HDMI Upscaling Vs Blu Ray?

[admin_exported]

I've had a Sony DAV-DZ260 Home Cinema system with an HDMI upscaling (1080i) DVD player for the last year (which i'm very happy with by the way!).

What i'm wondering is: is there a sizeable difference in picture quality between the two formats? And is it enough to warrant an upgrade? - got my eye on a Samsung BD-p1600!

Thanks for any input.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

As good as a upscaled DVD may look a BD will always look sharper and offer far more detail over a upscaled DVD due to the fact you are watching a native 1080p. The degree to which you see the differance on screen will also depend upon your screen size and its resolution.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, yeah - the TV is 42" 1080p - so i'm guessing quite a lot!

 

[D.J.KRIME]

Yes on a 42"" 1080p set you will definatly notice a significant differance between DVD and BD.

I have a 50"" 1080p Plasma and even tho I am upscaling DVD to 1080p via a £1300 Denon DVD player there is still a considerible diferance between the images it produces (which are very good indeed) to a BD spun via my PS3.

 

[lobby]

Blu-ray is better in pq and sq at a cost, i would look at the Sony's and Panny players they seem to have got it right and the Samsung didn't get good reviews.If you just want a player the budget ones are good value, other than that the PS3, i won't spend a fortune.

 

[Anonymous]

Is there much difference between a bd player and a dvd player when watching dvd's. Which upscales better?

I have a Sony bdp-s350 bd player and a Toshiba xde500 dvd player and as good as the toshiba is, imo i think the sony is better with dvd's; although this may be an unfair comparision as my bd player is connected to a 42" Philips LCD and the toshiba is connected to a 32" Sony.

What does everyone else think?

 

[Anonymous]

There were many articles a while ago on the What Hifi Magazine - with reference upscalers - the Reference Denon DVD players etc. And they were excellent but non could generate as good a picture as the full 1080P one.

Technically its almost impossible with the amount of data anyway.

 

[aliEnRIK]

Most dedicated dvd players over 250 quid will outperform bluray players for upscaling dvds

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, suppose you pay for what you get ... I only paid £60 for my Toshiba XDE500, its still very good but not as good as more expensive players

 

[D.J.KRIME]

My Denon 3930 makes the PS3 look rubish with a direct comparison with identical DVDs but then the Denon was originally £1500

 

[manicm]

andyb1984:Yes, suppose you pay for what you get ... I only paid £60 for my Toshiba XDE500, its still very good but not as good as more expensive players

Want to get clear on this - the Sony 350 is better than the Tosh at upscaling DVDs?

 

[Anonymous]

In my opinion my Sony 350 seems to show a slightly better picture when upscaling dvd's than my toshiba XDE500 does. Although my Sony is connected to my Philips 42" LCD and my Toshiba is connected to my Sony 32" LCD in the bedroom. What I am saying isnt exactly accurate as I havent made a direct comparison by connecting them both to the same TV; dont get me wrong, the Toshiba still produces a great image and is excellent value at £60.

Andy

 

[Anonymous]

Like said a good panel can present a very nice upscaled picture, I think a 50" telly retails for less than a comparable upscaler alone would have cost you only a few years ago. But native HD is something else entirely... I never bought many movies in the past; video cassettes I regarded as substandard and DVD when it came along was "alright". So a few favourite films and some bargain bin stuff, load of recorded movies, nothing to get excited about.

I recently had a new computer built with a combi drive, and since the recent settling of the format war I've bought over 100 bluray titles, and am looking at replacing my optimised-for-stereo rig and spending around £3k on a spinner/amp . This is certainly the format I've been waiting for. The other aspect is the uncompressed soundtracks which are noticably better even off a computer soundcard. And given the fact that neither 1080p or HD sound will make it to broadcasting for years, if you want the best you have to buy the discs, which with amazon banging out top titles on 3 for 2 working out £6-8 a pop isn't too pricey either.

Ben.

 

[Anonymous]

I can confirm that the Sony BDP-S350 does perform slightly better with DVD's than that of the Toshiba XDE-500 (In my opinion).

I connected the Toshiba up to my TV downstairs last night alongside the sony and tested them both out with a few DVD's; I played about with the settings on both players and found that the Sony was more stable and produced a slightly warmer image. Dont get me wrong, there wasnt much in it, I could comfortably watch a dvd on either player and neither could compete with blu-ray. But it just goes to show, even if you have a massive DVD collection you still might aswell future proof your equipment and buy a BD player.