Is Bluray player worth buying? - No HDMI inputs on amp/tv

[stephennic]

Hi,

I have no HDMI input on the tv and amp. I heard that I cant get upscaling on my dvds as I have no HDMI inputs, so is it worth getting a bluray then. Would I still get an improved picture and sound without HDMI using blueray player with my dvds or is it best I stay with my dvd player. I was thinking of buying the sony s-370, I talked to two saleman, one said I still would get an improvement with component another (get 720i) - I already have my dvd player on component - another said no - limited by the tv and amp with no HDMI so no upscaling on my dvds.

I have a marantz sr 4300 amp, philips 68cm 100HZ crt tv, pioneer dv676a.

Any help would be much appreciated

Cheers

Steve.

 

[aliEnRIK]

haha

I believe ive just answered this

 

[Anonymous]

The Pic with blu ray will be a bit better, but not comparable to a full hd image on an HD tv

 

[Gozaradio]

Your Philips CRT may have component inputs but I don't believe that automatically means it will be able to display a 720i image. If you can tell us the model number, someone may be able to tell you if it can display 720i.

Assuming it can't, I doubt Blu-Ray Discs (BDs)will look much better than DVDs. Whether DVDs look any better depends on how good your existing player is.

The one place you could get an improvement is in sound. If you get a BD player with analogue outputs, you could feed those into your Marantz receiver and have full quality lossless sound from BDs. DVDs would sound no better.

In my opinion, on balance I would say that you're not likely to *see* enough of an improvement to warrant spending on a BD player, but you could get an improvement in sound.

If I were you, I would save up for a Full HD TV and a BD player with analogue outputs.

 

[Garth Man]

If I were you, I would save up for a Full HD TV and a BD player with analogue outputs.

agreed, save up some wonga and treat yourself, I wouldn't waste your money on something that cannot be used properly

 

[Anonymous]

Up until a couple of weeks ago I was watching BD on a Toshiba 36" crt. If you are using component then the BD will probably come out as 480p not 576p. They did on my Sony 350. This is someting to do with how the HDMI is set up in the menus. If I had set the HDMI to 720p or higher the component switched to 576i. The Panasonic players also did the same. Had a look at the manual online no mention is made of the above, so things may have improved. If you can get BD to play at 576p then they should look better than DVD.

The picture may improve just because it is a newer player, so DVDs will improve as well. The sound will have to be down mixed (unless you get a player with analogue outs). The bit rate will be higher sound should sound a bit better. If you buy a lot of recent releases on DVD, go for it if you intend to buy a new TV in the near future. If only so that when you do upgrade you are not wanting to buy discs again. That is the reason I upgraded early

 

[stephennic]

Hi all,

I checked what model the tv is: Philips 29PT9418/79T. The manual hardly has any specs, so I searched on the net, a review was done on star online 24/1/01. Its 100HZ Digital scan flat screen tv, 68cm screen has component connections, 10 bit pixel per line is 1024 to 1536.

Does that clarify if its 720 or 1080, mmm not sure. So would it be SD then.

Any feedback.

Cheers

Steve.

 

[The_Lhc]

It's a CRT, the only HD ones I knew of being sold in the UK were Samsungs, so it's almost certainly only SD, which would negate most of the benefits of blu-ray.

 

[Anonymous]

i doubt it could display a hd image , it would need to be hd ready , 720p , and if it was , im sure it would say so in the manual , or have a hdmi input ..

 

[strapped for cash]

I don't think your television will display a HD image either. Before I bought my current HD television I owned a Sony CRT set and a PS3. I began to build a library of Blu Rays (perhaps to help convince me to upgrade to HD) and these would not play on my standard def Sony properly.

What I got was a black and white image with a strange lattice effect across the screen; and I suspect you will encounter similar problems...

I'd think about upgrading your TV before anything else.

 

[stephennic]

Hi all,

I telephoned Philips and found out the tv is not compatiable with bluray. I was told it will give an error message if I try to connect a bluray player. Its an interlaced tv whereas bluray is progressive scan. The tv is 520 resolution, maybe I get a upscaler dvd player.

What do you recommend ?

Cheers

Steve.

 

[professorhat]

Well, if you're in the UK, DVD's native output will be 576p (i.e. DVD is also progressive scan by default, but your current player is probably outputting in an interlaced format so your TV can understand it). Since this is higher than the resolution of your TV, there's no point at all in getting an upscaling DVD player either.

If you want to enjoy some high-def material, your best bet is definitely to save for a new TV first.

 

[The_Lhc]

stephennic: The tv is 520 resolution, maybe I get a upscaler dvd player.

What do you recommend ?

Upscaling is used to turn an SD picture into an HD one, you have nothing to display an HD picture with, so there's no point having an upscaling anything.

If you want to watch HD you need a new tv, end of story.

 

[Big Chris]

Steve.

Yes and No. OK, you're not gonna be getting anything like the full benefit of BD with your current TV. But, if you start buying BDs now, you'll have a nice collection when you do get your nice spangly HD TV.

If you're the kind of person who would end up buyng BDs to replace DVDs you already own, you'd do well to get a BD player A.S.A.P.

 

[stephennic]

Hi,

I took a risk and bought a sony s370 bluray player. I test it tomorrow on the philips tv.

Cheers

Steve.

 

[markyd]

I dont think it was a 'risk'

Athough the pic improvement may be negligable - and your CRT is unlikely to support 720 - what you will gain, and I'm suprised nobody has mentioned it, is some excellent Network streaming features ( namely iPlayer and LoveFilm ) , and great file format compatibility DNLA or local.

For me the fact that it will play Blu-Rays fantastically is almost just a bonus.

It's a great 'hub' - which is why I am buying on this weekend!

The only negative is build quality is shockingly rubbish - and I cant stress that enough.