Need a new DVD player - is it worth going Blu-Ray?

[Stoo]

I'm in the process of getting my setup sorted, but the gist of it is this:

Pioneer Kuro 32" 1080p LCD
Pioneer VSX-1018AH AV Amp
BK Electronics XLS200 sub
Mirage Nanosat Prestige satellites & centre channel
PS3 for Blu-Ray
Denon DVD-1920 Upscaling DVD player.

On the old tv (Samsung 26" 720p), the difference between upscaled DVD from the Denon, and HD from the PS3 was noticeable, but not particularly stunning unless you were on top of it, when you could spot the extra detail.

With the Pioneer however, it's like night and day in comparison, especially with the black level of the Kuro, and the enhanced white level of the latter spec HDMI standard, Blu-ray on a good tv however, will show up any duff transfers, and even when the camera is different from shot to shot.

I've found a fair few blu-ray bargains too, even though I have to be careful which disc I buy, as I have a Japanese import PS3. Movietyme, Blockbuster, and Head entertainment (ex Virgin, iirc), have had quite a few good discs for around the £10 mark which has led to my collection growing for around 10, to 65 titles..

[jamesjmorton]

What is the current state of the region-free-ness on bluray players?

remote hacks / modchips etc.

[mrcoal]

I think it is worth the little extra for a bluray player, the increase in quality is noticable - especially when watch cgi films - up looks amazing
theres an LG on amazon for £57

[shaithis]

Considering you have a 1080p screen and a HDMI amp for the new HD sound standards, I would definitely get a BD player.

[g8ina]

necro

[pp05]

i went for an upscaling dvd player as the quality on my 720p hdtv is improved over standard dvd.

Blu ray is good but not mind shatteringly good and when it comes to buying films having to pay double the cost of a dvd or even more hurts.

Before i get slated i know upscaling isn't quite as good as high def but the difference between it and my hd-dvd player (xbox 360) is marginal

a half decent upscaling dvd player will set you back about £50 (although i did hear dunno if its true but if you plug something into your hdtv via hdmi most hdtv will upscale anyway) if true a dvd player with hdmi would be the way to go

This was something I had to think about last few days because of a promotion and being in the market for a tv. Some questions I thought about are, do I watch blu-ray? No. Can I see myself renting lots of Blu-ray disc in the future? Not presently. Can I see myself consuming media on Blu-ray sometimes? Yes/ possibly. Based on that blu-ray on its own would not be worth it. So it was the other features that helped make the decision including the price.

[Zak33]

A NECRO WORTH ALLOWING TO BREATHE!!!

It's not just pixels that are important remember, colour-depth, the type of compression used on the disk and how it was originally mastered matter a lot.

never, in the history of a forum, has such a truer statement arrived on your screen.

When a film in put onto DVD or Blueray, someone makes a budget and space judgement-call.
Shall we/can we fit it all onto one DVD? If we do, can we get both Dolby Digital AND a DTS soundtrack on?

Can we be bothered to spend thousands of hours remastering the original film to justify an HD experience?

So, in my opinion, the following DVD's are worth keeping as DVD because they are pin sharp, deep and true.... although they're spread across multiple DVDs:
Lord of the Rings (all three films) on the 4 disc sets... 2 for each film.... ie spread the quality, and use 2 disks
Kingdom of Heaven... same thing... big box set , with 2 discs for the film.

Bad examples of films compressed to fit a DVD
Saving Private Ryan....

but there was a better batch later... how long ago was I ranting about this?
Oct 2005 http://forums.hexus.net/dvd-blu-ray/...e-quality.html

and an example of a BLUERAY THAT IS SIMPLY NO BETTER QUALITY THAN A VHS VIDEO... Harry Potter Philosphers Stone... truely bloody rubbish image quality.

[bazray]

You could buy a used PS3 for about £80 and use it as a Blu ray player and gaming machine / media centre.