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I'm thinking about getting a blu-ray player.
Two concerns...
I have a 50" Panny 1080i plasma. Will I see a noticable difference over standard DVD's?
I have a very revealing sound system, so I'm assuming that there will be a noticable sonic improvement. But my pre-amp is an older analog unit. What are good players that have analog imputs?
And one more thing, are Netflix DVD's a problem with some players?
Follow Ups:
After the initial posts I decided that blu-ray wasn't going to be worth the extra dollars due to my TV limitations so I bought a Pioneer DV-48V player.
Good news is that even if it wasn't the best decision it only cost $99 delivered. I can buy a blu-ray in a year or two if I want and it won't be a great loss of investment.
But I would like to say thanks for the thoughtfull replies. AA rules!
The advantages are easily visible on your 1080i panny. You would need to upgrade your preamp at some point to support HDMI and high definition multichannel audio.
-------------Call it, friendo.
Looks like you got a nice deal on the Pioneer. Personally I think the BR player would have been the better choice for the future. That way you wouldn't have to bother with buying a BR player a year or so from now.
Up conversion in no way, shape or form compares to Blu ray...not even close.
Nonetheless...I'm sure you'll enjoy it, if you're accustom to standard DVD PQ.
Enjoy the new toy.
... when it comes to buying a unit. It's either that or buy an expensive pre/pro to replace a pretty decent multichannel analog pre-amp plus I'd still need a player, both of which will have to support DTS HD MA decoding. Expect a significant audio upgrade over DD/DTS if you make sure your system will support uncompressed/loss audio from blu-ray disks.
What's the best video input on your plasma? Component? DVI? HDMI?
Your receiver may be analog, but is it stereo or multi-channel (5.1 or 7.1)?
Don't worry about your display: Blu-ray and plasma will make love to your eyes. Seriously, why deprive yourself and others in your home of the best High Definition A/V technology that the consumer has ever had access to? Player prices have come way down since introduction (Black Friday saw Wal-Mart offer a $128 Blu-ray player) and there are numerous sales going on for the software (I just purchased 5 Blu-ray movies from Amazon.com for under $60 -- shipped).
If I had to get a stand-alone now, I'd get a Panasonic DMP-BD55. If I had to get a stand-alone and could wait a few months, I'd probably get an oppo BDP-83. Since I don't have to do either, I own a PS3 (aka Blu-ray's Dr Kick-Ass machine).
Joe, without a 1080p display you simply cannot have "the best High Definition A/V technology that the consumer has ever had access to". Not gonna happen!
Because I seriously cannot see how "the best High Definition A/V technology that the consumer has ever had access to" could be interpreted in any other way than a reference to Blu-ray technology -- not display resolution.
Blu-ray is about more than just putting 2 million pixels on a screen.
Plasmas are fixed pixel displays-progressive by nature it may accept 1080i, but its either 720p or 1080p.
Either way, you'll benefit from Blu-ray.
Jack
Now you got me confused...
My 1080i is really a 1080p?
Picture quality is the same and blu-ray will be the same?
...1080i cable or broadcast sources on either a 720p or 1080p Panny plasma.
Why do you think your plasma is 1080?
I have a TH-50PX60U. After your post I checked cnet.com for the review and specs and it shows the display format is 720p.
I guess i don't have what I thought. But I did get it at a deep discount at the time through a Panny employee/friend.
But back to the original question, will blu-ray benefit me significantly over a good up-converting DVD player?
I've got a 32" 768P LCD and I see a noticeable improvement with BD. If you have any doubts, borrow a player and a BD disc of a film you have on DVD. Compare the two. Alternatively if you have a station that transmits both standard and high def signals on different channels, do a swap between the two. The best broadcast you'll get will be 1080i but you will definitely see a difference between a 480i signal, whether it gets upscaled in the player or in the TV, and a high def 1080i signal. The improvement should be more noticeable the larger the screen is so you should get a bigger improvement on a 50" screen than I do with my 32" screen. Just make sure you sit no further than 10' or so away, perhaps even 7'or so away, so that the screen makes a reasonable viewing angle with your eye.
The high def audio formats are also a noticeable improvement on the standard DVD soundtracks though, unfortunately, some BDs do not have a lossless soundtrack.
David Aiken
But his isn't one of them: all of Panasonic's plasmas are progressive-only displays.
Fujitsu and Hitachi have offered several of their models using ALiS (and later eALiS) technology. The acronym is short for A lternate Li ghting of S urfaces and is/was interlaced plasma technology (Fujitsu is out of the plasma business and I don't think Hitachi still uses the technology). Their goal was reduced power consumption and increased life-span.
Jimbill, just curious why you're considering a Blu-Ray player given that your Panasonic won't display 1080p? Would you consider an improved "standard-def" DVD player like an Oppo model?
I guess I don't know any better. Looking for advice.
I've got to buy a new player so I thought I'd upgrade to the newest technology while I was at it.
So blu-ray would be a waste of time until I get a new TV?
Upgrading to the newest technology, at an affordable price, would be the way to go...except that your display is the sticking point. For me, the current price of blu-ray DVDs would dictate against buying a blu-ray player unless I already owned at 1080p TV. Your upgrade plans would depend in part on how much you are prepared to spend.
Maybe I should just go with something like the Pioneer DV 410V for now. It got good reviews and can be had for $85.
Much cheaper and I'm not thinking of replacing the TV anytime soon.
Your thoughts?
Just to ensure clarity: the Blu-Ray player will do a fine job of displaying standard-def DVD, and the price of the player is dropping. So if you're in no rush to play Blu-Ray DVDs, you can buy the Blu-Ray player or a standard-def player. There are players which can upscale the signal from 480 to 720p, providing an improved image. See David Aiken's comments in another thread on this forum: click the link.
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