A perspective on blu ray

I really question my decision to buy a PS3 on the basis of blu ray. Some disks admittedly do look amazing (1080p on a 46" V series) such as Planet Earth. But they are generally movies where you are interested in the photography and not so much the story.

Generally speaking if I'm in to a movie I don't really notice the difference between a DVD disk and a blu ray movie, i'm so wrapped up in the characters etc I don't care if I can see the pores on their noses.

I really don't think blu ray and high def is worth it in terms of movies in general. Ice hockey and motor racing look amazing in HD but for some reason in movies improved sound seems to be more important for me.

I wonder whether alot of people like me, who got the PS3 primarily for BR are now selling it because they realise even this is not that necessary. I'm mulling over selling at the moment. Does anyone else feel the same way. If so, if not, then why?

HD owns,  the more HD the better

Yeah, I'm with ya on that, I find myself walking through Best Buy and Circuit City all the time watching HD football games and watching the Blu-Ray (before HD-DVD) movies. And I have yet to be wowed, I like my regular DVD fine right now, all the features are mostly the same, only difference is that one is slightly sharper. And besides, if I really want to get into HD movies, I'd rather spend $15-$20 dollars on iTunes downloads or rentals, or even Xbox HD downloads/rentals rather than spending $30.00+ just so that I can have the physical disc when all I'm really interested in is the movie.  If I really need that director commentary or special features, I'd rather buy the regular DVD for $20 dollars.

Right now, I'm planning to skip BluRay altogether because I'm completely satisfied with the content available via iTunes, Xbox Marketplace, DVD, and Netflix. I can get all the Standard Definition or High Definition content without having to buy any new hardware.

Why would I spend 300+ for a machine that plays HD movies via BluRay where I have to spend $30.00 for new releases when I can just download the same new releases in HD on iTunes for $15-$20? And HD in general is overrated, the jump from DVD to Bluray/HD-DVD is nothing compared to the jump from VHS to DVD, in terms of both video quality and special features.

 And, just for the record, I had a PS3 mainly for MGS4, when I bought it I had planned to return it after beating MGS4 a few times. However, I initially decided to keep it because of the BluRay player. But then when I went to go buy some BluRay movies, yeah, the sticker shock (for the price of 1 new BluRay release, I could by the same movie on DVD plus one older movie, then once I actually bought the BluRay movie (I think it was V for Vendetta), I saw that it was indeed better than regular DVD, but not enough to justify a $400 piece of equipment, Needless to say, the PS3 went back to the store, and MGS4 and the movie went to Craigslist. 

Basically the hype around BluRay and HD/ MGS4 was enough for me to make the initial purchase, however, once I experienced them, I decided that they weren't worth enough to justify the purchase, so now they are gone, and I'm happy. It'

LOL the "The jump from VHS to DVD is bigger than the jump from DVD to Blu-ray" line is BS

VHS is 330x480  thats  158,400 pixels

DVD is 720x480 thats  345,600 pixels

Blu-ray is 1920x1080 thats 2,073,600 pixels

So while DVD is roughly twice as many pixels as VHS,  Blu-ray is roughly 6 times as many pixels as DVD. 

HD is something else. But once you've had it for awhile sometimes there are moments where you don't notice it. Something that has a lot of visual effects do stand out more. But living in Charleston, SC(or anywhere else in the South) football is big; and sometimes the only thing to do(as in watching it). With that said I don't know how much football is crammed into everyday television. It's getting to the point where I can't even tell the difference between football in SD or HD. But considering that in my area the NHL is in HD only on Versus; and there's only two games a week shown on that channel it is a big difference. So...bright and colorful.

But I've seen Blu-Ray and it does take it up a notch. But if you're a owner who watches Blu-Ray movies as much as my roommate you'll probably only notice how good HD is when it comes to films with a lot of visual effects, or the outdoors. But for some reason, graphic whores on the PS3 and Xbox 360 always look noticeable. On that note, Star Wars need to come to high-def!

The new format probably won't be that impressive from the perspective of someone used to the old format.

The old format will most likely look bad from the perspective of someone used to the new format.

This was the case with vhs vs dvd and I expect the same to be the case for dvd vs blue ray.

People with smaller TVs can't really appreciate blu-ray and 1080p. I have a 52in Bravia and anything 480p or less is unwatchable. Native 720p and even upscaled 720p is passable but 1080p is just the best.

Anyone who owns a high quality set and HT is interested in the best. 

LOL the "The jump from VHS to DVD is bigger than the jump from DVD to Blu-ray" line is BS

 

VHS is 330x480  thats  158,400 pixels

DVD is 720x480 thats  345,600 pixels

Blu-ray is 1920x1080 thats 2,073,600 pixels

So while DVD is roughly twice as many pixels as VHS,  Blu-ray is roughly 6 times as many pixels as DVD. 

GioVela2010

People with smaller TVs can't really appreciate blu-ray and 1080p. I have a 52in Bravia and anything 480p or less is unwatchable. Native 720p and even upscaled 720p is passable but 1080p is just the best.

Anyone who owns a high quality set and HT is interested in the best. 

lordxymor

[QUOTE="GioVela2010"]

LOL the "The jump from VHS to DVD is bigger than the jump from DVD to Blu-ray" line is BS

 

VHS is 330x480  thats  158,400 pixels

DVD is 720x480 thats  345,600 pixels

Blu-ray is 1920x1080 thats 2,073,600 pixels

So while DVD is roughly twice as many pixels as VHS,  Blu-ray is roughly 6 times as many pixels as DVD. 

heretrix

 Yeah, the tape-to-disk transition was what made VHS to DVD so much bigger than Blu-ray. Slick DVD menus with no rewinding was a far more impressive change than a simply larger number of pixels. Blu-ray doesn't really bring much purchasing incentive for a largely casual-based media market.

well I have a 32" TV and DVD's still look fine on it. Guess that's due to the size of my TV though. But then again, I have to get used to DVD's after a period of watching BluRay:P

It just looks way better.

well I have a 32" TV and DVD's still look fine on it. Guess that's due to the size of my TV though. But then again, I have to get used to DVD's after a period of watching BluRay:P

It just looks way better.

killerfist

It isn't just the relatively small screen size you own. Plenty of people still have good impressions about their DVDs on their SD TVs, for the very good reason that their TV matches the format they are watching.

Whereas, plenty of HDTV owners overestimate the jump because they are comparing 1080p on their new TV to SD on their new TV. And SD display on an HDTV is often true crap.

Most, not all, but most HDTVs that have been sold and are actually in people's houses today do a poor job on displaying normal SD cable signals or DVD. Hence they look worse. 8/10+ times you compare regular digital cable on the same size SDTV vs regular digital cable on the same size HDTV the SDTV wins out. I have 3 HDTVs and I only watch HD material on them. I can't stand anything less. But I also know that none of them display SD signals as well as my big screen cathode ray TV from 15 yrs ago.

Once you have HDTV for a while, you start to think that the SD signal that looks like crap displayed on your HDTV was the baseline norm. Hence, a lot of people overestimate the leap. The secret they never tell you at retail is that SD on your HDTV is almost certain to look worse than what you have now.

Fact is HD/HDTV >>>SD/SDTV>>SD/HDTV

[QUOTE="GioVela2010"]

LOL the "The jump from VHS to DVD is bigger than the jump from DVD to Blu-ray" line is BS

 

VHS is 330x480  thats  158,400 pixels

DVD is 720x480 thats  345,600 pixels

Blu-ray is 1920x1080 thats 2,073,600 pixels

So while DVD is roughly twice as many pixels as VHS,  Blu-ray is roughly 6 times as many pixels as DVD. 

heretrix

Audio is the best and only reasoning you can come up with to say the difference is/isn't that big?  That's a really weak argument. 

It isn't just the relatively small screen size you own. Plenty of people still have good impressions about their DVDs on their SD TVs, for the very good reason that their TV matches the format they are watching.

Whereas, plenty of HDTV owners overestimate the jump because they are comparing 1080p on their new TV to SD on their new TV. And SD display on an HDTV is often true crap.

Most, not all, but most HDTVs that have been sold and are actually in people's houses today do a poor job on displaying normal SD cable signals or DVD. Hence they look worse. 8/10+ times you compare regular digital cable on the same size SDTV vs regular digital cable on the same size HDTV the SDTV wins out. I have 3 HDTVs and I only watch HD material on them. I can't stand anything less. But I also know that none of them display SD signals as well as my big screen cathode ray TV from 15 yrs ago.

Once you have HDTV for a while, you start to think that the SD signal that looks like crap displayed on your HDTV was the baseline norm. Hence, a lot of people overestimate the leap. The secret they never tell you at retail is that SD on your HDTV is almost certain to look worse than what you have now.

Fact is HD/HDTV >>>SD/SDTV>>SD/HDTV

 

SUD123456

Thats because an SDTV often times blurs edges, creating smoothing effects. HDTVs, especially fixed pixel displays, are not so forgiving.

Another advantage I don't see brought up is the durability of Blu-Ray discs. Its almost impossible to scratch them, making them great for the resale market (almost all of mine I buy used because MSRP on Blu-Rays are too high) and they are also great for families with younger children.

I am personally pleased with the change, and I think more people will be inclined to switch when HDTV penetration gets higher and Blu-Ray prices on players and software comes closer to DVD prices.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=365 I like this perspective.vaderhater

Blu-Ray is not dead. Seriously, people were saying the same garbage about VHS and DVD.

Fact is, it took DVD years to come to the level that VHS was on, and it did not completely pass VHS until 2003, 7 years after DVD first came to market.

Blu-Ray is still in its infancy, and people expecting it to all of a sudden trounce DVD are lying to themselves. It takes a long time for a new format to overtake the industry leader in almost every case.

 

[QUOTE="heretrix"][QUOTE="GioVela2010"]

LOL the "The jump from VHS to DVD is bigger than the jump from DVD to Blu-ray" line is BS

 

VHS is 330x480  thats  158,400 pixels

DVD is 720x480 thats  345,600 pixels

Blu-ray is 1920x1080 thats 2,073,600 pixels

So while DVD is roughly twice as many pixels as VHS,  Blu-ray is roughly 6 times as many pixels as DVD. 

GioVela2010

Audio is the best and only reasoning you can come up with to say the difference is/isn't that big?  That's a really weak argument. 

1. The change from tape based format to disk based format. Significant.

2. The ability to skip ahead instead of fast forwarding and rewinding, and the chapter based format, Significant.

3. The leap to 5.1 channels from 2 channel stereo, Significant.

The change from DVD to HD formats has been evolutionary, the change from tape to DVD, revolutionary. DVD killed the tape format. Blu-ray just expands on the disk based format. I'm amazed that you would even try to argue this.

[QUOTE="vaderhater"]http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=365 I like this perspective.SpruceCaboose

Blu-Ray is not dead. Seriously, people were saying the same garbage about VHS and DVD.

Fact is, it took DVD years to come to the level that VHS was on, and it did not completely pass VHS until 2003, 7 years after DVD first came to market.

Blu-Ray is still in its infancy, and people expecting it to all of a sudden trounce DVD are lying to themselves. It takes a long time for a new format to overtake the industry leader in almost every case.

[QUOTE="GioVela2010"]

[QUOTE="heretrix"]You are completely missing the point. In the jump from VHS to DVD we went from a stereo, tape based format to disk based, multi channel audio. There was a clear difference even to the layman. The jump from DVD to Blu-ray was not as obvious..I see many people mistakenly say that they can't tell the difference..Hell, I wasn't even convinced until I compared the VHS version of the Dark Knight Begins to the HDDVD version...The jump this time isn't as obvious and almost nobody is using 7.1 right now. (I am and it sounds fantastic)..heretrix

Audio is the best and only reasoning you can come up with to say the difference is/isn't that big? That's a really weak argument.

1. The change from tape based format to disk based format. Significant.

2. The ability to skip ahead instead of fast forwarding and rewinding, and the chapter based format, Significant.

3. The leap to 5.1 channels from 2 channel stereo, Significant.

The change from DVD to HD formats has been evolutionary, the change from tape to DVD, revolutionary. DVD killed the tape format. Blu-ray just expands on the disk based format. I'm amazed that you would even try to argue this.

[QUOTE="GioVela2010"]

 

[QUOTE="heretrix"]You are completely missing the point. In the jump from VHS to DVD we went from a stereo, tape based format to disk based, multi channel audio. There was a clear difference even to the layman. The jump from DVD to Blu-ray was not as obvious..I see many people mistakenly say that they can't tell the difference..Hell, I wasn't even convinced until I compared the VHS version of the Dark Knight Begins to the HDDVD version...The jump this time isn't as obvious and almost nobody is using 7.1 right now. (I am and it sounds fantastic)..heretrix

Audio is the best and only reasoning you can come up with to say the difference is/isn't that big?  That's a really weak argument. 

1. The change from tape based format to disk based format. Significant.

2. The ability to skip ahead instead of fast forwarding and rewinding, and the chapter based format, Significant.

3. The leap to 5.1 channels from 2 channel stereo, Significant.

The change from DVD to HD formats has been evolutionary, the change from tape to DVD, revolutionary. DVD killed the tape format. Blu-ray just expands on the disk based format. I'm amazed that you would even try to argue this.

Number 1 is a really stupid argument as well.

One can argue that BD-Live will be nearly as big of a jump from DVD to BD as Chapter  playback was from VHS to DVD. 

 Basically your trying to argue that the jump from 2.1 to 5.1 audio is bigger than a jump of 6 times more resolution compared to twice as much resolution.   But the jump from 5.1 Dolby Digital to 5.1-7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio kind of offsets that.

 The differences are their,  it just sounds to me like you don't have the equipment to take advantage of it.

[QUOTE="heretrix"][QUOTE="GioVela2010"]

 

 

Audio is the best and only reasoning you can come up with to say the difference is/isn't that big?  That's a really weak argument. 

GioVela2010

1. The change from tape based format to disk based format. Significant.

2. The ability to skip ahead instead of fast forwarding and rewinding, and the chapter based format, Significant.

3. The leap to 5.1 channels from 2 channel stereo, Significant.

The change from DVD to HD formats has been evolutionary, the change from tape to DVD, revolutionary. DVD killed the tape format. Blu-ray just expands on the disk based format. I'm amazed that you would even try to argue this.

Number 1 is a really stupid argument as well.

One can argue that BD-Live will be nearly as big of a jump from DVD to BD as Chapter  playback was from VHS to DVD. 

 Basically your trying to argue that the jump from 2.1 to 5.1 audio is bigger than a jump of 6 times more resolution compared to twice as much resolution.   But the jump from 5.1 Dolby Digital to 5.1-7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio kind of offsets that.

 The differences are their,  it just sounds to me like you don't have the equipment to take advantage of it.

[QUOTE="heretrix"][QUOTE="GioVela2010"]

Audio is the best and only reasoning you can come up with to say the difference is/isn't that big? That's a really weak argument.

GioVela2010

1. The change from tape based format to disk based format. Significant.

2. The ability to skip ahead instead of fast forwarding and rewinding, and the chapter based format, Significant.

3. The leap to 5.1 channels from 2 channel stereo, Significant.

The change from DVD to HD formats has been evolutionary, the change from tape to DVD, revolutionary. DVD killed the tape format. Blu-ray just expands on the disk based format. I'm amazed that you would even try to argue this.

Number 1 is a really stupid argument as well.

One can argue that BD-Live will be nearly as big of a jump from DVD to BD as Chapter playback was from VHS to DVD.

Basically your trying to argue that the jump from 2.1 to 5.1 audio is bigger than a jump of 6 times more resolution compared to twice as much resolution. But the jump from 5.1 Dolby Digital to 5.1-7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio kind of offsets that.

The differences are their, it just sounds to me like you don't have the equipment to take advantage of it.

VHS Picture Quality to DVD Picture Quality = Big noticable change
VHS Stereo Audio to DVD 5.1 Audio = Big noticable change

vs

DVD 480p Picture Quality to BluRay 1080p Picture Quality = sharper, but not necessary
DVD 5.1 Audio to BluRay 7.1 TrueHD Audio = two extra channels, and marginally noticable clearer sound, not necessary

The jump from DVD to BluRay may seem large on paper, by mathematics, but in reality, the human eyes adn ears ahve limitations, to which Bluray and DVD appear to be very similar in terms of how they look and sound, to a human. The jump is not as significant as it was from VHS which had bad scan lines and waive picture. Not to mention VHS to DVD gave the ability to jump to chapters, which BluRay really doesnt significantly improve either. The upgrades don't warrant buying a BluRay player.

I have a 46in Sony Bravia XBR4 with a 7.1 audio Oynko reciever, a PS3, 360 and a quad core PC connected to it.. My setup is more than capable. You have no idea what you are talking about. You really need to stop owning yourself here.heretrix

I wanna be like you when I grow up. You're so cool. 

LOL the "The jump from VHS to DVD is bigger than the jump from DVD to Blu-ray" line is BS

 

VHS is 330x480  thats  158,400 pixels

DVD is 720x480 thats  345,600 pixels

Blu-ray is 1920x1080 thats 2,073,600 pixels

So while DVD is roughly twice as many pixels as VHS,  Blu-ray is roughly 6 times as many pixels as DVD. 

GioVela2010

dude, the jump from vhs to dvds was about more then pixels....

Blue-ray offers nothing more than pixels and some lame online stuff that no one will ever use.

people who cant tell the difference betweeen blu ray and dvd on an hdtv are BLINDChocolateCake10

I now own 27 blu-ray movies.  I refuse to buy anything on regular dvd anymore and yet I rarely pay more than $20 for a blu-ray movie.  Smart shopping will get you what you want for a price that isnt bad.

[QUOTE="ChocolateCake10"]people who cant tell the difference betweeen blu ray and dvd on an hdtv are BLINDDilrod

I now own 27 blu-ray movies.  I refuse to buy anything on regular dvd anymore and yet I rarely pay more than $20 for a blu-ray movie.  Smart shopping will get you what you want for a price that isnt bad.

I do the same.

I own a HD-DVD drive for my 360 (still have it :)) but the day warner announced they were going blu-ray exclusive i went to the store the next day and bought a PS3. Usually it's girls that don't notice the extra detail to everything that the blu-ray's are capable of doing (no offense to anyone).

But there are a lot of blu-ray's that look mediocore, before buying any blu-ray i recommend everyone to check blu-ray.com or highdefdigest.com to check the product quality of the blu-ray movies before you buy them. Before I buy any blu-ray i always check the product quality and so far with all of the blu-ray movies i own, totally worth it :). It the product quality is mediocore then i'll just buy the regular dvd version.