Qui Gon Jim

Yup. SD upconverting looks good, but a well done BD blows it away, IMO. My strategy is to be patient though. I have no plans to update every DVD we own to BD, but our DVD purchasing has definitely curtailed.

zombeaner

I just upgraded and I am super excited! All of the Blu Rays I've gotten so far have looked far better than upconverting.

Kory

The key words are "well done BD." Newer films benefit far more than most old ones do. In my opinion, it really helps with the clarity of older films, but rarely do they look as "high definition" as films made more recently. Many of them, for me, have looked more like very sharp, clean SD DVDs, rather than HD. Overall the upgrade has been worth it to me, though.

Qui Gon Jim

Age of the film has nothing at all to do with it.

It is all about how the transfer to digital is handled.

jmj713

That's true. I'm a total newcomer to Blu-ray, and some of my very first discs are North by Northwest and The Omen (1976). Both older movies, yet one (North by Northwest) looks just as good as a new release, and the other (The Omen) doesn't look as crisp. It's all about the restoration and the effort. The Omen still looks clean and vibrant, and way better than on the DVD of course, but not as high-def as North by Northwest.

Kory

Well the film I had in mind when I said that was "The Wizard of Oz." I've heard people raving about the PQ, but it didn't look nearly as good as a newer release such as "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." Again, in my opinion, of course.

jmj713

Well, you have to keep in mind that film is 70 years old. I don't have the Blu-ray, but even on the 2004 DVD it looked amazing for such an old film. You can't really compare The Wizard of Oz to Transformers 2, which is a purely digital film; apples and oranges.

naitram

No way, Wizard of Oz doesn't POP like Transformers 2!? What a rip-off!

kidding aside, I really need to pick up Wizard of Oz, thanks for reminding me.

Kory

LOL. Another one I watched recently that I didn't think looked very "HD" was "Amadeus." Again, they definitely look clearer than a DVD, but I guess after seeing the full capabilities of Blu-ray, they're not as impressive, even though I'm sure it's as good as they can look.

Drexl

Mastering quality aside, I think film stocks (and styles) are the most important factor. The Omen was shot with diffusion filters that were common in 70s films, and this gives it a softer, hazy look that usually isn't there with modern films. Modern film stocks tend to be much cleaner and more realistic.

MookieNJ

I would definitely go Blu. You can't beat the prices on the players or the movies this time of year, you'll still be able to watch all of your old movies, and the prices on new releases are getting pretty close in price DVD vs. Blu Ray. If you ever plan on going Blu, better to do it now and start getting the new movies in HD now ... you won't get very much for your DVDs when you want to sell them after upgrading later!

Solid Snake

go to amazon right now..they're having a genocide on their hands with the sales they're giving out on the Blus. It's just amazing.

Iron_Giant

Love BR.

I have yet to see a BR disk that does not look noticeably better. The best upconverted DVDs I have is "The 5th Element" and "The Mask of Zorro" (both Superbit), yet every BR looks tons better.

Watched "UP" on DVD 1st, then BR - WOW what a difference.

Not only is the PQ, but the sound is way better. Alot of times I have to skip back a DVD to understand what someone said (dialog is always the problem), but in BR I do not need to do that becuase the voises are so clear.

Never going back to buying DVDs, BR is the only way to go.