Opinions on blu-ray vs upconverting with 1080i

Rivrrat

Like a lot of people, We bought our plasma when life was all about 1080i. When we built our HT we went with an Oppo 981 upconverter, while waiting for the HD wars to end.

Now that the've settled, I'm trying to figure out is it really worth buying a blu ray player with only having 1080i capability, and broadcast staying at 720p for the forseeable future. (and no, upgrading is not going to happen anytime soon).

Will I even notice a cifference?

Ricardo

I would not do it, yet. I went with HD-DVD, and also have a 1080i. There are a few movies where the difference with upconverting can be noticeable, but at least for me, the upconverting I get with the Toshiba A35 is good enough (better than my OPPO BTW).

dkg999

My Cambridge Audio 540D v2 upconverts to 1080i, which I input to my 1080p Sony XBR5 LCD. See my thoughts here:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66142

steveinaz

Oh yes. I can tell a big difference between BluRay and upconverted DVD on my 720p DLP. BUT---one caveat, like anything else it depends on how well the movie was transferred/engineered. Having said that, even the poorest transfers look better to me than the SDVD version.

PhantomOG

Do you buy SD-DVD's or not? That would be the biggest question to me. I'm assuming someday you will buy a 1080p tv. Will you regret buying a bunch of SD-DVD's in the mean time? If you don't buy a bunch of media, what's the hurry right? But if you do purchase alot, then it might be better to bite the bullet now.

cheddar

Also, don't forget that HD disks also have lossless audio tracks that greatly improve on the sound quality vs. sdvd. And, they are beginning to do quality remasters of the video of certain disks so that even the source material is better than the ones they use for dvd. Patton and 2001 are catalog titles where even with quality upconverting, the old dvds just can't compare well.

Imperitor

phantom and cheddar make great points. It might be worth upgrading for the future and lossless audio alone. As for a picture quality difference, I would say it all depends on how big your TV is and how far away you sit. If you have a big TV and sit really close you will notice a huge difference.

BIZILL

what size is your tv river? if larger than 42", get a ps3.

Rivrrat

BIZILL wrote: »

what size is your tv river? if larger than 42", get a ps3.

It's a 50" Philips.

Interesting points made here. Things that make you go Hmmmmm.

The ps3 thing is a good idea. Too bad my wife wants a Wii for the Wii fitness program.

olilugo

I had the same experience as kdg999. I purchansed a panasonic dvd upconvert player and I compared The 300 moview on a HD player and while I can see a bit more picture I would agree that I rather pay for a 99$ player than a 400$ player. I think there will be movies that will look that great on a HD or BR but I think today the price is not there for me to justtify the expense. Please note "FOR ME"...

mantis

Get a Blu Ray player and don't look back. Blu ray looks fantastic in 1080i. Allday everyday. Just do it.

Ethancf

Be sure to get a PS3. You get the benefit of Bluray, and it plays games.

I hope FrankZ reads this. LOL!

nikolas812

mantis wrote: »

Get a Blu Ray player and don't look back. Blu ray looks fantastic in 1080i. Allday everyday. Just do it.

I agree...

I have a 32'' 720p Westing House LCD. Not the best by any means. I bought a Toshiba HD-A2 and a Oppo 980H at about the same time. After I realized the Oppo was just as good or better upconverting. I sold the Toshiba and kept the Oppo.

Well..... That was about six months ago. Since the format war has calmed down and it looks like blue ray will prevail. I bought a used Sony BDP 300S off A-gon to see if there was a difference between it and my Oppo

There was!!

I don't know exactly why... Maybe the Sony is just better than the Toshiba I had.. Or maybe blu Ray is better than HD DVD... I dunno.... But the Sony is stellar. There is a very noticeable difference between the Oppo and the Sony BRP. I have since sold the Oppo and kept the Sony.

So I would give it a try.. You might be surprised...

Nick

Ron Temple

An excellent SD transfer can upconvert to 1080i and 1080p and be pretty close to BD except in color depth and micro detail. An average transfer won't be close. That being said, I don't much care if some movies are BD. Chick flicks and dramas are just fine upconverted. I save my BD purchases and rentals for movies I know will be eye and ear poppers. If you compare the last Harry Potter, the SD is unwatchable in comparison.

McLoki

in my case (14' away from a 50 inch screen you could tell the difference with it (sd to hd-dvd) if you looked for it. The audio was very good as well (converted to dts via the A2).

not worth the upgrade price to me though. (any larger or closer and it would be though)

I have not upgraded to blue ray yet but will when the price drops under $200 for a decent player. I still purchase SD DVD's but typically used from the rental store and under $7.

Michael

millerman 3732

There are several BD and SD comparison threads in the Blu-ray software forum over at AVS.
Here a link for the one that a guy named Xylon did for Enchanted.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1010547&highlight=enchanted

There are several threads like this one over there just look for the threads started by Xylon, he also did alot of comparisons in the HD DVD software forum that will give some idea of the differeance in SD and HD media.