OMG Blu-Ray is COOL!

[gdude30]

So yesterday I went with my Sir and Brother and we picked out a Blu-Ray player.

They were in a rush to get it for some reason. Something about their old DVD player fucking up even though DVD players are really cheap now. For whatever reasons they wanted to get one immediantly and without doing the research (Although I did a little at the store for them) we now haz blu-ray.

It wasn't a bad price. It's a $200 Phillips with BD Live and has a slot for SD cards. With BD Live it connects to the internet. I am not sure if it can do instant play on netflix though. I believe it cannot. It's a fairly simple model.

However, it does upscale normal DVD's. Brother tested it out with Moulin Rouge and the picture looked great and did look better than normal. However, for snow white the animition did not seem any better although it did look a little crisper some of the animation in snow white did pop out. Such as the prince's cape.

I tested it with Shrek 2 and DAMN it looked a lot better. Not true perfect quality but much better than what it is on normal DVD. Unfortunately they don't have an HDTV and they lack an HDMI slot. So Blu-Ray and DVD's are the basic 420 not the 1080 like I can do at home.

But still it's pretty good. I plan on getting a Blu-Ray movie this week to test it out. I was thinking of getting South Park Bigger Longer and Uncut. That recently got released on Blu-Ray. It would be cool to get one with lots of extra features though. I hear Wall-E is good for that.

 

[rotary]

If they don't have a high def TV they should return it for a cheap-o DVD player. There's no difference in picture quality on a standard television.

 

[heartfly77]

Blu-Ray is great on a high def tv. Sometimes I almost feel like the movies are clearer than real life, if that makes sense. Maybe it's the color.

 

[gdude30]

How do you know this is no difference rotary?

Also it's already opened and been used. I'm not sure if you can return it.

I think it probably has ALOT to do with the color. The color of the newer high def tv's combined with the quality of blu-ray. I've watched blu-ray and dvd side by side and there is a significant difference.

 

[blackbeltninja]

^You should notice a difference if you watch blu-ray and dvd side-by-side on a hi-def tv, but not as much on a standard tv/crt monitor because the screen doesn't have the hi-def resolution to display all the detail.

-d-

 

[rotary]

How do you know this is no difference rotary?

You need cables that can carry a high definition signal (component, DVI or HDMI). Without them, you're still getting a standard signal, not HD, and your TV won't have those inputs. A standard TV doesn't take advantage of the higher resolution blueray players put out. So wherever you guys got the player from, try to return it even if you're planning on getting a high def TV in the future as the price of blueray players will continue to drop, no sense paying more for what you can get cheaper down the road. My $0.02 for what its worth

 

[blackbeltninja]

^Canadian $0.02 - what's that in real money?

-d-
Edit: more than .za R0.02, obviously. But that's not the point.

 

[rotary]

^Canadian $0.02 - what's that in real money?

-d-
Edit: more than .za R0.02, obviously. But that's not the point.

The worth of my advice is seven times more valuable than yours. Don't quit your day job to write any opinion pieces, syndicated or otherwise

 

[blackbeltninja]

^Bah. Seven times zero... you do the maths .

-d-

 

[rotary]

^ I can still fall back on my Canadian Tire money. It smells the same, therefore legal tender it is

 

[gdude30]

You need cables that can carry a high definition signal (component, DVI or HDMI). Without them, you're still getting a standard signal, not HD, and your TV won't have those inputs. A standard TV doesn't take advantage of the higher resolution blueray players put out. So wherever you guys got the player from, try to return it even if you're planning on getting a high def TV in the future as the price of blueray players will continue to drop, no sense paying more for what you can get cheaper down the road. My $0.02 for what its worth

Thanks for helping. I'll see if tomorrow I can talk them about taking it back. It would probably be much better to get one as they get cheaper.

This is what Brother gets for being stubborn. I tried to tell him that because he doesn't have the HDMI output that he can only get basic which is 420. He said that's good enough for him. But I'll explain to him and Sir the reasons why there is no difference and they might as well buy a 50 dollar DVD player.

Thank you.

 

[braex27]

BD has enormous capacity and enormous potential but save for better picture, and sound, they have not added a great to it - more extras, lengthier interviews, more commentaries, a more complete film and filmmaking experience would be welcome!

 

[YeahWhatever]

I would hold on to it until you (or your brother) inevitably upgrade to an HDTV. Like you said, the old DVD player was about to crap out, so think of the Blu-Ray player as a future investment. And HDTVs are relatively inexpensive these days. A decent 32 inch LCD can easily be found for $400 or less.

Just make sure that when you buy HDMI cables, don't pay more than $20. You can find them online for less than $5. Don't be fooled by Monster Cables!

 

[pigface]

BD has enormous capacity and enormous potential but save for better picture, and sound, they have not added a great to it - more extras, lengthier interviews, more commentaries, a more complete film and filmmaking experience would be welcome!

And really crippled with DRM - the studios controlling what you can play discs on, where in the world you can play them. For that, it's a format I will avoid untill its well & truly hacked.

 

[gdude30]

I would hold on to it until you (or your brother) inevitably upgrade to an HDTV. Like you said, the old DVD player was about to crap out, so think of the Blu-Ray player as a future investment. And HDTVs are relatively inexpensive these days. A decent 32 inch LCD can easily be found for $400 or less.

Just make sure that when you buy HDMI cables, don't pay more than $20. You can find them online for less than $5. Don't be fooled by Monster Cables!

That's what I suggested. Brother feels that sometimes people buy in to technology fads when in a few months something new comes out and he feels it's a waste of money. However, if you are going to buy a Blu-Ray Player or a 360 you must certainly need to get an HDTV. Half the games for 360 you can not even play well because it requires a really nicer TV to display the graphics the way they were meant to be displayed. I played deadrising on an old TV and the text was distorted and you couldn't even read some stuff.

I'll talk to brother and tell him that either they need to return the Blu-Ray Player and get a normal DVD player. Or keep it and get a BASIC HDTV.

And really crippled with DRM - the studios controlling what you can play discs on, where in the world you can play them. For that, it's a format I will avoid untill its well & truly hacked.

You are right about that. That kinda pisses me off. I noticed on the Blu-Ray reviews that you can only do region one. It also said that some DVD's or Blu-Ray are copyrighted or DRM or something. I'm sure people have already hacked Blu-Ray's anyways.

The HDMI cables we got were 20 dollars. That's not a bad price. But I have seen them cheaper online.

 

[gdude30]

Nintendo is finally starting to realize that people want HD, better graphics, online play, apps, and customization. It would be VERY interesting if Apple somehow turned Apple TV into a TV service/game device and still keep Apple TV what it is now.

Nintendo actually said that a new DS would be announced at next year's tokyo gameshow. It is also speculated that it will have NVIDIA graphics which are pretty good. No word about the wii though.

HDTV's need to go down a little more for more people to buy them. But they aren't nearly as much as they used to cost.

 

[gdude30]

No the reason third party studios aren't investing in the wii is because of the lack of the power the wii has. The only ones who are investing are ones that want to get a few bucks off clones such as mini game, put put, hello kitty, and so forth.

And of course movie games or games that are on the other consoles as well. But as for wii exclusives not too many. I know that the wii has great potential as well but nintendo limited it so much and now they added motion plus and wii speak. But even so the wii speak is kind of a failed attempt at voice chat. And they finally started doing DLC.

They took too long unfortunately. There is no question that nintendo has made millions off of their wii's and so many people have bought wiis. But the games available for wii are seriously lacking despite the money nintendo is making. While it is fun to use the wii-mote to play a shooter. It plays much better on a console like the 360 or PS3. And the wii zapper was really just a gimmick.

But as I said. Nintendo is making millions off of the wii despite the fact that there are barely any good 3rd party games for it. Nintendo is very smart at making money when it comes to their consoles. They always sell.

 

[Spiff]

I have a love/hate relationship with blu-ray. No doubt the video and sound quality is usually better. I definitely appreciate that with my home theater setup. But I really can't stand why often a movie takes so long just to load. Or I can't stand when it attempts to download crap I don't want. I just want to play the damned movie. Whatever happen to the days you just insert the disc, push play, and the movie starts? With blu-ray, those days are gone.

 

[StationToStation]

I gotta try this Blu-Ray!!

 

[Daximus]

I remember when I watched Batman - The Dark Night on regular DVD. Then a few days later, Christmas, hooked up the BlueRay mom and dad gave us and watched it again (on a blueray disc) and I was like HOLY CRAP!! If you got a Hi-Def TV with an HDMI input, its like night and day. So much detail and even better sound. I can't imagine what movies will be like in 5 or so more years. Home theater is where it's at!!!!