BluRay - Worth Buying One Yet...?

Alec

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I was looking at some tellys today, and am about to join the 21st century with a new plasma, i think, and figured i may aswell get a bluray player as id get one eventually anyway.

However, the chap in the shop almost talked me out of it (tho im not sure if that was his intention). He said that eventually some of today's players may not be able to play the disks, as theyll come loaded with more content and take longer to load etc...("etc" here means i dont realy know what im talkning about). He said a similar thing happenned when lord of the rings came out on dvd...? I'm not the kind of person who will want to upgrade soon after buying one and the price id pay for one is budget to some but not to me, so, tho i suspect this may not be the end of the world, im a bit concerned.

Any thoughts?
 
A

Anonymous

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Im in the same boat as you, though I am sorely tempted by the sony bd s350 as its chaeap as chips and got a good review as detailed elsewhere in this site.

Id audition the kit you have in mind and test it with a selection of DVDs and Blu Rays.

I'll probably buy one and wrap it up for myself from the kids for xmas.
 

professorhat

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Hmmm, I think the retailer is referring to issues with DVD when it was first released as not all discs would play on all players (I think the Matrix was a big candidate at the time). It was due to different DRM restrictions put in place by the studios (at least as I remember) and was solved very quickly with firmware updates - it was just one of those things the news picked up on and liked to play the "outrage" card, despite the fact it was fixed within a few weeks / months and no one ever commented on it again.
At the end of the day, Blu-Ray is a standard and any player you buy now will be able to play Blu-Ray flims throughout its life. There may be different copy restrictions (DRM) introduced by the studios, but it's up to them to make them supportable and they will as bad press is not easily lived down. So you can buy with confidence into the Blu-Ray standard.
I should add, there is Profile 1.1 and Profile 2.0 to consider, but this has absolutely no effect on watching a film, both are standards introduced to increase the enjoyment of extras on Blu-Ray. Without them, the extras might not be as good, but the film will be exactly the same.
 

Alec

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professorhat:Hmmm, I think the retailer is referring to issues with DVD when it was first released as not all discs would play on all players (I think the Matrix was a big candidate at the time). It was due to different DRM restrictions put in place by the studios (at least as I remember) and was solved very quickly with firmware updates - it was just one of those things the news picked up on and liked to play the "outrage" card, despite the fact it was fixed within a few weeks / months and no one ever commented on it again.
At the end of the day, Blu-Ray is a standard and any player you buy now will be able to play Blu-Ray flims throughout its life. There may be different copy restrictions (DRM) introduced by the studios, but it's up to them to make them supportable and they will as bad press is not easily lived down. So you can buy with confidence into the Blu-Ray standard.
I should add, there is Profile 1.1 and Profile 2.0 to consider, but this has absolutely no effect on watching a film, both are standards introduced to increase the enjoyment of extras on Blu-Ray. Without them, the extras might not be as good, but the film will be exactly the same.

Cheers!

He gave the impression it was due to the increasing amount of data on the discs tho...ring any bells? (sorry, that phrase appears sarcy but its agenuine question).

With the profiles, are we talking mostly about web based extras? ive heard about the feature where you can chat to others with the same film or summat...? Not remotely interested in that. long as i can see the film and the kind of extras you get on dvds im happy.

suspected it was a non-issue but thought id best check.

anyway, thanks and g'nite all.
 

professorhat

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Ah, he must mean that they are continually increasing the amount of storage on Blu-Rays by adding more layers - a single layer disc can store 25Gb and a double layer can store 50Gb (DVD has the same thing where a single layer holds 4.7Gb and a double around 8.5Gb). I think they've actually planned the standard so that potentially up to 8 layers can be used, giving a theoretical maximum storage capacity of 200Gb (see here) - obviously the bigger the storage capacity, the more information can be held, the less compressed material has to be, the better the sound and picture, so goes the theory. But since this is all built into the standard, I don't know why that should put you off. Personally, I think this is more for the computer market than the movie market, which will probably stick with dual-layer discs I reckon. But of course I may be wrong.
On Profiles, profile 1.1 is a useful standard as it allows extras such as picture in picture (so you can watch a movie and then someone will come up PIP and explain something about it). Profile 2.0 is the BD-Live profile which requires an internet connection and allows the possibility of downloadable content, mini-games, chatting with other people about the film etc.
 

Alec

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professorhat - thankyou! so i only really need go as far as 1.1? if i go further, will it still all work ok except for the net based extras, assuming i dont bother with the net connecti9on (tho i assume it may be wise to keep an eye out for firmware for any player i get and that id need to connect to the net if only to get these updates...?

nads - why is that?
 

D.J.KRIME

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Ever considered getting a PS3? not the best BD spinner I know but by far from the worst and it's profile 2.0.

I find the PS3 will do me fine until the prices of good BD players have come down and the extra cost of making them multi-region is more sensible. On the DVD side of the players I am yet to see one that betters my Denon 3930 and when I buy a propper BD spinner I dont really want 2 units under the TV.
 

Alec

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must admit ive ruled out the ps3 on aesthetic grounds, pretty much. however, if i were a gamer id probably get one and do as much movie, game, and music stuff with it as i could - it seems a great all-rounder.

the blue rays id go for - tho budgert as i say - are at the top of my price range, but i still fancy one lol!

what does making them multi region involve...?

i have the panny dvd s52. cheap as chips nowadays (and not too pricey when i first got it) but keeps me happy. i figured, however, i may aswell get a br player with decent dvd capabilities aswell. ill watch dvds more than brs, but itd be nice to treat myself occasionally, setting aside whether ill be able to see the difference lol!

* strangely, when i google it i find lots of multi region ones - mine isnt - with otherwise slightly inferior spec to mine. either someone is wrong somewhere - possibly me, here - or thats v strange.
 

Andy Clough

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Hi AL7478

I think you're fine getting a Blu-ray player at this stage, especially as models such as the excellent Sony BDP-S350 are now around the £200 mark. If you have a lot of American DVDs and want to make it region-free for DVD playback, a bit of Googling will get you the info you need. Haven't tried it myself, so can't guarantee it works, but check this out.
 

Alec

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Andy Clough:
Hi AL7478

I think you're fine getting a Blu-ray player at this stage, especially as models such as the excellent Sony BDP-S350 are now around the £200 mark. If you have a lot of American DVDs and want to make it region-free for DVD playback, a bit of Googling will get you the info you need. Haven't tried it myself, so can't guarantee it works, but check this out.

Thanks for the reassurance. i havent looked at the link yet but will do so shortly.

id probably go for one of the lower end panny (did someone say fanboy...?) brs, but only after comparing spec and seeing what really matters to me (i realised i know very little about that so need to go over it - its no longer as easy as getting a vcr as a kid lol!).
 

Sorreltiger

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The choice is still limited and the cost of discs is too high - but I've been using my LoveFilm subscription and loving every minute of the new visual and aural treats on offer (having succumbed to the introductory deal on the BDP S-350).
 

Alec

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nads:
al7478:
nads - why is that?

cost of discs. confused suppliers and things like http://whathifi.com/forums/t/139553.aspx maybe next year.

Thanks for the reply. i only know one person who has a bluray player tho and he doesnt seem to have had any duds - tho i shall double check. maybe it isnt such an issue any more...

you dont have an issue with the actual players tho...?
 

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