I like movies from blockbuster, is it better to get an HDMI dvd player than to get HD service from TW?

Question

I like movies from blockbuster, is it better to get an HDMI dvd player than to get HD service from TW?

Answer 1

Well, it's a bit of a toss up.

DVD can be upconverted to HD, while HDTV can give you HD movies too. The HDTV will be 720p or 1080i, while the DVDs will, technically, be whatever resolution the DVD player can produce BUT the quality won't be as good as true 1080p material.  To make matters more complicated, satellite or cable HDTV is lower quality that you might think because of compression of the signal (like overcompressed jpeg images ... they are smaller, but lower quality).

The upshot is that up-converted DVD may look better or worse than HDTV (it depends on the DVD player and the HDTV broadcaster.  My guess is, as I said, earlier, a toss up.

So the question really comes down to selection and ability to find the movie you want on DVD vs taking what the HDTV service provides, and the relative costs.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

Answer 2

If you have a 1080i/720p HD television, either one is fine, but if you have a 1080p HD television, then it could be to your advantage to get a dedicated 1080p DVD player to get the full benefit of your set.