Hi

Is the picture / audio quality the same or better with Blu Ray compared with Verizon on demand HD?

I've had a new Blu ray player for 5 weeks and NOT rented a Blu Ray movie yet.

Paul

Verizon Fios looks fantastic, at least compared to my previous Comcast. The VQ improvement of BR though will be apparent somewhat on a smaller screen and the improvement will become 'significant' as screen size increases especially if you move up to a front projector. If your equipment can decode the THD/DTSMA of BR then too audio will be more engaging/detailed/extended, it's really difficult for me to put into words the aural perceptual differences but they are there and to me worth it, over the dolby digital/dts. Of course, much depends on your audio set up too.

The Blu-ray format has better picture quality and vastly superior audio capabilities.

However, the limiting factor will be your audio and video equipment. If your gear won't show Blu-ray at its best, FIOS HD on demand may be good enough.

Thanks for the replies.

This is the new set-up that I have :


Sony KDL V5100 52" LCD TV
Sony BDP 360 Blu Ray player
Onkyo TX SR 507 receiver
HTD in wall speakers (2 front and 2 rear), HTD flat panel speaker (as center) and a HTD level 2 sub.

All connected via HDMI cables.

I've had the equipment for around 5 weeks and still playing with the set-up and various receiver modes.

So far, I'm very happy with everything.

Paul

Just for kicks you might want to compare effective resolutions between 'hidden' test patterns on Sony Blu-ray discs and HDNet's Saturday am patterns using this technique (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=5175424#post5175424). There are all kinds of qualifiers with such a comparison, but it might be useful. Also, you might find that YPbPr inputs deliver better resolution than HDMI; I did hooking up a new 1080p plasma recently. -- John

I've been watching BluRays for the last 2 weeks Blockbusters 30 day free trial period. I have a Pioneer Elite 151, Pioneer fd-51 bluray player connected with analogs to a Marantz SR7300 OSE, and Von Schweikert LCR15's and VR1's.

I would rank Blurays above everything for picture and sound, No Contest.

Checkout the free trials with Netflix and BlockBuster, So far so good with Blockbuster as they don't charge extra for BluRay.

Here is the code for Blockbuster 30 day free, 3 at a time & 5 in store exchanges.

bbstore

One difference is that Blu-Ray disks are mostly recored in 1080p24. TV broadcasts in
1080i or 720p so even with little or no compression the Blu-Ray disk should look and sound better if you also use the advanced codecs.

Yes, broadcasts/cablecasts/satcasts are limited to 720p/1080i; however, the OP specifically referenced FIOS HD on Demand, which IIRC is supposed to be "1080p." FIOS HD on Demand is not a broadcast/cablecast/satcast - it uses the broadband IP network.

FIOS is very good. A lot better than Comcast. BD or HD DVD is slightly better on the PQ side but not by as much as you would think. Audio is where there is a big difference on the disc media's side but many would not consider that to be a determining factor whether to watch a movie or not if they only had one or the other.

FIOS is very good. A lot better than Comcast. BD or HD DVD is slightly better on the PQ side but not by as much as you would think. Audio is where there is a big difference on the disc media's side but many would not consider that to be a determining factor whether to watch a movie or not if they only had one or the other.

PQ can be close to BD if you omit the fact that your movie maybe cropped to 1.78:1 on broadcast. No too bad for a 1.85:1 movie but for 2.35:1 material, no thank you.

I signed up for Blockbuster online last night. Although it sure isn't as easy as FiOS on demand.


Paul

Yes, broadcasts/cablecasts/satcasts are limited to 720p/1080i; however, the OP specifically referenced FIOS HD on Demand, which IIRC is supposed to be "1080p." FIOS HD on Demand is not a broadcast/cablecast/satcast - it uses the broadband IP network.

Well, "1080p" doesn't mean much; probably 1080p/24fps, but still, Blu-Ray titles will blow it away, when you're comparing, say, a Blu-Ray with a ~30Mbps MPEG-4 AVC stream to their on-demand content. Just slapping on "1080p" doesn't make it better, if they have to compress the crap out of it to get it to you.

but still, Blu-Ray titles will blow it away

Yes. I said exactly that in my first post in this thread. :)

Yes. I said exactly that in my first post in this thread. :)

Not true at all. Not all transfer are perfect and some BD titles can actually be worst than FIOS although that probably is only a small percentage.

Not true at all. Not all transfer are perfect and some BD titles can actually be worst than FIOS although that probably is only a small percentage.

There are some, but there are poorly mastered DVDs too. Fortunately these are the exception, not the rule, but it doesn't help Blu-Ray's rep at this point.

Not true at all. Not all transfer are perfect and some BD titles can actually be worst than FIOS although that probably is only a small percentage.

I'll amend - what I said in my first post in this thread was that the Blu-ray FORMAT is better than FIOS HD on Demand. OK - satisfied now?

PQ wise most people would not notice a significant difference.

From a time perspective, FIOS is a lot faster in that you don't have to watch 27 previews and multiple government warnings and the player go into a seemingly never ending JAVA loading experience before watching the movie.

FIOS also gives you DVR capability, which enables you to resume movies you view in multiple sessions.

If you are a big popcorn with your movie type guy, Blu Ray does give you time to make a big batch while you wait for the disc to start playing.

I'll amend - what I said in my first post in this thread was that the Blu-ray FORMAT is better than FIOS HD on Demand. OK - satisfied now?

In a perfect world YES, unfortunately, well you know!

PS: I have some metal cassette tapes that I recorded from LP's and CD's that sound better than many CD's I own. The format that is suppose to be superior isn't always because there are too many variables involved.