Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: 68Wooley on October 08, 2008, 03:23:29 PM
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Thinking of doing my bit to keep the economy ticking over with a quick discretionary purchase.
I have a pretty good up-converting DVD player and a couple of 720p LCD TV's. I'm contemplating a Blu-Ray player (probably a PS3 for future compatibility and occasional drunken rounds of Gran Tourismo). The question is, without a 1080p set, will I really notice much of a difference in movies - which would be its primary purpose.
Opinions welcomed.
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I believe you will. Blu-Ray discs can store more data than traditional DVDs. Which means there's more space for digital details that enhances lighting, sound, and picture.
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You won't. You need a 1080p screen to get the quality difference. I thought it was a "snake oil" gimmick until I saw it. I'm working the wife over on getting a 1080p set for this Xmas.
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You need to be viewing on a large enough screen or else the difference won't be noticeable enough to justify the cost. "Large enough" for the average living room starts at 40 inches, 50 inches is better.
As for the 720p factor instead of 1080 (i or p), it'll be slightly limiting but not a game-breaker, imo. But if you don't have a big enough TV, don't bother.
Also, definitely get the PS3 if you're going to do Blu Ray. And get the DVD style remote for it, so you don't have to use the gamepads to watch a movie.
I have a PS3 and a 47" 1080p Samsung (forget which model). Very kick bellybutton and way better than my 30" 720p LCD that I had before.
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1080p OR YOU WON'T NOTICE ANYTHING.
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Its worth getting a PS3 for it. Blu-ray is very nice looking.
GTA4 is very fun.
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I just bought a blu ray player for our beach house, I already had one at home with 1080i TV and there is quite a bit of difference from regular DVDs on that... but at the beach we have a 120hz 1080p and WOW do blu ray movies look nice!
Now... I believe since you have 720p TVs which display better than DVD quality, you *would* see some improvement with blu ray.
Costco has blu ray players for less than $250 now. PS3 is still $380+. I was thinking about PS3 too... but decided against the extra cost for now.
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Home Theater is a serious hobby of mine. If you are noticing any difference, I apologize, but there it is "expectations of wanting to see things differently." Nothing more, nothing less.
Blu-Ray players will up convert (signal code from TV) to the 720p, 720i and 1080i tv's. They will not be presented in any different manner than a "non-Blu-Ray player." In order to see ANY difference, you need a 1080p TV (monitor, etc).
If this was not true (and I am simply stating how it is), everyone would be buying a Blu-Ray player. But they are not. DVD-Video had some advantages over Blu-Ray, but Blu-Ray won.
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I'd recommend a PS3, the firmware version now supports intermediate upgrades like 720P so you will see some improvement. I've got a 1080P LCD and have played both up converted CD's and blue ray...the PS3 does a great job on both now. The bigger issue might be with games on the PS3. Initially you either got a 480P or a 1080P picture with nothing in between....I'm not sure how the PS3 handles things now since I have a 1080P set...
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I believe Wooley is asking if he will notice a difference between a 720p TV with a blu ray player (with blu ray disk 1080p), and his 720P TV and a DVD. I still say yep... the blu ray can output at 720p and it will look better than up converted DVD from 480p.
Now... will a standard *DVD* disk look any different between the two? No.
Also... will blue ray look better on a non HD tv 480P or whatever than a DVD? No.
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He won't, I'm out of the pissing match.
Wooley, if you have some options on TV's, players yer looking at PM me. I'm not going to hijack your thread with answering "misinformation".
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Blue Ray may have won.
But since that victory. At least as of April. Sales of blue ray players has been way down. 40% to be exact.
But with the price of players comming down.
NPD group predicts Blue Ray sales to double this year.
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6596816.html?nid=2705
But, if you take into account the 40% drop means overall sales will only be up by 40%.
Plus this prediction was made back on Sept 16th. when the economical outlook was slightly less gloomy.
So I highly doubt they would stand by that prediction today.
But even back then..
"Still, the high price of Blu-ray players and customer satisfaction with standard-definition machines remain deterrents to further growth of the next-generation machines, said Rubin, citing a recent survey of about 1,500 consumers. More than a third of those surveyed said they're either waiting for Blu-ray player prices to drop further or see no need to upgrade from standard-definition machines, while just 5% polled said they planned to buy either a stand-alone Blu-ray player or PlayStation 3"
Also its my understanding that most cable companies broadcast in 1080i. Not 1080P
And even then
"The resolution of the human eye maxes out 768x1366
"at the average viewing distance, with the average size of consumer HDTV sets, the human eye would not actually be able to perceive the difference in resolution between 720p and 1080p. This is because the 720p image "saturates" the perceivable resolution of the eye at this distance"
Good discussion going on here
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/395872
In any event. If you watch mostly TV and occasionally watch movies
You would do just as well with a 720P as a 1080P.
And odds are you probably wouldnt notice the difference.
If you play alot of Video games then the PS3 makes more sense to me then buing a stand alone Blue Ray player.
I've seen blue ray and I've seen High Def. and fer sure the blue ray looks better.
But if you only watch movies occasionally.
Whats the point?
You would be better off with the PS3 and waiting for lue Ray players...and disks to come down to more sane levels.
But thats just my 2 cents
Myself I have a 50 inch Vizio Plasma.
Its only 720. but I've been over people houses looking at programs on their significantly more expensive brand HDs at 1080P I wach at home at 720 and thought mine looked better wiht only few exceptions.
LG's being one of them
After a year and a half mine still has a WOW factor on me .
Almost every time I watch it at some point I see something on the screen and say "WOW. look at that picture"
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OK - clarifications:
My TV's are 720p. My understanding is this:
1. My DVD player is upconverting 480p or 576p resolution of my DVDs to 720p.
2. If I attempt to watch a Blu Ray disk, either the player itself or the TV (taking a 1080i signal) will need to down convert it to the TV's native 720p resolution.
Question is, will a downconverted 1080p picture look better, worse or about the same as an upconverted 480p signal.
Lots of variables in there I guess - including the quality of the up/down converting hardware and the quality of the source material. I guess the best bet would be to borrow or rent a PS3 and try it on my TV to make my mind up.
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Sylvania Blu-ray player on sale at Radioshack this week for $199.99 (after a $60 mail in rebate). :aok
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3239755&cp=&sr=1&kw=sylvania+blue+ray&origkw=sylvania+blue+ray&parentPage=search
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OK - clarifications:
My TV's are 720p. My understanding is this:
1. My DVD player is upconverting 480p or 576p resolution of my DVDs to 720p.
2. If I attempt to watch a Blu Ray disk, either the player itself or the TV (taking a 1080i signal) will need to down convert it to the TV's native 720p resolution.
Question is, will a downconverted 1080p picture look better, worse or about the same as an upconverted 480p signal.
Lots of variables in there I guess - including the quality of the up/down converting hardware and the quality of the source material. I guess the best bet would be to borrow or rent a PS3 and try it on my TV to make my mind up.
A downconverted 720p picture will look better than an upconverted 720p picture will. Don't forget the improved sound quality of blu-ray also. I've done an A/B comparison between dvd and blu-ray audio and there is a noticable difference.
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After the usual merry-go-round of research we chose a Sony PlayStation 3 as the best value Blu-Ray player for our Sony 1080i 42-inch TV.
Everything looks better on the PS3 including older DVDs. Vivid games on the PS3 are a welcome bonus although many are pricey (e.g., $60 for latest best sellers). Very satisfied with the PS3 and Blu-Ray in general.
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After the usual merry-go-round of research we chose a Sony PlayStation 3 as the best value Blu-Ray player for our Sony 1080i 42-inch TV.
Everything looks better on the PS3 including older DVDs. Vivid games on the PS3 are a welcome bonus although many are pricey (e.g., $60 for latest best sellers). Very satisfied with the PS3 and Blu-Ray in general.
Seconded.
Samsung 46" LCD full HD 1080p with Blu Ray player = almost sex.
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Thirded
Sony Bravia 55" LCD HD 1080p with PS3...even the 720p games look awesom-o
Tronsky
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Almost forgot to add that I've come to prefer the PS3 wireless controller over a standard remote controller for playing DVDs too. Buttons are easier to find and manipulate intuitively and in the dark.
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The difference between an upconverted DVD and a HD signal is much greater than the difference between 720P and 1080P. That being said if you have a good processor 480P can look pretty good. Whether you will see much of a difference is going to be determined by the source material, whatever processor is doing the scaling to the native resolution of the monitor and the distance you're sitting from the screen. At 10' you'll notice more of a difference on a 50" TV than a 32" set for example.
If I were to get a new TV these days I would probably just spring for a set with a native 1080P resolution, however if I had a 720p set (which I do) I wouldn't rule out getting a Blu-Ray player.
Then of course there's the fun of HDMI and don't get me started on that. :)
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There ya go,AHII in "Blue Ray" with triple screen. :aok