Blu-ray versus upscaled DVD?

Question

I have a large collection of DVDs. If I was to buy a Blu-ray Disc player, will they be upgraded to HD?

If I buy a Panasonic up-scaler to 1080p... Is there a difference between this unit's output and Blu-ray?

Answer 1

Blu-rays are not necessarily the best upscalers.  There is a likelyhood that a good upscaling dvd player (Oppo) may upscale better than a BD player.

And just to clarify something, DVDs upscaled are just that.  The image is just upscaled but it is not HD.

Answer 2

Answer for question #1 - I am not aware of a single Blu-Ray player that will not upscale your current DVDs, but just to be sure double check the specific model before you buy it.  Also keep in mind that not all Blu-Ray players and/or DVD upscalers are created equal, definitely read reviews to make sure you're not getting a sub-standard player.

Short answer for question #2:

If your television and surround sound system are fully equiped to play the highest quality available in Blu-Ray, and if your eyes and ears are sensitive to minor differences in video/audio quality, and if your budget does not hold you back, then go Blu-Ray.  If you cannot answer in the affirmative for any one of the above criteria then it's probably smarter to go with an upscaler.

Long answer for question #2:

There are actually two answers to this question... from a technical aspect there is definitely a difference between Blu-Ray and an upscaler.

An upscaled DVD starts with 480 lines of resolution and is mathematically converted to better fit your TV's resolution (in your case 1080 pixels).  While the accuracy and effectiveness of this conversion is quite impressive, it's still a conversion from one resolution to another, no conversions are 100% perfect, especially when the original is being enlarged.

On the other hand, Blu-Ray has native capabilities to play at your TV's resolution and requires no conversion and leaves little chance for error or lack of quality.

That's the technical answer, but the most important answer is how much your eyes (and ears) can discern between qualities.

Many people (if not most) cannot tell much of a difference between an upscaled DVD and natively high definition content like Blu-Ray.  The conversion problems mentioned above exist, but are often so minute that they can't be seen.  This will of course leave the decision up to you, whether you can tell the difference and if so, whether the difference is worth the extra cost of going Blu.

As a side note, your cables should be the same regardless of which way you go; in order to get the absolute best quality out of the machine of your choice, make sure you're using HDMI cables and the best audio cables your equipment supports.  This isn't a difference between the two, but is important to keep in mind.

Some other things that may help you make your decision...

If you choose a DVD upscaler here are the main benefits:  lower cost to purchase the disc player, no need to purchase new copies of your movies (in other words, less money and less confusion).

If you choose Blu-Ray here are the main benefits:  technically higher video quality, technically higher audio quality, coolness factor, you can still play your old DVDs which will also be upscaled but you also obviously have the option to also play superior Blu-Ray discs, Blu-Ray disc special features, and more audio options often including loss-less formats for practically perfect sound.

Answer 3

Most blu-ray players upscale dvds to 1080p, however always ask before you buy.  If you can afford it you are better off getting an all in one unit both blu ray and dvd upscaler.  But if you can't then just get a DVD player that upscales and wait for blu ray players to go down in price.  

Or buy a Playstation 3, it upscales and plays blu ray discs and is an awesome gaming machine and multimedia device all in one........

Answer 4

There is an extreme difference between a blu-ray player and a Panasonic upscaler. The 1080p upscaling capabilities of a standard dvd player tend to over digitize the picture and it wont look good at all. The best choice is a blu-ray player set to upscale to 720p or 1080i, the standard dvds are not over compensated and you will be able to take advantage of the superior resolution of the blu-ray format. Remember that none of this will be able to be done without a hdmi cable as your hookup.

Answer 5

Both a Blu-ray player and an upconverting DVD player can do a fine job of making DVDs look good on an HD screen. So good that I find little difference between upscaled DVDs and true HD on my 720p projector and screen. Sure, "real" HD is better, but not significant enough -- in my opinion (at least at 720p) -- to justify the price difference, and certainly not enough to temp me to replace my DVDs (even the minority where HD versions are available) with high price Blu-ray disks.

Don't listen to those who say upscalers don't work ... they do. In fact this is the biggest problem for the acceptance of Blu-ray .... well upscaled DVDs look remarkably good relative to Blu-ray disks on less than a 1080p display.

Notice the caveat words "can" and "well". The quality of the video processing does matter, and while it's difficult to predict the results without actually testing, price of the DVD player matters. The best -- ones like the Oppo models are in the $200 range. The best deal right now, if you can still find one, is actually an HD DVD player (e.g. HD-A3) ... they are almost as good as the Oppo and half the price (but can't play Blu-ray disks).

Your choice may be decided by answering the questions "do I plan to purchase Blu-ray disks in future?" And, "Do I have any interest in games?"

If you do plan on Blu-ray (and I highly recommend a demo before deciding ... view (preferably) the same movie on DVD and Blu-ray on a screen under conditions as similar as possible to what you have at home (or plan to buy) ... same resolution and size screen and viewed from the same distance as you will use at home ... then decide if the benefit is worth the price) but not games wait to buy for Profile 2.0 stand alone players to become available later this year (Current Profile 1.0 and 1.1 players are incomplete). If you want to buy now get a PS3 ... whether or not you want to play games ... they are the only Blu-ray player (The Pioneer Elite is good, but too expensive) worth buying at this time.

I know it's simpler to just take someones opinion, but don't you owe it to your pocketbook to get the facts and make your own decision?

Hope this helps.