After my recent home theater upgrades (speakers, DVD player, projector), I have been very impressed at how good a regular DVD can look when upconverted, and when it has good sound. This happens more often with recent DVDs. Seems like they are squeezing more out of the DVD format - not sure how. Maybe better codecs in the player - not sure.

Anyway, I was wondering if other people are beginning to question the value of the addtional cost of Blu-Ray vs today's better quality DVDs and upconversion methods.

So, here is a poll. No biggie. I'm just curious if it's just me, or a trend.

By the way, I am in no way questioning the obvious superiority of Blu-Ray. The images are stunning, and the sound has more "punch", especially the bass (explosions, etc.). But about 10 minutes into the movie, I'm more aware of what I'm getting, which is pretty good, than of what I'm missing.

Also, I would not consider what I have to be of "audiophile" quality. It is a moderate consumer-grade set of components chosen based on reviews of balanced price-performance. It doesn't take a $20,000 system to get the benefits of Blu-Ray, but I don't doubt that it is possible to get more than what I'm getting, if you have a better system.

Speakers - Polk Audio 7.2 setup (about $850)
DVD Player - Sony CX995V upconverting 400 DVD changer HDMI connected to projector ($300)
Projector - Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 6100 ($1800)
HDTV - Olevia 542i 1080i LCD ($1000)
A/V - Sony STR DE-698 (uograde needed)
HD via XBox 360 and LG BD/HD player in HTPC
BD via LG BD/HD player in HTPC
HTPC - Acer AX1700 (2 x HDMI out) with USB attached LG BD/HD player, Hauppage HD-PVR ($350)
Oppo 3 x 1 HDMI switch ($99)
Cable Box - SA HD4250 with HDMI out

(Enjoying the responses so far. I think I'm gonna learn a lot here ...)

I would say that Blu-ray is worth it if you've got at the very least a HD TV & 5.1 sound system that can accept the HD sound. If you've not got those then you wont really see/hear any benefit over DVD.

Regarding costs of Blu-ray titles compared to DVD, while they are more expensive, they're also comparatively cheaper than DVD was when it was new on the market. Over here, single disc DVD releases were often around £20. While you can pay up to £25-£30 for single disc Blu-ray, if you go into quite a few stores, the price is more often £16-£19.

The other options I don't care for when it came to Blu ray or HD DVD was as these points:
1. The start up time till tray ejects is 4 times or even much longer ( It is a essentially like a PC starting up-- till on desktop after all drivers and programs load in).
2. If you stop the disc and then go back to 'play'.. you are BACK at the beginning of the movie again.. where conventional DVD's can be stopped and/or  player turned off, /turned on/Played on the next day and you are back at the same page where you left off.
3. Sure the picture is going to be more brighter and sharper but with today's technology and vast picture improvements on an LCD or Plasma monitors the differance between the two discs HiDef/Standard  is over 100% in SRP price.. and only 40% resolution  in picture quality ., math doesn't line up..

Quoting widescreenforever:

Quote:
...
3. Sure the picture is going to be more brighter and sharper but with today's technology and vast picture improvements on an LCD or Plasma monitors the differance between the two discs HiDef/Standard  is over 100% in SRP price.. and only 40% resolution  in picture quality ., math doesn't line up..

Don't know where you are getting your numbers from. The max bit rate on DVD is 10Mbits/sec, on Bluray it is 50Mbits/sec, that is a 5x improvement. The data on NTSC DVDs is 720x480 = 345600 pixels, Bluray is 1920x1080 => 2073600 pixels, a 6x improvement. None of this means that the image is 5 or 6 times 'better', but 40% better? Your numbers just don't add up.

pdf

Quoting Forget_the_Rest:

Quote:
Quoting EdwinK:

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Seeing the answer from Forget, I'm not going to need a Blu-ray for a while, because my t.v. is only HD ready.

I didn't say you needed a full HD TV. My TV is only HD ready and I can see a big difference between Blu-ray and upscaled DVD.

Here in the USA, HD ready means a widescreen display that is 1280x720 (720p) or bigger that does not have the tuner to receive over-the-air broadcasts. It could have a display with a resolution of 1280x720, 1366x768, or the full 1920x1080. All of these should give you a better picture with Bluray over DVD.

pdf

Quoting Forget_the_Rest:

Quote:
Quoting EdwinK:

Quote:
Seeing the answer from Forget, I'm not going to need a Blu-ray for a while, because my t.v. is only HD ready.

I didn't say you needed a full HD TV. My TV is only HD ready and I can see a big difference between Blu-ray and upscaled DVD.

Lovin' all this discussion. Of course I can see the improvement of Blu-Ray over upscaled DVD, but at this point, for the cost, I'm gonna reserve the BD purchases to those titles I want to watch over and over again. No brainers: Doubt, Transformers, Star Trek, Star Wars, Slumdog, Iron Man, Pixar movies, Puccini Operas - stuff like that. Of course, everybody has different tastes. Whenever I don't know what to get, I usually browse these forums to see what you guys have been recommending.

By the way, I think in terms of human perception of quality, pdf256's analysis is what we respond to - the product of the vertical and horizontal. It is not linear, it is a two-dimensional effect.

Quoting widescreenforever:

Quote:
The other options I don't care for when it came to Blu ray or HD DVD was as these points:
1. The start up time till tray ejects is 4 times or even much longer ( It is a essentially like a PC starting up-- till on desktop after all drivers and programs load in).
2. If you stop the disc and then go back to 'play'.. you are BACK at the beginning of the movie again.. where conventional DVD's can be stopped and/or  player turned off, /turned on/Played on the next day and you are back at the same page where you left off.
3. Sure the picture is going to be more brighter and sharper but with today's technology and vast picture improvements on an LCD or Plasma monitors the differance between the two discs HiDef/Standard  is over 100% in SRP price.. and only 40% resolution  in picture quality ., math doesn't line up..

Re 1: That depends on the player. According to reviews, the new Oppo player is much faster, much like a regular DVD player. The PS3 has always been faster than the average Blu-Ray player.

Re 2: That depends on the disc in question. Some support resuming where you left off, some don't.

Re 3: Others have already gone into your 40% figure. Let me just add there's a difference in sound quality as well. And of course that the present price difference will not last forever.

Personally, I intend to replace DVDs in my collection only if the Blu-Ray offers a considerable improvement, both because the DVD contents call for it (e.g. beautiful cinematography) and because the BR transfer is decent or better.

I have a 47" HDTV and I can tell within seconds if I'm watching HD content of DVD content.