Since the recent announcement regarding Prince's movie being released on Blu-Ray, I am interested in possibly getting a Blu-Ray Player. I was just wondering...

Is the difference in quality very apparent?

Is it only really new movies that it benefits ?

Is it true that even with Dvd's the Blu-Ray player enhances their quality?

I have an HD Television, is that adequate?

There is a noticeable difference but to get the most out of it will depend on your set up, mostly your TV. If you have anything smaller than a 32" don't bother and ideally 1080p or up (that's the quality of your HD). It will upscale your DVDs to but only a bit. A tip for a decent player...the PS3 and PS4 have really good blue ray drives in them and update automatically.

Oh and old films benefit to. Little known fact, they gave been shooting movies in something close to 4k since the late 70s...our home technology is only just catching up. My fave film is Aliens and it looks amazing in HD!
[Edited 8/7/16 8:22am]

DaveT said:

There is a noticeable difference but to get the most out of it will depend on your set up, mostly your TV. If you have anything smaller than a 32" don't bother and ideally 1080p or up (that's the quality of your HD). It will upscale your DVDs to but only a bit. A tip for a decent player...the PS3 and PS4 have really good blue ray drives in them and update automatically.

Thank you for your reply. That's good to know my TV's 40"+.

My only issue is as I often purchase Amazon Primce HD Movies digitally would that essentialy be pretty much the same standard?

It's really interested what you say about older movies, that would be pretty cool.

jayspud said:

Since the recent announcement regarding Prince's movie being released on Blu-Ray, I am interested in possibly getting a Blu-Ray Player. I was just wondering...

Is the difference in quality very apparent?

Is it only really new movies that it benefits ?

Is it true that even with Dvd's the Blu-Ray player enhances their quality?

I have an HD Television, is that adequate?

Yes.

No.

Yes.

Only if it's full 1080p HD, not one of those shite "HD ready" tv's.

DaveT said:

There is a noticeable difference but to get the most out of it will depend on your set up, mostly your TV. If you have anything smaller than a 32" don't bother

Nonsense.

TheDigitalGardener said:

Just my opinion dude

DaveT said:

I'd actually agree with DaveT on this one. I had a 32" 1080p TV in my bedroom but it broke so I replaced it with a 50" and the bigger TV looks so much better. Both are 1080p full HD tv's from the same company (Sony).

I will say that this whole 4K thing is a bit pointless though, regardless of the TV size. I have a 60" 4k TV in my living room but there's very little difference between that and the one in my bedroom.

EmmaMcG said:

DaveT said:

Just my opinion dude

I'd actually agree with DaveT on this one. I had a 32" 1080p TV in my bedroom but it broke so I replaced it with a 50" and the bigger TV looks so much better. Both are 1080p full HD tv's from the same company (Sony). I will say that this whole 4K thing is a bit pointless though, regardless of the TV size. I have a 60" 4k TV in my living room but there's very little difference between that and the one in my bedroom.

Was wondering about the 4k thing as over here in the UK we're getting some proper 4k TV channels later in the year. I've seen one running in the shops and while its a nice picture it doesn't seem like that much of a jump from 1080p HD. You reckon its better off waiting a year or two before upgrading?

DaveT said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

Nonsense.

Just my opinion dude

Fair enough mate.

I don't agree with not to bother with anything smaller than a 32inch though. Of course big tv's look great. I have a 32incher, but I also have a 21inch full HD tv and you can still enjoy the HD experience just fine.

My laptop has a 17inch HD 1080p screen, which I'm told is quite rare, even that looks great.

Peace.

DaveT said:

Yeah, there's very little difference. I have a 4K player too and there's no difference. The guy in Curry's, where I bought the TV, said something about 8k tv's coming in the next few years? By then, the 4k ones might be reasonably priced too. I'm still recovering from open purse surgery.

TheDigitalGardener said:

DaveT said:

TheDigitalGardener said: Just my opinion dude

Fair enough mate.

I don't agree with not to bother with anything smaller than a 32inch though. Of course big tv's look great. I have a 32incher, but I also have a 21inch full HD tv and you can still enjoy the HD experience just fine.

My laptop has a 17inch HD 1080p screen, which I'm told is quite rare, even that looks great.

Peace.

No worries dude. Having said that I'm reticent about anything HD below 32", I'll admit I've been considering the HD latop option, but I think the prices here in the UK are putting me off a bit. Roll on Black Friday sales!

EmmaMcG said:

DaveT said:

Was wondering about the 4k thing as over here in the UK we're getting some proper 4k TV channels later in the year. I've seen one running in the shops and while its a nice picture it doesn't seem like that much of a jump from 1080p HD. You reckon its better off waiting a year or two before upgrading?

Yeah, there's very little difference. I have a 4K player too and there's no difference. The guy in Curry's, where I bought the TV, said something about 8k tv's coming in the next few years? By then, the 4k ones might be reasonably priced too. I'm still recovering from open purse surgery.

LoL!! I'm stealing that one!

8k on the way? The developments in home tech seem to be picking up real pace lately ... bit worrying as I'm like you my bank balance has taken a real kicking lately...

DaveT said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

Fair enough mate.

I don't agree with not to bother with anything smaller than a 32inch though. Of course big tv's look great. I have a 32incher, but I also have a 21inch full HD tv and you can still enjoy the HD experience just fine.

My laptop has a 17inch HD 1080p screen, which I'm told is quite rare, even that looks great.

Peace.

No worries dude. Having said that I'm reticent about anything HD below 32", I'll admit I've been considering the HD latop option, but I think the prices here in the UK are putting me off a bit. Roll on Black Friday sales!

Yeah, prices are high. I was almost £800 nearly two years ago for mine

I understand none of this foreign language you people are speaking. I have a little 25 inch something or other with no thingy players of any type. It never felt inadequate until this thread. I feel like I should be experiencing tv envy.

TheDigitalGardener said:

DaveT said:

No worries dude. Having said that I'm reticent about anything HD below 32", I'll admit I've been considering the HD latop option, but I think the prices here in the UK are putting me off a bit. Roll on Black Friday sales!

Yeah, prices are high. I was almost £800 nearly two years ago for mine

Ouch!! Eight hundred notes is quite a bit to lay out ... but I guess its all relative to how much you have to spend. Looking at my bank balance I'll be blowing the dust off my ZX Spectrum 48k any day now...

Horsefeathers said:

I understand none of this foreign language you people are speaking. I have a little 25 inch something or other with no thingy players of any type. It never felt inadequate until this thread. I feel like I should be experiencing tv envy.

Depends what your 'thing' in life is. I've got a friend who doesn't even own a TV because his thing is reading and outdoor activities (always reminds me of that quote from Friends, "So what does all your furniture point at?" ).

I'm a big movie fan so a good home set-up is a must for me; decent size TV, good sound system, etc. As a movie fan I'm likely to say you really need to treat yourself and upgrade from what you have now ... but then films might not be your, in which case it might be a waste of money.

^Yeah. I love vinyl so I gladly spent over € 1000 on a record player, but there's no way I'd ever spend that much on TV. And if we remember that not all movies/ concert films are available on bluray, I'll give it a miss.

NorthC said:

^Yeah. I love vinyl so I gladly spent over € 1000 on a record player, but there's no way I'd ever spend that much on TV. And if we remember that not all movies/ concert films are available on bluray, I'll give it a miss.

If movies and TV shows aren't your thing then okay, but to say that "not all movies/concert films are available on Blu-ray" is a reason to not get a blu-ray player doesn't make sense. Not all albums are available on vinyl, and yet you still bought a turntable.

Correct! But I just don't see myself buying a lot of blurays in the near future if I can get the dvd as well. Just a choice you make...

The difference between a blu-ray and a DVD is the same difference in visual quality as a regular SD TV (they don't even make them do they?) vs an HD TV.

One is HD and one is not.

I spent $3000 on my TV. And the same on the one before that. But I love that cinematic color and detail.

I have my eye on the THX certified OLED which is also $3000... but I need to make another big chunk of change.