Been a collecting DVDs since 1997.
Now have 1641 titles in my collection.

Finally decided to take the leap & buy a Blu-ray DVD player.
In fact it's on it's way in the mail. It's a Samsung BD-P1000.

Is there really a major improvement that I should upgrade most my collection?
I will use HDMI direct to tv & optical to Receiver for sound.

Samsung player upconverts I guess to 1080i will this really improve...
most my DVDs in my collection that are 480p?

My thinking is to only buy movies on Blu-ray disc if they are my all time favorites?
I should be happy with most of my collection as 1080i correct? I hope!

Thanks for advice really appreciate it!
Barry

It depends on how the actual transfers come through and there are some clunkers. Of the 90 BD's I have a few of them don't look much better than a good upconverted DVD (Nacho Libre, Full Metal Jacket, Lady In The Water), but the rest are no comparison to any DVD regardless of upconversion or not. Hi-def is a huge step up no matter how you slice it.

Yep the difference is purely stunning compared to dvd as well it should. Sometimes I just go ........WOW.

Here have a look....

http://www.haloapplications.com/hd/hddvd/kingkong/

1080i should be better than 480i, which is what all NTSC SD DVD supposed to have.

As matome said, some of the titles are not much better than the upconverted DVD. Check the reviews for picture quality and audio quality of each disc before you buy.

Also, if you are into extras, check the specs before you buy. Many BD do not include all of the extras from the SD.

I would say upgrade a couple of your all-time favorites with the Blu-Ray, but for the most part just limit your Blu-Ray purchases to new releases or movies you don't already have. Since you have over 1600 DVDs, there's no way you could replace everything anyway.

There seem to be enough new releases on Blu-Ray to keep your buying impulses satisfied without having to do a lot of repurchases.

I agree with this, that's pretty much what I've been doing. Many of my DVDs look pretty good upconverted to 1080p (of course, some look like crap) so I don't feel the need to upgrade everything. That will probably never be possible anyway. Of your 1600+ DVDs, there will be many that may never be released on Blu-ray, especially if the format doesn't go beyond being a niche one (which I believe will be the case).

Terrific advise from all of you & well taken.

Thanks a bunch!

I agree with the others on this thread. What I'm doing is upgrading to Blu-ray on the titles that I want and if they have significant improvements to the copies that I already have: for example "The Searchers" Blu-ray features a remastered transfer with bonus features that did not exist when I first got the standard DVD version.
Same with "Goodfellas", because the original (that I own) is also a "flipper", so along with the better film transfer and bonus features, the upgrade made sense. Ditto "Blazing Saddles".

Well I'm still buying SD DVD's (gasp!).

I have a nice upconverting DVD player and am very happy with the image quality. Yes, blu-ray is better. Noticeably. But not enough for me to pull the trigger to spend double the cost on every movie.

And no, I have no plans to replace all my DVD's. The hard part will even be replacing some of my favorites. I have a nice boxed set of the Matrix, but can only image what blu-ray would look like.

Certain films are no-brainers, such as Casino Royale and MI3. Sometimes there's minimal difference in quality, but sometimes there are leaps. Enemy of the State on BD is a huge improvement over the 16x9 Extended DVD cut. Makes the dvd look extremely soft. The Fifth Element is one of the worst BD releases, but Sony will be re-releasing that one this Summer with a new transfer.

I just watched the Italian Job. Not the best video, but still I liked it better then the SD version (my parents have it so I compared). The Blu-ray version seems a little grainy especially at the beginning. But colors are better and overall seems to have a little more depth. Yes, looking closely more detail as well.

To me this is a perfect example of how I buy. I didn't have the movie, wanted the movie, found it on sale so bought it on blu-ray and am enjoying it. Had I already had it on SD or could not find a deal, would not have gotten it on blu-ray.

I will probably end up replacing all of my movies (350-ish). But it will be a slow and gradual process... I'll hold out for what I feel are definitive blu-ray versions (ones that are unlikely to be double-dipped or that I wouldn't feel the need to buy again).

I also haven't bought any DVD's the past yr, so many blu-rays will be first time purchases anyways.

Lawrence of Arabia is due sometime this year from Sony. BD needs to release some more classic titles.

I did what most others are saying and just started out buying new releases that I didn't already own. As I got sucked in, I started replacing my favorite movies that I had heard had much better quality. Then, I went through my collection (800 SD) and knocked it in about half. I knew I would never watch a lot of these again because I was too busy with BD and used that money to replace the ones that I would. Now I have a nice little cash pile for my BD purchases, and will upgrade when I need to. Don't get me wrong, I kept a lot of SD...just the ones that I couldn't part with...yet

Matt

Well for most of your collection you aren't going to have a choice. There simply aren't that movies out on Blu-ray yet.

Obviously, upgrading your favorites is a no brainer. However, I'd probably recommend upgrading everything you can.

It's only a matter of time before your eyes are completely spoiled and have difficulty going back to standard DVDs. Lots of people felt their VHS tapes were fine too.

I know I already feel a little grubby watching standard dvds... I traded in almost my entire collection for a PS3.

HD for the win!

Truth.