Am I the only one who is completely satisfied with dvd's and don't see the fuss in blu ray's?

Question

don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against people who do like blu rays, the picture on them is fantastic, yes, but most dvd's I have the picture isn't terrible on any of them, was talking about this with my dad the other day, and he made a very good point about how there will only be another thing with an even better picture than blu ray in a few years anyway

Answer 1

No you're right. I still think dvd's are good. The pictures are fantastic still so I wouldn't pay more for Blu Ray.

Answer 2

You have an HDTV? Why did you buy one when standard definition TVs was completely satisfying? You do realize that an HDTV is the TV equivalent of Blu-ray, right?



You're under no obligation to buy Blu-ray. If you're satisfied with DVD, then stick with DVD. I think many DVDs look good, even on an HDTV, but the point is that Blu-rays look *better*.



Perhaps Blu-ray will eventually be replaced, but this--and the time frame in which it will happen--is pure speculation.



As far as cost goes, the new releases are expensive for both DVD and Blu-ray. Blu-rays usually costs more, but not always. For example, the Watchmen Blu-ray is $3 less than the Watchmen DVD on Amazon.



If you buy your Blu-rays at a brick and mortar store (i.e. Best Buy, Borders, etc.) you're not a very savvy shopper. I have close to 20 Blu-rays in my collection and I have yet to spend more than $20 on any of them. If you're patient and you shop around (Amazon, eBay) you will get Blu-rays on the cheap.

Answer 3

It all depends on the size of the display, the quality of the audio gear and how perceptive you are.



You don't really get any benefit from HD on a 32" LCD with a cheap HTIB and when you're sitting 8 feet back.



You do see a huge difference if you view bluray vs DVD on a very large screen and you hear a difference if you have a high end audio system.



Personal Observations:



DVDs upconverted on my PS3 look dull and less crisp on my 90" projection screen. Bluray's colors just pop and blacks are blacker. DVD tends to have more of a dark gray for black. The color contrast isn't quite as good although some upscaling chips do a phenomenal job, it just isn't the same as a true 1080p source. 1080p looks good even close up. Lines are razor sharp and details that can't be seen very well at 480p appear vividly.



Audio is a lot more full and the information passed to the surround speakers is quite a bit better. Plain Dolby Digital is limited to 640kb/s as opposed to Dolby True HD's 18 Mbit/s. The 640 kb/s means that high compression or channel information has to be sacrificed in order to squeeze onto the disk. Dolby True HD has much more headroom and it shows in "ear" to "ear" comparisons that I have done. Mind you I have a top notch $2K AV receiver and about $6K in speakers.

Answer 4

The biggest boost from DVD to Blu-Ray (in terms of percent data increase) is actually in the sound, not the video. Sure the video is noticeably better, but sound is the big difference. If you're not running your sound thru a stereo surround system, you're not going to notice the difference though.



I generally recommend to people that aren't complete audio/videophiles to wait until their DVD player craps out to buy a Blu-Ray. And then when they do, get one with a good up-convert rating from some of these technology review websites. That'll allow you to get the most out of the movies you already have once you convert over.

Answer 5

Well - DVD's are based on the 1948 television standard. Every line of video on a DVD will play on your Great Grandmothers old black and white TV.



Look around your house and with perhaps the exception of light bulbs and AC power - what else in your life is based on 1948 technology?



"...how there will only be another thing with an even better picture than blu ray in a few years anyway"



It has taken us 60 years to develop a different video standard. It took an act of the United States Congress to change from the analog TV signals to digital.



I think it's safe to upgrade.

Answer 6

I was of the same oppinion as you were, 'Standard DVD is good enough'



However, having just bought a new 40" sony and a matrching Blu-ray player, the picture's MILES better.



So much so that I'm on a hunt to replace some of the faves in my collection with the Blu-ray version.



Dont forget also, that Bl-ray is also a lot better for Audio too!



Insomniac666



http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk

Answer 7

With reference to AJ statement. I do agree that you need to have at least a 720p decent sized TV to appreciate Blu-Ray so it's a completely pointless format to us on an SD-TV.



A non-upscaled DVD on a 40" HD-TV does look absolutely awful (you can see the pixels), but most decent DVD players these days do a good job of upscaling which completely negates that problem. Upscaled DVD's do have a slight blur to the edges because of the upscaling, but it's not enough to make it look bad, but Blu-Ray are definitely crisper.



I's down to individual preference, the same as some audiophiles won't listen to music unless it's on a fancy separates system with a pair of £500 Kef speakers, while others will happily dance around to a £30 Daewoo portable stereo.



Blu-Ray won't be enough for me to replace my whole DVD collection, but any new films I want to keep on disc I will be buying on Blu-Ray, & the prices are slowly getting more competetive.

Answer 8

It all depends what you enjoy when watching a movie. I enjoy crystal clear picture and thunderous sound. If you just want to watch a movie to watch it and don't care about the "experience" then DVD is more then fine.



As for there being a replacement for Blu-ray, well of course everything in technology has a shelf life. So you either jump in or you don't.

Answer 9

blu ray is far too expensive for me. Going to a video store and renting a disc seems outdated too. I like streaming netflix through my xbox360.

for approx 30/year for xbox + 8/month for netflix I get unlimited streaming! and the picture quality is quite nice on some old movies that would be very hard to find otherwise. I lived through VHS/Beta so when it came to the HDTV wars (interlaced/progressive) and DVD-HD/Bluray I was so over their infighting.

Answer 10

You've never actually seen a BR played on an HDTV, have you? Check it out. The difference is even more impressive than switching between a standard def and an HD TV broadcast.

Answer 11

But no regular dvd can compete with the awesome HD DTS-Master

sound on some blu-rays.

Answer 12

HD is only good on large TV's so if you have a tv under 40" then you won't see a lot of difference at all.

So I'm sticking with DVD's too

Answer 13

duh!!! dvd picture isn't bad on a hd screen. Most hdtvs have a chip in them that upscales the image. watch a dvd on an older tv, not hd, and you'll see a huge difference. dvds aren't bad. but bluray is brilliant and if u like your movies you should get one.

Answer 14

An analogy to this is:



A car is a car. One will buy a BMW or a Ford?

Answer 15

Im satisfied with DVDs as well, but then again, at one point I was satisfied with VHS.

We'll all probably move on to Blu Ray eventually lol





But they are SO expensive wtf >:(