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Blu-ray format... Do you like it compared to DVD?

Before I get to my questions.
I would like you to know this is our first ventcher into boob tube home entertainment.

We have just replaced our Sony tv with a new Panasonic 37 inch LCD.
Prior to the purchase we were given a used Sony 6 channel surround with "small cube speakers" and a subwoofer, which B.T.W. passes my wife's approval.
A few days ago I mounted the speakers and had it up and running using our Sony tv.

That evening we watched a movie and the both of us enjoyed the added feature of the surround sound in our home.

The both of us are not complete strangers to home theater, we have watched movies in friends home.

Through out our marriage the both of us have never really been interested in spending hours on end in front of a tv.

I recall once having a bumber sticker many years ago that read..."Shoot Your T.V."

Anyway, here we are now.

Last night we watched two dvds on the new Panasonic tv.
Blue planet documentary and a movie called Layer Cake.
The dvds were recommended and lent to us for the weekend.

We enjoyed both of them ,however we were going to spread the time for watching the dvds for Friday and Saturday night, didn't happen, however I borrowed more.

My question to those of you that own a Blu-ray player, how do you like this format compared to standard dvd?

Which brand of player are you using also would it be worth buying into this format at this time?

The current dvd player we are using now is on short term loan.

Basically I would like to experience what this highly rated Consumer Report Panasonic tv can do.


stiltskin
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
OK, BluRay is better, but I don't see a big enough difference to change from DVD's, especially since I see BluRay as the 8-track of this decade. It's a stop gap.

Have you seen Blade Runner in BD compared to DVD? I mean it is like night and day. Same for Harry Potter. Same for Pirates of the Caribbean. I agree there is the odd movie where there is no improvement and I would not suggest to replace an entire DVD collection but it makes sense to be buying BD rather than DVD these days, IMHO
macdadtexas
1,794 posts
 
why store a disc, which has mechanical playback problems, by the very fact that it has to be played back, when you can access the same file on a hard drive?? I completely disagree with the cost of storage. Nothing in the tech world has fallen in price more than network storage, the same arguements were made for CD's a few years ago, now sales of CD's fall precipitously every year.

As for back up, that gets cheaper too. You can right now, go on line and buy a Drobo with 4TB of completely redundant no hassle, automatic storage and back up in a bundle for a little less than $1000. Next year that will be $500, and 2yrs from now that will be $400 for 10TB. Even without the inevitable file compression developments, that will store a lot of movies, and you won't need an expensive player to play it back.
els
2 posts
 
without a 1080p capability in your display, you will not see the benefit of blue ray as mentioned in prior posts. however, the costs of the blue ray player, and the blue ray dvd's cannot be justified. paying 3 times the price for a player, and double the price for the disc is shameful.

one alternative is to hedge the current generation of players, because blue ray is still evolving, and buy a sony play station3, and use it for a player until blue ray is fully supported by the players, and stable, then sell the playstation 3 (you may want to go to amazon to buy a real sony remote instead of using the supplied gamer type included with the unit)

cutting to the chase, theblue ray picture is very good, but not worth the money for a format that is due for more updates until it is worthy of a sizeable investment.
plato
1,543 posts
 
4k may be the next HD standard in the near future with 4X the resolution of blu-ray. Projectors are already available. But you'll need to get rid of those tiny 70-inch TVs and get something more like 150-inches (or just go wall-to-wall) so you can truly appreciate the format...
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,754 posts
 
At the rediculous current Blu-Ray prices ($25 - $35 per title), I won't be making many purchases.
I WILL buy movies I love but my semi-vast DVD collection and Netflix Blu-Ray rentals will see me through to 4K.

My recently released Pioneer BDP-51FD upsampling (DVD) Blu-ray player has problems synchronizing dialog with the picture if I use slow-motion, pause, fast-forward/backward, etc.
Sometimes I must power down (hold the power button in for 10 seconds) when the platform freezes up.
Then I must sit through all of the FBI bully-chatter, previews, etc. to get to the main menu to restart the movie. Isn't the future fun!
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