Do you have to have Blu-ray to enjoy HDTV, or is 480p/SD good enough? - Page 2

Yeah, I've seen one or two of those Starz programs, pretty yucky. I suppose I should say, most of the time it looks better. I simply don't watch any DVDs at all anymore, my hate for them is far too great, with Blu-rays available. LOL!

True. Also, on my PS3 I've noticed that BDs have better contrast and color than their DVD counterparts in most cases in addition to the better sharpness/clarity. One last detail is that overscan cannot be eliminated when sending 480i/p to the TV.

You must have a lousy tv. I watch many standard DVDs on my 70 inch set with excellent results. For your information there are thousands of movies that are not available on Blu-ray and DVD is the only option to watch them.

I also own dvd's that are not available on bluray. I certainly will enjoy them but i'm very well aware that dvd is poor mans bluray.

It's my understanding that the quality of Netflix streaming is largely dependent on the capabilities of one's internet connection and in-home network, so comparisons between streaming and dvd etc. are going to vary widely--YMMV, not everyone is going to get the same results.

Likewise the quality of standard dvd on an HD set is also going to be largely dependent on the quality of the dvd player--a legacy high-end 480p player like the OP's is likely to look tons better than a cheap Memorex or GPX.

The OP stated that his standard dvds borrowed from the Library and played on his player look better than Netflix streaming--that's entirely possible since he has a high-end if old player and a less than perfect internet network and transfer speed.

I share the opinion that Blu Ray playback of a competently mastered disc is the one single best source for exploiting the full capabilities of an HD television set.

That's not to say that many of us, perhaps including the OP, can't enjoy lesser sources.

I'd rather watch a good movie from standard dvd than a lousy one with reference audio and video on BD. To me my enjoyment derives as much as or more from the content itself as it does from the picture and audio quality.

And that being said, there are many excellent titles available on BD disc now. A good BD player can be had for a fraction of what the OP paid for his old high-end Sony dvd player. The neighborhood Blockbuster has hundreds of catalogue BD titles available for .99 a day and adding BD titles to one's netflix subscription is very cheap. Unless buying into BD is going to mean starving the kids the OP is cheating himself by not doing so.

I have OTA HDTV and love it! Minimal compression and where we live and no multi-path at all to deal with. Between VuDu, Hulu, Netflix, etc we're good to go. Even streaming 1080p from VuDU is no problem. And we also like to get out every now and then and actually go to the movies. Keeps us from becoming glued to the idiot box.

Meh, there a lots of outdoors activities besides a movie house. For a fam or 4, we're talking close to $100 after pop corn, candies, blah-blah. Then the movie theater doesn't allow bathroom breaks, or the 7th inning stretch or rewind.

I have a Sony 60NX810, everything looks great on it. DVDs, however, look like ass. This was the case on my previous TVs as well. 55" Sony NX810, 52" Samsung LNB750 and a Samsung LN4661F. Like I said, DVD's just don't compare and have looked like ass on every fixed resolution display I've ever owned. Now, I used to own a 46" Rear projection Panasonic CRT, which made DVDs look outstanding. But, that's likely because the set isn't at a fixed resolution like LCDs and plasmas.

I think the answer really is no unless you are a videophile. While HDTVs today are much different than when DVD was king (i.e. no more 480p mode), I think that the upscaling does a decent job as long as the DVD player isn't trash (many cheap ones are). Not reference quality mind you, but watchable. Is Blu-ray better? Of course it is but it's not necessary to enjoy a large screen experience (well larger than most of the tubes of yesteryear anyway). If you think DVD looks good enough for you, then go with it. IMO, you should just get a $100-$150 Blu-ray player and give yourself the option of renting Blu-rays along with having a good upscaling DVD player. Upgrade the rest of your system over time as needed.

Yeah, Agree with this. In fact there are many DVD,s that can and do look better than many HD tv stations. I have a 60ex500 fyi.

If a dvd doesnt look good your set isnt calibrated well(oversaturation and sharpness will destroy a dvd) Or your set doesnt have an avg or better scaler in it.

Perhaps, our definitions of crappy quality vary quite a bit. I think even a DVD manufactured and encoded with the highest possible standards looks bad on a large HDTV. But, that just may be because I think Blu-ray looks so good. Either way, it's painful for me to watch any DVD when I know what a decent Blu-ray looks like.

Well, I dont watch standard def tv and havent now for over 6 years. Even when there were less than 10 channels of hd I stopped watching SD. I have had hd programming since 2003. I am pretty dam snobbish when it comes to image quality and standards. If a dvd looks that painfull you most likely arent set to reference sharpness on your set. Again that or your set doesnt scale well.

I certainly agree with that. But our family of 5 is now down to 2 so it's a little more "cost effective" for us to take in a movie once in awhile, or even a major sporting event with the local pro team(s). However, reading a book in the evening (which I am about to do after I'm done with my evening "net fix") is one of our more enjoyable past times that costs next to nothing (relatively speaking). Now, if I could only get my book in HD 3D

Well, I'm not exactly a novice. LOL! I just think I like high-def too much and expect too much from my picture quality.

No, he didn't say that he didn't want to spend more money. If he'd ruled out spending more money, he wouldn't have asked us if we thought spending more money was worth it.

Think, McFly, think.

Well I can tell you the lotr dvd ee set looks better in most reguards than the tnthd showings so which would you watch?

I also can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that the star wars dvd set looks better than the spike presentation. Which would you watch?

Not to mention the sound on the dvd blows away the tv hd presentation. And Im on Fios so it doenst get better for broadcast hd.

I've never seen HD presentations of either of those on TV, so I suppose I can't really comment.

I absolutely agree with this. But I think much of the PQ difference springs from the mangling of the aspect ratios - Spike and TNT routinely monkey with 2.35:1 images to fit them onto a 16:9 screen. Just like zooming on your television of player will introduce all sorts of alaising and shimmering, it must also do so on cable.

Blasphemy is what is is.

I'm not arguing against DVD. It's fine for what it is. But anyone who thinks a well-mastered "upscaled" DVD looks anywhere near as good as a well-mastered BD needs their eyesight checked and their head examined.

I never said anything about it looking as good as a bluray. All I was sayign was that it looks dam good. Better than many HD channels over fios or other cable companies. People in this thread were telling others it looks like utter crap garbage and it doesnt.

Im someone who never ever watches SD channels anymore and I have nooo problem watching a dvd on my hdtv because they look and sound good. And I have a fairly large sized hdtv.

I have a lot of DVDs, more than 3000, and most of them are movies. I had someone tell me that if I watched a movie on blueray that I wouldn't want to watch DVD ever again. That it would make my collection obsolete. I love HDTV and watch in HD when I can, TCM is my favorite channel though it's not in HD. Since I don't want to just throw away my lifelong collection of DVDs I will never own a blueray player. I have 7 DVD players and 5 DVD recorders and 4 HDTVs in the house so money is not a factor.

Yes, but in my humble opinion, you should have a Blu-ray player for some of the "must-have" new movies.

I worry (not to the point of losing sleep) about people who make statements like, "Buy a Blu-ray and you'll never watch DVD again." That's a silly statement. You may prefer the Blu-ray, but it doesn't make the DVD players obsolete. I have a big collection of DVDs also (not nearly as big as yours), but when I feel like watching a DVD rather than a Blu-ray, I don't sit on the sofa and gag, wishing I had it on Blu-ray. I just enjoy the movie. In most cases, DVDs were a bigger leap from VHS than Blu-rays are from DVDs and it was easier to see the difference.

My DVD player is obsolete to me, that's just the way it is. I guess it's a matter of personal preference more than anything. I just think DVDs look like garbage now, when compared to my Blu-rays. On a large HDTV, the difference is as big as the VHS to DVD comparison for me. To each his own, is what it comes down to, I suppose.

Thats probably because you watch lots of dvd's and very few blurays. I watch lots of blurays, the more blurays i watch the less impressed i am with dvd quality. Lots of pre 2.000 dvd stuff quality isn't really that good.

I do not watch series and movies on SD/HDchannels - i prefer bluray/dvd.

I've got 1.000 satellite channels, a least 40 of em are HD , unfortunately there is still a lot of interesting stuff only available in SD quality so i'm forced to watch SD wether i like it or not (keep in mind that i'm living in West-Europe which means 576iSD and lots of subsidised - better quality - channels).

That, if u only believe the guy who told if u try anything new or if u ever meet Angelina Jolie u would immediately divorce ur wife. U and me know live is not this one-dimensional. For someone who owns a large collection of anything, I assume there is an intrinsic love for it, and not just because it was THEN the latest and greatest.

Never look at at a BR? that's just silly.

Never to own a BR player? Now, if your TV upconverts the DVDs good, ur set, but if it doesn't, u may want to own a BR player, because they will play DVDs and automatically upconvert to HDTV resolution.

About collecting... Recently I Netflix-stream The Fantastic Voyage. Is a classic right, maybe you have it in your own collection. This version they clean it up am sure, it's now in color, but that's not it, I was a little disappointed at the content. After 50 years of science, what it shows is not so awe-inspiring anymore, lots of kids knows about immune systems and blood cell-air exchange. So while the big argument in this thread is about look, I may have another argument about outdated contents. That's another pandora box.

In the same breath, 2 years ago, I finally junked my VHS and my LPs. The online stuff now is so much more convenient. But Jim is right, VHS-DVD, big difference (analog-digital), DVD-BR (higher bandwidth only), some of us here say not so huge.

Nope. I dont watch many dvd's. Pretty much star wars, and lotree thats about it. I love bluray. Its da best. But to say DVD is god aweful is a flatout lie. If it looks as good as it does on my set I venture to say It looks excellent on a 40 and down set which so so so many people have. Hell at 10 feet it is very hard to tell the difference in 1080i and 720p on a 60.

I am just about willing to bet a high percentage of people cannot tell the difference in 720p and a dvd on a 40 inch set at 8 feet on a properly calibrated set.

I am a quality whore. I had a vcr since 1978(parents) We had beta cause it was better image quality(ive been brought up on the best image available. My parentss then bougght the second year model ever Pioneer laserdisc player like 1982. People were just getting vcrs and we were like they suck were getting lasers. I got my first dvd in 1997 first year out. I got bluray when playstation released. And I bought the ps3 because it was the best bluray player available. I only ever owned two games for it. F1 and The show.

Im not bragging. What Im saying is I have been brought up as and still am an image quality whore. And for someone like me to say DVD still looks good on big tv when calibrated properly means that a good majority of people will be well happy with it.

Its just plain not as bad as some overreactors make it out as.

You sound an awful lot like me, though my collection probably topped out at 1500.

Back in April of '06 I bought one of the first HD-DVD players and also bought into BD a few months later.

My experience was that far from obsoleting my DVD collection they actually looked better than ever on the new format players. I caught myself actually rewatching my old collection more often than playing HD discs.

Initially HD releases were mainly eye-candy special effects and recent theatrical releases. After a few months films like Casablanca, the 1938 Robin Hood, and a few others started to show up.

There was some furor on the 'net over releasing Casablanca--many thought it was a waste to release an old BW movie in HD.

I bought a copy and was amazed at the difference. The HD version was just so much more like what this film must have looked like when first released to theaters.

I will admit to having replaced a few dvd titles with HD-DVD or BD versions, but not really that many. As far as making my old collection unwatchable my experience has been the opposite. If I get a hankering to watch one of my old classics on dvd I sit back and enjoy it. Rather than be unsatisfied that it doesn't look quite as good as BD I enjoy the fact that it looks better than it did on a non-HD player. I've got the dvd set of the BBC's I Claudius, originally shot on video tape on the cheap and even that is more watchable on the PS3 than it ever was on a standard dvd player. In short the HD players have not obsoleted my collection, they've improved my enjoyment of it and given me the option of being able to watch HD versions of many of my favorites.

As a fellow TCM addicted movie lover I'd urge you strongly to reconsider getting a BD player.

Its out on bluray. I will buy A new hope - The empire strikes back and Return of the Jedi this month
http://www.starwars.com/movies/saga/bluraymay4/

there are more than 50 blurays at the house. I still own dvd's, here are a few of them:

the big lebowski
beetlejuice
thx 1138
the arrival
repo man
raiders of the lost ark
scanners
all the presidents men

I refusse to buy a green tinted shadow detailed loss version. Thats not better for lotree. Star wars I will be buying even though there are movie changes.

If or when they sell the lotr ee blu in singles Ill buy towers an king. Or if they fix the error Ill buy the set. Till then the dvd is good enough.

Mike,

I own both the EE DVD and the EE BD. If your TV is well calibrated (as I assume it is, looking from your settings), the EE BD will not look green, nor will there be any loss of shadow detail.

I have a 52EX700, very similar to your 60EX500. With gamma and color properly set, the EE BD looks BETTER in color and shadow detail than the EE DVD, not worse.

I was stunned by how much detail there was near black in scenes like the mines of Moria, or the battle of Helm's Deep. The color timing is better, as well - the DVD ran really hot - it looked like the hobbits of the Shire had sunburns at times. And again, I say this as someone whose set is tuned very similarly to yours.

Don't trust screencaps and online haters. The EE BD kicks serious rear-end.