damn expensive-and a lot of old films never even made it to dvd, much less blu-ray. It's a little ridiculous that simple dramas and broad comedies need not blu-ray and yet they are often $30. I don't like the notion of being forced to convert either, especially when a regular old movie is just fine and dandy on dvd.

 

[Michael Chris]

Then don't buy the Blu-ray!

 

[superstring01]

I have a Philips BluRay player and a Philips 42" LCD-HDTV and I love the combo. The picture quality is amazing.

To date, the only BluRay I own is Star Trek (just bought). Though, I've rented others (like the entire Bourne saga).

~String

 

[Trekker4747]

I've had a PS3 for a good year now but hadn't yet converted to BD format and kept buying DVDs. Star Trek's release bushed me over that particular edge.

My TV is 1080i and doesn't have HDMI so my PS3 is now connected to my TV using component inputs. The picture looks real damn sharp. Hell, I can't imagine how it'd look with HDMI (a better conenction method.)

I'd say Blu-Ray is well worth it if you've an HDTV. BluRay players are fairly cheap now and they can play DVDs so there's little reason to not upgrade.

 

[KB24]

I don't buy blu-rary, but I certainly rent it. The only one I own is The Searchers. It looked so sweet I cried. Maybe I'll get The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, or the Gone with the Wind set for Christmas. It just bugs me that its about the technology moving forward because it can, people can relatively afford to upgrade. I jsut wish the medium was applied where it was needed-with classics.

Warner Bros is supposedly doing a trdae in your dvd for the bluray. Why isn't TCM making a special series of periodically releasing more classic sets on blu-ray? Ah, yes, rights and money. Boo.

 

[Amaris]

Oh, there are some classics that would absolutely shine with a Blu-ray makeover. I would like to see more of them as well.


J.