Broadband Tech > General Questions > Upverting DVD players vs Blue ray DVD players.

said by Matt:

What size is your HDTV? That will make a big difference. On my 720p 42" plasma, I can BARELY tell a difference in an upconverted DVD and a Blu-Ray disc. And I mean BARELY.

said by tcope:

Don't know what to tell you but the picture is not even close to being the same. Are you viewing these both on a 720 TV? Walk into a store and look at a Blu-ray video on a 1080 (true) HDTV. An upscaled DVD picture is not even close!

said by Matt:

I imagine upconverting to 1080p would make the SD DVD picture worse and the Blu-Ray picture better

said by Hayward:

Again it depends greatly on what the DVD master source is.

Modern DVD... from any (other than sticking face in screen) distance, looks near as good 720p HD, when upconverted... vs a analog SD master like and old TV show, oldmovie never digital mastered etc.

said by nixen:

Throw in the audio differences and your comparison between DVD and BD is roughly equivalent to the VHS versus DVD.

said by Hayward:

Now as to 1080p.... certainly better, but then again I can remember going round and round with people saying little diff between 720p and 1080i TV... until I realized most were judging by 720p sets that were doing FAUX 1080i down conversion to the set native 720p.

Sure there is a difference... but most think 720p is just fine...

said by Hayward:

for the bit better Blue Ray.... and 5x the cost... many say NO THANK YOU.... maybe when you get real about this being an affordable to be standard.

said by nixen:

In general, the perceived difference between SD and full-HD is minimal ...when you look at material in SD and then look at it in true HD. If you go the opposite direction, however, the difference is rather marked. And, as said before, the video quality is only a part of the overall package.

said by Hayward:

Bull hockey.... there is a merked difference between typical broadacst analog SD (400x525) and ED level standard DVD 720x600 IF master from a HD source and not typical analog SD. (Like old TV shows and movies)

quote:

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Are you old enough to remember how much a VCR cost when they first came out?

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I am old enough to know when only networks, let alone broadcast statrions had 2" 20lbs per reel to reel tapes on 500 lbs VTR's at $50K+

And bcause I was in the industry in the late 70's I was an early home VCR adoprter of course the ill fated but much superior BETAMAX (proprietary SONY top $ once again)
BUT difference is that was new never before available technology... Blue Ray is just an enhancement of tech that has been around for a decade+.

And again it took 5 years for VCR's to become MASS...when prices dropped from $800-1K or more to $200...same thing comparatively MUST happen for Blue Ray too.

They have burnt out the we will pay anything new and cool crowd with money to burn... the rest are happy with standard DVD... again close to 720p quality, that much supposed HD still is. (Like ABC and FOX.... and many cable HD)... not so much what can be as much as what is typical norm.

Standard DVD's 720 horizantal already... just lacking vertical res and up converting player/recorder much takes care of.

YOU want a Ferrari and its price ....well fine... for YOU.

said by dvd536:

My first VCR cost $799 and that wasn't even a hi-fi VCR!

said by Hayward:

Nor was mine, that was two years down the road along with MTS stereo,.....so your pont is????

said by Hayward:

Mine was $$$ (especially then) too, but that was truly new technology, Blue ray is just an equally obscene cost, yet JUST REFINEMENT of a DECADE+ pre existing technology.... BIG difference there... just the relatively small step of 720 to 1080 at 3-5x the cost.

said by nixen:

I dunno: video tape technology had been around, in one form or another, since the mid-50s. Granted, that was mostly reel-to-reel technology, but the same vinyl tape with a magnetic coating was at the heart of it.