Why most people I know don’t have Blu-ray yet.
These are some of the reasons I came up with. Why do you not have one or why do most people you know don’t?
1- I don’t have the money.
2- I don’t have an HD TV to show it on so why bother.
3- I think the players are still too expensive. Waiting for prices to decrease.
4- I think the movies are still too expensive. Waiting for prices to decrease.
5- I don’t think the quality over DVD is enough to justify the expense.
6- I can get movies through cable, or via Internet so why bother.
7- I think another medium is not far down the road so I will just wait for the next craze.
(For those who picked # 3 or #4, how much lower does it need to go before you jump on the bandwagon?)

Well for me these days #s 1, 3, and 4 are a reality. There are just other priorities right now. 2 is not an issue, and 5 and 6 are foolish. 7 is a possibility as I think the days of hard media of any kind are very short. I've been watching that Sony 550 because it meets my audio needs, but it's still $400. At $250 I might take the plunge...but I jumped on HD-DVD and look what happened.

Cost of the Discs is not a big deal to me as when/if I buy one I will not buy movies any longer. There was a time when it was cool to have hundreds of DVD movies, but those days are gone. I would just rent them through netflix. Cost of the machines is still a small issue when in my opionion there is still some uncertainty of the long term viability of the medium. When they start selling decent players (not store brand/magnavox type stuff) at 200 I will probably jump on board.

I'll play put me down for #1 thru #6 as my reason for not buying.

8- Because I like music better....

Reason 9> Up sampling DVD player combined with my TV makes replacing all of my favorite movies with Blu-Ray discs just too expensive for the slight amount of gain in picture quality.

Don't need it. DVD works fine. Plenty of DVD options. I'm still happy using my JVC 27" CRT TV and it's not HiDef. If it blows, I have a Toshiba 26" built 10 years earlier than my JVC. Why upgrade? :D Music is my specialty, TV is just an appetizer to me.

All of the above.

And I'll add one more: I've been trying to reduce the amount of gear I have, and along with that culling out some of my less-wanted or seldom-watched LDs and even LPs, and making sure they are all cataloged, cleaned, sleeved, etc.. and listened to, with a critical ear that asks, "do I really want to spend time in the future listening to THIS?" Cassettes will be next in line after I finish with the LDs and LPs. Since I am in "declutter mode" right now, I don't want to add a whole new format and start collecting another whole batch of media things.

I'm also willing to wait and see what comes out/comes up in formats, and when I feel there is a great value available in a multi-format player with direct out, probably get one, but I would guess not before next year. I have a few SACDs and NO Blu-ray disks right now. Too many other projects (mostly audio) that are more important to me than HT stuff these days, for me to bother with or spend money on Blu-ray right now.

When HT was NEW (end 1980s/early 1990s) I jumped into it eagerly. I thought it was "cool" to have a "theater" experience at home, and a library of films to invite friends to watch. These days I'm just not so much into films, mostly preferring to watch "oldies" that will never require state-of-the-art gear to be enjoyed, since they weren't made in high resolution. I'm happy to watch them on LD, DVD or via broadband movie channels, so getting Blu-ray is just not at all a priority for me these days.

I don't care enough about video to spend a dollar more to improve my current set-up---which honestly leaves nothing to be desired.
:thmbsp:

Why most people I know don’t have Blu-ray yet.
These are some of the reasons I came up with. Why do you not have one or why do most people you know don’t?
1- I don’t have the money.
2- I don’t have an HD TV to show it on so why bother.
3- I think the players are still too expensive. Waiting for prices to decrease.
4- I think the movies are still too expensive. Waiting for prices to decrease.
5- I don’t think the quality over DVD is enough to justify the expense.
6- I can get movies through cable, or via Internet so why bother.
7- I think another medium is not far down the road so I will just wait for the next craze.
(For those who picked # 3 or #4, how much lower does it need to go before you jump on the bandwagon?)

2, 3, 5, 6, 7. For me.
I don't think it's worth the plunge. I'm not too excited over it. I own a Sony Trinitron 32" TV, and movies on DVD are good enough. Plus, I notice when manufacturers change video formats, there is a sizable amount of good movies that won't make it to the new format. I read that only 4% of households own a Blu-Ray player. I think it would serve better as a storage medium on computers. Anyways, one can download movies off the Internet that are HD, so why bother with another format? Plus, I recently bought a digital converter box, since I don't have cable. There is a movie channel that shows movies all day and it's FREE!

Don't need it. DVD works fine. I'm still happy using my JVC 27" CRT TV and it's not HiDef. Why upgrade? :D Music is my specialty, TV is just an appetizer to me.

This fits my response perfectly...including the 27" JVC.

I'm really disappointed with the culture of Lockdown and Digital Rights Management that BluRay represents. Given that it's an incremental (at best) improvement over DVD, I feel NO reason to support this sort of ideology and further line Sony's pockets by upgrading.

That said, I'm hoping somebody comes up with an upscaling DVD player which can play NetFlix online. That's the sole reason I've even considered a BluRay player, even if just for DVD.

I don't have an HD t.v. yet and don't plan to buy one till my t.v. dies....

I just bought a BD player last weekend, but the reasons I usually hear are:

1, 2, 3, 4, 8*, and 9*.

*8 - Not many movies I want to buy and they don't rent them in town.
*9 - Blu what????

i actually broke down and bought a refurbed samsung bdp1400 last summer cuz i was able to get it for ~$200 delivered. figured betwixt that and renting blu ray movies/concerts from netflix, it shouldn't cost too much.

plus, i use a hd projector (which i bought almost 5 years ago when i sold some land and had 'extra' cash) and 108" screen so the added pq helps.
i will say that i'm perfectly happy with how dvds look thru the pj using an onkyo hd-805 hd dvd player (also a refurb) (with reon video processor).

i have bought (for cheap/on sale) about 15 blu ray (and ~15 hd dvds) movies; must-haves, as they say. but i dont plan to buy any more 'til the big space operas (star trek movies-may 12, supposedly; alien quad.(also this year, supposedly); star wars, etc) are released on blu.

i still watch as many dvds as blu rays. to me good content trumps pq/sq.

as to my friends, relatives, neighbors; most have never even heard of blu ray.
watching tv, etc is not a big part of their lives. or mine either, actually. i only watch maybe 3 or 4 movies per month.

i'd just as soon listen to music or the sound of outdoors-birds, the wind, etc. you can do that in the woods here in vermont.

In the "mancave" I play DVD's through my computer hooked to the tv with WINDVD. Looks great to me so I'm not inclined to change in the near future.

I'm still using a Dolby Pro Logic receiver for surround sound. So I'm not in the habit keeping up to speed on the latest gadgets.

..incremental (at best) improvement over DVD ...

:scratch2:

Not sure which BD movies/players and HDTV you've been watching, but must be different ones than I've seen.

Reason 9> Up sampling DVD player combined with my TV makes replacing all of my favorite movies with Blu-Ray discs just too expensive for the slight amount of gain in picture quality.

Ditto...

Ditto...

#9 as well but subject to revisiting when Oppo's player hits the market.

I bought mine last year and already have over 200 BD discs. I love it. She plays all my 700 plus DVD's plus all my CD's and with only one wire (HDMI) it don't get any simpler. . Mine only cost me 259.99 (Sony 350) NIB but I did ask around first.

just tossed my 40 last VHS tapes so now its HD-DVR, BD, DVD, CD, OTA HD, not to mention all the old black and white movies I have.

I upgraded one thing at a time painlessly and now I'm set for at least 5 or 6 more years.

Well, I bought a Memorex Bd player on Woot before x-mas for $139.95. Looks Excellent on my 42" Plasma. The BD discs I have been buying are only $5-10 more than a DVD. The quality is way better than an up-scaled DVD.

I have kicked around the idea of getting an XBox because it's a blu-ray player, and thought it might be cool to have a few games too, but seriously, not much of a gamer, we get our movies from Netflix, and I've never been into watching moves over enough to justify buying it, and going to rent them at the store is a hassle...

The PS3 is the only console that will play Blu-Rays.

OH.. ok.. well see there how little I knew.. I knew it was one of them. THe wife and I have talked about it a little, but not much. She said she would rather have a Wii if we got anything...

I just bought one on Ebay. I should be getting it any day now. I was fine with with the picture of my upconverting dvd player but the extra features of the PS3 will be nice.

Listening to music wirelessly off my computer should be pretty cool along with being able to rent movies right off from the internet.

:scratch2:

Not sure which BD movies/players and HDTV you've been watching, but must be different ones than I've seen.

+1. Run "The Fifth Element" through my PS3 on DVD...it looks good upconverted. Play the Blu disc...wow!

Reason 9> Up sampling DVD player combined with my TV makes replacing all of my favorite movies with Blu-Ray discs just too expensive for the slight amount of gain in picture quality.

Same here

Reason 9> Up sampling DVD player combined with my TV makes replacing all of my favorite movies with Blu-Ray discs just too expensive for the slight amount of gain in picture quality.

Same here

Remind me again what sort of TV you are using where upsampled DVDs provide only a slight gain in PQ over a high def BD disc?

I have a Hitachi CRT Projector. I have only seen blu ray at Bestbuy and I thought it was good but not really worth it to me. Its a better picture but not good enough to justify the extra expense for me as it was not knock me out of my seat better but incrementally better than upsampled dvds. When the players get down to 100 bucks and the movies are more available for rental I might think about it.

4 and 5 here,
Hell standard Def DVD isnt worth the price for the crap Hollyweird spits out and while I have 3 HD units including a 92in Projector as much as I wanted to see a huge leap in picture its just not there. Perhaps my Lexicon units are so good that more low priced BR players I would actually think Of buying dont stand up (and did demo in my home BTW) but I dont think its that. I also own the dead HDDVD but I snagged that because it and its movies were stupid cheap when it died off, it still isnt good enough to pay full retail.
I know some swear by them and if they spent good money on the stuff I would expect nothing less. I also know that nobody would come over and watch a SD DVD and feel they had to suffer through it on my HT so I spend my money on more important things.

Owning movies isn't the same for me as music. I could play a cd or album much more frequently than I could watch a movie. I would also be more likely to listen to part of a cd or album than to watch part of a movie.

I bought a bluray and 8 discs (including planet earth series and a couple other 'large as life' natural world documentaries, from amazon for $240 to my front door. I also have an LG disc drive for the PC that will play bluray and HDDVD that was $102 to my door. Neither of these was outrageously priced and they represent the trend in the hardware pricing.

I have Netflix and choose Bluray for the discs they send when available. Owning a great deal of titles isn't worth it to me with the very fast and very inexpensive Netflix option. I get one movie at a time and I think turn around will easily get me 5-6 titles a month if I watch them when I get them. The bluray option was a $1 upcharge per month, but I think it's about $8 total. This beats all other movie sources IMO, as premium channels don't offer me individual choice and pay per view is too costly.

I do have an HDTV and a 720p projector, but I have just gone bluray since December.

I would not be on board the bluray bandwagon if it weren't for sub $150 players and Netflix.

I dont own any movies at all except ones people have given me. There are not more than a handful of movies I have ever watched twice.

:dunno:I own one. My wife bought it at cost from where I work. My boss gives me 20 Blue Ray Discs, here I don't want these. Blew em' out on Ebay in 20 minutes...I have the .Planet Earth Series , but how many times can you watch it? It's on Discovery, anyway......BTW, Hockey is great in High Def.

Just because a disc is BD doesn't automatically mean the PQ is any better than anything else. I have many that are just plain upconverted junk but by the same token I also have some that really get your attention.

For the most part add it up, the better audio formats combined with extraordinary PQ and you really have something to write home about., . .

Combined with my new Pioneer Elite Plasma (PRO-111FD) and my new SC-05 Elite receiver driving my Heresy II/Forte II/ Academy center and for the first time in my 50 some odd years listening to good audio combined with extraordinary video and I'm very pleased with how this stuff works, looks and sounds.

I understand it ain't for everyone and many could care less about the few times you watch/listen when it is truly something to behold compared to 60 or 80% of the time when its not that great.

More power to them. . . For me however I'll continue looking and listening for those few times when it is the holy grail. Makes everything else just seem only worthwhile. . . But worthwhile is cool too. . .

Perhaps it mostly depends on what's important to the beholder.

Hearing and listening are two different things, as are perhaps seeing and watching.

I cringe at the statements of true HD Blu-ray being little or no different than upconverted SD DVD just as much as others cringe at my statements regarding differences in cables. :dunno:

EDIT: gyusher makes a good point, a good many BD discs are nothing more than "pre" upconverted DVD ported over to BD medium.

BTW...for me HT is primary, stereo is secondary.

Guess I'm in the minority. I want one in the worst way. I have a 12 year 27" Trinitron and I drool over the idea of a new oled screen covering my wall, or at least a 50" Panny or Pioneer plasma. I won't rent because I don't have time to watch all those netflix movies. I don't own more than a couple of VHS movies, but I would buy select BD's.
What's stopping me is that it would feel irresponsible in the current climate. Every time I buy a big ticket item in my life an unexpected expense happens the next day. I'm glad to have enough work each day to keep my job another week. And I'm great at what I do.
Sorry for the long post...:tears:

#5. DVD is IMHO more than good enough when you consider the quality (=screenplay, acting, direction, etc.) of most modern movies.

Blu ray???

I guess I've heard about it.....will they play in my VCR??

I'm completely stuck in the 80's. My newest receiver only has Dolby Pro Logic, and I have never used it for that. I listen through the "studio" mode for the rear speakers. Kinda sad, but I'm a music addict, not into quality video at all. My 14 year old Mitsubishi 27" is as good as I need. I only bought a DVD player to play my data CD's of mp3's from my Napster & Audio Galaxy days.

Rob

over at the AVS site, many are going 'ga-ga' over the 'early adaption program' commencement for the new oppo bdp83 blu ray player.

i just cant get all that excited about it.:no:

There are soooo many reasons people have yet to jump on the blu-ray bandwagon, myself among them. I can name a number of formats I jumped into early and paid more for the hardware than I would have had I waited a year or so. I remember paying $600 for my first VHS player, and close to that for my first DVD player. This time around I decided to sit out until the masses helped to bring the costs down. For example, I bought the James Bond canon on VHS back in the day, then when DVD showed up I replaced my tapes at the tune of about $400..... I replaced them again a few years ago with remastered 2 disc sets with all kinds of extras for much less than half that cost. I have no desire to keep buying new formats of the same media. The HD war was another reason I stayed away..... a repeat of the VHS/beta wars was insanity on the part of the industry. Does blu-ray look great? Sure does, but so does SD on a good set with a well mastered disc. Blu-ray is a wonderful format with lots of potential, but there are so many people out there who have no real need to make yet another media switch that it seems to be keeping the masses away. People just don't have the cash to invest in one new format after another these days, and besides, the number of great DVD titles at this point are endless...in other words, the studios have done such a good job with the DVD format that they've steered people away from spending their money on upgrading. If I want to stop in my local Blockbuster I can find titles released a month ago going for as little as 3 for $25. Hell, I can go to the pawn shops and pick up four DVDs for $10 these days, and every title be a keeper. I've been patiently picking up used season sets of The Sopranos, and thus far I have seasons 1-5 for a cost of $50 out of my pocket..... it will be a LONG time before I could do that on blu-ray. I was an online DVD reviewer for a rather prominent site for about a year and had I opted to upgrade at the time to blu-ray would have been auditioning some titles for free, but the cost of the players scared me away at the time. I'll eventually pick up a blu-ray player but I'm in no big hurry; let 'em start selling the media for $10 like they do so many good standard DVD titles and I'll be one of their customers.

1440p is coming. . .



That said however I stop here at 1080p. . . good enough for me. . . shoot, 480p is very nice on a good display and 720p is wonderful. . . 1440p might be wonderful for a 200in screen. . . lol. . .

They have somethig caled blue ray now....

Seriously, I just got a TOTL Pioneer Laser Disk playah (the infamous CLD-97)and there is NOTHING that will ever beat that warm, fuzzy, soft focus analog look.

Laser disc is the video equivalent of a vinyl record (hey! they even made them the same size) and blue ray seems to be just the same stream of misguided digital formats on a 5 inch disc that started with a CD and continues to roll through its different flavors towards its well deserved oblivion which digital streaming will bring upon it.

CD quality audio and VHS quality video can already be found streaming on the net. The future is in broadband delivery of high quality digital audio and video.

The past is ruled by that sweet and unmatched sound and look of analog

Just ask yourself this, if digital (audio/video) is so great why do they try so hard to make it better????

so I guess it's reason No. 8 and No. 10 (older formats are better :D)

LOL!
No wonder mp3 is more popular than SACD and DVD-A............ :)

2- I don’t have an HD TV to show it on so why bother.
6- I can get movies through cable, or via Internet so why bother.

8- Because I like music better....

The above are my reasons. Audio for me is a priority over video. Music has been a big part of my life throughout the decades.

Just ask yourself this, if digital (audio/video) is so great why do they try so hard to make it better????



Uhhhh....because no matter what it is there is room for improvement/it can be better?

Uhhhh....because no matter what it is there is room for improvement/it can be better?

You are quite correct sir. The content delivery medium can ALWAYS be made better. Sometimes is is just different, but by just being different it is better (?)

In fact, and upon further reflection, every time I watch one of the DVDs NetFlix sends me I find myself thinking this...

"gosh, if only I had MORE pixels, BETTER resolution, MORE definition, the LATEST gear..., perhaps then the story would seem better written, the acting more polished and professional, the directing more inspired..."

I guess I better wait for that next improvement in technology, 'cause Blue Ray ain't doing it for me yet...:D

I have the Panasonic BD35 BD player and the upconversion of DVD's is far superior to my well regarded Oppo...and for the same price. No good reason for me not to own one.

Just ask yourself this, if digital (audio/video) is so great why do they try so hard to make it better????
So they can re-sell movie catalogs again and again and again. Just like they did with LPs and CDs, and then tried (and failed) with DVD-Audio and SACD.

So they can re-sell movie catalogs again and again and again. Just like they did with LPs and CDs, and then tried (and failed) with DVD-Audio and SACD.

:yes::yes::yes::yes::yes:

Lets see now,
VHS
Dolby Surround
Dolby ProLogic
VHS HiFi
SVHS
DVD
Dolby Digital 5.1`
Dolby ProLogic II
Dolby ProLogic IIx
Dolby Digital 7.1
BD
Dolby True HD


I know there is more but all these were good reasons to upgrade something. . .

So they can re-sell movie catalogs again and again and again. Just like they did with LPs and CDs, and then tried (and failed) with DVD-Audio and SACD.

They shouldn't make 'em so that they upconvert as well as the Panny BD35 if they want to re-sell movies...the most recent person to visit thought they were watching a BD and it was just an upconverted DVD.

I still have HD-DVDs that I need to watch! I only bought the HD-DVD player because it was about the same price as a good upconverting DVD player.

I'm still not convinced that Blu-ray will be successful. It might become the next SACD. Now that the format war is over, Blu-ray seems to have disappeared into the shadows. I was at Fry's last week, and they had a tiny LCD TV for the Blu-ray demo. It was buried in the middle of a row, and the player was set to 480p! The hardware does need to get cheaper since I'll need 2-3 players plus new optical drives in my laptop, and two desktop PCs.

They've also lost me with the heavy handed copy protection. I have no intention of replacing my perfectly good computer monitor just so I can make Hollywood feel more comfortable.

I bought one about a month ago ( sony BDP-S550 and actually made in Japan) and we only have 4 BD's. The picture is drastically better. BUT what was even more amazing was that it makes regular dvd's (including ones I recorded) look a lot better. I thought my TV had a built in up-converter but playing any dvd through this player with it connected to my TV via hdmi made a big difference. When DVDs came out my wife and I bought hundreds (probably around 800) many without having ever seen the movie.

We won't be doing that with BD's. There are a few I want since the DVD I bought of a couple movies was a shit xfer. The Right Stuff and Stargate come to mind with VHS copies of those being an improvement.

The bottom line is that Blu Ray players are worth. I paid $400 for the sony but that was out of lazyness. I saw a Memorex player for $150 at woot.com during Christmas. It didn't have the "live" features on it but it did what really matters; play BD's.
Also it looks like the studios are slowly but surely dropping bluray software prices.

I'm still not convinced that Blu-ray will be successful. .

Trust me, BD is here and will be for a long, long time. I've even seen them down around 10 bucks for some not so current movies. . .

With 480p looking so good from good transfers regular DVD's are a bargain. . . I see them going away however and BD getting cheaper. . . Then comes higher defination (1440p/2880p etc) and soo we will be "paying per view per bit. ". .

Do I dare suggest that individuals who pay a bit more for BD and are excited to upgrade to a BD player along with the best possible HD set they can afford are no different than the individuals who continually spend countless hours or dollars or combination of both to make that 0.001% improvement to the sound their audio rig?

It's surprising to hear so many "DVD is 'good enough'" type posts on this site!:D

I was reluctant to switch to BD but did when I bought a new TV and. I have a Sony BDP-350. Upconverted DVDs look amazing. But DAMN, a good BD looks fantastic.

I don't care enough about video to spend a dollar more to improve my current set-up---which honestly leaves nothing to be desired.
:thmbsp:

I have something close to the same, and it does mefine, altho I pump the sound thru my main system.

I prefer living life in the real world to watching someone else do it in a fantasy world.

Is that a good enough reason?

I don't have an HD t.v. yet and don't plan to buy one till my t.v. dies....

Yup.....have a JVC 32" I bought in 93. Paid 1299.00 and be dammed if I am going to get a new TV just to watch BlueRay. Come to think of it, I have never had a breakdown or repair on this TV since I bought it. :scratch2:
If it ain't broke don't fix it.

i guess it all boils down to what you want and what is acceptable to you. I'm sure that when 1440p comes along I'll jump on that too providing it has what I want.

To me video and audio are both equally important and I'll upgrade each component as they die or as I can afford. I've done this ever since buying my first TV and sound system which was a Curtis Mathis home entertainment system in 1965.

I combined audio and video after that TV using a headphone jack that I added to my next TV so I could run the sound through my stereo.

I can remember paying upwards of two grand (early mid 80s) for at state of the art Canon VCR. . . Last year I threw away every VHS tape I owned because they were unwatchable to my eyes now days.

I call my system my "Iron Mistress". I could just as easily throw my money away on booze or women or whatever but this hobby is something I really enjoy and at least I have something to show for that money.

I still have a 27in Sony XBR (called ProFeel in its day) in my bedroom that I watch every night when I go to bed and I am still blown away how good the picture is on that set.

I think size would certainly dictate what kind of display I had. My big one (55in) needs to be HD just to match that 27in Sony in my bedroom.

I have no issue with anyone else's opinion or what they prefer to watch. I'll not try to sell them on what I want nor would I ever try to tell them what they should or shouldn't watch. It is their decision. I will however tell you what I like but in no way does that mean anything other than its what I like.

Do I dare suggest that individuals who pay a bit more for BD and are excited to upgrade to a BD player along with the best possible HD set they can afford are no different than the individuals who continually spend countless hours or dollars or combination of both to make that 0.001% improvement to the sound their audio rig?

It's surprising to hear so many "DVD is 'good enough'" type posts on this site!:D




:smoke: :thmbsp:

From what I've read and seen, screen size and uprezzing has a lot to do with satisfaction. If you have a good unit for uprezzing the video (PS3 does a great job!) and a TV 50" or smaller, then the difference between DVD and BD is not much.

OTOH, I have a front projector and an 8' screen. DVD looks surprisingly good, but BD is just another world! I've A/B'd some movies and the difference is marked. The cost differential for me is $1 a month, since I rent and rarely buy.

What's truly stunning is OTA HD. We watched a PBS Nature program on wolves in Yellowstone and the image was gorgeous!
Doug

Because I like Laserdiscs

From what I've read and seen, screen size and uprezzing has a lot to do with satisfaction. If you have a good unit for uprezzing the video (PS3 does a great job!) and a TV 50" or smaller, then the difference between DVD and BD is not much.

OTOH, I have a front projector and an 8' screen. DVD looks surprisingly good, but BD is just another world! I've A/B'd some movies and the difference is marked. The cost differential for me is $1 a month, since I rent and rarely buy.

What's truly stunning is OTA HD. We watched a PBS Nature program on wolves in Yellowstone and the image was gorgeous!
Doug
i agree re front projector. i have a panasonic hd one and i used a pan. s77 dvd player with it for about 4 years and was (still am) quite impressed with the images that combo put out on my 108" screen.

then last summer i was 'movin' on up' and upgraded to an onkyo hd-805 hd dvd player with reon processor and then a samsung 1400 blu ray(both refurbs BTW and so far-100% trouble free).
both offer a marked improvement in their images, for sure, but i still have no problem watching regular dvds (now played on the onkyo-even better than the pan s77!) thru the pj.

the good thing with all this video stuff is that i am now fairly content with how the video system works (and looks) in its present configuration and other than an eventual (but not really necessary) new 1080p projector, have no plans to upgrade farther.

any upgrade $ can now go to the legacy/vintage audio portion. and it has and will continue to.

edit-i've only bought about 15 each of blu ray and hd dvd discs. all 'must haves', as they say.
otherwise i rent from netflix, very inexpensive.

and i only watch about 5 or 6 movies/concerts per month.
i'd just as soon listen to music!

From what I've read and seen, screen size and uprezzing has a lot to do with satisfaction. If you have a good unit for uprezzing the video (PS3 does a great job!) and a TV 50" or smaller, then the difference between DVD and BD is not much.

I have a 47" 1080p Philips and a PS3. In my experience, the difference is still impressive:

+1. Run "The Fifth Element" through my PS3 on DVD...it looks good upconverted. Play the Blu disc...wow!

It's not enough to upgrade the great majority of my DVDs, though certain "eye candy" titles are being replaced. I received all of the available Kubrick films on Blu for Christmas, to start...

I watch bootleg DVD's of Kung Fu the Legend Continues, The PJ's, Get A Life(Chris Elliott) and the latest Batman TV series 1966 from masters.Retail DVD sets of cartoons and old 80's TV shows, Dukes of Hazzard, Sledgehammer, Munsters, Lost in Space,SNL, SCTV...etc... I own over 300 DVD movies,over 200 Laserdiscs movies and concerts and still have many VHS movies not replaced by DVD yet plus dozens of concerts and rock videos on VHS.
Still running older Pro Logic surround units on both systems.
My plasma is from 1998 and is a true 'Full Screen' 4:3 ratio along with most of my movie collection being full screen format.
My Sony 32" CRT Trinitron is watched nightly in the bedroom using DVD, Laserdisc or VHS, depends, but DVD is usually the one.
I am years behind current media technology and proud of it.
If I went BD it would cost too much IMO. The TV I want is the Kuro $4000 at present.
I'd want a better than average BD unit probably upwards to $500.
Then would have to upgrade my surround units $$$$
Then to replace the best movies from my collection with BD $$$$$
Seeing the stunning picture It might be difficult to watch my bootlegs and dubbed material again, what a shame.
Then they'll come out with another format and BD will go away?
No thanks, think I'll pass. Will stick to good old analog and some digital, I'm happy.

The improvement over NTSC is not incremental, if you're using the HDMI option. The pic and detail and color are amazing!! I'm looking at a 5 yr old Sony 57" tube projection TV and it's phenominal compared to the LCD or Plasma that we have been duped into buying. Yea, I know that CRTs wear out, but I'm enjoying them while they're still happy.
And the 5.1 surround sound!!! We don't have to go to no stinkin movie theater and hear people laughing and talking and cell phones ringing and out of focus pics and extra loud volume!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's all at home
And prices have dropped dramatically around Christmas time. Less than $200 @ WallyWorld
NET FLIX beats the video store to pieces for price and service and availability!!!!!!!!
Fred

Duped?

8- Because I like music better....

I don't care enough about video to spend a dollar more to improve my current set-up---which honestly leaves nothing to be desired.
:thmbsp:

2, 3, 5, 6, 7. For me.
I don't think it's worth the plunge. I'm not too excited over it. !

This fits my response perfectly...including the 27" JVC.

I don't have an HD t.v. yet and don't plan to buy one till my t.v. dies....

- Blu what????

OH.. She said she would rather have a Wii if we got anything...

I dont own any movies at all except ones people have given me. There are not more than a handful of movies I have ever watched twice.

#5. DVD is IMHO more than good enough when you consider the quality (=screenplay, acting, direction, etc.) of most modern movies.

Blu ray??? Rob

. Audio for me is a priority over video. .

I prefer living life in the real world to watching someone else do it in a fantasy world.
?

Yup.....have a JVC 32" I bought in 93. Paid 1299.00 and be dammed if I am going to get a new TV just to watch BlueRay. it.

Not to start a fight and to each his own but in a forum just for. . . "Home Theater and Video". . . it looks to me like some just want to throw cold water on everyone else's parade. . .

Maybe we need a forum just for nay sayers only. . .

I agree. However, you've misinterpreted my remark about "Blu what????". That's merely one of the reasons I hear, not my personal opinion.

I purchased a BD player about two weeks ago and am quite pleased with its performance. I find it to be much more than just an incremental improvement. The video quality is fabulous with true high def BD material, and it also provides great upscaling of SD DVDs.

I agree. However, you've misinterpreted my remark about "Blu what????". That's .

sorry about that.


Not singling out anyone or not saying what anyone does is wrong or right. Just an observation that has been building for a long time.

It does seem like there are an awful lot of posters that post to forums that from the face of it looks like its one they don't have an interest in except to post remarks that kinda upset the flow rather than add to the theme of the forum.

I watch bootleg DVD's of Kung Fu the Legend Continues, The PJ's, Get A Life(Chris Elliott) and the latest Batman TV series 1966 from masters.Retail DVD sets of cartoons and old 80's TV shows, Dukes of Hazzard, Sledgehammer, Munsters, Lost in Space,SNL, SCTV...etc... I own over 300 DVD movies,over 200 Laserdiscs movies and concerts and still have many VHS movies not replaced by DVD yet plus dozens of concerts and rock videos on VHS.
Still running older Pro Logic surround units on both systems.
My plasma is from 1998 and is a true 'Full Screen' 4:3 ratio along with most of my movie collection being full screen format.
My Sony 32" CRT Trinitron is watched nightly in the bedroom using DVD, Laserdisc or VHS, depends, but DVD is usually the one.
I am years behind current media technology and proud of it.
If I went BD it would cost too much IMO. The TV I want is the Kuro $4000 at present.
I'd want a better than average BD unit probably upwards to $500.
Then would have to upgrade my surround units $$$$
Then to replace the best movies from my collection with BD $$$$$
Seeing the stunning picture It might be difficult to watch my bootlegs and dubbed material again, what a shame.
Then they'll come out with another format and BD will go away?
No thanks, think I'll pass. Will stick to good old analog and some digital, I'm happy.


I'd like to be driving an Aston Martin............ but I don't WALK just because I can't justify buying one! The Landcruiser and Cobra suit me just fine.

Maybe you need to re-evaluate........... besides ..... GOOD LUCK getting that Kuro now anyway since Pioneer "gave up" on the market..

I am the original poster of this thread and want to thank those that took time to comment. I never really voiced my opinion at the time, just threw some possible reasons out there.
I don’t have a Blu-ray player yet but I am sure I will sometime this year. Since October I have bought a plasma TV, a new receiver, an HD box that records, and 5.1 speakers as separates. That is enough audio-visual for awhile.
Actually that is a lie. I had a Blu-ray player for about three hours. I bought it Boxing Day with my other purchases while I was standing in line. A Samsung BD-P1500. $147 Canadian ($118 U.S.). I got home and thought – the movies are still more expensive than I want to pay and I have not studied Blu-ray enough to know if this is even a good model. By next Christmas there will be many players that price and the bugs will be out of the format and movies will be cheaper so I took it back unopened.
I recall buying a CD player in 1986 that only played one disk for $275 (almost $500 in today’s money). Most of my friends did not have one. I don’t regret the choice. It seems expensive now, but then so was my first VHS player. That is the price of new technology.

In the next month or so, I hope to be buying a Samsung 67" LED DLP, stand, and Sony BD player. I love the blu ray picture on my friend's LCD tv, and since I have room to go bigger, I am. I have over 1000 dvds, which most of them came from pawn shops (cheap). I watch a lot of movies. I'm home most of the time.

I gave away all my VHS tapes and vcr. I have a few SACDs and DVD-As. I would like to have more. When I listen to music, I listen in 5.1 surround and Pro Logic. I'm so spoiled by surround, I can't listen to stereo anymore. It just sounds like something is missing. I will probably sell my 36" JVC tv on CL, when I get the new one. I have nowhere to put it. Nothing wrong with it. It has a great picture, but I want better, since better is out there. I'm not one that will "settle" for what I have, if I can do better. I settled for a long time, because I couldn't do better, but that's about to change. In the next few years, I'd like to get an HD front projector, and setup a dedicated theater room. I'll probably have to wait for my inheritance to do that, unless I get lucky with the lottery. :D

post deleted; redundant; or something like that.
my bad-i see you mention a pj towards the end of your post.
jeez, i wrote all that stuff for nuttin'!
must be getting tired.

Just got a Sony bd player and the improvement over dvd is impressive. Colors are more saturated, more contrast and it just looks a lot better. 52" Sony xbr lcd.

Murray

The thing is, your eyes will adjust to whatever you're watching. I have a Bluray player, and can still enjoy my dvd's under conditions.

1. If I watch a DVD first, it will look great. If I follow up the DVD with a Bluray, the Bluray will look fantastic.
2. If I watch a Bluray first, it will look fantastic. If I follow the Bluray up with a DVD or standard comcast broadcasting, I them become shocked at how poor the qaulity actually is, and it becomes nearly unwatchable.

Bluray is the type of thing, you will never miss until you got it. With that being said, if you don't have it, and don't need it, don't get it.

The thing is, your eyes will adjust to whatever you're watching. I have a Bluray player, and can still enjoy my dvd's under conditions.

1. If I watch a DVD first, it will look great. If I follow up the DVD with a Bluray, the Bluray will look fantastic.
2. If I watch a Bluray first, it will look fantastic. If I follow the Bluray up with a DVD or standard comcast broadcasting, I them become shocked at how poor the qaulity actually is, and it becomes nearly unwatchable.

Bluray is the type of thing, you will never miss until you got it. With that being said, if you don't have it, and don't need it, don't get it.

how could anyone actually 'need' blu ray? or, for that matter, any of this a/v stuff? these are luxurys.
'want' maybe?

then again, if i didn't have all this a/v stuff i have, i'd probably jump off a cliff somewhere.

so maybe we do 'need' it.:scratch2:

how could anyone actually 'need' blu ray? or, for that matter, any of this a/v stuff? these are luxurys.
'want' maybe?

then again, if i didn't have all this a/v stuff i have, i'd probably jump off a cliff somewhere.

so maybe we do 'need' it.:scratch2:



I'll answer your question this way. Knowbody really needs more than a $126.49 dollar Wallmart.... "J-Win Vertical Stereo System w/ 4-CD Changer
J-Win Vertical Stereo System w/ 4-CD Changer", do they?

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9189620


I'm open to the idea, that there is a group of people out there, that believe they do?

maybe, maybe not.

The thing is, your eyes will adjust to whatever you're watching. I have a Bluray player, and can still enjoy my dvd's under conditions.

1. If I watch a DVD first, it will look great. If I follow up the DVD with a Bluray, the Bluray will look fantastic.
2. If I watch a Bluray first, it will look fantastic. If I follow the Bluray up with a DVD or standard comcast broadcasting, I them become shocked at how poor the qaulity actually is, and it becomes nearly unwatchable.

Bluray is the type of thing, you will never miss until you got it. With that being said, if you don't have it, and don't need it, don't get it.

So if you only listen to a BPC bookshelf all-in-one system, you'd be happy with it as long as you didn't follow it up with something like, say, a Kenwood 700 rig?

One thing to bear in mind for resolution is that in terms of appearance, distance to the screen and screen size are important factors as to how much is necessary.

One thing to bear in mind for resolution is that in terms of appearance, distance to the screen and screen size are important factors as to how much is necessary.
how true.
in a certain av forum i use the following for a signature-

"13' from 108" screen".

when 'talking' about video issues with my or others projector and hdtv, it helps to make my POV more easily understood by others.

i wish more people would do the same.

Yup.....have a JVC 32" I bought in 93. Paid 1299.00 and be dammed if I am going to get a new TV just to watch BlueRay. Come to think of it, I have never had a breakdown or repair on this TV since I bought it. :scratch2:
If it ain't broke don't fix it.


In a way this is one reason why Blu-Ray hasn't had the impact that the studios had hoped on the buying market. CRT TVs seem to last forever...and forever....and forever. I got rid of two bubble screen Panasonic CRTs that had good pictures and lots more life in them simply because I was ready to go to a big screen in my living room and CRT flat screens in other parts of the house. I have NO doubt my CRT flat screens will outlast their desirability, just as the bubble tube models did.

If manufacturers had made it a more practical upgrade for the mainstream I think they would sell better.... upgrade your player then your TV when it is financially practical. Yeah, I realize that technically the player owners wouldn't be getting the benefits of HD in the deal, but they wouldn't have to buy two new pieces of electronics at once this way. In a sense, the standard DVD has proven to be TOO successful for the studios, and the best way for them to combat this would be to ease the production of the DVD medium off the shelves altogether, forcing people to upgrade. When the CD took the place of vinyl, they sure didn't give us much of an option. Unfortunately I don't see that happening either, because of the potential loss of sales involved at the outset.



My gf is a TV-aholic in a BIG way, and I bought her a JVC 32 inch flat CRT TV last year for her birthday. Her birthday has rolled around once again, and she's still using it happily. She's not dying to go HD or Blu-Ray. If I didn't fire up her DVD player then she'd never use the thing.... she's content with the Food Network and reality shows. The manufacturers need more good ways to market the medium to women - hell, if they weren't thin and more aesthetically pleasing many women wouldn't care much about the LCDs or plasmas either.

Troubleshoot - I like your last paragraph. My wife has a 14 inch CRT TV in her sewing/hobby room with a VHS machine hooked up. Probably one channel sound but is hooked to cable. She is content with that.
Twenty feet away on the same floor is our home theater setup with plasma TV and six speakers. She says "sometime you'll have to show me how to run those 4 remotes." I can't complain - we're not fighting over the same TV.

Troubleshoot - I like your last paragraph. My wife has a 14 inch CRT TV in her sewing/hobby room with a VHS machine hooked up. Probably one channel sound but is hooked to cable. She is content with that.
Twenty feet away on the same floor is our home theater setup with plasma TV and six speakers. She says "sometime you'll have to show me how to run those 4 remotes." I can't complain - we're not fighting over the same TV.

Thanks Punman.....its an age old dilemma for the common man. Guys love to go after new technology but most women don't care about it. Is it like shoes? I've got three pair.... the gf can buy that many in one afternoon. When my sneakers are filthy and worn beyond reproach I buy a new pair. I think women see audio and video equipment the way we see shoes ;)

I'll consider Blu-Ray when someone takes this $3,000 worth of LD's off my hands. Not to mention all the DVD's and VHS tapes.

Sorry, I never meant to suggest bluray is necessary. I was just suggesting that in my observations it can be better.

I'm perfectly happy watching any media, whether it be standard comcast though my 90's 27" tv, or dvd's through my 50", or hd content / Bluray on my projector.

Upgrading is not necessary. I can say for certain, that there is still comcast programing that can not be watched through my projector. I actually still spend most of my viewing through my 15 year old 27" sony. If thats all I had,
I would be happy with it. I still think my sony vega looks good.

I'll consider Blu-Ray when someone takes this $3,000 worth of LD's off my hands. Not to mention all the DVD's and VHS tapes.



Well...a BD player does play regular DVDs, plays them quite well too, I might add.

I'll almost certainly watch more DVDs through my BD player than I will BD discs, just because I generally don't buy movies and DVDs are still much more common in these parts.

I don't believe anyone is suggesting to anyone they scrap their previous collections of stuff and replace it all with Blu-ray, it's merely the next step/progression.

for anyone who doesn't know, use of a blu ray player to play and watch hi def blu ray discs in hi definition also requires having a high definition tv (hdtv)-entailing additional expenditures of anywhere from ~$200 (polaroid 15"er) to $10k and higher.

they will work with regular legacy standard definition tvs also, but what would be the point. a good regular (and less expensive) dvd player would pretty much accomplish the same thing.

My Sony computer and my PS3 are my only Blue Ray players. My main TV set is a 52 inch Sony 1080p LCD. My secondary TV is a 42 inch Panasonic 720p Plasma. While Blue Ray does offer a better picture quality over DVD's; in my opinion, the difference in picture quality between 480p, 720p, and even 1080p, is not huge. Sure, 1080p looks great, but 480p looks very good as well. As long as the picture is displayed in Progressive Scan, it will be a good picture.
In fact, I prefer the picture of my 720p Panasonic Plasma over my 1080p Sony LCD. There's more to picture quality than just the number of lines displayed.

I also own a Wii video game system and find it rather amusing that so many gamers say that it's 480p picture is horrible. Since I own the Wii and the PS3, I can say that while the PS3 does have a slightly better picture, it's not the huge difference that so many gamers talk about.

I also own a Wii video game system and find it rather amusing that so many gamers say that it's 480p picture is horrible. Since I own the Wii and the PS3, I can say that while the PS3 does have a slightly better picture, it's not the huge difference that so many gamers talk about.

I selected this quote, not to pick on its author, but because it is the latest to espouse this view point. What all of you are saying is totally subjective. And the equivalent of a "normal" person saying that a properly setup separates system with a dedicated power line, and acoustical room treatments only sounds slightly better than the iPod they are used to listening to. The differences are that big between the formats. In audio, the analogy is often made between just hearing the music and "being in the room." Well with video the difference, quite literally, is between being able to see the pattern of a dress (standard dvd), being able to see the intricacies in the pattern (up conversion), and being able to tell what materials the dress is made of-and the difference in texture between the different materials, for example lace fringe on broadcloth, or the stitches in embroidery (blu ray). If video isn't your thing, so be it, but what kind of hypocrisy does it take for audiophiles to crack on videophiles for buying a component they see as only giving modest gain? My question is: modest on whose scale? I know that all of you weren't being disparaging, video just isn't your thing, and apologize to you for the rant. But some people need to take a step back and look real hard at their own hobbies before making pokes at others. just my 2 cents.

Put me down for "I just don't care".

I briefly caught the HT bug and then realized I don't use it enough to justify the real estate and sold it all.

I watch TV on a 25" widescreen PC monitor with two little Acer speakers hooked up to a digital cable box and all I ever watch are the History and Science channels with a smattering of HGTV thrown in.

I selected this quote, not to pick on its author, but because it is the latest to espouse this view point. What all of you are saying is totally subjective. And the equivalent of a "normal" person saying that a properly setup separates system with a dedicated power line, and acoustical room treatments only sounds slightly better than the iPod they are used to listening to. The differences are that big between the formats. In audio, the analogy is often made between just hearing the music and "being in the room." Well with video the difference, quite literally, is between being able to see the pattern of a dress (standard dvd), being able to see the intricacies in the pattern (up conversion), and being able to tell what materials the dress is made of-and the difference in texture between the different materials, for example lace fringe on broadcloth, or the stitches in embroidery (blu ray). If video isn't your thing, so be it, but what kind of hypocrisy does it take for audiophiles to crack on videophiles for buying a component they see as only giving modest gain? My question is: modest on whose scale? I know that all of you weren't being disparaging, video just isn't your thing, and apologize to you for the rant. But some people need to take a step back and look real hard at their own hobbies before making pokes at others. just my 2 cents.


I can only speak for myself, but I certainly was not disparaging videophiles. I too enjoy good quality video. I like my PS3 for it's games and the fact that it plays Blue Ray. I just don't see this amazing difference between it and my Wii system. In fact, we own more Wii games than PS3 games and my family uses the Wii much more often for games. In my opinion, the way the Wii controls is a better improvement for gaming, compared to the slightly more detailed picture that the PS3 provides. But that's just my preference, others will see things differently.

A videophile is similar to an audiophile, and will spend more money for an improvement that they feel is worth the extra investment. That person may feel that the improvement is huge, while someone else, will feel that the improvement is small. In my opinion, when a speaker reaches the $1000 to $2000 per pair pricepoint, there are only minor gains in performance beyond that price. Yet, people still buy speakers that cost $30,000 or more and feel that they are worth every penny spent. I've heard some of these very expensive systems and they do indeed sound good, but to my ears, they are not a huge improvement over a pair of speakers costing 10 times less.

In my experience, the Wii graphics on the standard included cable...suck. Buy a replacement component cable and that little white box comes alive.

In my experience, the Wii graphics on the standard included cable...suck. Buy a replacement component cable and that little white box comes alive.

Yeah, I agree. 480p is the way to go on the Wii. Progressive Scan makes for a better and more solid looking picture. The Wii's graphics are not as detailed as the PS3, but they certainly don't look bad. The same thing can be said about DVD vs. Blue Ray. Blue Ray gives a better picture, but a progressive scanned DVD, will also give a nice picture. Heck, it wasn't too long ago that we were all enjoying 240i from our VHS tapes. Many people still have no problem with that level of picture quality.