Blu-Ray or not Blu-Ray?

[hunnyy]

I was wondering whether purchasing a Blu-Ray player will give me a noticable uplift in vision/sound.

My DVD player is a Yamaha 2700, (RRP £900 but now significantly discounted), and it's a pretty good upscaling machine. I have a Yamaha RX-V 3800 A/V amp, which is excellent (and also a good upscaler). My T.V. is a Samsung PSQ97HDX, which is HD-ready (720p/1080i) but not full HD.

I look forward to your thoughts. . .

 

[professorhat]

I don't know your TV, but your amp can accept all the new HD formats so you're good to go there. A decent Blu-Ray disc will blow away most DVD players, including yours in my opinion. I'd wait for the next issue of WHF with the test of the latest Blu-Ray players to see which one in your budget looks the best and then go have a look.

 

[Anonymous]

I have the the PS42Q97HD and use it with a DENON DVD 1940 and am more than satisfied with the outcome.....I watched Van Helsing on DVD recently.....£4.98 from Amazon and still preferred the ride I got from my set up to say watching something like I am Legend on Blu Ray...I believe that also to experience Blu Ray properly you need to be viewing an 1080p Full HD Display as opposed to a 720p/1080i one

That said having watched some Blu Ray whilst there is undeniably more depth to a picture I still have reservations that a good blu ray player can indeed afford significantly better clarity and definition to that of a good quality DVD player and well mastered DVD

Moreover with Blu Ray watching something like the Fantastic Four on a Panasonic BD30 to me is a more clinical experience watching it on DVD...True that the characters appear more life like but to me it's more like sitting in a good seat in the Lyceum and watching the stage show of The Lion King....

When I watch a film I don't want to feel as if I can reach out and touch the characters which for me detracts too much from the enjoyment of the film and let's face it when we go to the cinema we're not seeing films there in Blu Ray and by contrast I enjoy watching a DVD more in my home on my TV and through my DENON

Granted I am a bit set in my ways but I'm still wrestling with the idea of how much better Blu Ray actually is over DVD...for example the gulf between VHS and DVD was huge.........but is it also as wide as the gulf between DVD and Blu Ray...I for one am not entirely sure

 

[pete321]

I've just bought the new Sony BDP-S350 which can be delivered for £205 from some places on the internet. Yes, I've got a 1080p TV (although not 24fps compatible), but I'm sure you would notice a big difference if you watched the same movie on Blu-Ray at 720p against using a good upscaling DVD player to play the DVD movie.

Upscaling can help, but as someone from Onkyo recently said to me, "you can't polish a tu*d". Even old movies on blu-ray are mastered from the original cinema screen which is higher definition than 1080p. Some blu-ray movies are better than others, much the same as DVD transfers vary, but blu-ray is not just marginally better, you'll notice a massive difference.

Make sure you use a decent HDMI lead, Monster M1000EX cables can be had on eBay for as little as £35!

 

[professorhat]

Hi Tallyho
In no way is 1080p a necessity, I have a 720p screen and Blu-Ray really is much better for me than standard DVD (previously I had a top of line Denon DVD-A1 player so hardly a slouch in the DVD world).
Of course a lot of people share your opinion but I still wonder if they've actually fully experienced Blu-Ray or just seen an early demo with a poor transfer and assumed that's all there is to offer. And with that I include a decent home cinema amplifier and surround set up to fully enjoy the new HD audio.
However, it's also the reason I suggest people audition first as it may be, with your system, the improvements can't be appreciated fully so you might be better off sticking with DVD until prices drop.

 

[lobby]

I agree with the professor a good quality bluray is better then a good quality dvd, but some blurays arent than brilliant so a good quality dvd may look as good.Spiderman collection is good example especially spiderman 2 this does show an improvement with picture and audio and so the newer releases should also see an improvement over some early releases and early transfers.Films im looking forward are Ironman, Indiana Jones , Cloverfield Starshiptroopers and Band of Brothers.Hopefully these will shine and show how great bluray really is.

 

[hunnyy]

Thanks Prof. and the others for your thoughts; very interesting.

In the near future I will buy a Blu-ray player. Hopefully I'll notice improvements in sound and vision and, hey, anyway,that's partly what upgrade-itis is all about!