[crod1]

ok, got a sony xbr2 46" . so i want a compatible picture from a dual or hd or blu .


i dont follow the "war" as much as some of you guys, can someone help me out.


i have nothing invested into blu ray or hddvd. (own no movies ect.)


has it been confirmed yet, that one will "win" ?


if so should i just buy a sinlge player?


if i rent movies instead of purchasing should i just get a dvd upconverter?


thanks guys

 

[seggers]



Quote:
Originally Posted by crod1 /forum/post/12875930


ok, got a sony xbr2 46" . so i want a compatible picture from a dual or hd or blu .


i dont follow the "war" as much as some of you guys, can someone help me out.


i have nothing invested into blu ray or hddvd. (own no movies ect.)


has it been confirmed yet, that one will "win" ?


if so should i just buy a sinlge player?


if i rent movies instead of purchasing should i just get a dvd upconverter?


thanks guys

crod1,


With no discs, you are in probably the best position. The war isn't offically over yet, but the BD camp looks like having the upper hand. Having said that, you can still get Laser Disc stuff, I believe, so having HD DVD discs and HW probably isn't a problem for now.


Just remember that some titles will only, for now at least, be available on one format. So if you really must have The Matrix or BSG or The Simpsons movie, then you'll have to get a player that will play that sort.


If I had it to do over, which I do as I have just taken my 5K back, I would go BD all the way. What I am going to do is mix it up with a BD and HD DVD singles, as I now have some of both.


Have a stroll down the Samsung 5000 and LG BH200 lists on this forum and you'll find that both players have issues. Some will play X, some will not. The LG FW update bricked (ie made into expensive doorstops) some players (which they later fixed with another FW update), and the recent Samsung FW seemed fix a small amount of issues and created some more.


There are concerns that newer discs are causing issues, and that some units will play some. Some people can get the LFE (sub woofer) track with their players, some can't. Some can get 24pfs to work, some can't. It's all a bit random really.


Money is the main thing. Both types of players seemed to have dropped in price. You can get the BH200 and 5K for about $800. You can also get a PS3 (40Gb) or Panasonic BD30K and Tosh A30 or A35 for around the same price, depending on where you look (like Amazon or ebay).


Other will be able to correct me on this, but I think most HiDef (regardless of flavour) will upconvert to some degree, so that may be a non issue. Flavour X looks better than flavour Y, but again, it all takes 480p and tries to make it nearer 720/1080 etc. Remember to clean any disc you rent. That seems to help out too.


HD DVD is pretty much a fixed format. The spec is mostly complete and there shouldn't be too many compatibility issues. Blu Ray is still evolving. 1.0 today, with some 1.1 and 2.0 coming over the horizon. If you want all the bells and whistles, then pick a BD player with care. So far, I believe, no current BD player is 2.0 certified.


Picture resolution is also a gotcha. The A1, 2 and 3 only go up to 1080i, some BD players may also have the same draw back (I personally don't know of any). All newer players will go to 1080p. If possible, use HDMI all the way.


I enjoyed my HiDef tv stuff, but it all seemed a bit rushed to me. I'll probably get flamed to hell for my reply, but that's OK.


Seggers

 

[crod1]

cool. thanks for the reply, i was kinda leaning towards blu ray. so on that note.


what blu ray would be "the best" ...


i dont play games so the ps3 doesnt seem like a real option for me.

 

[Ph8te]



Quote:
Originally Posted by crod1 /forum/post/12876425


cool. thanks for the reply, i was kinda leaning towards blu ray. so on that note.


what blu ray would be "the best" ...


i dont play games so the ps3 doesnt seem like a real option for me.

You might want to move this to the blu-ray hardware forum

.......Also, the "best" is subjective and it all depends on your needs as a player. RIght now the least problematic player is the Ps3. Besides that the BDK30 has been highly regraded with its replacement the BDK50 getting a lot of talk.


Personally Im in a dual format household I got tired of hearing the "boss" say we cant get that right becasue its on Blu-ray (at least she knew there were 2 different formats

). If you rent only and never buy movies you may want to hold off even more to see what the future holds.


To me the only way to go right now is Dual format, this way I dont have to decide or miss out on any releases as both formats have had some great ones that the other is missing.

 

[AZHTGeek]



Quote:
Originally Posted by crod1 /forum/post/12876425


cool. thanks for the reply, i was kinda leaning towards blu ray. so on that note.


what blu ray would be "the best" ...


i dont play games so the ps3 doesnt seem like a real option for me.

The only Blu-Ray player I can recommend is the PS3 as its the only "Futureproof" player. That being said Panasonic is known for making some decent players and a lot of people are happy with their latest 1.1 player. I think October is the timeline when we will start to see 2.0 players so if having a fully featured player is a concern then I would wait or get the PS3. If you can only worried about playing movies then I would get a Sony or Panasonic. Stay far away from the Samsungs. Add an A3 for those HD-DVD's that you want watch for a minimal cost and you are good to go. I think BBY is running a deal with 2 extra movies on top of the 2 in the box and 5 mail in.

 

[shawnmos]



Quote:
Originally Posted by crod1 /forum/post/12876425


cool. thanks for the reply, i was kinda leaning towards blu ray. so on that note.


what blu ray would be "the best" ...


i dont play games so the ps3 doesnt seem like a real option for me.

Unfortunately there aren't any great blu-ray players out there right now. They all have their shortcomings. If you don't mind waiting a few months I would get the Panasonic BD50. It can decode all of the new high def audio codecs and it is a profile 2.0 player.


If you don't want to wait and don't mind getting another player in a year or two, get the Samsung BD-P1400. It's cheap and can decode TrueHD. Avoid the Samsung BD-P1200 though, it has some serious issues.


The Panasonic BD30 is good too and it's profile 1.1, but it's more expensive and can't decode any of the high def codecs. It can bitstream them though if your receiver supports it.

 

[crod1]

cool, i added another thread in blu ray area. im leaning towards the panisonic 50 coming out..


can you guys help me out here on this issue. would i benefit from getting a dvd upscaler/converter until i bite the bullet on blu ray?


since i mostly rent movies. (which are all mostly dvd around me)

 

[hawkfan]

I'm having the same issue. I already have a 1080P display and an oppo dv-981hd player and was satisified until I went to BB last week. I saw Fantastic Four ROTSS on display at BB on a samsung 5000 and was blown away. I could tell that the color setting was a bit "hot" but the picture was stunning anyway. That was the first time I actually looked into any HD format as I had chosen to sit it out with the Oppo until a clear winner emerged. After doing a little research, I have found that most movies can be found on BOTH formats, leading me to pick the current leading format, which appears to be Blu Ray at the moment. That's a big problem for me. The movie Transformers is only available on HD DVD. That movie is THE first movie I was motivated to buy on SD DVD(younger buyer). Now I HAVE to have it in HD format. I was all set to just grab the LG or the Sammy dual format players, but I'm skeptical after reading the threads in this forum. I'm stuck. Should I just continue to wait? $800 is a lot to spend on technology that seems like it was rushed to consumers.

 

[shawnmos]



Quote:
Originally Posted by hawkfan /forum/post/12877500


I'm having the same issue. I already have a 1080P display and an oppo dv-981hd player and was satisified until I went to BB last week. I saw Fantastic Four ROTSS on display at BB on a samsung 5000 and was blown away. I could tell that the color setting was a bit "hot" but the picture was stunning anyway. That was the first time I actually looked into any HD format as I had chosen to sit it out with the Oppo until a clear winner emerged. After doing a little research, I have found that most movies can be found on BOTH formats, leading me to pick the current leading format, which appears to be Blu Ray at the moment. That's a big problem for me. The movie Transformers is only available on HD DVD. That movie is THE first movie I was motivated to buy on SD DVD(younger buyer). Now I HAVE to have it in HD format. I was all set to just grab the LG or the Sammy dual format players, but I'm skeptical after reading the threads in this forum. I'm stuck. Should I just continue to wait? $800 is a lot to spend on technology that seems like it was rushed to consumers.

If you don't mind having 2 players then get both. You can get an HD-A3 for $128 off Amazon.com Link