clckworang

And Blu prices are starting to go down more. There are quite a number of really good catalog titles in the $13.95-14.99 range at Amazon right now. You might have to be a little more patient and choosy where/when you buy, but there are plenty of good purchases to be had. Granted, there aren't any of those $5 titles to be had, but I'd much rather spend $14 on The Aviator or A Clockwork Orange on Blu-ray than buy some of the real cheap titles on DVD.

Jim

Cars is a fantastic upgrade on Blu-ray for both audio and video. There's just something about it that makes the movie come much more alive. There are other movies where the picture difference may be more obvious, but the whole Cars experience seems to improve over the DVD more than just about any movie we've upgraded. The growl of the engines at the beginning with the lossless audio is awesome.

Brian Shannon

Good plan.

There are newer and better players coming out, prices are dropping on older ones even as we speak.

The discs will also become less expensive and there will be no end of releases and re-releases and re-re-releases with better transfers, packaging and extras.

If you are on the fence there is absolutely no reason not to wait.

dsa_shea

The same could be said about waiting. If you are about watching movies presented the best way that they can be then why wait any longer? The prices right now are pretty fair across the board for what you are getting. It is not like they will one day be handing the players out in the streets and selling blu-rays at wal-mart dump bin prices.

Brian Shannon

I think that is exactly what will happen.

It already has. Whoever thought that when dvd's were introduced that they could be bought for flea market prices?

BuckNaked2k

I agree. If the Blu-ray format is successful, you will one day see a $5 bin at Wal-Mart. Book it.

dsa_shea

But I don't believe that a person should hold out on adoption until that happens. If you like movies and have some cash to spend then go for it.

MasterofDVD

With the right TV and sound system any movie fanatic should just go ahead and plunk down the money for a blu-ray player. If you don't have the TV or surround sound system DVDs will properly be more your style. Since all my hobbies revolve around a screen I upgraded to a Samsung LN46A650 1080p 120Hz LCD as well as a new receiver and all new speakers. After all that I figured it was finally time to start using my PS3, which was basically collecting dust, for blu-rays. While I am still able to enjoy some upscaled DVDs on this new setup I would be lost without a blu-ray player.

BuckNaked2k

No argument. We all have differing financial circumstances and tolerance for certain price points.

toddly6666

So if you want to get an action-movie with a lot of CGI special effects, isn't it advisable to buy the DVD instead of the Blu Ray?

Jim

No. Transformers certainly fits that description and it's an excellent Blu-ray. I have yet to see a Blu-ray that isn't better than the corresponding DVD.

mzupeman2

There's a huge difference between grain that's due to the limitations of DVD, or in most cases, due to the lack of a great transfer... and grain that's originally on the film itself.

Grain just for the sake of having grain, isn't a good thing, it's when the grain is the preserved and intended look of the film when it's acceptable.

What happens an awful lot with film that are encrusted in grain for an 'artistic' look on DVD, can end up causing issues in the transfer. The encode for the DVD is trying to capture the grain, but because it's all over the place like crazy in some of the more grain heavy films, additional grain is added as noise.

Now, you keep the grain intact for a blu-ray transfer as it's supposed to be intended, but you're not just gaining better sharpness. Sharpness is sort of a tricky term with HD. With HD content, you're able to use all 1080 of the resolution as opposed to the 480 a SD DVD has. So because you're maxing out the definition of the high definition screen, you really shouldn't be able to get any 'sharper' than that, unless there's some additional filtering going on which is never a good idea anyway. Also, you're gaining in those additional pixel on a high def screen, more pixels of color instead of letting a DVD player or TV 'create' them by doing some highly educated guesswork. Color clarity is much better, and not only that, you see MUCH more detail.

As I said, in simplistic terms, take a rectanglular board and make a macaroni picture using the typical 480 grid, then make the same picture but with the ability to use the 1080 grid like you would on an HDTV. What's going to have the ability to have more detail?

I've said this numerous times before, but yes, older films look fantastic in HD. The Godfather the most recent example. Dawn of the Dead (Romero version), Halloween, I think those looked pretty damn good too. To some people, the older film stock won't inherently look 'HD' enough for them, but I dare you to take a decent HD transfer of an older film and compare it to the SD, and not see the difference.

kefrank

Definitely not. CGI effects on Blu-ray aren't going to be any more obvious than they were in the theater.

Walker Boh

No, that's not what I was saying. What I was getting at was that, based on all the discussions and debates that I've seen on this and other forums, it seems that many BD users fall into one of two groups.

The first group is those that want a "perfect" picture (cleaned up and DNR'ed with that high-def shine). These are the people that post tv calibration settings on AVS that purposefully minimize film grain and ramp up the colors, as that is how they prefer to watch things. Every movie should look like it was filmed on an HD digital camera.

Then there are those that want an "accurate" picture (film grain intact, etc.). These are the people that lament when a studio releases yet another filtered image that removes grain and leaves people looking like a claymation holiday special. Every movie should look like a brand new print did in theater (though, to be honest, there must be some nicely calibrated theaters out there, but I'm always a little disapppointed with the ones I go to).

Sometimes a title is lucky enough to please both groups, but it seems that many releases disappoint one of the two groups. Hence my comment to the OP about one's satisfaction with Blu-ray being based on personal expectations of what Blu-ray should be.

devinjc

Here's a fine example of why yes, yes it is worth it.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1067722

The Bus

The problem is that, unless we're talking about very specific titles where the director intended that look, the first group is a bunch of idiots.

And to answer the thread question, the answer is yes.

Walker Boh

... but it seems that many studios keep catering to them, at least to an extent. Whether it's because that group makes up a sizable chunk of the market and WANTS it that way, or because everybody buys the Blu-rays anyway which just makes the studios THINK that it's the way we want it ... that I don't know.

brocklanders

Compare un upconverted standard DVD vs. a blue ray on a 720p LCD and the difference is negligible....very slight. Once you upgrade to a 1080p, the difference is tremendous. Some BR transfers are shitty but you can read reviews to see if the BR is not up to par. Standard DVD's are still good for most TV shows, especially the older ones. I am also someone who believes that animation is not designed for BR as the details are just not that different than standard dvd.

flyboy

Yes its worth converting to Blu Ray. There is no such thing as upconverting a regular dvd to 1080p that is a myth and a gimmick. I have a nice Pioneer DVD player that upconverts and the difference in picture is minimal at best over non converting. As some have said the Blu Ray transfers might be crappy on some discs but you can always read the reviews first. I got suckerd into thinking that "upconverting" would be really something and I can tell you that all the Star Wars films DVR'ed off HBO HD are 10 times better than the DVD's upconverted..in fact the SW DVD sets are good for nothing anymore except setting my drink on.

clckworang

I would disagree with this assessment. I have a 46" DLP 720p TV. I have an upconverting player as well as the PS3 and Xbox 360 HD-DVD add-on. Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs look significantly better than upconverting a regular DVD from my DVD player or from the Blu-ray or HD-DVD players.

Yavin

There are times now that I wish I had bought a Full 1080p LCD/Plasma instead of a 720p set ... but still the upgrade to Blu-ray on either is definitely worth it. I just have to cite Casino Royale to make my point. I was watching it for a while on the HD movie channel and then decided to pop in my DVD of it which I had never watched. Was totally disappointed by the drop in contrast and clarity, especially in the long shots of crowds and such. I've stopped buying DVDs altogether.

nateman

I would have to agree. You can see the difference between Blu-ray and DVD on a 32" or larger.

I would have to disagree with upconverting being a "myth" or a "gimmick". No it doesn't equal the quality of Blu-ray, but I find it pretty damn impressive. For example, if you put in a TOD title like Hawaii Five-O on a BD player that upconverts (or just a DVD player that upconverts) it looks like you are in the same room with Steve McGarrett. Everything from the telephones to MCGarrett's suit look so detailed and it's really impressive that a show that old can look new all over again.

wd65733

This is completely false.

Even on a crappy 32 inch Vizio 720p lcd, bluray will look leaps and bounds better than an upconverted DVD in every way.

I know because I had a 2006 model 32 inch Vizio, and blurays looked fantastic on it. I now have a 40 inch samsung.

I am very tired of people misinforming others about how 1080p.

wd65733

blurays and HD tv look don't look any less "HD" on a small 32 inch 720p tv.

Both have that 3 dimensional looking through a window look even at this small screen size.

Who started this misconception that you need a big TV and 1080p in order to see the difference? It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I thought only Best Buy employees would say that.

wd65733

btw, I just read about an experiment where a group of AV enthusiasts were shown blurays on two different 100 inch screens. One was 720p the other 1080p.

Guess what? They couldn't tell the difference.