“Older movies looks fucking astonishing in HD. If done right the grain is ever-present and glorious. The Blue Underground and Criterion BDs are amazing, and great starter discs for a collection. I was skeptical at first too, but have seen the light. Don’t be reverse-snobs. This technology is a great boon to true film fans and not just hi-tech sytem jock/nerds.”
this pretty much.
Matt: haven’t seen North by northwest but Criterion’s 8 1/2 shits on every single dvd released of the same film from a great height. renewed my appreciation for it. in fact, i’d argue that it wasn’t until i saw 8 1/2 on Blu-ray that i really saw it. it’s that good.
yes the Blu Ray is an excellent thing, i watched Sunrise by Murnau and it was incredible compared to my dvd copy which was already good, on blu ray, it’s really something else.
personally, i’ll think i’ll hold off on Blu-Ray… my reason is because of the investment i’ve got in my present film collection…i’m tired of trying to keep up with technology… my Laserdisc’s are numbered to over 1,000 titles, some of which aren’t available on DVD as of yet… then there’s the DVD format itself; those totaling to over another 1,000 titles… i stopped buying them long ago… as it stands, i could watch a movie a day, every day, for over 6 years, without repeating (incidently, i’m going on 60 myself)… add to that the availability of the titles i haven’t seen (encouraged by the new recommendations on ‘mubi’) to download off the internet & cable channels, all in HD… having a 60" HD TV with surround sound (another in the master bedroom but smaller) works fine for me… it’s like CD’s, the convenience of MP3’s are hard to beat by comparison… my hearing range goes only so far, as does my eye sight and i’m very satisfied with what i’ve got (i’m very fortunate)… the images i’ve seen of Blu-Ray are spectacular, but for me, the upgrade isn’t worthwhile… now 3-D, that’ll be a whole ’nother animal!
-what to do with all my poor vhs tapes….some of which still haven’t made it to dvd-
Digitize and burn them to DVDs before they deteriorate completely. That’s what I did with mine anyway. Very simple with something like Roxio Easy VHS to DVD.
I love my blu-ray player and I’ve had many friends/family ask if they should upgrade and I have said yes. However, I can’t imagine not having access to a format, I’d feel as if I were missing out on something. There have been many times since upgrading that I have bought DVDs of films and even VHS copies, it really depends on the film itself, the cost of the version(s) available to purchase and what the differences are between them.
I’d say that getting a blu-ray player is worth it just to have the option as being confined to only a certain format seems rather limited.
For the record, I do not have surround sound and my HD TV is only 32". I do still immediately notice a difference if the blu-ray is of good quality though, particularly on Criterion and Kino titles and animated films. I’ve particularly taken a liking to the combo packs that studios like Disney have been releasing lately as for the same (or sometimes even less of) cost of the DVD you can get both formats which really helps out portability as I only have one blu-ray player right now.
picture 3X better
sound 10X better
I don’t buy dvds now unless I absolutely have to, that being said I also have a 55in top of the line hd tv as well as surround sound and with my system you would have to blind AND deaf not to tell the difference
I say yes switch to bluray….but not until you’ve saved up for a bigger tv/surround sound first
I would go ahead and get a PS3 now if you are any sort of a gamer. It comes with a top of the line Blu Ray player, and you can play the games and watch the Blu Rays on a standard def TV until you upgrade to a 1080p 50+ inch.
When you do, you will already have started to establish a library of films, going back a year or so.
^ What Jason said. You could go ahead and get started now, then when you upgrade the rest of your stuff, you are going to be extremely thankful that you did. Think long term, not short term
I’d like to clarify the picture quality benefits of Blu-ray. It seems people tend to think the picture is much sharper and more detailed, and that’s all. Colors get far less mention. Colors are perhaps the greatest picture benefit of Blu-ray. Brighter, more vivid colors; inkier blacks and whiter whites; greater contrast (yes, even black and white films improve markedly).
The great irony, I think, is that as digital formats improve, they’re able to better mimic analog formats, such as film. No home video format has better emulated the look of film than Blu-ray.
“Roxio Easy VHS to DVD”
Matt, can you get this in stores?
You should be able to, Mike. The Windows version was $51.98 at Amazon last time I checked. It comes with the software and a little video capture USB device that connect to the composite video and audio outputs on a VCR.
i would upgrade to surround sound first before bluray. once you get bluray you will want to upgrade your entire collection.
Thanks Matt.
thanks matt
Watching Blu-Ray on a 19" TV doesn’t really do it justice. A regular 480i DVD looks just fine on a TV that size. You really get to see the beauty of Blu-Ray when watching on a 46"+. So in my opinion I think you should wait until you get a bigger TV.
As for older movies not looking any different on DVD and Blu-Ray, I beg to differ. I bought One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the image quality was great. I compared it with the special features which were 4:3 in 480i and someone with the poorest of vision would be able to tell the difference.
The shortest answer I can of to that question is… hell yes. There’s no question about it, blu-ray’s potential eclipses DVD’s in every category. And the best part? Blu-ray is (somewhat) future-proofed. As we move beyond 1080p to higher resolutions, better televisions, etc., blu-ray technology is going to be able to adapt (adding layers to the discs themselves will yield more storage space, and so on). That’s been the downfall of every audio and video format that’s been left behind thus far. Blu-ray is poised to be around for a whole lot longer than DVD was, so conversion is an inevitability for anyway who takes home video seriously.
>you would have to blind AND deaf not to tell the difference
Indeed. And ignorant, too.
My DVD player turned on me several months ago. I found a Samsung blu-ray on sale for $80 (msrp $200) so I bought it. It still plays my dvd’s (and makes them look great) and allowed me to begin picking up blu-rays at the flea market for cheap and buying them on sale at B&N and Best Buy. As blu-ray releases increase, prices are comparable or less than dvd releases.
The big difference in the VHS to DVD conversion and the DVD to blu-Ray conversion is the fact that the blu-Ray player is backward compatible. No need for 2 players.
The best argument for blu-ray is now up on the dvd beaver site: the comparison between the dvd and the new blu-ray of Kes… It should put this particular quandary to bed.
Blu-ray is totally worth it by far. Dvd’s are still ok but honestly look very lame in comparison to Blu-ray’s with a good HDTV. Just check out Seven Samurai or Taxi Driver or The Exorcist, they look phenomenal! Also Blade Runner and 2001 look better than they ever have before. Blu-ray is the only way to go if you don’t like movie theaters, like myself.
I got the Seven Samurai DVD for my birthday and then a few months later they announced BD. I was kicking myself for that one.
People is talking here like if you have to decide between the dvd and Blu-ray and, whatever you choose, you’ll never be able to purchase the other.
Come on, any bd player can play dvds, once you have one, there’s the retrocompatibility that will allow you to play your blurry dvd discs.
For me, when i first saw a movie in high-def, there was no turning back, nowadays i really only buy dvds when the title wasn’t released on blu-ray and there’s no chance to be released in the future.
dope fiend willy
You should buy a PS3 just to play Uncharted 2.
There are not yet tons of great films available on Blu Ray, but it is getting better.
John Ford’s The Searchers on Blu Ray looks absolutely AMAZING, so for people like HUMAN FORM who say that it doesn’t make a difference unless you watch Michael Bay movies, that is completely false.
Blu Ray is simply better than anything right now, unless you have a pristine 35 mm print at the house or something.
…to get the full effect of Blu Ray, you will need a 1080p television, but even without that, you can still play some kickass ps3 games in standard def.