Blu ray or a upscaling player? Is blu ray disc player worth it to buy?

blu ray player 5 disc image

elle

I just bought a LCD 1080i. I"m debating on just buying upscaling or blu ray disc player. Can Blu ray play regular DVDs and play on 1080i format? Or should I just save money and by a upscaling player that plays regular DVDs. How is the output on the upscaling player?

Answer
Not an easy question to answer.

First, you will have to decide based on YOUR priorities ... but let me offer some things to consider.

- Blu-ray is, and will likely remain, a niche premium format for people who can benefit and are willing to pay the premium price (~$300+ for the player and $5-$20 more for disks of the same movie vs DVD).

- Opinion of Blu-ray can vary from "wow!" to "what's all the fuss about" ... depending on how it is being displayed.

- To FULLY benefit you need a 40" or larger 1080p HDTV, with a good surround sound system capable of handling the advanced audio formats.

- You will still get some benefit from Blu-ray with a 720p HDTV (what you have), but you don't mention screen size, where you intend to watch from and whether you have a good sound system ... all of which influence the benefit/cost equation.

- Many Blu-ray films are poorly mastered and don't look much better than DVD even under optimum conditions.

- An upconverting DVD player won't make a DVD look as good as a Blu-ray disk, but on a 720p HDTV under about 40" detail will look fairly close. But picture quality is subjective -- and dependent on more than just resolution -- so you really have to see it for yourself and decide if Blu-Ray is worthwhile. Why not view a DVD and a Blu-ray disk on a HDTV similar to yours and see for yourself?

Personally I can say that I have a 720p projector and a 110" screen, and I tried HD DVD disks (which give essentially identical picture and audio quality to Blu-ray) and found insignificant improvement over upscaled DVDs. Since then I have bought 2 HD DVD tiltes (Planet eart and Sunrise Earth) and over 50 DVDs. I use my HD DVD player as an upscaling DVD player ... and pay about $20 less for movies than if I bought Blu-ray. So I guess I'm biased ... but upconverted DVD look just fine with me.

I should caution that not everyone sees the same thing (which is why I recommended seeing for yourself).

If you do consider an upconverting players note they are only as good as the video processing chip they use ... so avoid the under $60 models. The best are Oppo's models but they are a bit pricy.

BTW, if you do decide an upconverting DVD player is enough the liquidation prices (~$75) in effect on the Toshiba HD-A3 or Venture HD-7000 (Wal-Mart's brand) HD DVD player make them a very attractive option (and as a bonus you can play any of the 400 HD DVD movies available (Noting there will be very few new ones after this month)). But you will have to move fairly fast .. a lot of people have realized the same thing and they are getting snapped up fast.

Finally, if you decide on Blu-ray, other than the PS3, you should wait until near the end of the year to get a Profile 2.0 (BD-Live!) player, and for prices to come down a bit.

Hope that helps.

What is a good (price/value) blu ray burner to buy or pc?

Pua C

I would like to make back up copies of blu ray disks that I own to play on my blu ray player. I dont know what I need to buy.... An external blu ray burner with usb cable out I suppose...? What brand? Does the burner come with software? Thank you.

Answer
hello

lg is the best

http://astore.amazon.com/allinelectronics-20/detail/B000Y1AFCS

LG GGW-H20L Super Multi Blue - Blu-ray Disc Burner / HD DVD-ROM Drive w/ Lightscribe - 6x2x6x/3x - Serial ATA - internal - 5.25"
$199.99

good luck and hapyness

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Future of Blu-Ray dvds?

blu ray player vs roku image

mike

Is it worth investing in more blu-ray dvds when hard-drive based digital players are launching in the market? Things like Apple TV, DVR, and Roku are in early phases with a few problems, but there cited as the future of movies. Things can change obviously if their current drawbacks (rentals only and internet bandwith issues) aren't improved in the future. How many people are converting from dvds over to these devices?

Answer
It really comes down to what quality level consumers want and to what degree the physical ownership model (i.e. disks) still applies. The "MP3 generation" value convenience over quality and to some yet unknown degree this may also prove to be true for video.

HDTV programming, HD Video on Demand movies and HD download movies are all sufficiently high quality vs Blu-ray for many people (analogous to MP3 vs CD/SACD). Furthermore for many people who prefer the physical disk model the quality of DVD on a good player is all they need/want.

Blu-ray is the best video and audio quality available to consumers, but to fully benefit requires expensive equipment and the willingness to pay a premium price for disks ... something a large proportion of the population are not able or willing to do.

Combine that with an increasing range of "good enough" quality HD alternatives and the result is that Blu-ray will probably never achieve the same 'universal' penetration of the home market that DVD did. At the moment it is still only accounts for about 10-15% of DVD's market, and for many reasons may never achieve more than 30-40% of the home video market..

The bottom line is that Blu-ray is, and will remain, a premium priced alternative to DVD and for an increasing array of slightly lower quality HD alternatives. Blu-ray isn't likely to disappear, or be replaced by something better for years, so whether to buy or not is really a personal choice based on your circumstances and preferences.

Smart TV vs Non Smart TV?

Cesilee

I'm looking at purchasing a new tv. I'm really interested in the LG 55" Class 1080p 120Hz LED TV. Not too sure whether to get the smart one or not. Could I get the non smart tv and just purachase a blu ray smart dvd player? Would I get the same features as a Smart TV? Is there any disadvantages going that route? It's a lot cheaper other than that is there any other pros or cons?!?! What's your opinion/suggestion?

Answer
You can get the same features as a smart TV by adding a smart dvd player to a nonsmart TV. If it
is much cheaper, I think it is wise. The only disadvantage is that you may need two remote controls or to program a universal remote to two different devices.

Frankly I don't give an expletive of your choice about a smart TV. It is an expensive marketing device. They appeal to the technology challenged and may be desirable for space saving If you
want to avoid possible clutter of having dvd players, roku boxes or as I will describe, a computer by the TV . I prefer to have a desktop with a wireless keyboard and mouse sitting right beside an ordinary LED TV and I can get on youtube or hulu or any other site I want through familiar browsers such as IE, chrome, or firefox. Moreover you can install a blu-ray drive into that desktop, and internal
BD Drives are $79.95 or less.

The tech challenged will still need the skills, or someone to help them connect their smart TV or smart
device to the internet, either using eithernet or built in wireless, just as one does with a computer connected to the TV. A smart TV is simply a TV with an internet enabled computer inside of it.

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