is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

I am slowly 'upgrading' my DVDs to BDs. As you know, not all BDs are created equal. However, the BD review sites typically compare the PQ to what BD can deliver and not compared to the DVD version. Only rarely do I see this in a review.

That criteria really doesn't help me. A lousy BD PQ might still be heads and shoulders better than the DVD, and a good BD might only be marginally better than a perfectly mastered DVD.

I have a 120" front projection system, so what may be marginally better on a 50" TV can be substantial on a 120" screen. Yet, I don't want to waste $ if the BD isn't going to buy me much over the DVD version and I won't see it even on my system.

Plus some BDs can be even worse than the DVD, due to EE, DNR,etc.

Hopefully this makes sense.

Is there a site that has these kinds of comparisons/reviews to the DVD counterpart?

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

It's possible some early Blu-ray reviews may have compared the presentation to its former DVD releases but that time is long past.

I think the best you can do it just read reviews and judge it on a case by case basis.

That said, I've upgraded every DVD I can to Blu-ray even if I have to import to do it. Unless a Blu-ray is literally an upscale job from 480p, it's also going to be better - just a question of degree.

This is coming from someone with a 65" display. At almost double that, I would think you'd want to have 1080p available to you no matter what.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Haven't been in a while but this may be what you're looking for. It doesn't appear to compare from BD to DVD but it has information on releases from all regions.

http://dvdcompare.net

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Unless the BD is an unmitigated disaster, you are going to see a substantial upgrade over any dvd on a 120" projection system.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

There are only a few examples where the upgrade from DVD to BD might be questionable, and those are mostly from very early BD releases (2006-2007) that completely botched the transfer.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

There are a couple of not very updated threads here in the forum that do things like this. One in my sig; then another for just BDs iirc.

Edit: Nevermind. The threads here are mainly about extras.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

THanks... Will stop worrying and upgrade as budget permits.. :)

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

I was thinking the same thing. There are so few instances where the Blu-ray isn't a step up over the DVD, that creating a website like this wouldn't make much sense, since 95 percent of the reviews would say "worth the upgrade." Unless we're talking bonus materials, but I assume the OP was referring to video and audio quality.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Yes, only care about PQ actually.

Not sure how many more I will be upgrading, but buying new ones is a no brainer...

Thanks to everyone for pitching in..

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Taxi Driver is DEFINITELY worth an upgrade.
source - davidlynchfan reviews.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

I think a better way to handle what the OP is looking for, is not as much as a comparison site, but more along the lines of what BD's should be avoided because of issues with the video or audio. The focus could be things like bad encodes, or dropouts, or even drastic changes made like on the Terminator or original French Connection BD's. Because I think most people would agree that most discs improve on the DVD quality at least in some way. Even that teal Terminator BD.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Other considerations.
There are a lot of titles where the BD is the first time title is available in 16x9, the DVD counterpart is 4x3 letterbox, or even fullscreen.
Public domain titles may be full HD but the print is not as good as a SD version available.
With international releases, check to see the BD has the cut you want.
There may not be an audio issue, but the audio choices may be different.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

There's been a number of DVDs I haven't "upgraded", including The Terminator, because they don't include the original sound mixes. The Terminator on Blu-Ray only has the new 5.1 mix- when that movie was released it cost a bit more to produce a movie in stereo and so it was released in mono, which is how it should be heard. The DVD includes both the original mono and the new 5.1 mix, the Blu-Ray doesn't. With Warner titles, I also don't buy any that I know have had the original studio intros replaced with their newer CG one- usually you can check those on Vudu with the 2-minute preview feature there.

I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that waiting for a rerelease of T1 with the original mono is a fool's errand.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

quick follow up:
What do you do with your DVD versions of the film.

a) keep them
b) sell them
c) give 'em away

Just curious.. as I now have a huge stack of DVDs for each movie that I upgraded to BD.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Went from blank VHS tapes of movies on cable (when cable first started) to LDs. From LDs to DVDs and now BDs. I very rarely double dip unless the BD is released in it's OAR.

If you have a good setup, which I think I have, some DVDs upscaled look great and I'll stick with them. I have over 2000 DVDs and BDs and am running out of storage space.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Back when I only had one blu-ray player in the house, I'd keep the dvds and put them in a multi-disc blu-ray case and make my own combo packs. That's not really a concern anymore, but I'll still do it if there's a an extras disc or something not on the blu-ray. I've also given some away to friends and I used to bring a lot of them to Best Buy when they still did upgrade and save. I do still have a stack just sitting on the shelf which I'll probably just donate or even throw them away if no one will take them.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Back in the first few years of Blu-ray you could recoup some of what you spent on the Blu by selling the DVD. Now it's pretty rough out there for used DVD's.

Personally I see no point in keeping them. I've taken them in bunches to a place like 2nd and Charles which will give you cash or store credit. Whatever they reject I usually give to Goodwill or in some cases after seeing the value on Amazon at 0.01, I just chuck 'em.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

a :D Never get rid of ANYTHING!

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

Can't you just feed an audio receiver the 5.1 stereo mix and have it output 2 channel mono?

I guess it won't be "original" mono but it will give you the same effect.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

I have a guy who gives me $2 a piece for my dvds. I only have BD in the home theater so I keep old movies like Universal Monsters, etc. in case I want to watch on living room tv while kicked back on couch.
I've gotten as much as $15 for used Criterion dvds on Amazon. If the dvd is OOP and the BD release has no new DVD counterpart, you can still get OOP prices for the dvd sometimes. People still want it on dvd.

Re: is there a "worth the upgrade" site?
 

The 5.1 mix of Terminator is a completely new mix with added sound effects, etc. This is a very common occurrence because unless a studio has access to the original sound effect and music elements, there's no good way to expand a mono track to 5.1. Instead they just throw a lot of extra crap in there so that there's something to spread across the various channels. I think in the case of Terminator there was also some revisionism at hand with Cameron not being happy with the quality of the original track, although I could be wrong about that.

In the case of The Terminator, the original PCM mono track from the laserdisc is pretty easy to find online synced to the current BD. I know hanshotfirst doesn't like to go that route, but it really is pretty awesome and probably of a higher quality than any studio release would be.