Can a third party please assist with my view on Blu Ray :
I read a blind test about 18 months ago where they used two of the exact same 1080 display and connected a Blu Ray player to one and an upscaling DVD player (to 1080) to the other. They then showed the same movie to 3 individuals (not general public - they all had some knowledge) and asked for comments.
All 3 selected the Blu Ray over the upscaled DVD, but when looking at the comments you'll notice how close the two formats were! In fact, some of the guys had more positive comments to say about the DVD on certain aspects than the Blu Ray - but Blu Ray was selected overall. Needlelss to say, the pro-Blu Ray guys in my circle weren't happy with the results, as they explain vivid holographic and life-like images.
I then tried watching on my 42" 720 resolution plasma and the results were ... ok. It did look better, but maybe only because I realised I was trying a few Blu Ray titles? The pro Blu Ray crowd told me it was because I had only 720 resolution and told to try on a 1080 LCD - which I did. The results on my brothers Sony 40" were also OK, not a night and day difference like everyone makes out.
I thought perhaps my eyes and let him give me feedback as well, and his reply was it is better - but not massivly different. He told me he expected a lot more than what he saw. Now the pro Blu Ray crowd say the screen is too small and we should try a bigger 1080.
What do you think the real world differences are? Do I really need R10,000 players and R30,000 screens to pick up a noticable difference?
I read a blind test about 18 months ago where they used two of the exact same 1080 display and connected a Blu Ray player to one and an upscaling DVD player (to 1080) to the other. They then showed the same movie to 3 individuals (not general public - they all had some knowledge) and asked for comments.
All 3 selected the Blu Ray over the upscaled DVD, but when looking at the comments you'll notice how close the two formats were! In fact, some of the guys had more positive comments to say about the DVD on certain aspects than the Blu Ray - but Blu Ray was selected overall. Needlelss to say, the pro-Blu Ray guys in my circle weren't happy with the results, as they explain vivid holographic and life-like images.
I then tried watching on my 42" 720 resolution plasma and the results were ... ok. It did look better, but maybe only because I realised I was trying a few Blu Ray titles? The pro Blu Ray crowd told me it was because I had only 720 resolution and told to try on a 1080 LCD - which I did. The results on my brothers Sony 40" were also OK, not a night and day difference like everyone makes out.
I thought perhaps my eyes and let him give me feedback as well, and his reply was it is better - but not massivly different. He told me he expected a lot more than what he saw. Now the pro Blu Ray crowd say the screen is too small and we should try a bigger 1080.
What do you think the real world differences are? Do I really need R10,000 players and R30,000 screens to pick up a noticable difference?
