Are you going Blu-ray?

[pcchen]

Apple TV is only 720p and 4Mbps IIRC. Too bad when Apple designed AppleTV they didn't think about using hardware accelerated decoding (though the chipset they use doesn't support it anyway).

The HD movies in my local VOD services are 1080i and 5 ~ 10Mbps. The quality is not bad, but still not as good as a high quality Blu-ray disc (many good movie Blu-ray discs uses 1080p and > 40Mbps, which is probably a bit overkill).

Also, the VOD service is provided by the ISP, so it uses "extra" bandwidth, that is, it doesn't use the bandwidth of your internet lines. Of course, this depends on how much bandwidth you get from your localtion. For example, my internet line is 10Mbps/2Mbps down/up, and the line quality can provide something like 25Mbps in total, so I can use internet normally when I'm watching HD movie on the VOD.

 

[Lightman]

I have a BD-RW PC drive (for my HTPC) and I never played any BD movie from it!
For Backup purpose it's perfect! One disk - 50GB
Life is so much easier with only 3-5 BD-R backups instead of 100's of CD's

 

[suryad]

I have a PS3 with Blu-Ray and it is great.
I have a small collection of Blu-Ray movies which IMHO justify the investment :smile:

- Transformers 1 & 2
- Star Trek 2009
- Batman Dark Knight
- Iron Man
- 2001
- Pirates of Caribean 1, 2 and 3
- The Fifth Element
- Final Fantasy
- Casino Royale
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- The Day Earth Stood Still

My family really like it.

I have all of those movies except for the Day the Earth Stood Still, Memoirs of a Geisha. Seems like we have similar taste

 

[pascal]

Yes, similar taste
Memoirs of a Geisha is a beatifull movie and a black level and shadows challenge/test for HDTVs
I used it to test/calibrate my Pana plasma.

The Day Earth Stood Still is a weak movie compared to the others.

Each BD saves me money with movie ticket, popcorn, soda, etc... for four people (family).

My next buy is 2010.

 

[pcchen]

Each BD saves me money with movie ticket, popcorn, soda, etc... for four people (family).

This is true. That's why I bought many DVD and Blu-rays. Even with higher prices of Blu-ray it's still cheaper than a family of four going to the theater. So I rarely go watching movies anymore. Avatar is a notable exception though (I go for its 3D effects).

 

[Broken Hope]

The sound quality upgrade alone makes BD worthwhile, the fact the picture is a lot better too is a bonus.

 

[Grall]

I still buy DVDs when it comes to older titles that don't really need it anyway, such as All The President's Men for example, or American History X. Many movies wouldn't be enhanced in any significant way by blu-ray, and older DVD movies (say, from a decade or more ago) are way cheap these days and I can pick up a whole pile of movies for the price of one or two BR titles.

New action stuff though, that's all BR now. Wish I'd not cheaped out, and bought Cloverfield on BR instead of DVD when it came out... I wasn't sure I'd like it and the DVD was a lot cheaper. Well, it still is, probably. :s I can also take these DVDs with me when I go visit my old parents so we can see the movies together (they don't own a BR player.)

BR is just a ton better quality than DVD, visually. I easily see the difference even on my lame 19" widescreen LCD TV. On a larger screen it's even more noticeable. Check out the new Snow White BR release on a big flatscreen TV... Looks effing AMAZING! The image is so crisp, and so clean.

Aurally I don't really care, though. All the new HD sound formats leave me unimpressed, I just don't notice any difference. Human sense of hearing is much lower fidelity anyway compared to the visual system, and regular compressed audio over optical SPDIF is quite sufficient for me. Besides, I'd rather avoid forking out for a new surround system if I can avoid it, lets me buy more games and movies instead...

 

[suryad]

Yes, similar taste
Memoirs of a Geisha is a beatifull movie and a black level and shadows challenge/test for HDTVs
I used it to test/calibrate my Pana plasma.

The Day Earth Stood Still is a weak movie compared to the others.

Each BD saves me money with movie ticket, popcorn, soda, etc... for four people (family).

My next buy is 2010.

I was going to grab the following:
Bourne trilogy (already grabbed actually just gotta take it back to Cali with me when I go visit)
Terminator Salvation
Sherlock Holmes (whenever it comes out)
Avatar (whenever it comes out)
Planet Earth

Cant think of any more right now. The best part of Bluray movies is to watch my Dad's (not so much Mom, she does not care too much for quality etc) jaw drop lol. HE does not impress easily and though he has the finest of toys, he does not use them so when I go home they all get a workout. Hence the Transformer 2 movie, and Wanted etc in my collection because he loves those movies lol.

 

[pascal]

Terminator Salvation is in my list too.
Here is a pic of my Marantz/Tannoy/PS3 toys before setup

 

[MfA]

The HD movies in my local VOD services are 1080i and 5 ~ 10Mbps. The quality is not bad, but still not as good as a high quality Blu-ray disc (many good movie Blu-ray discs uses 1080p and > 40Mbps, which is probably a bit overkill).

If they use a decent encoder (which is not always a given) 1080i is essentially the same as 1080p for 24 fps content of course apart from some hoop jumping (the encoder sets the pull down flag, the decoder pulls down to an interlaced video and then your display IVTCs to progressive again ... sigh, interlacing ... should have been dead already).

 

[RobertR1]

I have about 70 movies on BR. For me, I love hi def. For movies I don't care to buy, I rent with Blockbuster. As for recommending it to others, I generally evaluate their siutation first.

Most go "cool" and don't think twice or say they'll get it when their DVD player needs replacing or whaterver. For people with small sets at a great distance, it's silly to recommend. Same goes for those with no appreication for PQ (can't tell if they're watching SD or HD half the time!) Anyone who is somewhat techie or into A/V has it already and I've been recommending hi def to them for a few years now. With player prices being very low and media prices coming down greatly, you should see adoption pick up. All throughout holidays, I found BR deals at DVD or below prices. Hard to say no to that!

 

[pcchen]

If they use a decent encoder (which is not always a given) 1080i is essentially the same as 1080p for 24 fps content of course apart from some hoop jumping (the encoder sets the pull down flag, the decoder pulls down to an interlaced video and then your display IVTCs to progressive again ... sigh, interlacing ... should have been dead already).

Yeah, I agree completely, interlacing should die.
Interlacing was supposed an analog compression hack for limited bandwidth, but now we really don't need that. Digital compression should be able to displace that completely. Even at the same bandwidth, 60p would still looks better than 30i, not to mention 24p. Unfortunately, many consumer camcorders still record in 30i, although more and more are providing "pseudo-progressive" modes.

 

[Mendel]

going? I kind of purchased playstation 3 on it's launch day...

Yeah I could not live without blu rays anymore. I pretty much refuse to watch non full hd material. I like image quality, I want it sharp. Sometimes even blu rays have too much compression artifacts/static to me though.

btw around here blu ray rentals cost the same as dvd rentals and that has been so since the beginning of blu ray.

 

[pascal]

I was going to grab the following:
Bourne trilogy (already grabbed actually just gotta take it back to Cali with me when I go visit)
Terminator Salvation
Sherlock Holmes (whenever it comes out)
Avatar (whenever it comes out)
Planet Earth

Got Terminator Salvation and Harry Potter.
The tridimentionality of Blu-Ray movies is great, immersive

 

[Dresden]

I'd like a Blu-Ray player. I just watched American Psycho and Sweeney Todd on Blu-Ray at my friend's house and I really enjoyed it. It may be because American Psycho predates high definition, but the quality difference between a DVD and a Blu-Ray disc was marginal. However, Sweeney Todd looks amazing. Do they sell Blu-Ray drives for PC's yet? If so, I'd really like one.

 

[pcchen]

I'd like a Blu-Ray player. I just watched American Psycho and Sweeney Todd on Blu-Ray at my friend's house and I really enjoyed it. It may be because American Psycho predates high definition, but the quality difference between a DVD and a Blu-Ray disc was marginal. However, Sweeney Todd looks amazing. Do they sell Blu-Ray drives for PC's yet? If so, I'd really like one.

There are some cheap BD-ROM and BD-combo drives for PC. An ASUS BD-ROM is NT$2,800 here (~ US$85). BD-Combo (BD-ROM with DVD-R) is around NT$4,100 (~ US$125). BD-R are very expensive now.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

This is why the PS3 is such a great deal. Very good bluray player and very good console all in one price

 

[Dresden]

There are some cheap BD-ROM and BD-combo drives for PC. An ASUS BD-ROM is NT$2,800 here (~ US$85). BD-Combo (BD-ROM with DVD-R) is around NT$4,100 (~ US$125). BD-R are very expensive now.

I see. After I asked I checked out Newegg and not only are they a little pricey, but there isn't a lot of manufacturers making them at the moment. I don't even know a good company to trust! I was assuming LG or ASUS.

 

[Mariner]

I bought my PS3 a little over a year ago. It came with "300" on Blu-ray which I have watched once.

Since then, I haven't bought or watched one single other Blu-ray movie though I do use the PS3 as my DVD player!

For me, although it is possible to see a difference between DVD and Blu-ray if you take the effort to look closely enough, when watching a movie I simply don't notice this at all as I'm (usually) engrossed in the story rather than the visuals. I encountered much the same situation watching 3D movies at the cinema where storyline is much more important than 3D 'gimmicks'!

 

[Rodéric]

Are animes available in BluRay ?
Is it worth the price difference ?

Not moved to BluRay, but I hardly moved to DVD anyway (and never been a VHS user anyway)...