OT - Blu Ray vs DVD

CyclingBantam

I like nothing more than watching a good film at home through the surround sound. We have just had our house re-decorated and to honour this I would like to replace my current Surround Sound system (about 6 or 7 years old) with a new beter quality one.

The thing that has got me thinking though is do I go with a DVD system, wheich will allow me to watch my existing films in Standard definition (which is good enough) or, do I use this opportinity to switch to Blu Ray?

Is Blu Ray likely to be the way forward for film's or are DVD's likely to be around and at the top of the market for a reasonable amount of time yet? I don't want to spend a few hundred now then find in a year or so DVD's are getting phased out or are superceeded by much better quality in Blu Rays.

If they are likely to be on a par/DVD's just slightly worse picture quality I would rather stay with DVD's as they are cheaper.

What's everyones opinion? Anyone got a Blu Ray?

sketchley

My opinion.

Blueray is worth it for HD Audio if you have a good enough audio system cabled and setup correctly. This is because Dolby Digital and DTS on dvd is compressed. On HD blueray it is not. But you need HDMI between blueray player and amplifier as optical cannot handle the data rate needed for multi channel HD audio. Plus you need to be able to here the difference, I can, but that maybe has more to do with sound system and DJ stuff I've done in the past.

As for picture blueray is obviously HD resolution but you also get full frame rate on most titles. On large screens, particuarly if you are sitting close, this is very good indeed. However in practice once you are watching the film (providing it's a good one) you will not notice the difference between upscaled DVD and blueray. You only notice that in comparrison testing.

That all being said the Sony PS3 is great blueray player and also a good media player and internet browser too. This is what I have and it play games too. I do keep a good upscaling Samsung DVD in the rack too but only because it does region 1 and I have some region 1 dvds.

Big Shoes

I have had Blu-Ray for a few years and the picture quality is far superior than dvd's, Blu-Rays run at 1080p which is over twice the quality of DVD, as long as your tv can take it, most will be 720p or 1080p if it is an LCD/Plasma, and you have the added benefit of the Blu-Ray player upscaling your old DVD's to high definition.
I can see Blu-Rays lasting until they manage to sort out being able to watch/stream HD movies via the internet or they start selling films on Memory cards, but as most Blu-Rays are about 30-40gb, this is a few years off due to cost of the cards.

Kieran_Burns

I have Blu-ray and always get a BD in preference to a DVD for a 'premium' film.

If you have a Full HD (1080p) TV your eyes will thank you for it - and if you have a decent (5.1 and up) sound system your ears will as well.

It's just so much more immersive and it's not like decent BD players are that expensive (plus if you pay extra you get ones that link to your Media centre / pc - I can play my helmet cam vids on the TV if I really want to be that sad

BD plays DVDs so I really can't see what the question is. You get more flexibility using a BD player than you do with a DVD one.

Paul E

I don't see dvd's disapearing for a while yet, even if they are that doesn't affect the ones you have now and they play fine in bluray players anyway and depending on the transfer quiality the upscaling can look quite decent on dvd.

I have a background in video editing etc and the quality jump from dvd to blu ray can be amazing or it can be crap, it just depends on the source of the footage etc but for main hollywood films yes I would say bluray is worth it.

The only way bluray is going to be killed is when everyone has a fast enough internet connection where you can either stream them or buy the film files, streaming won't match the quality of bluray though as the film would have to be comressed a lot to enable it to flow without stuttering.

I use a ps3 for bluray and find it fine, it plugs into a sony av amp which sorts out the sound sending it to the speakers around the room and the picture to the screen.

sketchley

Only problem with blueray is that you can get the same film on DVD for half the price. For example see link below, £4.99 for DVD, £14.93 for blueray. If the extra quality worth 3 times the price.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_nos ... =Inception

If you subscribe to lovefilm on the other hand they cost the same to rent.

One thing I wouldn't do is get something on blueray that you already have on DVD. Also I wouldn't replace an existing DVD player with another DVD player as blueray can play DVDs.

CyclingBantam

I think I have been being thick. Am I right in taking from what you are all saying that Blu Ray players can play DVD's as well?

That way, for the 'best films I can buy Blu Ray but for any cheap 'old' films, I could, where I wanted just buy a DVD and still play it?

:oops: - As you can see, I'm not very technologicaly up to date!

Kieran_Burns

CyclingBantam wrote:

I think I have been being thick. Am I right in taking from what you are all saying that Blu Ray players can play DVD's as well?

That way, for the 'best films I can buy Blu Ray but for any cheap 'old' films, I could, where I wanted just buy a DVD and still play it?

:oops: - As you can see, I'm not very technologicaly up to date!

Yes - A BD player can play DVDs - I thought you'd made that mistake which is why I specifically mentioned.

CyclingBantam

Ah well that looks to me like my mind is made up. Seems no benefit (other than saving a little bit of cash) in buying a new DVD player now. Might as well go Blu Ray.

What sort of things sould I be looking for in it? What sort of price range do I need to go to to get a 'decent one' (will £400 be enough?)?

I have a HD TV (42") that I am pretty sure is 1080p and a 600hz refresh rate (not sure if that is important but I know it was for watching the sport as it supposedly stopped blurring)

dhope

£400 would be more than enough, you could easily get away with a half or a third of that then spend the difference on a nice wheelset for the bike.

Kieran_Burns

I have this: http://www.sony.co.uk/product/blu-ray-d ... r/bdp-s570 one.

VERY good player - wifi included which allows for online updates of the firmware (which is necessary btw)

This one of the better ones in the range and as you can see - it's WAY under your budget

CyclingBantam

dhope wrote:

£400 would be more than enough, you could easily get away with a half or a third of that then spend the difference on a nice wheelset for the bike.

Oohh, this gets better.

**scurries off to search "What wheels?" threads....

dhope

CyclingBantam wrote:

dhope wrote:

£400 would be more than enough, you could easily get away with a half or a third of that then spend the difference on a nice wheelset for the bike.

Oohh, this gets better.

**scurries off to search "What wheels?" threads....

Best tell the Missus that you can't find a decent Blu Ray for under £800, you'll want something to go with the new wheels

sketchley

As I said before the PS3 is very good blueray player. It decodes all the HD audio formats and works really well. While it can be noisy playing games (fans etc) on blueray it's very quiet.

You can get for £226 quid plus you get a games console, web browser, BBC i-player, ITV playe, 4OD and a media player thrown in for free. Only £50 more or so than standalone blueray player.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003ZYEC1G/r ... B003ZYEC1G

Recommend getting on of these with it

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Blu-Ray-Di ... 180&sr=1-1

greg66_tri_v2.0

All the points have been covered above; key points are that
- BD images are usually a lot better than standard def DVD, and obviously so;
- however, some DVD transfers are very good and some (older film) BD transfers are not great
- 5.1 or 7.1 HD sound is very good

Now, other bits. Do you have a 1080p TV? And most importantly, do you have an AV amp with HDMI Inputs snd outputs, and all the necessary speakers, because you won't get surround sound. Onkyo is a good place to start looking.

spasypaddy

i would also recommend the PS3 as the bluray player of choice.

nicklouse

TBH if you are buying anything new make sure it is BD 3D able. the player will play your CD/DVD/DB and BD3D and some will also manage SACD and DVD-A

make sure the AMP has HDMI 1.4 (3D pass-through) ability. then when the world goes 3D you are ready. (I hope it never does).

Dont get suckered into spending lots on HDMI cables. Make sure it is up to the 1.4 standard and you will be fine.

there are not many 7.1 BD out there so a 5.1 set up will be fine ( I run a 7.1 and have the amp do much of the mixing).

I would not go for the PS3 as there are better players out there for the same or less money.
Also if you have kids things will end in tears when they want to play games and you want to watch a movie.

One thing to note the HD image can at time look odd as there is that much more detail.

2001 you can see the weave of the fabric that the starting images were back projected onto.

Film has a higher "resolution" than any digital format but some transfers are poor (2001 not being poor but maybe too good).

BD players are not software moddable to be multi region playback for BD but can be for DVD playback.

for BD multi region you need a hard ware mod.

if you like your movies and multi track music do it.

CyclingBantam

The one thing I am not sure i was clear enough with was that I want to buy thesuround sound as well (probably 5.1). Am I best buying a Home Cinema bundle or buying speakers and player separate? What does this now make my £400 look like.

nicklouse

CyclingBantam wrote:

The one thing I am not sure i was clear enough with was that I want to buy thesuround sound as well (probably 5.1). Am I best buying a Home Cinema bundle or buying speakers and player separate? What does this now make my £400 look like.

in that case a Sony BDV-E370

http://www.whathifi.com/review/sony-bdv-e370

greg66_tri_v2.0

CyclingBantam wrote:

The one thing I am not sure i was clear enough with was that I want to buy thesuround sound as well (probably 5.1). Am I best buying a Home Cinema bundle or buying speakers and player separate? What does this now make my £400 look like.

I would look at one of the home theatre in a box packages from Panasonic or Sony. I think you will struggle to put together a separates package for £400.

Agent57

Noooooo! Nooooooooooo! Why, oh why did I read this thread? Damn. I've already got the Blu-Ray player (well, a PS3), and a TV which is 1080p as I recall (a 40" Samsung LCD LE40BDX or somesuch). But this thread has reminded me that I want to update my AV, too. I've an old Yamaha amp and some Mission speakers; but the amp doesn't have any HDMI ports (it's about 12 years old) and the Missions are big boxy affairs.

Damn again. Now I'm back to looking at amps (Onkyo had some good ones, as I recall) and a KEF KHT speaker set... FFS.

EKE_38BPM

People talk a lot about 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 and more (I've even heard of 10.2).

Is anything actually made in anything more than 5.1 or are the 'extra' channels just interpollated?

greg66_tri_v2.0

EKE_38BPM wrote:

People talk a lot about 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 and more (I've even heard of 10.2).

Is anything actually made in anything more than 5.1 or are the 'extra' channels just interpollated?

There are a few BDs in 7.1. Haven't seen any in anything higher than that.

EKE_38BPM

10.2 has been demonstrated, but not available and no software yet.

I think I'll stick to my 6.1 set-up for the foreseeable future (even though it could all do with replacing).

sketchley

DTS Master Audio can have 2000.1 channels in theory if the storage media is big enough.

Onkyo and Kef KHT = Good Combination. It's what I have anyway.

I have the KHT1000 and in small room they work well, in a bigger room consider spending a bit more on the KHT2000. Also try some different speaker too. If any where near new malden visit UniLet http://www.unilet.net/ as they have the time to demo stuff properly. Give them a call though if you want to hear any specfic. Also in their blue murder sale you can get some real bargins!

georgee

As another vote for buying a PS3...

They are Bluray and because they pick up wireless tinternet you now can subcribe to love film to stream over the net, also 4OD, ITV player and Iplyer all come with it.

nicklouse

EKE_38BPM wrote:

People talk a lot about 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 and more (I've even heard of 10.2).

Is anything actually made in anything more than 5.1 or are the 'extra' channels just interpollated?

a few BDs and a few HDDVDs and yes it does add to the experience.

EKE_38BPM

nicklouse wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

People talk a lot about 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 and more (I've even heard of 10.2).

Is anything actually made in anything more than 5.1 or are the 'extra' channels just interpollated?

a few BDs and a few HDDVDs and yes it does add to the experience.

I think DTS films are 6.1, anything more than that is just dick swinging.

Paul E

I only have a few blurays that has the extra channels, mostly they are surround back left and right (SBL SBR on the amp's display).

Film quality plays a huge role in the quality of transfers, the superman films look frankly very ropey effects and grain wise, close encounters of the third kind is very very grainy and so on, but then older films that you would expect to look bad look great.

Some of the best old films are the Bond films, they went through a lot of work to clean them up, the frames were scanned at 4k (xxxx x 4000) before the scratch removal and re grading was done ie a lot of work.

On a side note, resolution wise film has a natural line res of about 1000 line give or take a bit for the stock and asa which is one of the reasons the opts for 1920x1080 for the resolution (1080 being the important number)

I know I sound like a right geek but it helped with my job to know these things, I recently assisted on a night shoot for some new mountain bike lights and that was shot on a digi slr as they have really caught up quality wise, frankly it amazed me that it beat, hands down the quality, image wise of the kit I was using a couple of years ago.

Initialised

georgee wrote:

As another vote for buying a PS3...

They are Bluray and because they pick up wireless tinternet you now can subcribe to love film to stream over the net, also 4OD, ITV player and Iplyer all come with it.

Cheapish PC (AMD Fusion board)in a nice media centre case, umpteen terabytes of hard disc and an internal blue ray for when you can't find a decent copy online.

Paul E

Only problem with that is, for a none techy person, keeping it all running and maintained is a pain in the arse, after a while you just want something that switches on quick and plays things easy without having to update driver or codecs etc.

It's fun if you like that kind of thing though.