Blu-Ray anyone plan on heading in that direction?

[Monsters For Sale]

I'm glad you did - I'm grateful for the information.

Thanks.

[Mego73]

Now I've heard reports by a local radio personality that 3D TV's deliver a superior picture using 2D discs.

Anyone out there gone the 3d route yet?  Do your old 2D DVD's look any better on the new set?

I think it is more that 3D TV's are more high end and have higher refresh rates that can improve the look of some video (increasing smoothness in motion shots, etc)

Basic HDTV's have a 60hz refresh rate (the number of times per second the TV refreshes the picture) and can exhibit "choppiness" and streaking with fast moving images. I bet the radio personality was reacting to seeing a smoother image instead of a real increase in quality. I have a 2D TV with a 120hz refresh rate. Most 3D TV's come with at least a 240hz refresh rate, on 2D TV, thay would be a bit overkill but 3D cuts the peceptive refresh rate in half when a viewer is viewing 3D properly through the shutter glasses (which sytematically shuts out half the images for each eye).

The benefits of watching regular DVD on HDTV as opposed to a standard set are thay old TV's never show a full picture at any one time. The TV first shows the odd lines, then the even lines so fast that you see it as one picture (it's called interlaced scaning). This was to save bandwidth for TV transmition back in the day. The drawbacks were that the overall picture was less bright, had more flicker and any stripped pattern would have a shimmer to it because the odd and even lines are flashing quickly back and forth.

With any HDTV, all lines in the picture are shown at once (progressive scaning) which makes for a more solid picture.

Resolution wise, TV has 500 lines, HDTV has either 720 lines or 1080 lines. The more lines there is, the more "solid" the picture looks, no matter what you play on it.

So, a DVD has 480 lines of resolution but played on a HDTV that picture is handled by at least 720 lines of resolution, scanned progressively, instead of interlaced (early 1080 line HDTV's were also interlaced, but the line structure was so small, it was not subject to the same problems that standard TV had for interlaced scan) that DVD is going to look a lot better.

[zombiehorror]

I think it is more that 3D TV's are more high end and have higher refresh rates that can improve the look of some video (increasing smoothness in motion shots, etc)

Basic HDTV's have a 60hz refresh rate (the number of times per second the TV refreshes the picture) and can exhibit "choppiness" and streaking with fast moving images. I bet the radio personality was reacting to seeing a smoother image instead of a real increase in quality. I have a 2D TV with a 120hz refresh rate. Most 3D TV's come with a 240hz refresh rate, on 2D TV, thay would be a bit overkill but 3D cuts the peceptive refresh rate in half when a viewer is viewing 3D properly through the shutter glasses (which sytematically shuts out half the images for each eye).

I think that as far as refresh rate goes with dvd there isn't going to be any difference....at least on a high end tv!  I've never experienced blurring/streaking or any pixelization when viewing dvds but my brothers tv (not sure on specs) as always plagued him with these problems; He couldn't believe how gorgeous Finding Nemo looked on my tv compared to his!  Then again is it due to refresh rate?  Cheaper tv?  Older dvd player?  Now with Netflix streaming I do see some ghosting/pixelization on fast moving objects but then again is it due to my tv and it's 60hz or the stream itself?  I will not be able to answer effectively until I get that new tv!!!

[Mego73]

I think that as far as refresh rate goes with dvd there isn't going to be any difference....at least on a high end tv!  I've never experienced blurring/streaking or any pixelization when viewing dvds but my brothers tv (not sure on specs) as always plagued him with these problems; He couldn't believe how gorgeous Finding Nemo looked on my tv compared to his!  Then again is it due to refresh rate?  Cheaper tv?  Older dvd player?  Now with Netflix streaming I do see some ghosting/pixelization on fast moving objects but then again is it due to my tv and it's 60hz or the stream itself?  I will not be able to answer effectively until I get that new tv!!!

It could be anything from him connecting the DVD player in anyway but a Componant or HDMI connection to the type of panel

http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/lcd-panel-types.php

My TV is a 37" Panasonic with 120hz and an IPS panel. I don't notice much of anything in the way of ghosting or streaking (pixalization depends on the source, Netflix streaming is more compressed so you will notice pixalation). DVD's look great on it, which wasn't as much the case for mu first HDTV.  It was an off brand budget model I got for Xmas. I couldn't understand how anyone could say DVD can look almost or as good as blu ray because on this TV blu ray looked great and DVD was good but quite lacking compared to Blu ray.

That budget TV developed a blemish in the screen and I replaced it with the Panasonic. Now I know why some say DVD can rival blu ray. This TV makes DVD look much more beautiful. I can still see that it's not as much resolution compared to blu ray but it still looks pretty.

One of the nagging aspects of my older TV was thay there was some "shimmer" on any material that had sharp lines and panning. For instance, I really wasn't able to enjoy the blu ray of Nightmare before Christmas until my new TV (looks fab on my new TV)  because all that line textured landscape would shimmer whenever it moved. My old TV was 60hz but I am told that wouldn't cause it and the TV was 1080p so it wasn't a 1080i interlace issue (guess it might be the panel type).

[zombiehorror]

Finally bit the bullet!  My wife (and the girls) wanted to get "me" a Bluray player but she didn't want to pick it out so Saturday after work I did some shopping around.  I ended up getting a Sony BDV-E385 (home theater in a box as they are reffered to), Bluray, 3D, fm radio, wifi w/Netflix and a ton of other music/media apps I'll probably never use!

Originally my wife said I'd have to wait to open it until Christmas but I bribed the girls with Spaceballs (picked it up for 4 bucks over the weekend), they both wanted to watch it but I told them, "We can't because it's on Bluray and I can't open the Bluray player until Christmas!", they both decided that it needed to be opened immediately!

So I hooked it up and we watched Spaceballs!  The wife and I still didn't see a big difference between the Bluray and most dvd's we've watched!?  I had our old system hooked up thru component cables (at one time considered the best hookup for video) and it had progressive scan, as well as a setting for viewing on plasma tv's.  The sound though is definitely top notch and much clearer than our old dvd system.  Then again the old system was only around 600 watts whereas the new one is 1000!  The one thing I will miss is the old Panasonic was a 5 dvd/cd changer.......then again with the new one I can put movies/music on a hard drive or usb and have entertainment for hours on end or link to my home pcs media.

Next step is that 3D tv, which I think I'm gonna try for a Vizio 50" lcd 1080p 3D smart tv......not sure when that may be.

An added bonus, now I get the HD content on Netflix!  Black Sabbath in HD.........Yes please!

[Monsters For Sale]

...
One of the nagging aspects of my older TV was thay there was some "shimmer" on any material that had sharp lines and panning. For instance, I really wasn't able to enjoy the blu ray of Nightmare before Christmas until my new TV (looks fab on my new TV)  because all that line textured landscape would shimmer whenever it moved. My old TV was 60hz but I am told that wouldn't cause it and the TV was 1080p so it wasn't a 1080i interlace issue (guess it might be the panel type).

I sometimes get different colored rainbow effects when someone in a b&w movie is wearing a herring-bone suit.  Is that the "shimmer" you are talking about?

[Mego73]

No, what you talk about is different. Does that effect happen with a true HD signal?

I sometimes get different colored rainbow effects when someone in a b&w movie is wearing a herring-bone suit.  Is that the "shimmer" you are talking about?

[WnewCreatureFeatures]

I may at some point in the future get some blue ray films but for now I am quite happy with dvds as I have a bulk of vintage tv shows on the dvd format and really do not see the need for tv broadcast items to be upgraded to blue ray as tv back then was not the best.

For film on the other hand it would be worth it to eventually upgrade some big screen movies like Forbidden Planet , etc

[zombiehorror]

For film on the other hand it would be worth it to eventually upgrade some big screen movies like Forbidden Planet , etc

As long as you are getting the film remastered & restored (especially when done within the last decade) it really doesn't matter whether you go with dvd or Blu-ray.  The only exception would sometimes be special features which Blu-ray generally offers more of...unless it happens to be a 2 (or more) dvd set!

[horrorhunter]

No.

[Monster Bob]

I totally disagree. There is no comparison of DVD vs. blu-ray on a contemporary, higher-end TV set.

I still collect DVD when I have to (like there is nothing else available, but want the material), but the image from [esp. restored] blu-ray discs played on the newest generation TVs are better than I ever remember them in the theater, and  super HD televison programs/movies are truly startling visually on the new better brand sets (like Panasonic)- almost as if you are watching a live image through a glass window. Same is true with 3D on the newest, large screen 3D televisions. Absolutely AMAZING. Old films on blu-ray that come immediately to mind as dropping me off the couch are Creature From The Black Lagoon, Mary Poppins, House of Wax 3D, Wizard of Oz 3D, and The Sound Of Music. The 3D Creature blu-ray looks so good, on close-ups you can easily tell it's a rubber suit!

It is true, regular DVDs look a bit better on a newer set and blu-ray player.

[jimm]

I was checking out the newest TV sets at Costco the other day and POW...whatever the source they were using was spectacular. I need to get it in gear before the new baseball season gets here!!

[Mego73]

And with some TV shows, they can look great too. It is a double edged sword since you can see things they were betting on you not seeing on TV (example: on Star Trek, they used a mesh, instead of glass on the helmets of their space suit to avoid reflections and pick up dialog. It looks like a clear faceplate on old TV, looks like mesh in HD) but you also see the great cinematography done in some Star Treks and Twilight Zones.

I totally disagree. There is no comparison on a high end set.

I still collect DVD when I have to (like there is nothing else available, but want the material), but the image from [esp. restored] blu-ray discs played on the newest generation TVs are better than I ever remember them in the theater, and  super HD televison programs/movies are truly startling visually on the new better brand sets (like Panasonic)- almost as if you are watching a live image through a glass window. Same is true with 3D on the newest, large screen 3D televisions. Absolutely AMAZING. Old films on blu-ray that come immediately to mind as dropping me off the couch are Creature From The Black Lagoon, Mary Poppins, House of Wax, and The Sound Of Music. The 3D Creature blu-ray looks so good, on close-ups you can easily tell it's a rubber suit!

[Monster Bob]

My personal recommendation is a Panasonic VIERA 60" 3D plasma. WONDERFUL color. Tough to find in a store, though.

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/panasonic-tc-p60st60/4505-6482_7-35566952.html

Cnet rates it ***** "Spectacular", additionally, I agree with the consumer review on cnet.com- "the best picture I have ever seen on a television set".

[zombiehorror]

I totally disagree. There is no comparison of DVD vs. blu-ray on a contemporary, higher-end TV set.

Just curious, do you actually have dvd/Blu-ray combos that you've compared?