blu ray. how good is it really?

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murg

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May 20, 2008
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Hi All,
After all the talk of Blu Ray being a Great leap forward and reading reviews of "staggering pq" I decided to borrow my friends new pana bd35 and view for myself on my Pioneer 427xd Plasma. Maybe I was expecting too much after all the hype but I must say that imo I was left feeling quite underwhelmed. It was quite interesting comparing blu ray against the pq on a hd programme on tv through the Humax freesat hd reciever. To be honest I thought the hdtv pq from the humax was better than blu ray pq. I compared sd dvd against blu ray and the difference was only marginal if anything at all. I viewed via hdmi and everything was set up correctly. Are we being fooled here into thinking its really better than it actually is??
 
Come on its loads better! you want to try a comparison on a projector with a 104" image then tell me theres no differnce ;-) And then theres the sound quality
 
murg:Hi All,
After all the talk of Blu Ray being a Great leap forward and reading reviews of "staggering pq" I decided to borrow my friends new pana bd35 and view for myself on my Pioneer 427xd Plasma. Maybe I was expecting too much after all the hype but I must say that imo I was left feeling quite underwhelmed. It was quite interesting comparing blu ray against the pq on a hd programme on tv through the Humax freesat hd reciever. To be honest I thought the hdtv pq from the humax was better than blu ray pq. I compared sd dvd against blu ray and the difference was only marginal if anything at all. I viewed via hdmi and everything was set up correctly. Are we being fooled here into thinking its really better than it actually is??

It cannot have been set up properly.
 
OK,
No dispute with the sound quality-miles better, agreed. As for set up, used thx and also fed a 720p to match the tv`s res. As for viewing on a 104" screen, I cant comment on that, but lets talk about the "real world" where most people view on 32"/42" screens. Is it really that much of a leap forward in a normal front room enviroment? Dont get all defensive guys, just be honest and objective.
 
murg:OK,
No dispute with the sound quality-miles better, agreed. As for set up, used thx and also fed a 720p to match the tv`s res. As for viewing on a 104" screen, I cant comment on that, but lets talk about the "real world" where most people view on 32"/42" screens. Is it really that much of a leap forward in a normal front room enviroment? Dont get all defensive guys, just be honest and objective.

I'm being honest. The difference between SD and Bluray is as obvious as watching something on a pirate video to upscaled dvd. From HD channel on Sky or Humax it again is a step up - not massively but there is no way in this world HD on Sky or Humax is better than Bluray - absolutely no question.
 
The resolution of BluRay is amazing.

However, sometimes the motion problems can put me off it completely.

I like older films, so upscaled SD DVD is fine for me. Much cheaper discs too!
 
murg, first of all, are sure you put a BluRay disc in the player????????? Ok,joking aside, ive got quiet a few BluRay's and i have to say the difference is amazing.

There is a small few movies where i thought the PQ/Transfer was'nt amazing.......maybe it was just the movie? How many movies did you test?
 
I have a Pioneer 4280XD (like your 7th generation Kuro, the resolution is 768, NOT 720) and output 1080p from my Sony 350. ÿYou could try that and let the panel downscale. ÿThat way you are not throwing away some of the resolution and the results might be better. That's my experience. ÿI must say that I am delighted with the result. ÿOnly the very best HD TV compares - I'd say the PQ is different, not better or worse. ÿThere's certainly no noise, deeper colours and more contrast with Blu-Ray. ÿBBC HD drama can be a little 'soft' by comparison. ÿThe best Sky sport can be awesome, but quality is variable. ÿThere is no doubt at all IMHO that both are in another league to upscaled DVD, good as it is.

ÿPS ÿI have just checked another specialist forum and you can find optimal settings for your Pioneer (based on a calibration). ÿI can also confirm that 1080p is the recommended Blu-Ray output. ÿI also believe that Pure Cinema should be set to 'advance' for Blu-Ray. ÿIn my experience, the image becomes slightly darker, but sharper.ÿÿThere is absolutely NO issue with motion or caption judder.
 
Thanks, Sorreltiger.
Appreciate your help and opinions. Where would I find these "optimal settings?" for my pio? So you think that my tv would do a better job scaling down from 1080 rather a direct 720 from the blu ray player
 
I still use dvd on my living room tv, a 32" Sony LCD. I tried blu ray on it and the difference wasn't that noticeable. however, on my projector system with an 84" screen the difference is like night and day, the sound when output through a dedicated home cinema amp and a decent speaker set up is also superb. personally i wouldn't bother with blu ray on 'real world' tv sizes.

regards
 
murg:Hi All,
After all the talk of Blu Ray being a Great leap forward and reading reviews of "staggering pq" I decided to borrow my friends new pana bd35 and view for myself on my Pioneer 427xd Plasma. Maybe I was expecting too much after all the hype but I must say that imo I was left feeling quite underwhelmed. It was quite interesting comparing blu ray against the pq on a hd programme on tv through the Humax freesat hd reciever. To be honest I thought the hdtv pq from the humax was better than blu ray pq. I compared sd dvd against blu ray and the difference was only marginal if anything at all. I viewed via hdmi and everything was set up correctly. Are we being fooled here into thinking its really better than it actually is??Come on guys if Mr Murg cant really tell much diff with bluray etc then hes gonna save himself some serious cash here, all i can say is Murg "i wish i had ur eyes as id save a fortune!! lol
 
I was completely underwhelmed by last generations Blu-ray players, however after visiting the show yesterday, the newer ones do look like a vast improvement. That said, the cheaper players did still (in my opinions) have jerky motion, when compared to my DVD player. But the mid to higher end players were fantastic.
 
Jase fox,
I will forgive your immature attempt at humour and advise you of what exactly Mr Murgs eyes are viewing at present. Pioneer plasma,Arcam Divadv139 dvd player,onkyotx-sr875. In other words, i know my A.V. OK? So back to my original point. When viewing blu ray against my current dvd player I was underwhelmed at blu-rays so called vastly superior picture. In my opinion the difference is really not that much at all.
 
I can't say that I totally disagree with MURG especially if like me he too goes to Specsavers

What I would like to know when you guys and galss watch movies be it on DVD or BD do you sit in front of your TV's and analyse and try to dissect everything you see and every little surround sound emanating from your 5.1 and 7.1 systems( and consequently miss out on the storyline altogether) or do you just try to sit back and enjoy a good film

In another post I have just mentioned that as a result of updating my son's PS3 I now prefer the picture on it upscaled to 720p compared to my 1 year old DENON DVD 1940 and judging by what I saw yesterday evening on two DVD's namely the 1987 film Untouchables and the 2006 Casino Royale Bond film since carrying out the version 2.50 update I am really struggling I can tell you to decide on whether or not to buy any Blu Ray films at present
 
Well, I kind of have to agree with Mr Fox - if you can't see much of a difference, then I won't argue with you, cos that's obviously how you see it. On my 720p 42" Panasonic plasma though, the difference between upscaled DVD and Blu-Ray is very, very noticeable. Others share this view as well, so it just goes to show why you need to test these things out for yourself.
 
Rest assured if I honestly could see there was truly a massive difference right now between a good quality DVD and BD transfer I would be the first in the queue for more Blu Rays

Having said that if you've got room for a massive display rather like the one being shown on this site at the What Hi Fi show then I dare say a Blu Ray set up would be the way to go

Even the picture on my TV display is cleaner and more detailed compared to my local ODEON cinema screen

If you want to see dull and grainy pictures I suggest going to the Cinema which is why from herein I will wait until a new movie hits DVD and may be, just maybe, now and again treat myself to a BD 3/4 months down the line after a movie comes out at the Cinema
 
hi are you middle aged by any chance . as when i turned 40 to 45 my eyesight started going, i am now the proud owner of my first pair of glasses and i can tell blu ray is better than any other hd format or dvd, so good luck at the opticeans
 
It could alos be down to the test discs you're using.

Not all BR films are good detailed transfers. Equally there are some fantastic DVD's out there such as House of Flying Daggers.

Now if for example you were to compare an upscaled H of FD's vs a poor quality BR, you might easily come to the conclusion that upscaling was better.

I'd suggest comparing various films including some of the What HiFi BR recommended listed films before coming to any conclusion.
 
Yes..I am a 50 year old spring chicken and a bit of a Victor Meldrew I'm told..my glasses are only 6 months old.......and the correct spelling is....O p T I c I a n S
 
Assuming you have your settings right (which is a big assumption, given how crappy manufacturers settings are) the quality's going to depend upon the quality of the disc you're putting in.
Some are SHOCKING!
There are other threads here about below par Blu Rays.
 
murg:Jase fox,
I will forgive your immature attempt at humour and advise you of what exactly Mr Murgs eyes are viewing at present. Pioneer plasma,Arcam Divadv139 dvd player,onkyotx-sr875. In other words, i know my A.V. OK? So back to my original point. When viewing blu ray against my current dvd player I was underwhelmed at blu-rays so called vastly superior picture. In my opinion the difference is really not that much at all.

Well your dvd player (if it's the FMJ DV139 - there is no Diva 139) is a stunning player. I doubt many of us have gone from that to BD. However, I still think that it would be obvious. Upscaled is guesswork, BD is pure 1080p.

Check out this page as it disects most BD and gives the PQ and audio a once over. It would be interesting to know which BDs you watched?

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/reviews_alpha.html
 
gotch ya i bet you say you had a private education, to everyone , and went to oxford or cambridge i also have dyslexia hope i spelt it ok, and meets with your approval ,next time i post i will.. get my spelling book out ,, report card said must try harder ..
 
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