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How many of us are HD capable?

Poll

Do you have a High Definition TV or Blu-Ray Player?

I have an HD TV
7 (35%)
I have a Blu-Ray player
1 (5%)
I have both
5 (25%)
I have neither, but I'm planning to buy one or both soon
2 (10%)
Have neither and NOT planning to buy either any time soon
5 (25%)

Total Members Voted: 16

Voting closed: October 09, 2009, 12:59:11 PM

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Larry Larry

At my crib, it's a DVD player with HDMI that is hooked up to a Samsung 42" plasma. My cable provider (Comcast) only has about 50 HD channels, most of which are duplicates of SD channels. So most of what I end up watching is broadcast in SD anyway.

HD is nice, but to me, it's not that much better than SD & therefore not that big of a deal. Some HD movies I watch on my DVD player are kinda cool 'cos there appears to be some depth in the picture (kinda like 3D).

I have a brother-in-law that seems to feel there is a profound difference between SD & HD, but I don't agree.      

It is impossible to watch HD movies on a DVD player.  You must have a Blu-ray player and watch Blu-ray discs in order to watch disc-based HD media.  You've either made a typo or you think you've been watching HD movies on a DVD player but you have not.

The difference in HD and SD is dramatic. 

If you do not think it is "much better" then you don't need HD channels or Blu-ray.  And some people are fine with the resolution of SD television.  You might be one of them.  Please don't think I'm attacking you.

However, whatever your preference, there is a HUGE difference in the amount of resolution in HD over SD.  Additionally, the widescreen format of HD broadcasts and HD on Blu-ray is a much, much larger landscape over the more square aspect of SD television. 
These pretzels are making me thirsty!


xraffle

  • Guest
It is impossible to watch HD movies on a DVD player.  You must have a Blu-ray player and watch Blu-ray discs in order to watch disc-based HD media.  You've either made a typo or you think you've been watching HD movies on a DVD player but you have not.

The difference in HD and SD is dramatic. 

If you do not think it is "much better" then you don't need HD channels or Blu-ray.  And some people are fine with the resolution of SD television.  You might be one of them.  Please don't think I'm attacking you.

However, whatever your preference, there is a HUGE difference in the amount of resolution in HD over SD.  Additionally, the widescreen format of HD broadcasts and HD on Blu-ray is a much, much larger landscape over the more square aspect of SD television. 

I agree. Blu-ray looks better than upconverted DVDs and HD cable. The problem with several HD channels is that most of the content is SD (which is poorly upconverted) and when you do get HD content, they compress the hell out of it in order to save bandwidth. The best looking HD content you'll ever get on TV are ones that are free over-the air. When it comes to additional HD channels provided by your cable company, the picture quality isn't as good. I heard FIOS has the best looking HD channels because they don't compress as much, but I can't back that up since I never used it since it's not available in my area.

And just a little fact, in case none of you knew, Blu-ray is natively widescreen (16:9) unlike DVDs. DVDs can be set up for both 16:9 widescreen and 4:3 full screen TVs while Blu-ray can't. For your 4:3 TV, you can, however, set your player up to add black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, but that's it. You'll never be able to get a full screen picture. So, if you want to watch a 4:3 movie like "Casablanca" on Blu-ray on an old 4:3 tube, you'll get a windowboxed picture.


Offline Smaug

Have you seen "The Doors" in non-anamorphic widescreen? On the HDTV it's like xraffle sez about "Casablanca", bars at the top and the sides!(?)!
And it was interlaced. ugh. I gave my copy away, but then it wasn't exactly "Citizen Kane" (or even "Life of Brian", if you prefer)


Offline s-mac

Don't plan on getting either for a long time. My computer moniter is HD so I do all my movie watching on that.
I guess I'm not taking full advantage of my screen by watching DVD's on it, but Blu-Ray movies are too big to download.
I might consider eventually putting a Blu-Ray drive in my compuer, since they're significantly cheaper than a standalone player.


xraffle

  • Guest
Have you seen "The Doors" in non-anamorphic widescreen? On the HDTV it's like xraffle sez about "Casablanca", bars at the top and the sides!(?)!
And it was interlaced. ugh. I gave my copy away, but then it wasn't exactly "Citizen Kane" (or even "Life of Brian", if you prefer)

I have the same problem with "Home Alone 2." They never released an anamorphic version, for some reason. However, FOX has announced that they will release that movie on Blu-ray next month. So, I plan on getting that. That's the only DVD I have that's non-anamorphic, so that's the only DVD I plan to replace on Blu-ray.

I think that's what's going to happen now. On DVD, certain movies were either released exclusively on full screen or never released in anamorphic widescreen. Rather than coming out with a new DVD version, I think studios are just going to release them in Blu-ray.


Dog Hambone

  • Guest
It is impossible to watch HD movies on a DVD player.  You must have a Blu-ray player and watch Blu-ray discs in order to watch disc-based HD media.  You've either made a typo or you think you've been watching HD movies on a DVD player but you have not.

Thanks for the info, Larry Larry. I admit to being a techno dummy. I did a little research after reading your post. If I can find explanations in pretty plain English, I can understand it, but if it gets too technical, they'll lose me fast. I think what I've been watching is Enhanced Definition (ED) & I assumed it was HD. Thanks for inspiring me to get a little more educated about it.   


xraffle

  • Guest
Thanks for the info, Larry Larry. I admit to being a techno dummy. I did a little research after reading your post. If I can find explanations in pretty plain English, I can understand it, but if it gets too technical, they'll lose me fast. I think what I've been watching is Enhanced Definition (ED) & I assumed it was HD. Thanks for inspiring me to get a little more educated about it.   

DVDs are 480i or 480p, depending on DVD. Usually concert DVDs and some TV shows are 480i. Most movies on DVD are 480p. A regular DVD player hooked up with the regular red, white and yellow cables isn't going to do any good to your HDTV. In fact, the picture will look worse than it does on a regular tube SDTV.

The are three kinds of DVD players:
1) The older legacy DVD Player that I just mentioned with the red, white and yellow ports on the back. Like I said, this is not very good for your HDTV.
2) A Progressive Scan DVD player. These have Component ports on the back of the unit, i.e. it has the red, blue and green video ports on the back. This will output the video as 480p, aka Enhanced Definition. Depending on your HDTV, these should look good on an HDTV. The reason why I say "depending" is because each TV's upscaler varies in quality. If your TV has a good upscaler built in, your picture should look good.
3) An Upscaling DVD Player. These DVD players have Component and HDMI ports in the back of the unit. The player will upscale the DVD content and output it as 720p, 1080i, or 1080p, whichever you prefer.

But first let me say that DVDs are 480i or 480p and there's nothing you can do to magically change that to HD. What the upscalers do is make mathematical guesses and fills in some detail in the picture that was never there. This will give you a sharper picture. But again, that extra detail is all mathematical guesses. With Blu-ray, the extra detail is actually there.

Some players and TVs do upscaling better than others. The picture can range from excellent to total crap. The best upscaling DVD players are the Oppo ones but they are ridiculously overpriced. There are some cheap Sony DVD players that do a decent job upscaling.


Offline tvradio

DVDs are 480i or 480p, depending on DVD. Usually concert DVDs and some TV shows are 480i. Most movies on DVD are 480p. A regular DVD player hooked up with the regular red, white and yellow cables isn't going to do any good to your HDTV. In fact, the picture will look worse than it does on a regular tube SDTV.

The are three kinds of DVD players:
1) The older legacy DVD Player that I just mentioned with the red, white and yellow ports on the back. Like I said, this is not very good for your HDTV.
2) A Progressive Scan DVD player. These have Component ports on the back of the unit, i.e. it has the red, blue and green video ports on the back. This will output the video as 480p, aka Enhanced Definition. Depending on your HDTV, these should look good on an HDTV. The reason why I say "depending" is because each TV's upscaler varies in quality. If your TV has a good upscaler built in, your picture should look good.
3) An Upscaling DVD Player. These DVD players have Component and HDMI ports in the back of the unit. The player will upscale the DVD content and output it as 720p, 1080i, or 1080p, whichever you prefer.

But first let me say that DVDs are 480i or 480p and there's nothing you can do to magically change that to HD. What the upscalers do is make mathematical guesses and fills in some detail in the picture that was never there. This will give you a sharper picture. But again, that extra detail is all mathematical guesses. With Blu-ray, the extra detail is actually there.

Some players and TVs do upscaling better than others. The picture can range from excellent to total crap. The best upscaling DVD players are the Oppo ones but they are ridiculously overpriced. There are some cheap Sony DVD players that do a decent job upscaling.

you have some misinformation there - all dvd's released are 480i

progressive scan dvd's all that does is simulate the missing frame and make it smoother motion


xraffle

  • Guest
you have some misinformation there - all dvd's released are 480i

progressive scan dvd's all that does is simulate the missing frame and make it smoother motion

Whateverrrrrr.....


xraffle

  • Guest
Oppo's are not considered even mid-range. It is considered bargain/cheap gear (http://reviews.cnet.com/dvd-players/oppo-dv-981hd/4505-6473_7-32327927.html) . Their top of the line DVD w/upscaling player is only $329.   For the quality that's steal.

$329 for a DVD Player, a steal?!?! You do realize that you can buy a PS3 for less than that. $299 and you can play games, Blu-ray discs and it's a decent upscaler.

But wow! People here think $300+ for a DVD player is a steal. Now I've seen everything. I guess I'm more of a cheapskate than I thought. :-\

But since you think Oppo is so cheap, buy their Blu-ray player. It's rated the #1 Best Blu-ray player at CNET. It's cheap. Only $500. ;)


xraffle

  • Guest
Just a suggestion if truly believe "People here think $300+ for a DVD player is a steal. Now I've seen everything" then perhaps you should not give advice on Home Theater.

Ok, will do. You can give the advice from now on.


Offline JazzBill

It's nice to see that the recession hasn't hit where you live.
"When in Chicago call Stockyards 1234, Ask for Ruby".


Offline FineBari3

  • Master Stooge
  • Knothead
  • ******
I am satisfied with a DVD player that will last and is under $200 bucks. I don't understand why audiophiles have to have the best, or even the middle-best. If you have the cash to do it, go ahead.

I have friends that are into building computers, and when I ask them about building a nice, cheap computer for me, they say things like I need an 800G hard drive and 10G of RAM. I said, I just want to go on the internet with it!!!
 
I think I'm safe to say that the majority of us here just want the cheapest DVD player we can get for the money. Hell, I don't think most of us really give a shit about Blu-ray.  That's just my opinion. Take a look at the results of the poll above, and I will too.
Mar-Jean Zamperini
"Moe is their leader." -Homer Simpson


xraffle

  • Guest
I'm satisfied with my $70 Sony upscaling DVD player and I'm also very happy with my $180 Samsung Blu-ray player. I'm also happy with my $585 Samsung HDTV. Moglia can go ahead and curse me for saying that, but the picture quality looks great to me. I don't need a $300 DVD player or a $500 Blu-ray player. In fact, I'm so happy with what I have that I felt like I "stole it" because I got the best bang for my buck.


Offline FineBari3

  • Master Stooge
  • Knothead
  • ******
I'm satisfied with my $70 Sony upscaling DVD player and I'm also very happy with my $180 Samsung Blu-ray player. I'm also happy with my $585 Samsung HDTV. Moglia can go ahead and curse me for saying that, but the picture quality looks great to me. I don't need a $300 DVD player or a $500 Blu-ray player. In fact, I'm so happy with what I have that I felt like I "stole it" because I got the best bang for my buck.

Good for your, xraffle! I feel the same way.....

I try to get the best components I can for what I spend, and I wind up buying open-box items most of the time. I bought a scratch and dent Kenwood receiver back in 2001 that had a price on it that was way out of my range (it had a tag of $700 on it).  I know I didn't pay over $200 for it.

I know people that roll their eyes if I say Kenwood, and they have all high-end studio stuff. I have had NO problems with any of my Kenwood components, including a CD player that was thrown off a balcony to the ground. (I was moving, and somebody thought the box was empty!)

Mar-Jean Zamperini
"Moe is their leader." -Homer Simpson


Offline moglia

I'm satisfied with my $70 Sony upscaling DVD player and I'm also very happy with my $180 Samsung Blu-ray player. I'm also happy with my $585 Samsung HDTV. Moglia can go ahead and curse me for saying that, but the picture quality looks great to me. I don't need a $300 DVD player or a $500 Blu-ray player. In fact, I'm so happy with what I have that I felt like I "stole it" because I got the best bang for my buck.

Well this is a mind-blowing first. I make 20+% below the medium income for my state and you folks are treating me like I'm Bill Gates rather than the Hoi Polloi. Over a low-end $499 ($449 w/my rewards) Oppo Blu-Ray. Totally amazing! If I appear "rich" at my low income level, then this must be some kind of pauper's forum  [pie]

United States Median Income by State (Mar 2009)


xraffle

  • Guest
Well this is a mind-blowing first. I make 20+% below the medium income for my state and you folks are treating me like I'm Bill Gates. Over a low-end $499 ($449 w/my rewards) Oppo. Totally amazing! If I appear "rich" at my low income level, then this must be some kind of pauper's forum

United States Median Income by State (Mar 2009)

Um, take a look at what CNET said about your Oppo player.
http://reviews.cnet.com/blu-ray-players-recorders/oppo-bdp-83/4505-9991_7-33712796.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Quote
The bottom line: The Oppo BDP-83 is an outstanding universal disc player with excellent performance on Blu-rays and DVDs and lightning-fast operational speed, but most home theater fans will balk at the high price.

Nuff said! It's obvious that what you're saying is 100% nonsense.


Offline moglia

Um, take a look at what CNET said about your Oppo player.
http://reviews.cnet.com/blu-ray-players-recorders/oppo-bdp-83/4505-9991_7-33712796.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody


Well I stand 100% corrected then. Congrats my friend you have proved me totally wrong, I lose, You Win!  I will now admit that $499 ($449) is apparently only something that Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, or those with AIG Bonus' can afford. Maybe I can get a country club invite from Warren since I own an Oppo? Ironically, I know personally that on Home Theater Forums you can get laughed off for saying 1-2K gear is expensive. Go figure



Those who are having issues with putting food on the table should not be buying even the cheapest DVD's players.  When I was in that boat many years ago, I did not purchase a VCR, Video Game Systems, cable TV, books (used the library) or anything entertainment related regardless of the cost.  Conversely It should not be considered a crime to be able to save up enough to purchase something that can bring enjoyment into ones life.


Offline JazzBill

Well this is a mind-blowing first. I make 20+% below the medium income for my state and you folks are treating me like I'm Bill Gates rather than the Hoi Polloi. Over a low-end $499 ($449 w/my rewards) Oppo Blu-Ray. Totally amazing! If I appear "rich" at my low income level, then this must be some kind of pauper's forum  [pie]

United States Median Income by State (Mar 2009)
Far be it for me to tell anyone how to spend their hard earned money. I was just saying that in this recession people are having a hard time putting food on the table or making a house payment. I believe the reason I'm so indifferent towards new TV advances is my age. I watched TV evolve since the beginning. I went from no TV to the big boxes with a little screen.  Then I saw color TV come that was so bad it was funny. The picture I see on a cheap TV system today still amazes me.
"When in Chicago call Stockyards 1234, Ask for Ruby".


Offline tvradio

Whateverrrrrr.....

it is true because all tvs that are SD can only play 480i video - 480p would be ED and unplayable on DVD player