Posted on 07/07/2010 1:48:37 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
Yep, I agree that they botched the introduction of this medium to the market very badly. I just love it though, sometimes, such as while I was watching Avatar on Blu Ray, I have to pick my jaw up off of the floor from what I see on my screen.
Now if we could only get Hollywierd to make some good movies to watch...
It’s GINORMOUS! :o)
Either you're not seeing the difference in those three, or something is wrong. Blu-Ray should be noticeably better than the other two, and in my case (not a great Internet pipe) there's a dramatic dropoff from DVD to streaming.
Sorry for the double post, dunno how it happened.
Netflix has THE MOST annoying pop-up/pop-under ads ever. They are relentless.
The blu-ray nail in the coffin for me is the need to update my systems firmware to watch the ever changing format coupled with the fact that over 90% of my Netflix bluray rentals always had some serious glitch during the best part of the movie. Maybe it is my POS Sharp player but after about 6 months in I changed to standard DVD format and have no problems...
I think there’s some magic going on between the Panasonic Blu Ray and the Panasonic TV. The inbound signal from my old DVD player SUCKS when played through the new TV, but the inbound signal from my new Panny Blu Ray shows the same DVD in STUNNING quality.
My guess is that there is some rather tremendously capable video signal upgrade processing to make original DVD content more beautiful than it really has a right to be in its original form. My guess: some really smart / fast / well programmed CPU in there is interpolating and smoothing the datastream so that my eyes are well fooled.
I’m a photographer. I use medium format (120) Fuji Velvia (ASA 50) slide film. I’m extremely sensitive to how things look. For example, I have never seen an LCD that was acceptable, which is why I have plasma.
Is it possible to see the difference between DVD and Blu Ray coming through my Panasonic equipment? Yes, but just barely. I have to really look hard. Can I see the difference between a DVD and a Netflix download? Again, Yes, but just barely and I really have to look hard.
The difference is so small that I wouldn’t pay an extra buck for a Blu Ray compared to Netflix streaming. There is no effective difference to my eyes when enjoying the content.
With the show “24” streamed down from Netflix, it is like watching a TV show in a movie theater. REALLY sharper than any TV experience ever for me. But then, I never had (still don’t have) cable.
As to the quality of your Sharp blu-ray player I can not say,I own a SONY 550s and although it is, relativly speaking, an older player, there have only been 3 frimware updates for me and I am grateful for every one of them. On the positive side, you can update your Blu-ray player and that is an outstanding advantage; Sharp is standing behind their product and it sure beats having to buy a new player.
Thanks for your expanded comments. It’s now obvious that you’re not someone who just can’t see the difference. There are a number of such folks around. ;-)
I have a fairly new Panasonic Blu-Ray player myself, but now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever played a DVD in it. I must do so right away to test the upconversion. Maybe I’ll see good results like you.
MM (in TX)
Every single case has involved someone making copyrighted material available for upload. I have yet to hear of a case against someone who only downloaded.
Maybe I missed something, but barring that, it is all about allowing uploading.
>>I have an upconverting DVD player and the results are pretty good. Titles are cheap and plentiful.<<
I used to be a real Audiophile, and then a Videophile. Now I care more about the content than the quality. Don’t get me wrong, quality matters, but if a person really appreciates a particular movie or song, they can appreciate it on a transistor radio or a 70’s 19” color TV.
My wife and I dumped Netflix about 4 years ago because there just wasn’t enough good stuff to rent that we had not already seen.
P.S. - THX is da bomb!
p.p.s. - I’m using the fast video wire, whatever that’s called....so it is pure digital signal transmission from Blu Ray player to TV, no muzzie analog.
HDMI, I assume? BTW, I too have plasma as my main set. Some of the new LCDs and LEDs look pretty good, but plasma still wins for pure fidelity of image.
Blu-Ray on a 1982 Zenith Standard Definition TV?
That is wrong on so many levels...
Yeah, but it’s kind of like putting a Ferrari engine in a Trabant...
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