Is Bluray Worth The Money?

[Northainan]

It's called the Internet. If you don't do your research before buying any big ticket item, then, frankly, you only have yourself to blame.

Maybe it's just me, but I quite like the smoothness the modern systems produce. I'm happy to concede it doesn't look the same as film, but the clarity of the 35mm film is there on Bluray, but missing on DVD. I can live with the difference in fast moving scenes. I've always viewed the picture you get in still mode as typical of what real detail exists in the image, so I think the images are actually better. When you edit and you go from frame to frame and see how far moving images can actually go in just a single frame, it's clear we have just become used to 're-joining' images with gaps, and if these systems can create a half way house frame from the information, this means (at least to me) that the movement is smoother. It's similar to the complaints we had with the first CDs when people realised error correction was actually producing data missing from the original. Maybe it's something we'll get used to, eventually?

That's not what it does at all. It doesn't "slow" anything down. It shows the movie at the proper,

original frame rate of 24 fps.

Look I understand what the majority of you are saying. Most of the people on this board are "tech savvY" But the majority of the buying public are not. The majority of people don't have the patience as most on this board do... to go the the internet and do research...the only issue they care about is how long will a product last and will it last longer than this brand or versus that brand. The majority people are not aware of calibrating their new flatscreens to show a proper image from a Bluray. The majority of the buying public would look at you like you are nuts if you mentioned a 60p look versus a 24p look..they have no clue what that is and could care less what it means. Look let's face reality we on this board are "geeks and nerds" some of you may not like it but it's the honest- to- God-truth. lol. We care about all that hi- tech bs and will take the time to find about the specifications and hell from my experiences on this board probably do some long ass test thread about it....geeks and nerds do that stuff. The majority of the buying public would be bored to death about some of the few posts on this thread. All they want is a movie to look like a movie when they watch something on a new device "out the box" meaning they don't want to make any adjustments crap to make something to look like a movie that they are accustomed to watching. My take is that the manufacturers are taking advantage of that fact ..that most people do not care about the specifics on how to get a proper image from device and they can market the idea of a better picture and audio to charge a higher price.From what my eyes have seen, and in my opinion I really do think the Bluray hype is/was a scam and ironically that the public could care less about it as well. So when they stop making DVD titles,I just have to submit to the rules and order of The Matrix that we live in and buy a Bluray player and make the adjusments. lol

 

[David Jimerson]

Look I understand what the majority of you are saying. Most of the people on this board are "tech savvY" But the majority of the buying public are not. The majority of people don't have the patience as most on this board do... to go the the internet and do research...the only issue they care about is how long will a product last and will it last longer than this brand or versus that brand. The majority people are not aware of calibrating their new flatscreens to show a proper image from a Bluray. The majority of the buying public would look at you like you are nuts if you mentioned a 60p look versus a 24p look..they have no clue what that is and could care less what it means. Look let's face reality we on this board are "geeks and nerds" some of you may not like it but it's the honest- to- God-truth. lol. We care about all that hi- tech bs and will take the time to find about the specifications and hell from my experiences on this board probably do some long ass test thread about it....geeks and nerds do that stuff. The majority of the buying public would be bored to death about some of the few posts on this thread. All they want is a movie to look like a movie when they watch something on a new device "out the box" meaning they don't want to make any adjustments crap to make something to look like a movie that they are accustomed to watching. My take is that the manufacturers are taking advantage of that fact ..that most people do not care about the specifics on how to get a proper image from device and they can market the idea of a better picture and audio to charge a higher price.From what my eyes have seen, and in my opinion I really do think the Bluray hype is/was a scam and ironically that the public could care less about it as well. So when they stop making DVD titles,I just have to submit to the rules and order of The Matrix that we live in and buy a Bluray player and make the adjusments. lol

You're talking about a couple of different things here.

Do most people care about the resolution of Blu-ray? Maybe not.

Do they care about the motion, even if they can't tell you what's wrong? Yes, they do. They don't want their movies looking like soap operas. Some do, but not many.

I can't even tell you how many sets I've (in their words) "fixed" simply by turning "tru-motion" off.

Besides, by this point, Blu-ray players and movies are priced down to where DVD had gotten when it was growing like wildfire.

 

[Al MacLeod]

Everything that can be said about Blu Ray...calibration of monitors, 24p vs 60i and all adjustments before and after production can be said about DVDs equally.
Blu Ray has a higher resolution. Is that resolution enough to sway the general public to invest in and replace DVDs as their choice of recorded media?
That is still being played out in the marketplace. It isn't happening like the rush to replace VHS at this point though.

 

[David Jimerson]

The "tru-motion" was never a problem with DVD because TVs didn't do it. It's not the disc or the player which does it. It's the TV.

DVD was a watershed because it gave many distinct, real, palpable advantages over VHS -- not just in picture and sound, but in convenience and versatility (that's the what the "V" actually stands for) -- and you didn't have to buy a new TV to use it. Blu-ray doesn't give anything like the same kind level of advantage over DVD, and you DO need to buy a new TV if you don't already have an HDTV. Thus, there is no similar rush to adopt it.

 

[Ian-T]

The uprezzed DVD looks better.

I been watching a lot of BR for the last few years on my 1080p TV. After a while I realized that I've been spending way too much on BR movies so I went back to DVDs for a bit. I have to say....the BR player does an excellent job of uprezzing my DVDs. It's not quite BR quality but man....DVDs look so much better than what I remember....when uprezzed by the BR player.

 

[Gary Huff]

I bought a 720p Plasma display because I figured I'd be watching a lot of mixed material, but I hardly have any DVDs anymore. Blu-rays still look (and sound) fantastic though, and I guess the 720p helps with Netflix streaming as that's not exactly high quality.

I tend to purchase Blu-rays for the movies I love that I want to see in highest quality. Otherwise, I check Netflix to make sure other movies I might otherwise purchase aren't available.

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

I tend to purchase Blu-rays for the movies I love that I want to see in highest quality. Otherwise, I check Netflix to make sure other movies I might otherwise purchase aren't available.

These days I tend to buy the BD versions, because I've noticed that the 'special features' set on the DVD's is diminishing. In some cases, there's quite a bit of difference, in others not so much, and yet others there's no difference. It is only in the 'no difference' category that I debate DVD vs. BD.

For films that I find 'educational' I often watch them once through for 'entertainment', then the special features, then back to another viewing of the 'whole' film, then perhaps the film with commentary track.

For many DVD's I play them at 1/2 zoom factor...

 

[refocusedmedia]

I all but stopped purchasing movies, period. I purchase boxsets, special editions, etc of movies I truly love and I also purchase animated films that my kids watch over and over (which look & sound gorgeous on Bluray), but thats it. Netflix has practically eliminated my urge to purchase movies at will, or even because they are on sale. The only irritation is the occasional "rental disc" which has no special features, but I find more often than not I can live without them just fine.

I don't see any reason to purchase a DVD these days. Blurays are similar in price, and offer much more for the premium especially if you have a system that takes full advantage of it (HDTV + surround sound). There's just no comparison, really. Also another thing I love about Bluray is that they have a protective layer on the disc to help combat surface scratches and nicks that would normally make a DVD unusable. This allows you to purchase used Blurays at even better prices and retain peace of mind with your purchase.

The only thing I buy DVDs for anymore is my wife's chick flicks.

 

[David Jimerson]

That was another disappointing thing about the Ghostbusters Blu-ray -- the sound mix. Very lackluster. Again, I think the DVD was better.

Compare to the Jurassic Park Blu-ray, where after a decade of watching the DTS DVD, I heard things I've never heard before.

 

[jghenderson]

If you have a large HDTV (I would say 60"+) or a good projector setup, then I would say yes it's worth it. Otherwise, nah.

 

[Bruce Watson]

Look I understand what the majority of you are saying. Most of the people on this board are "tech savvY" But the majority of the buying public are not. The majority of people don't have the patience as most on this board do... to go the the internet and do research...the only issue they care about is how long will a product last and will it last longer than this brand or versus that brand. The majority people are not aware of calibrating their new flatscreens to show a proper image from a Bluray. The majority of the buying public would look at you like you are nuts if you mentioned a 60p look versus a 24p look..they have no clue what that is and could care less what it means. Look let's face reality we on this board are "geeks and nerds" some of you may not like it but it's the honest- to- God-truth. lol. We care about all that hi- tech bs and will take the time to find about the specifications and hell from my experiences on this board probably do some long ass test thread about it....geeks and nerds do that stuff. The majority of the buying public would be bored to death about some of the few posts on this thread. All they want is a movie to look like a movie when they watch something on a new device "out the box" meaning they don't want to make any adjustments crap to make something to look like a movie that they are accustomed to watching. My take is that the manufacturers are taking advantage of that fact ..that most people do not care about the specifics on how to get a proper image from device and they can market the idea of a better picture and audio to charge a higher price.From what my eyes have seen, and in my opinion I really do think the Bluray hype is/was a scam and ironically that the public could care less about it as well. So when they stop making DVD titles,I just have to submit to the rules and order of The Matrix that we live in and buy a Bluray player and make the adjusments. lol

So... you're saying you're just too lazy to try, so you don't like it? And this is OK because you think the "majority of the buying public" are equally lazy?

I have a somewhat higher opinion of the majority of the buying public's technical savvy and willingness to make an effort than you. But so what?

None of this says anything about the worth of blu-ray one way or the other.