How much different are Upscale DVD's (1080P) to 1080p Blu-Ray Movies?

Question

Can anyone help solve an argument i am having with a friend - if DVD can be up scaled to 1080P - why do you need to spend £100's on expensive Blu-Ray Players - if some much cheaper DVD Player improve the quality to 1080p

Is the quality much better on Blu-Ray movies or is it just the same as an up-scaled DVD

Or am i not getting the whole 1080P resolution thing - and what this exactly means with upscaling and Blu-Ray Movies

Answer 1

If you want a simple answer I have a high def 32" lcd in my bedroom, a ps3 and a dvd player that allows upscaling and I can only just tell the difference between blu ray and dvd BUT when i drag my ps3 into the lounge room and connect it to my 50" high def television, let me say that the two do not even compare. Blu ray is much higher quality but on a small screen it is hard to tell the difference. If you have an awesome system with a huge screen already I'd recommend you spend the bit extra and treat yourself to the glory of full hd but if you just have a casual set up, save the money and wait for blu ray to drop down in price.  

Answer 2

Resolution in TVs is really no different than it is with digital cameras.  The higher the resolution, the better the picture because you have more "dots" to display data such as color, textures, shading.  That said, resolution is not everything in either technology!  You can have a 10 MP camera with a crappy lens and you're going to get crappy pictures.  Or you can have a 1080p HD TV and if other technologies are not built into the set to utilize that resolution properly, you're not going to get a great picture.  

Regular DVDs were recorded in 480p.  Even with "upscaling", there isn't enough data to make it compare with Blu-ray.  By data, I mean all the digital information that makes up the picture, shading, textures, colors.  One can't create a picture from what isn't there.  Kinda like turning up the microphone ain't gonna make a bad singer good.  The DVD player and the TV need that data to tell them what to display and how.

Digitally remastered DVDs will be a bit better because they were digitally enhanced before they were recorded onto the DVD.  

Blu-ray transmits this data by using a huge amount of bandwidth.  That way all the data is there when the TV needs it to display it.  That's why an HDMI cable is recommended (look at it as a bigger pipe).  DVD players do not utilize HDMI, they still use component cables which are unable to transmit that amount of data fast enough for it all to be displayed in the quality that Blu-ray does.  Think garden hose filling an Olympic sized swimming pool vs. a fireman's hose.

I agree Blu-ray is expensive but it is the only true 1080p format available.  Blu-ray format has all that data, for both picture and sound.  One single layer Blu-ray disc is capable of storing 25 GB of data, dual layer up to 50 GB which is many, many times more data than CD or DVD is capable of.  

Truthfully, Blu-ray is still a bit expensive for my pocketbook; I went with a good upconverting DVD player myself.  We watch movies from time to time, not on a regular basis and I personally couldn't see the investment.

But bottom line, if you want the most sound, best picture for your movies, get a Blu-ray player.  It's the best there is out there right now.      

Answer 3

There is  a BIG differentce between upsclaed  Standard DVD's and blu ray.

Blu-ray are recorded at native 1920*1080 resolution and you get the full quality but upscaled DVD'd siply take a standard  850*480 DVD and try and remove the jagged edges and prevent the flicker.

it will be like trying to watch a film without glasses (upscaled) then wearing them (Blu-ray) the increase in image quality will amaze you.

go to a a store that has the Blu-Ray demonstration (picture sliding between standard DVD upscaled and Blu ray).

Upscaled DVD's to BLU ray is like watching the tv slightly out of focus to watching it in focus.

Answer 4

All HDTV's will up-scale standard def video to their preferred HD resolution.

So go to your TV some evening and toggle between standard def CBS and High Def CBS and see the difference between up-scaled and native HD for yourself.

In Truth - some DVD players like the "Oppo" series do a slightly better job of up-converting DVD's than the TV will do.

But there is only so much you can do with the old standard def video. It was designed in the late 1940's and has not improved since.