# Anyone else still mostly watching DVD vs BR ?



## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

After collecting a chest of drawers full of DVDs I subscribed to Netflix and stopped buying them.
After we got the PS3 we tried a couple of BR titles and while we like BR I can't really say that it changes the movie watching experience very nuch compared to DVD.
We decided to keep the Netflix subscription as DVD. 
So I am curious if there are very many other people that still watch DVDs instead of BR most of the time ?


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## caliberconst. (Dec 10, 2009)

Maybe I am a snob, but I almost refuse to watch a dvd. For me BD definitely enhances the viewing experience. Maybe you should try a few more BD titles out.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Snob ?? LOL... that brings to mind this little story.
My son refuses to watch anything that is not broadcast in HD or watch a movie that is not on BR and I accused him of being a HD snob... He said he would proudly wear that title.

I have tried several movies on BD and I think they look better, but I don't think the difference is nearly as big as HDTV compared to SDTV.
We have decided that we will not purchase any more DVDs, when we like a movie well enough to own it we will buy it on BD.


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

If it's available in BR, that's how I'm going to watch it. If done right it does look better than DVD.
But I don't mind watching DVD because it still looks really good on my system.
A very good upconverting system can make DVD and SD (standard def cable) look great. That is what sold me on my Pioneer RPTV. All the reviews said it made SD look great, and it does. 
Most any tv can make HDTV look good, but it takes real good technology to make a substandard signal look good.


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## sparky77 (Feb 22, 2008)

We still watch mostly dvd, and on our 28 inch screen from 8 feet away you can barely tell the difference in a lot of cases. The only reason why we still mostly get dvd's is because the only br player we have is the ps3, which will soon be remedied when I get a new htpc with our income tax.


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## JohnJSmith (Apr 25, 2010)

Get a copy of Watchmen on BR and watch it in "Maximum Movie Mode." It will blow your mind. Here's what you'll see:






Not just a lame commentary audio track, but director walk ons, side by side final/pre-effects shots, picture-in-picture comparisons between the movie and the comic, and more. It really shows the power of blu-ray.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

I was a long time hold out on buying a Blu-ray player but now that I have one I watch Blu-ray. Not exclusively, I'll still rent a DVD from Redbox or Netflix but if it is available on Blu-ray I'll wait for it.


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

I was a hddvd adopter, not bought more than a couple of dvds since. Sadly, my $200 xbox 360 drive add-on and a final total of about 10 movies was sold on ebay when Blu ray was announced as the winner. I really think hddvd was the better format, but I digress...

As a front projection guy, dvd really pales (pun intended) compared to blu ray on my system. So dvds are very rarely watched in my house. Even the gf has come around, she went from not caring to paying attention to format and greatly preferring br...

We never rent or buy dvd.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

Do I like BD, Yes, But I still have a whole bunch of dvd's that I will watch from time to time and with my old faithfull Xa2 HD dvd player still upconverting perfectly I Don't see any reason not too.......:bigsmile:


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## GranteedEV (Aug 8, 2010)

Going back to DVDs just feels blurry and noisy. I'm definitely a HD snob... unfortunately I don't have HD cable so I no longer watch much TV LOL. It looks especially bad on my plasma with its sub-par upscaling. SD looks a lot better upstairs on a 2003 60" Sony Grand Wega than it does on a 2008 46" Panasonic Plasma... who'da thought!?


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## Sir Terrence (Jun 8, 2006)

TypeA said:


> I was a hddvd adopter, not bought more than a couple of dvds since. Sadly, my $200 xbox 360 drive add-on and a final total of about 10 movies was sold on ebay when Blu ray was announced as the winner. I really think hddvd was the better format, but I digress...


From the studio level nobody thought HDDVD was a better format. Bandwidth issues killed the format early in the game. You had to aggressively use VC-1 to get lossless audio and the extra content in the pipeline - hence the lower bit rate encodes on HDDVD. Could you imagine 3D being introduced on the format? Nope, not enough storage capacity or bandwidth to accommodate that. 

As a current owner of a XA-1, A-35 and a XA-2, all were buggier than the PS3. The great thing is they make great DVD players now, which is what they are used for. I still have about 100 HDDVD movies, but they have not seen much action since the titles could be found on Bluray. 



> As a front projection guy, dvd really pales (pun intended) compared to blu ray on my system. So dvds are very rarely watched in my house. Even the gf has come around, she went from not caring to paying attention to format and greatly preferring br...
> 
> We never rent or buy dvd.


This is the prime reason for my early entry in both Bluray and HDDVD. They both look better on a big screen, and at the time I had a really big one.


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

As always good info from Sir Terrence. Good to hear it from that perspective, I can't remember why, but for some reason I thought HD DVD was supposed to be the better format.
Maybe I just liked the name 'HD DVD,' it was perfectly descriptive yet simple.


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## Sir Terrence (Jun 8, 2006)

gdstupak said:


> As always good info from Sir Terrence. Good to hear it from that perspective, I can't remember why, but for some reason I thought HD DVD was supposed to be the better format.
> Maybe I just liked the name 'HD DVD,' it was perfectly descriptive yet simple.


The stories I could tell you about the format war could point your hair straight in the air. :yikes: The reality is, this was a tortoise and hare situation for sure. Toshiba came right off the starting line fast and slick, and Bluray sort of evolved slowly, but had wide spread support from the film community for its potential over the long haul. From a studio technical level, HDDVD was no match against Bluray. The larger storage and bandwidth was a huge advantage that no matter what advancements Toshiba announced(the 51 GB supposed disc storage breakthrough), it could not overcome the bandwidth issue. It cost Toshiba too much "bribe" money, too much subsidizing money, and too much advertising money to continue to support HDDVD, hence them dropping the format, and pretty much exiting the HD on disc market(DVD is still around though). 

The online discussion and marketplace areas were almost completely destroyed by this format war. Forums that were once known for their large knowledge base became divided and fractured; leaning towards one side, it lost much of its credibility for the obvious bias it became. Other forums grew like weeds in a vacant lot, almost overtaking the long largest HT and AV discussion forum on the net. The ugly-ness of the whole thing hurt HD on disc in ways that cannot be fathomed. I got banned from a certain forum for refuting a rumor that Disney was going HDDVD right in the middle of the war. I was a active long term member there, and that rumor was just a rumor, and could not be substantiated by any real evidence. There was no way this was going to happen, NO WAY!

From a studio perspective, the format killed a what could have been a natural progression from sales losing DVD, to money making HD on disc. Three years, and a ton of mud cast doubt on whether each HD on disc format was really viable on the market going into the future. Downloads became the "Bluray killer app", and that hurt the studio's continued push for disc SALES, which are their bread and butter. I am sure that Warner, Paramount, and Universal are probably kicking themselves for hampering their future bread and butter, but for short term profits, it probably help them out quite a bit. 

I could go on, but that is another thread altogether. No one benefited from the format war. It hurt everyone, everywhere. There are still some bad feelings some three years after that war has long been over. 

It is amazing how you can get your market schmeel right(I liked the HD DVD name as well), but go so wrong technically trying to adhere so closely to DVD technology to save you some product development money.


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## B Feelgood (Jan 19, 2011)

Blu-ray makes a hhuuugggeeee difference on a 133" screen :bigsmile:


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## vann_d (Apr 7, 2009)

Many blu-ray titles I've rented have not been overly impressive in PQ on my 50" SXRD. Some, however, have been. My wife and I tend to choose format based on the title and genre, opting for DVD when PQ will not really add much to the experience (e.g. romantic comedies). The reason we don't exclusively get BR titles is because they seem to be more problematic than DVD when renting (scratches, etc).


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## DougMac (Jan 24, 2008)

We choose what to watch by content, but if there's a choice, it's always blu ray. We have front projection and on a 120" screen, there's a big difference. 

A lot of it has to do with mastering for both DVD and blu ray. We have some well mastered DVD's that approach HD quality. We also have some that look downright atrocious (National Velvet).

We had a DVD of Buster Keaton's "The General". It looks OK, I thought it was limited by source, which may be true. Kino has released a blu ray version struck from a source one generation from the camera negative. It's just stunning!


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## usrsld (Feb 3, 2009)

Since I get most of my films from NetFlix, the majority are Blu-Ray. NetFlix (thankfully) defaults everything to that format. I've had a few Blu's that fell short in PQ, but in general I love the format. Although I still think standard DVD is not TOO bad on my 65" HDTV.


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## Steeve-O (Dec 3, 2010)

My local video club don't have a big blue ray disk collection so when the movie aren't available on this format I rent DVD. The image is still good and anyway most french blue ray disk are not even encoded in Lossless audio... That a real shame because when watching a movie in DTS-HD master audio or Dolby trueHD I do see a little difference in the audio quality. That should be a law for all blue ray movie. They should be all encoded in HD audio in all common language (English, French, Spanish, Deutsch etc...)


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

I will still watch both, and watch SD DVDs frequently. Partly because we have about 500 of them, and partly because I don't feel some movies really NEED BD. For example, blockbusters like Iron Man, and animation like WALL-E that take full advantage of the sound and picture will get the BD treatment. But I still buy movies in SD (how can I not for $5.00 new!?) and rent SD when the material doesn't really need to be at BD level to appreciate it. Comedies, romance, many documentaries, I'm still happy watching them in SD when there's a significant savings involved. My Oppo does a great job of upconverting in any case, and I don't find the presentation too lacking except in those special movies that beg for the best of the best.

For those special ones though, I really do appreciate the extra level BD brings to the game. Our Blu collection is expanding, but I haven't replaced anything that I already own on DVD yet. I think the first may be LOTR when the extended versions eventually make it out. Sales on BD's are getting better and more common, so it is making more sense to pick them up lately.


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## typ44q (Apr 7, 2008)

I am at the point now where I will only watch a SD DVD if the content is not available on blu or not going to be available soon.
I purchased a Oppo BDP83 player because it had excellent SD up-converting abilities (and it does!) but I hardly ever watch SD content on it... I guess I am a snob


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## usrsld (Feb 3, 2009)

You're not a snob. You're just like the rest of us crazies on this and other AV boards. We want quality and we want it now! Now if we can just get Netflix to download EVERYTHING in HD.


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## typ44q (Apr 7, 2008)

HAHA dont even get me started on Netflix! I never use the service to watch movies (my roommate sometimes does when I am not around) as I would happily wait a day or two to rent the disk and get 1080P high bitrate video and loss-less audio.
I dont bother with non HD TV either which is really not a problem as all the shows that I watch are in HD


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## usrsld (Feb 3, 2009)

Yeah, I NEVER watch standard definition TV anymore. Can't stand it. Hurts my eyes! I only wish my local Time Warner Cable company carried the WB in high def. As it is, I don't watch any of their shows and I'd like to try Nikita. I heard it was pretty good.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Nice to see the thread get a bump every now and then.
We watch the Netflix streaming quite a bit as well as full episodes from the various networks.
It sure would be nice if all the the streaming video would move to 5.1 channel sound.


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## HopefulFred (Jan 20, 2011)

I've found the upgrade to Blu-ray is totally worth it. There's not too many movies I want to upgrade, but I'm definitely not going to buy any more DVDs. Actually, I did get new copies of the Bourne movies - they're so awesome - and I'll probably get the upcoming Star Wars set of 6 (I never bought the prequels, but I'm a sucker for a boxed set), and I've even committed to waiting and not buying any more Harry Potter discs until there's some kind of ultimate collectors edition boxed set.

If you sit 7 feet away from a 50" screen, the difference is remarkable.

I don't have a setup where HD audio is noticeable but video is a whole new ball game.


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## sga2 (Nov 14, 2009)

HopefulFred said:


> If you sit 7 feet away from a 50" screen, the difference is remarkable.


If you have a very large display (say, a 100" projection screen), the difference is a deal killer. Upgrading to Blu Ray is a bigger step than going from VHA to DVD, which was pretty big in both video and audio. For very large displays, DVD just doesn't cut it anymore.

I have a mid-sized DVD collection. I won't upgrade everything to Blu Ray, but I'm not going to be watching any DVD version if Blu Ray is available) in my theater, either.

sga2


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## Ban-One (Jan 29, 2011)

caliberconst. said:


> Maybe I am a snob, but I almost refuse to watch a dvd. For me BD definitely enhances the viewing experience. Maybe you should try a few more BD titles out.


Thats how I am. We have a TON of movies on dvd and only a handful on blue ray. I almost dont want to watch something unless its on blue ray or hd tv.


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## m560jldom (Jul 21, 2010)

Some movies I watch in dvd like old westerns and classic they look the same to me either blu ray or dvd. new movies look reallly good on blu ray. I just don't buy new release when they come out 25-30 for a blu ray is way too much to spend on a movie


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

I actually watched my first DVD in about 6 months over this past weekend. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.


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## Sir Terrence (Jun 8, 2006)

m560jldom said:


> Some movies I watch in dvd like old westerns and classic they look the same to me either blu ray or dvd. new movies look reallly good on blu ray. I just don't buy new release when they come out 25-30 for a blu ray is way too much to spend on a movie


Wow, this is quite a statement. Can anyone really say that North By Northwest Bluray looks the same as the DVD? Or how about Vanishing Point, Bullitt, The Wizard of Oz, Blade Runner, 2001, 2010, Dirty Harry, The Searchers, The Wild bunch, The Clockwork Orange, The Shining,Deliverance, Goodfellas, The Godfather series, The Untouchables, Dog Day Afternoon, How the West Was Won, The Thing..shall I go on?

I own just about all of the classic movies on both Bluray and DVD, and NONE of the DVD's come close to the Bluray in terms of PQ.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

It all boils down to what kind of display your watching it on. If you have a great 1080p large dispaly Blueray looks awesome and that includes properly mastered older movies. DVDs do not look even close to Bluray on a big screen there is no comparison.


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## typ44q (Apr 7, 2008)

Sir Terrence said:


> Wow, this is quite a statement. Can anyone really say that North By Northwest Bluray looks the same as the DVD? Or how about Vanishing Point, Bullitt, The Wizard of Oz, Blade Runner, 2001, 2010, Dirty Harry, The Searchers, The Wild bunch, The Clockwork Orange, The Shining,Deliverance, Goodfellas, The Godfather series, The Untouchables, Dog Day Afternoon, How the West Was Won, The Thing..shall I go on?
> 
> I own just about all of the classic movies on both Bluray and DVD, and NONE of the DVD's come close to the Bluray in terms of PQ.


Totally agree, some of the older movies just blow me away with their picture quality, add to that list 'Close Encounters' and Grand Prix (on HD-DVD, not so patiently waiting for it on blu!)
There is a lot of 'resolution' in film as long as you have a good print and take the time to restore it, like they did for the wizard of oz. you can have something that looks just as good as anything shot digitally. I think a lot of people associate film grain with older movies and poor picture quality.


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

I'm still mostly watching DVD... because that's mostly what I have in my collection. Anything new I buy is either BR - or a BR/DVD combo pack.


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## 86eldel68-deactivated (Nov 30, 2010)

Over the past year or so, I've switched to buying Blu-ray discs exclusively, and to renting them whenever they're available. I sit ~13' from my 100" screen and I do notice the PQ difference between BD and PQ.

(If my screen were smaller, or if I were to sit father back, the PQ difference would be negligible or unnoticeable.)

So, while I have no problem watching a DVD - , my collection is still mostly DVD and most of the movies aren't worth upgrading to BD - I do prefer the superior PQ of BD.


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## Koopa (Aug 19, 2008)

Taking it out of the realm of BD VS DVD (i know that was the question) but, HD vs SD. I was watching something over SD DTV on a local station at the parents house on a 50" plasma. Wow, is there a difference between that OTA HD and it's free!


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## Beatcoaster (Feb 9, 2011)

I have over 300 dvd's sitting in my closet, wish I could convert them all to BD. Even upscaled by the ps3 to 720p or 1080p they are still blurry and painful to watch these days...


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## sparky77 (Feb 22, 2008)

For those that say up scaling dvd's is painful to watch, my question is on what size screen are you watching on? I watch my movies on a 28" Hanspree that I picked up for $300, and it doesn't matter what does the up scaling, whether it be the ps3, the computer, dvd player with hdmi, or leave the resolution alone and let the TV do it itself, the picture quality between SD and HD, is pretty much indiscernible. What's sad is I calibrated my friends 57" sony, and even after calibration anything buy 1080p looks like , unless I use my dvd player with hdmi and up scaling, and then it looks quite acceptable to most of us. Beginning to wonder if some tv's still perform image processing no matter what level of signal they're getting!


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## Sir Terrence (Jun 8, 2006)

sparky77 said:


> For those that say up scaling dvd's is painful to watch, my question is on what size screen are you watching on? I watch my movies on a 28" Hanspree that I picked up for $300, and it doesn't matter what does the up scaling, whether it be the ps3, the computer, dvd player with hdmi, or leave the resolution alone and let the TV do it itself, the picture quality between SD and HD, is pretty much indiscernible. What's sad is I calibrated my friends 57" sony, and even after calibration anything buy 1080p looks like , unless I use my dvd player with hdmi and up scaling, and then it looks quite acceptable to most of us. Beginning to wonder if some tv's still perform image processing no matter what level of signal they're getting!


I think even upscaled images look soft and blurry on DVD because we now have something to compare it to. A 28" screen will reveal no difference between SD and HD because it is just too small. My smallest set is 55", and I watch it from exactly 6ft away. The difference between upscaled SD and HD is very easy to discern, no matter what device is doing the upscaling. 

Was your friends 57" Sony a CRT television? I didn't know that Sony made a 57" flatpanel.


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## Bucketfoot (Mar 29, 2008)

sparky77 said:


> For those that say up scaling dvd's is painful to watch, my question is on what size screen are you watching on? I watch my movies on a 28" Hanspree that I picked up for $300, and it doesn't matter what does the up scaling, whether it be the ps3, the computer, dvd player with hdmi, or leave the resolution alone and let the TV do it itself, the picture quality between SD and HD, is pretty much indiscernible. What's sad is I calibrated my friends 57" sony, and even after calibration anything buy 1080p looks like , unless I use my dvd player with hdmi and up scaling, and then it looks quite acceptable to most of us. Beginning to wonder if some tv's still perform image processing no matter what level of signal they're getting!


I certainly wouldn't call watching DVDs painful, but at a screen size of 100/125 inches (1.78/2.35) let's just say that I don't watch a whole lot of them anymore.

The main ones that I still watch on a regular basis are the LOTR EE releases (got the theatrical releases on BR but enjoy the EE versions soooooooo much more). There are also a couple of "guilty pleasure" movies that I haven't been willing to double-dip on yet.


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## Homeincontrol (Feb 4, 2011)

On a 120" screen with 1080p projector, I can definately see the difference between DVD vs BR. No comp BR wins out everytime.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

Bucketfoot said:


> The main ones that I still watch on a regular basis are the LOTR EE releases (got the theatrical releases on BR but enjoy the EE versions soooooooo much more).


Have we received any indication of when the EE is coming out on BD yet? I thought they were trying to release for Christmas 2010 but I guess I misheard that one. Maybe this year? I have a craving to watch them, but if hi def versions are just around the corner I can hold out. Those are some BDs I will definitely pick up to replace my old DVDs.


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## typ44q (Apr 7, 2008)

I know the feeling, I have been wanting to re watch the trilogy but have been waiting for the EE to come out too, hopefully soon!


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## smurphy522 (Sep 21, 2010)

typ44q said:


> I know the feeling, I have been wanting to re watch the trilogy but have been waiting for the EE to come out too, hopefully soon!


As far as LOTR EE BR release: unfortunately I think that amazon has it correct here

I watch mostly BR in my HT (115" anamorphic) but in the bedroom where we would normally watch a comedy or docudrama or some "regular" TV I usually settle for DVD. I usually just have a ripped copy of my Netflix stuff and anything worth watching again or owning goes onto my "BR to buy list" and I watch for sales.


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## jinjuku (Mar 23, 2007)

Right now it is mainly DVD with only a few BR titles.

1. I am NOT repurchasing my movie collection for the higher resolution

2. I am NOT paying $30 a pop (or even $20) for a BR title

I use Netflix for any BR titles I want to experience that way and if I purchase it is still used DVD off of Amazon. My average O.O.P is $6-$11 shipped. That or used record stores. Which in Louisville there are plenty:clap:


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## typ44q (Apr 7, 2008)

I almost never pay over $20 for bluray movies and there is a huge selection available for around $10 
I would never consider buying a movie on DVD if it was available on blu and if it was out of my price range I will rent it and wait for the price to drop which does not take very long.


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## jinjuku (Mar 23, 2007)

typ44q said:


> I almost never pay over $20 for bluray movies and there is a huge selection available for around $10
> I would never consider buying a movie on DVD if it was available on blu and if it was out of my price range I will rent it and wait for the price to drop which does not take very long.


Are we talking b rate titles? Where are you getting most of you BR media?


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## typ44q (Apr 7, 2008)

Not at all, they are just not new releases, I get most of my movies new from amazon.com, you just have to wait for the right deal. 
A few examples...
Sin City $13.49
3:10 to Yuma $7.99
Dark Knight $8.99
The Departed $7.99
Alice in Wonderland $13.99 with DVD and Digital copy $14.99

There is another forum that I am a member of that has a price tracker, you pick the movie and set a price when it reaches that price you get an email notifying you of it.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Guys, I think you need to realize that if you have a large display particularly projector and screen DVDS dont look even close to BluRay quality, the extra $5 it costs to buy a BluRay makes that investment well worth it not to mention the extra features available on Blu makes it a no brainer in my opinion.
Even here in Canada BluRay prices on new releases have come way down. I got Magamind on Blu for $16 at Walmart.


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## typ44q (Apr 7, 2008)

and its not just the better video quality, which I agree is much better especially as the screen gets larger but I would pay extra just for the improved audio quality!


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## imjay (Jan 4, 2011)

I guess everyone's eyeballs see things differently. 16:9 content nets us a 120in diagonal image and with our good Up Converting DVD player our standard def DVD images are about as good as the HD images on our TV and we have zero interest in buying a BD player and doing the "fork lift" upgrade of our movies. We have about 700 DVD movies and they deliver all of the "WOW, this is like being at the movies" that we could ask for.

Up Conversion continues to improve such that I think, before long, software and video processing power will enable most ANY digital video file to be highest resolution, converted from 2D to 3D or whatever manipulation the viewer would care for.


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

imjay said:


> Up Conversion continues to improve such that I think, before long, software and video processing power will enable most ANY digital video file to be highest resolution, converted from 2D to 3D or whatever manipulation the viewer would care for.


Up-convert, process and create whatever highest resolution you like, the end result will still only be as good as the original (720x480) with some marginal improvement. In the case of dvd up conversion (or its equivalent digital file) it will still lack color and clarity when compared to blu ray, to say nothing of the much lower audio info.


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## imjay (Jan 4, 2011)

Up Conversion is still in its "infancy". The forcast (of the experts) is this technology will continue to mature and improve - Enhancement is - well a legitimate and "real" change to an image. As with the evolution of all visual technology my opinion is that BD is just one more step in imagery/visual entertainment and - just our opinion for us and our home theater - the "fork lift" upgrade required when you include the content just ain't worth the significant expense at this time. Actually, Up Conversion does add lines of resolution as part of the process - just give it a little time.

Up Conversion/Video Enhancement - I can do to analog video once it's transformed into a digital file things that were impossible just a few years ago and that's using software and processing power of consumer class processing for color correction and etc. 

The "boys" at the leading edge can do amazing things - color correction, better definition and etc. and all without associated "noise" applying filters that do incredible things. The evolution of pro level software and processing power of 2D to 3D is still in its infancy (like simple Up Conversion) but it is evolving at a fast pace and expected to mature to a level that will soon give 2D material true 3D display.

But put all of that aside and sorry to turn my comments away from the core of the Thread which wasn't about Up Conversion (but it's related) - it's the same when discussing screen image quality at different projection distances and screen sizes. Those so inclined toss out gobs of "techno-speak" citing formularies of lumens and lamberts and distance of separation of lines as image area is expanded and I always take it back to what is - to me - most important  - the perception of each individual and what my own eyeballs tell me.

Opinions asked for - opinion given - we watch standard definition dvd content exclusively in our theater area and and it looks very good to us and comparable to what we see in commercial theaters and now totally back to Thead Point - Yes, we are still watching standard def DVD and lovin' it!


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## gsmollin (Apr 25, 2006)

I consider DVD to be "television". I consider BD to be "cinema". When I want to watch cinema on my HT, I watch BD. Mostly, I watch cinema on my HT, considering it's a front-projector system, it is clearly not a television.

On the other hand, I also have televisions, and I do watch DVD's on them. 

So I suppose it's an associative thing. I spent a lot of time and money constructing a large screen front projector system with a powerful, 5.1 channel sound system. Why would I save a few pennies and put DVD on that, when BD is available?


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## FinanceBuzz (Jan 21, 2011)

Right now, BD and DVD are quite similar because I am watching on a 10 year old 1080i rear projection set. I can see a slight improvement on BDs, primarily in the menus, but the difference is slight. This is why I am waiting delivery of a new set and will be reworking my setup soon.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

TypeA said:


> Up-convert, process and create whatever highest resolution you like, the end result will still only be as good as the original (720x480) with some marginal improvement. In the case of dvd up conversion (or its equivalent digital file) it will still lack color and clarity when compared to blu ray, to say nothing of the much lower audio info.


Fully agree, Upconversion of standard DVDs will never match the quality of BluRay. "You cant make something out of nothing"


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## DDSDTS (Jun 14, 2011)

I still have a lot more DVDs than BluRays, because I am not replacing my DVD library with BluRay, as most of my DVD movies, especially the newer ones, look pretty good upscaled on the HDMI connected Sony player, but when buying new movies now, I buy BluRay, and if a bluray is availible for a movie I want to rent, I go for the bluray first. I did break down and replace 3 of my all time favorite movies with bluRay copies, when they were on sale and like around 10 bucks....they were 2001:A Space Odyssey , Casino, and Good Fellas. I have a 32inch Sony Bravia LCD tv.


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## AVoldMan (May 15, 2011)

We still purchase both formats. The BR for those moives that deserve it - those with excellent cinemaphotography or a classic (either B/W or color) with a good transfer. DVDs for movies that do not require HD or are not available in BR. We have not duplicated any movies in both formats unless it came packaged that way.

Another question related to this subject is who is watching digital medialess movies vs. either DVD or BR?


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## FinanceBuzz (Jan 21, 2011)

AVoldMan said:


> Another question related to this subject is who is watching digital medialess movies vs. either DVD or BR?


I will occasionally stream a Netflix movie if it is one of those films that you don't really need the highest picture quality (my internet is not fast enough for really good quality) and I do not care about high end surround sound. Basically, if I do not mind watching it on my computer, I will stream it. I also will rent tv episodes that I miss or that get pushed off my DVR from iTunes or Hulu if available. But generally, until medialess content can match BD level, I will stick to physical media for most of my watching.


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## typ44q (Apr 7, 2008)

AVoldMan said:


> We still purchase both formats. The BR for those moives that deserve it - those with excellent cinemaphotography or a classic (either B/W or color) with a good transfer. DVDs for movies that do not require HD or are not available in BR. We have not duplicated any movies in both formats unless it came packaged that way.
> 
> *Another question related to this subject is who is watching digital medialess movies vs. either DVD or BR?*


Same as Blu vs DVD, I will only watch streaming when Blu is not available


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Good to see the thread get kicked to the top every once in a while.
We watch a good bit of Netflix streaming video (its our substitute for not having any type of cable TV) and most of the time it is very good quality on the 56" TV.
The surround sound is very important to us though and we want Netflix to offer it on more titles and through the ROKU portal.
The PS3 Netflix portal has 5.1 channel sound on some titles and I will use that sometimes even though I prefer the ROKU interface.


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## sga2 (Nov 14, 2009)

If all high-def transfers were created equal, and given their just due, Blu Ray would win hands down. Compare Aliens DVD to Aliens BluRay - no contest. 

As far as up-conversion... you will never achieve the same result enhancing 480 material to 1080 as you will from a high-def transfer from the same source. However, eventually the tech will be good enough to make the upconverted presentation look so good and noise-free that only a side-by-side comparison would reveal the superior quality of the hi-def source. And I will be happy when that day comes...

Regards,
sga2


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## AVoldMan (May 15, 2011)

AVoldMan said:


> Another question related to this subject is who is watching digital medialess movies vs. either DVD or BR?


As far as movies, I don't think my cable connection can take the bit rate. I have a hard time streaming "youTube" SD videos at times - evening primetime. In my mind, DVD or BR movie streaming would bring me back to the days of a 1200 baud POTS connection, just plain unuseable!


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## CHASLS2 (Jun 18, 2011)

I have two BD players and one DVD player hooked up in my bedroom setup. A Oppo83, Pioneer Elite 05fd and a rock soild Pioneer Elite DV59 AVI. I only have a few BD's compared to my DVD collection. Plan to add more BD's as time does on.


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## truwarrior22 (Oct 27, 2009)

I would think upconverting from BD to 4K would be nice looking over upconverting from DVD to 4K :nerd:


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## CatBrat (May 20, 2010)

My 300+ movie collection is about 50/50 blu-ray vs dvd. When it comes to concerts, blu-ray is the hands down winner for both visual and audio quality. On some movies, I have a harder time telling the difference, but most of them have a much clearer picture. Of course going to a projected image, blu-ray would be the only thing that would look decent. That's one of the reasons I'll replace an existing DVD with blu-ray, but only when I can find it on sale for $5 to $15.


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## MarAgt (Dec 1, 2011)

Well, we do buy BR movies these days... But, we don't avoid watching all of our DVD's...we own 'em, we watch 'em. They still look and sound pretty good; so there is no sense in re-buying all of the movies we've already acquired. There are a few that we consider to be classics that we will grab up in BR from time to time, even if we already own it in DVD.


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## LazyGuru (Aug 8, 2011)

Yep,i still watch disk movies,like Scott Wilkinson say's editor of home theater mag. "Physical Media disks will stay around for some time". Because in my area i can barely get 1mb on dsl and 768 mb up. But for now,i only buy blu ray because of the audio uncompress compare to dolby.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

The audio and video upgrade on BR is worth it to me... I can't stand DVDs. Not to mention, good BR prices (if you are a savvy shopper) are easy to come by.


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## Earthtime:3978 (Jan 13, 2012)

At one time blu ray was the beginning and end all for me. I will only put a blu ray disc in now if there there are some new releases I really want to see. After experiencing laserdisc at it's best, I don't crave digital video as much. I have been into laserdisc for years but when I finally got a high end player and tweaked my settings, I was astounded. Yes there are some very poorly mastered laserdiscs but that problem applies to blu ray and dvd as well.
I have Polk speakers all around and the sound from laserdisc is truely closer to a theatrical experience than anything I've heard previously. Blu ray of course crackles with awesome sound, but, it's a different sound. Not the sound I want. Until you see pristine analog video (if your a purest) you might not know what your missing. So, I'm not watching much blu ray, an encourge you to jump heavy into laserdisc if your into serious home theatre.:sn:


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## CdnTiger (Feb 16, 2007)

I'm a little scared to admit this here, but... :hide:

I just got my first BR for Christmas. Star Wars Complete Saga. When my brother found out I don't yet have a BR player he asked "Then why the *^() did you ask for BR?!" Because it's just a matter of time...

I haven't even had a chance to determine whether the audio & video of BR are a significantly noticeable upgrade for me!


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

CdnTiger said:


> I'm a little scared to admit this here, but... :hide:
> 
> I just got my first BR for Christmas. Star Wars Complete Saga. When my brother found out I don't yet have a BR player he asked "Then why the *^() did you ask for BR?!" Because it's just a matter of time...
> 
> I haven't even had a chance to determine whether the audio & video of BR are a significantly noticeable upgrade for me!


Audio wise, if you have a sub youll likely notice more dynamics and impact in the lows, highs will be more detailed and separation will be more apparent also (youll actually start finding movie sound tracks more captivating and 'pretty'). Video wise, the level of visual detail and clarity will depend greatly on your display size but color range and saturation will be the best youve ever seen regardless of display size.


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## CdnTiger (Feb 16, 2007)

That certainly sounds promising. Once I get my room complete, my speakers should be good enough that they won't be the weak point. My ears may be another matter. Haven't finalized a projector & screen, yet...


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## amythompson172 (Jan 16, 2012)

Most deffinitly shoot for bluray at all costs, as it really enhances my movie watching experience.
Ive recently gotten a headset for christmas as well, and I feel spoiled with the sound quality it brings, and again, really upgrades my movie watching experience. Its amazing.  BluRay ALL THE WAY!


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Good to see the old thread get a kick every now and then.
Since I started the thread we have added a number of BD titles to the collection so the viewing experience has broadened.
There were several BD titles that were Christmas gifts so we watched a few BDs back to back and then Thor came in from Netflix on DVD.
My wife even remarked that she could tell a difference between the BDs we had been watching and the DVD on both audio and video. She particularly noticed the audio being better.
We still like DVDs plenty good and don't fall into the 'DVD's stink camp' but after more exposure to the BDs a growing appreciation of them is developing.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

A new perspective.
Recently got a new TV and now I have a much greater appreciation of BD.
I won't be getting rid of the DVD collection, but now that my display is capable of 1080P I can see a significant difference between the two formats.


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## ozar (Feb 12, 2012)

No, I've got a huge collection of DVDs, but I'm gradually replacing my favorite titles with Blu-ray. Having purchased another HDTV recently, this one 3D enabled, a few 3D Blu-ray titles are finding their way into the collection as well. I'm actually finding 3D more enjoyable than expected, even though the new TV was purchased for the 2D viewing because it had such a great picture.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

I did not buy the new TV for 3d either but I am much more impressed with it than I expected to be.


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## scoma (Feb 24, 2012)

No. I watch mostly BR. Even when I rent, I always look for BR. I have a 10 foot wide screen (235:1) with a projector and the quality difference is very noticeable.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

I rent DVD's but won't buy them, only Blu-Ray. Picture quality and sound go along way with me. I have noticed however on some of the cheaper Blu-Ray's it's like they just dubbed the movie onto the disk without doing any enhancements (like watching it on TV).:sneeky:


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## spurdarren (Jan 11, 2012)

I always buy bluray unless what I want isnt available on bluray. I even replaced some of my favorite movies I had on dvd with bluray.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

I much prefer blu-ray - been stopping in at the local Blockbuster just about every week as they are on the way out and are selling 5 BR's for $20.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I haven't purchased a DVD in over 2 years and have purchased well over 100 BR's in just the last 6 months. I do still rent an occasional DVD but only if it's not available in BR and not sure if it's own worthy.


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## Diskohouse (Jun 2, 2011)

Blue Ray or bust in my house. I will only watch a title in DVD format if and only if it's not available in Blue Ray. It almost like saying would you rather listen to a cassette tape or CD....


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## PTAaron (Feb 16, 2012)

We got our PS3 back in 2007 and immediately fell in love with the format. For us, even on our 57" CRT RPTV the difference was amazing. 
We have a large collection of DVDs that we have been slowly replacing the collection with blurays as we find them on sale - but a lot of our favorites are still on DVD. 
Any new movie we buy is only on blu-ray - with the exception of a NASA documentary series my wife wanted that was only on DVD.

I haven't tried a DVD on my new 73" yet though


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## OZZIERP (Feb 19, 2012)

Blu-Ray for me and not only for the picture enhancement but for Dolby Tru-HD and DTS-Master for audio.


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## ryansboston (Dec 10, 2010)

Also on the blu-ray train. I mostly rent from netflix and redbox and rarely get dvds unless something is unavailable in BR. I'd have to say that for the most part, when I do end up watching a DVD the PQ isn't terrible because of the upscaling and video processing features in my PS3/ Denon 4311ci..

I did purchase the LOTR extended edition and matrix trilogy b/c they kick and are great demo material...


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

The LOTR books and movies are among our favorites and we have experienced them many times.
We just bought the LOTR extended edition box set and the publisher has done an excellent job with this edition.
When I read "I see / hear things I have never noticed before" I typically give a 'knowing nod' and move on.
I am laughing at myself right now for that attitude.... because the level of visible detail is astounding.
While the positives are overwhelmingly great, there are some negatives as well.
The textures and the wear and tear on the weapons and leather really gives a sense of reality.
But the fortress of Helm's Deep has some details that look plastic and fake to the point of being distracting. On the wall for the most part it looks man made, constructed of huge stone blocks. That part looks great, richly textured and detailed. Then there are places that are stony outcrops (for lack of any other way to describe them) those look very plastic, fake, out of place. I never noticed it in the theater or on the DVD editions.
I am usually quite oblivious to such things and I can't really say why this stood out to me but it really caught my eye in an otherwise fantastic visual experience.


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## Muzikal-JRNE (Jun 8, 2009)

I am a blu-ray convert. The lossless audio sealed the deal for me. I am an audio fanatic, and on a high quality system the difference is very noticeable for me. The picture quality is excellent on the 1080p TV also.

Cheers, Joe


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