Hello. My wife and I recently got a Sony xbr4 52" tv back in March, and in Nov we got the Onkyo HTIB ht-s7100 which I absolutely love. My wife likes all the new toys but a basic sdtv with two speakers would also make her happy. With all of our dvd's and blu ray's played through a 40gig ps3, we have the hardware to get the most out of blu-ray where picture and sound are concerned.
With all the movie studios switching to blu-ray it would seem logical that each movie released on blu-ray would meet some kind of minimum standard. That doesn't seem to be the case however. Each blu-ray movie can have widely varying standards when it comes to picture quality and audio quality. Some blu-rays don't even have the same supplemental material as their dvd releases.
I've already become somewhat stingy over what dvd's I purchased. I found it was better practice to wait up to a year before getting a movie on DVD just to make sure I was getting the unrated uncut special edition director's cut version with as many features just to avoid double or triple dipping on the same movies.
So for me, these "rules" or what have you are my current dogma for when it comes to a blu-ray purchase and I was wondering if anyone else did something similar.
1. I never blind-buy a blu-ray. There have been some exceptions to this rule (blu-ray's given as gifts, or purchasing a blu-ray for someone else in the hustle/bustle of holiday shopping).
2. I use a dvd library management program like DVD profiler which keeps track of what you own and keeps track of a wishlist for you.
3. If there is ever an oppurtunity to return a dvd, always check to see if it has a corresponding blu-ray version before opening the dvd. If there's a blu-ray version of a dvd I take the dvd back and purchase the blu-ray version, however if reviews of that paticular blu-ray are poor (detailed below) then if its a movie I want it goes on wishlist and hope they release a better version of it.
4. I always research a blu-ray online before purchasing it. I usually check reviews here at avs as well as the professional and user reviews at blu-ray.com. What I look for in a review is a minimum 4-5 rating in picture quality and audio quality. The blu-ray should have DTS-HD or Dolby-TrueHD or PCM lossless audio tracks. I personally want the better picture and sound and I swear I can hear a discernible difference between the loseless and lossy audio tracks. So far I've preferred the loseless audio track on each BD I've purchased.
5. I only buy movies that I know I'll watch more then once, otherwise its a rental from netflix.
Thats about it. As a result, the only blu-ray's I've bought so far that I wish I could return are Terminator 2 and Rocky. Picture quality on both aren't as good or much of an upgrade over their dvd versions and Terminator 2 blu-ray is stuck with the same audio track as the DVD. By being more discriminating about my movie purchases, I now own 300, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Dark City Director's Cut, Evil Dead 2, The Golden Compass, I Am Legend, Kung Fu Panda, Planet Earth series, Starship Troopers, Sweeney Todd, Wall-E and Legend of the Waterhorse and have been immensely satisfied with each one.
With all the movie studios switching to blu-ray it would seem logical that each movie released on blu-ray would meet some kind of minimum standard. That doesn't seem to be the case however. Each blu-ray movie can have widely varying standards when it comes to picture quality and audio quality. Some blu-rays don't even have the same supplemental material as their dvd releases.
I've already become somewhat stingy over what dvd's I purchased. I found it was better practice to wait up to a year before getting a movie on DVD just to make sure I was getting the unrated uncut special edition director's cut version with as many features just to avoid double or triple dipping on the same movies.
So for me, these "rules" or what have you are my current dogma for when it comes to a blu-ray purchase and I was wondering if anyone else did something similar.
1. I never blind-buy a blu-ray. There have been some exceptions to this rule (blu-ray's given as gifts, or purchasing a blu-ray for someone else in the hustle/bustle of holiday shopping).
2. I use a dvd library management program like DVD profiler which keeps track of what you own and keeps track of a wishlist for you.
3. If there is ever an oppurtunity to return a dvd, always check to see if it has a corresponding blu-ray version before opening the dvd. If there's a blu-ray version of a dvd I take the dvd back and purchase the blu-ray version, however if reviews of that paticular blu-ray are poor (detailed below) then if its a movie I want it goes on wishlist and hope they release a better version of it.
4. I always research a blu-ray online before purchasing it. I usually check reviews here at avs as well as the professional and user reviews at blu-ray.com. What I look for in a review is a minimum 4-5 rating in picture quality and audio quality. The blu-ray should have DTS-HD or Dolby-TrueHD or PCM lossless audio tracks. I personally want the better picture and sound and I swear I can hear a discernible difference between the loseless and lossy audio tracks. So far I've preferred the loseless audio track on each BD I've purchased.
5. I only buy movies that I know I'll watch more then once, otherwise its a rental from netflix.
Thats about it. As a result, the only blu-ray's I've bought so far that I wish I could return are Terminator 2 and Rocky. Picture quality on both aren't as good or much of an upgrade over their dvd versions and Terminator 2 blu-ray is stuck with the same audio track as the DVD. By being more discriminating about my movie purchases, I now own 300, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Dark City Director's Cut, Evil Dead 2, The Golden Compass, I Am Legend, Kung Fu Panda, Planet Earth series, Starship Troopers, Sweeney Todd, Wall-E and Legend of the Waterhorse and have been immensely satisfied with each one.
