Opinions on Blu-ray with a 480p DLP projector?

John z.

Dump the projector, you can buy a better 1080p one for under $3K, then your blu-rays will blow you away! You should see some improvement in picture, but I wouldn't expect much

John_Z,

I also have an Optoma H31 and have been wondering the same thing, so good question. Unfortunately, Kennyt did not answer it. For me, if I had three thousand dollars, I wouldn't have to wonder about blu-ray on my $650 H31!

I hope someone else comes along who can answer the question.

Why not try an Oppo upconverting DVD player or the BD-83 Blu Ray? You have a 30 day trial period.
Jeff

The primary reason I was asking is I'm trying to decide whether to wait for Blu-ray prices to drop a bit more or to jump on one of the blow-out deals on universal DVD players I'm seeing right now.. I'm tempted to pick up a Denon 2930Ci, for example, for $299 brand new with warranty which originally sold for $850! That would give me HDMI output for video which my current player lacks plus SACD/DVD-A as icing on the cake. As I am running analog connections to my receiver for multichannel, the Oppo wouldn't necessarily be my top choice for audio vs. a Denon.

However, as good as a deal that Denon is at $299, it's still investing in "old" video technology at this point and would be somewhat limited if/when I do decide to invest in a 1080p projector down the road. What to do, what to do....

John,
You seem to understand the ups and downs. Why exactly isn't the Oppo your 1st choice for audio? Your original question was about video, audio depends on the rest of your system. Again, I say, 30 day in home trial.
Regards
Jeff

Although 1080p front projectors are still $2K and above, you can get 720p projectors for a song--around $550. Even a 720p projector is noticeably higher-rez picture than a 480p. It has double the pixels. I have a 720p 55" rear projector TV and I hardly EVER rent a std-def DVD because the Blu-rays look so much better on it. Seems it would be even more noticeable on a bigger projection.

I would recommend getting a 720p front projector to replace your current one, an inexpensive Blu-ray player, and add "Blu-ray" to your profile at Netflix for an extra $1/month. When the prices drop again, move up to a 1080p projector to see the rest of what Blu-ray has to offer.

This type of setup would also give you a better picture from std-def DVDs. In my experience, upconverted DVDs over HDMI to a higher-rez display (e.g., 720p) is the best way to view them.