Blu-ray or Upscaling DVD Player

[admin_exported]

Hi there, I only have a 32" 1080i TV and don't really watch that much. Should I buy a Blu-ray player or just buy a half decent upscaling DVD player? I need something fairly small and wondered if anyone had any recommendations if the latter? I'm so far behind the times there are not many reviews about!

Quite like to the look of the Samsung DVD-F1080.

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

I'd go for the blu-ray player which is capable of playing blu-rays and dvd's. Dvd players whilst cheaper will not play blu-rays.

The sony S360 can be had for very decent money these days.

 

[Anonymous]

the sony bd360 bluray player does both very well , about £130 , its a no brainer...

 

[Anonymous]

snap....

 

[lobby]

The Samsung player you metion got good reviews, when released and i have one, but to be honest not a grest picture lack of depth, detail and colour not to mention for some reason the bottom of the screen had been cut off with a black bar and now showed it at the top of the screen bizzare.i know .I tryed everything and still no luck. Decided to ring Samsung and get it replaced they never turn up after 3 attemps so ditched it and got the Toshiba XDE500 brilliant in comparison to the Samsung. My advice is to look at the newer Toshiba or Onkyo even some of the newer Sony or Philips are quite good for around 50 - 60 pounds. If your ever going to start purchasing blu-ray films then the budget players will upscale as good and also when films drop to your budget just buy blu-rays makes sense.

 

[Anonymous]

barnsleydave:
I'd go for the blu-ray player which is capable of playing blu-rays and dvd's. Dvd players whilst cheaper will not play blu-rays.

The sony S360 can be had for very decent money these days.

I'm not speaking to you after Newcastle blu it (Geddit?) this afternoon and only drew.......

Seriously, thanks for the advice so far. I'm tempted to wait until Blu-ray player prices drop some more, perhaps after Christmas?

 

[Anonymous]

A blu-ray player will be wasted on any screen below 37 inches, ideally 40 inches minumum.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

ValianTX:A blu-ray player will be wasted on any screen below 37 inches, ideally 40 inches minumum.

Don't agree with that one it is quality not size.

 

[Anonymous]

You're entitled not to agree (for skewed reasons!), but it's a fact. A 32 inch LCD TV will not exhibit an appreciable increase in performance with blu-ray compared to an an excellent DVD player that upscales.

Thus, in order for blu-ray to showcase it's optimum potential - size and quality are both essential.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

only a 1080p tv will do that. but a not very good big tv will look worse than a smaller better quality tv.

ie philips 40pfl9704 will easily beat any sony 50 inch, 60inhc 100inch

 

[Anonymous]

gel:

ie philips 40pfl9704 will easily beat any sony 50 inch, 60inhc 100inch

If you think this Philips is better than a PDP-LX5090 or PDP-LX6090, or better still the latest Kuro's, you're absolutely bonkers!!!

 

[Deleted member 2457]

EvilWolf:gel:

ie philips 40pfl9704 will easily beat any sony 50 inch, 60inhc 100inch

If you think this Philips is better than a PDP-LX5090 or PDP-LX6090, or better still the latest Kuro's, you're absolutely bonkers!!!

When did I say it was?

 

[Anonymous]

EvilWolf, he said Sony, not Pioneer. Sony TV's with their bleeding issues.....

 

[professorhat]

ValianTX:A blu-ray player will be wasted on any screen below 37 inches, ideally 40 inches minumum.

From my experience, I also don't agree. I could even clearly tell the difference between 720p and 1080p at about 8 feet distance on a 32" screen (which apparently you can't do either). Clearly there's no rule on this, you need to experience it for yourself to see what you can and can't tell the difference between at your normal viewing distance.

 

[Anonymous]

i recently had a 37inch philips lcd , and i could quite easily see the difference between bluray and upscaled dvds , a sony bd360 is said to be a very good player of both , buying a dvd only player now would be pointless , bluray is the future..(well for the next 3 or 4 years anyway)

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:
ValianTX:A blu-ray player will be wasted on any screen below 37 inches, ideally 40 inches minumum.

From my experience, I also don't agree. I could even clearly tell the difference between 720p and 1080p at about 8 feet distance on a 32" screen (which apparently you can't do either). Clearly there's no rule on this, you need to experience it for yourself to see what you can and can't tell the difference between at your normal viewing distance.

I've just checked the magazines and WHF also recommends a minimum 37 inches for blu-ray - these are the experts. So, you might perhaps want to try for a job with WHF, what with your 'apparently superior eye-sight'.

 

[professorhat]

No need to get sarcastic, I was just reporting what I've seen with my own eyes. When it comes to my own viewing experience, I couldn't care less what others report - my point is, look for yourself and then decide.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

ValianTX:professorhat:
ValianTX:A blu-ray player will be wasted on any screen below 37 inches, ideally 40 inches minumum.

From my experience, I also don't agree. I could even clearly tell the difference between 720p and 1080p at about 8 feet distance on a 32" screen (which apparently you can't do either). Clearly there's no rule on this, you need to experience it for yourself to see what you can and can't tell the difference between at your normal viewing distance.

I've just checked the magazines and WHF also recommends a minimum 37 inches for blu-ray - these are the experts. So, you might perhaps want to try for a job with WHF, what with your 'apparently superior eye-sight'.

just because they recommend at least 37, doesn't mean that 32 is not worth using a BD player with. I think that anyone who cannot notice a difference between bluray and upscaled DVD on a 32 inch screen, needs glasses.

 

[Anonymous]

Gerrardasnails:ValianTX:professorhat:
ValianTX:A blu-ray player will be wasted on any screen below 37 inches, ideally 40 inches minumum.

From my experience, I also don't agree. I could even clearly tell the difference between 720p and 1080p at about 8 feet distance on a 32" screen (which apparently you can't do either). Clearly there's no rule on this, you need to experience it for yourself to see what you can and can't tell the difference between at your normal viewing distance.

I've just checked the magazines and WHF also recommends a minimum 37 inches for blu-ray - these are the experts. So, you might perhaps want to try for a job with WHF, what with your 'apparently superior eye-sight'.

just because they recommend at least 37, doesn't mean that 32 is not worth using a BD player with. I think that anyone who cannot notice a difference between bluray and upscaled DVD on a 32 inch screen, needs glasses.or this

 

[Anonymous]

Gerrardasnails:ValianTX:professorhat:
ValianTX:A blu-ray player will be wasted on any screen below 37 inches, ideally 40 inches minumum.

From my experience, I also don't agree. I could even clearly tell the difference between 720p and 1080p at about 8 feet distance on a 32" screen (which apparently you can't do either). Clearly there's no rule on this, you need to experience it for yourself to see what you can and can't tell the difference between at your normal viewing distance.

I've just checked the magazines and WHF also recommends a minimum 37 inches for blu-ray - these are the experts. So, you might perhaps want to try for a job with WHF, what with your 'apparently superior eye-sight'.

just because they recommend at least 37, doesn't mean that 32 is not worth using a BD player with. I think that anyone who cannot notice a difference between bluray and upscaled DVD on a 32 inch screen, needs glasses.

About timely you jumped in too Snail

- on a 32 inch screen the difference will not be as pronounced as that on a larger screen, that was the point I was trying to get across.

I have 20/20 vision btw, Snail.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Please all stop squabbling!

While the full benefits of Blu-ray won't become apparent on a smaller set, there are still benefits, especially if you sit close to the set.

Incidentally, one major TV manufacturer I spoke to recently said it'll have Full HD sets at every size from 19in upwards next year (and hardly an HD Ready spec set in its line-up).

The advance of technology (and closure of older factories churning out HD Ready panels) means this may soon be a defunct argument!

 

[laserman16]

Yup and there is also a difference on a 26" between BD and DVD though not a big difference its certainly there.

Tried it on my Daughters 26".

 

[zientific]

Absolute nonsense, I have a 32 inch screen and blu-ray is brilliant. Why is there such snobbery about small screens?

 

[Anonymous]

If you think it looks brilliant on your 32 incher, you'll be blown away with a much larger screen.

 

[Clare Newsome]

zientific:Absolute nonsense, I have a 32 inch screen and blu-ray is brilliant. Why is there such snobbery about small screens?

No snobbery about small screens from us; our current cover story is a test of 19-22in TVs!

We simply point out the fact that the full benefits of HD will be more apparent on larger, Full HD sets -though conversely, SD broadcasts/discs are likely to look better on smaller, lower-resolution sets as there's less upscaling involved.