[Closed] Blu-ray - Worth it?

Yup.

You need a HD TV obviously, but also a good surround system to make the most of it.
Much like bikes, its a slippery slope! 🙂

It's worth stating that you will get max benefit if you have good eyesight. If you are less than good at normal viewing distances you will be hard pushed to see a diference.

Yes!

Given the two caveats stated up above.

...ask for a 3d blu-ray as a deal breaker!

😯

Can you get recordable Blu-Ray yet?

I think panasonic do a recordable blu-ray?????

Yeah I'd get one, well worth it. I have to wear my glasses to get the best out of it though 😛

deffo, and get Batman 'The Dark Knight' as your first Blu-Ray film 8)

smudge - Member
deffo, and get Batman 'The Dark Knight' as your first Blu-Ray film

Agreed.

And your second should be "The Fall".

Not a very publicised film, but a visual delight!

Apparently Se7en has a really good Bluray port, and it's a really good film.

BluRay+HDTV is very neat . is it worth it though? If the BluRay player is a PS3 then yes! If not then I'd be more inclined to get an AppleTV, V+, Sky HD or similar and experience HD that way. And yes, it's not quite as good what with BluRay having 1080p and 24fps etc. But the content is cheaper. The difference between BluRay and DVD is apparent though. IronMan on DVD - almost .scr-like. On BluRay it's magnificent.

Yes - lovefilm don't charge extra for Bly rays so well worth it if you have a subscription.

Antichrist is quite a sight on blu ray 😯

Got the blu ray of se7en winging it's way to me - can't wait it's one of my favourites

prettygreenparrot - Member
The difference between BluRay and DVD is apparent though. IronMan on DVD - almost .scr-like. On BluRay it's magnificent.

Never seen it on DVD, but did watch it on Blu Ray and it looked lovely. Even Mrs Ho hum watched it and commented about how good it looked.

Kids cartoons look great, the Pixar ones, the new Toy Story 3 looks amazing on blue-ray

First half of Wall-E looks wonderful.

If it's part of a bundle, go for it. It should be able to play your existing DVD's as well, and ought to upscale them if it's a good player. A mate's just bought a Sony one and he's chuffed to bits with it, and he's got a Marantz DVD player that upscales and weighs a ton as well. He's getting a lot of Japanese animé on blueray which does look amazing.

I have Se7en on blue ray - its a shockingly bad port

love the film though

I have Se7en on blue ray - its a shockingly bad port

Really? Disappointing as it's one of my favourite films 🙁

7 is in my top 3 films I was gutted - not even 1080p on blue ray

Probably one of the most beautifully shot films ever.

I recommend the 2 disc dvd for alll the extras which is fascinating if you like the film.

Don't bother with a Blu-Ray player unless you've already got a decent 1080HD TV mate... Otherwise you're not going to notice any difference over your DVD player, cos you can't benefit from the extra resolution!

If you want a proper visual treat, forget shoddy ports of a film shot in a dreary pissing-down-24/7 location and give Pan's Labyrinth on BluRay a try. It's absolutely breathtaking.

If you want a proper visual treat, forget shoddy ports of a film shot in a dreary pissing-down-24/7 location and give Pan's Labyrinth on BluRay a try. It's absolutely breathtaking.

film shot in a dreary pissing-down-24/7 location

What do you expect from a neo-noir film? 😛

The Flying Ox - Member

If you want a proper visual treat, forget shoddy ports of a film shot in a dreary pissing-down-24/7 location and give Pan's Labyrinth on BluRay a try. It's absolutely breathtaking.

VHS to DVD was a treat both visually and sound-wise and you get a similar increase going from DVD to Blu Ray (as long as the transfer is done well)

HD compatible sound system.

eh? DVD can do up to 24/96, almost the same as Blu Ray but are you really gonna hear a difference between 96 and 192 through most home cinema systems?

/geek

Cheers - The sony players don't look too bad so will go and wangle a deal 🙂

Althougth they are insisting I take a stand off them even though I have absolutely no need - do you think these would sell on ebay or should I try to get some cash off the price?

For me, the best films of the past 5 years, haven't been the ones that benefit from the hidef treatment. If your the kind of person who allows crappy storylines to wash over you while oohing and aahring at the special effects then you will be fine.
That said some of the natural history stuff done by the bbc is truly visually magnificent, even though its only in 720p. Watching the otters bounding through the snow in Yellowstone, was the moment I realised my investment in widescreen hidef equipment was worth it.

Shame it's taken so long to get to the having decent pictures - the BBC were demonstrating 1250 uncompressed lines of 16:9 HDTV goodness with 50fps in the late 1980s...

does anyone know of a decent website where they review the quality of Blu Ray conversions of older films?

There are a number of films I used to have on VHS I would like to get on disc - but it would be helpful to have an idea which films are worth spending extra for blu ray on (expecially considering how cheap DVDs can be these days)

does anyone know of a decent website where they review the quality of Blu Ray conversions of older films?

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com

is ok. there are others

I have a PS3, but no HDTV and no HDMI connection. I know I wouldn't notice any difference in quality but would a bluray disc still play trough the scart connection on my old CRT TV.

Will be getting a new TV at some point soon, so was wondering whether it would work if I started buying films on Blu Ray as a bit of future proofing.

thanks simons-nicolai

odd - that site gives the se7en blu ray 4.5 stars out of 5 for picture, and 5 for sound. And says its in 1080p

Guess I'll find out when my copy arrives

just to report back

I watched the Se7en Blu Ray last night

It looks very nice indeed - and is in 1080p - maybe Plumber saw a different version

haven't looked at the extras yet - but there seem to be a fair few

Seen it mentioned above that the transition from DVD to Blu-ray is as significant as VHS to DVD was - it isn't.

Saying that, it is definitely worth it when set up correctly. The Dark Knight and Iron Man are both good recommendations - Planet Earth is simply stunning.

As an aside, for anyone with just Sky HD, Die Hard 4.0 is quite possibly one of the best pictures I've seen on my screen.

As for HD sound - pre HD codecs, DTS had the edge over Dolby Digital - I've not yet decided my preference between Dolby HD, or DTS Master Audio, but they are both stunningly good - saying that mine outputs via a quality Yamaha AV Amp and a dedicated KEF AV speaker system.

i've got a 32" TV and when sat around 8ft away i honestly can't tell the difference between HD and normal TV.

you need a really big TV to get the most from it IMO

I recently watched a Blu Ray of Antichrist - which was apparently shot on HD video

It looks utterly amazing

whether you enjoy the film or not is another matter - bit eye watering at times 😯

our telly's a 37in HD thing and I can definitely see the difference between Sky & Sky HD. Probably further away than 8ft as well

Haven't yet gone the BluRay route as I'm waiting for a reasonably cheap 5.1 surround sound BluRay all-in-one system to become available.

And before anyone starts wittering on about surround sound DVD/BluRay boxes and true home cinema, I'm a drummer in a rock band; my hearing isn't as bat-like as yours 😈

agreed - I have a 37 inch TV - and it is very obvious when there is something on in HD

just been looking on Richer Sounds' website, I can get an LG BluRay 5.1 surround sound system for under £200; I shall be visiting RS Leeds tomorrow, weather permitting 🙂

I'm very happy with LG product, our TV is an LG one - although it seems to be "only" 1080i - and our existing 5.1 DVD system is also LG, and has been running for many years without a problem.

Bugger my se7en bluray was from canada last year

looks like I'll be getting the 1080p version now 😀

another reason to hate Canuckians - my day continues to get betterer

well I didn't risk Leeds city centre, went to a local retail park & picked up a nice Panasonic 5.1 BluRay job.

Looks amazing, even with upscaled regular DVDs, and I got to choose one free BluRay film too. Choice wasn't great but I managed to find something - "Moon" with Sam Rockwell

Surprised to hear no sound coming from the TV itself with HDMI bluray playback, but to be honest, the 5.1 sound is far superior anyway

I can definitely see the difference between Sky & Sky HD.

To be fair, that perhaps speaks more about broadcast SD than it does about HD. Some of the SD feeds are shocking.