I have a 720p LCD HDTV tv, is a Blue Ray DVD worth it, or just an upconverter dvd?

Question

Just want to know what ya think.

Answer 1

Only you can really answer that. It comes down to how much of a difference you see and how much any improvement is worth to you.

Blu-ray gives maximum benefit when viewed on a 1080p display at optimum distance. In addition audio benefits over DVD depend on having a good surround sound system.

A 720p HDTV will give a somewhat less than optimum picture, while an upconverting DVD player may -- depending on the video processor -- give a somewhat better picture than a progressive DVD player.  

The perceived difference between DVD and Blu-ray will depend on how good the upconverting DVD player's video processing is, the distance the TV is viewed from, the quality of the DVD and Blu-ray transfers, the size of the display, your eyesight, etc.

It's probably safe to say the Blu-ray will always look at worst slightly better than the DVD ... even on a 720p HDTV, and in some cases may be significantly better (remember that Blu-ray uses a broader gamut for colour than DVD does, so even when detail isn't that much better, the picture may still look "richer").  The audio improvements may or may not be a factor for you as well.

Whether the improvement is worth 4x the cost for the player and $5-$20 more for the disk than the same movie on DVD is something only you can judge. Personally, I don't find significant benefit to HD and I'm happy watching DVDs on an upconverting player on my 720p projector and 110" screen ... and I'm not alone in that view.

Answer 2

Blue Rays on a 720p look great! If you want the best detail and sharpest picture then you do want a Blue Ray DVD player. Don't sell your self short, Blue Ray will look better than an up-converting DVD player on your HDTV.

Additional Details: There is NO question that Blue Ray played on a 720p HDTV will look better than an up-converted DVD. DVDs are recorded at 480 lines of resolution or approximately 300,000 pixels per frame. A 720p HDTV displays over 1,000,000 pixels. There is NO way that an up-converting DVD player can ever INTERPRET 300,000 recorded pixels and invent over 700,000 pixels without creating errors no matter how good the processor. The processor just does not understand the context of the movie image, it can only make assumptions. If you think that a DVD's processor is better at interpreting 300,000 pixels with no human intervention, then pass on the Blue Ray. But I will put my money on the talents of a movie post production crew that creates and artisticaly reviews the Blue Ray content before its recorded every time.

Answer 3

You will not get as good of a picture as the blu- ray puts out a 1080p signal. I would stick with a progressive scan DVD player or hook up your Computer to the TV and use the computer's DVD player.