Short answer, no. Blu-ray will always look better than DVD because the resolution is superior. Yes, TVs can scale, but they rarely do a particularly great job of it and scaled material still won`t look as good as true HD material because the TV is effectively creating something from nothing.
People always bang on about how you need a 50" plus screen to see a difference, but that`s rubbish (especially if you sit close to the display). If you ever use an LCD monitor with your PC and set the resolution lower than the native resolution of the display, you`ll see how `fuzzy` the image looks. That`s how upscaled DVDs look on HD displays. The TV you listed may accept 1080i, but it`s most likely a 720p set and so will downscale the 1080p content to fit, but obviously that will provide superior results to scaling up.
You can get very good BD players for around £170 now, or if you`re feeling brave Argos were doing a bargain basement model for about £100.
Chris, couple of questions for you as our resident BD expert/champion. I`ve got a Sony DVD player at the moment and if I do upgrade to BD then it would have to be Sony and a recorder as well. So:
1. is there a model that would fit that and does it come with amp and speakers or would I need to reuse my existing hardware?
2. could you region free it for both BD and DVD as I have with my Sony DVD player (albeit with one of those remote hacks)?
3. do you really need to have it connected to a phone line? I really don`t want to do that.
4. ran out of things, sure I had another question, but can`t think what it was...
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Si Wooldridge
Reviewer
synth.myreviewer.com
1. There are two models that you should consider: the BDP-S350 and the BDP-S550. Which one you get depends on your amp. If your amp can decode the new HD audio formats, save some cash and go for the 350. If not, and your old amp has analogue input jacks, go for the 550.
2. Both can be made region free for DVD with a remote hack, but it requires one of those programmable remotes. The only region free BD players are hardware modified and they`re premium items and priced accordingly. Not sure I entirely trust hem yet either, what with BD+. It`s not a huge issue with most discs, as the majority of studios release region free titles. Only Fox and Lionsgate are coding monsters, although they`re relaxing somewhat lately.
3. Not at all. You can connect them via Ethernet to perform firmware updates, but they don`t have to be connected to anything for day-to-day operation.
4. Let me know when you remember!
My player is the DAV-DZ300 and I`m more concerned about my R1 DVD than region free BD. I take it that the remote hacks are freely available on ebay.
Seen the picture of the S550 and S350 on amazon, stupid question but do they come with speakers? None seen on the pictures and bit of a dunce with these things unless I can see them/touch them.
I take it that firmware updates can be downloaded and burnt onto CD? Remembered the other thing - I can remember reading somewhere that some extras could only be accessed by downloading via the phoneline. Is that right?
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Si Wooldridge
Reviewer
synth.myreviewer.com
Quote:
Seen the picture of the S550 and S350 on amazon, stupid question but do they come with speakers?No, they`re blu-ray/DVD players. You need to connect them to an amp via optical/co-ax/analogue/HDMI.. I don`t know of any BD/DVD players surround sound speaker units. But imagine if there are any they would be a compromise compared to the ones listed above..
Quote:
I take it that firmware updates can be downloaded and burnt onto CD?Probably but also via USB or ethernet.
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Remembered the other thing - I can remember reading somewhere that some extras could only be accessed by downloading via the phoneline. Is that right?No, but some may only be accessible via the internet - ethernet...
And your sig is too wide.
Ste
We will pay the price but we will not count the cost..
This item was edited on Friday, 16th January 2009, 22:49
LCD TVs are progressive by nature. They have to convert interlaced images to progressive images to display them. All LCD TVs have built-in scalers and deinterlacers, but obviously the more expensive models tend to have better ones.
Quote:
My player is the DAV-DZ300 and I`m more concerned about my R1 DVD than region free BD. I take it that the remote hacks are freely available on ebay.
The hacks are performed with those all in one remote type things. The AVForums has plenty of info on how to do it. In fact, someone was very kindly lending their remote out to people to do it.
Quote:
Seen the picture of the S550 and S350 on amazon, stupid question but do they come with speakers? None seen on the pictures and bit of a dunce with these things unless I can see them/touch them.
Nope, no speakers. You hook them up via optical/coaxial or 7.1 analogue.
Quote:
I take it that firmware updates can be downloaded and burnt onto CD? Remembered the other thing - I can remember reading somewhere that some extras could only be accessed by downloading via the phoneline. Is that right?
You don`t use the phone line, unles of course you have ADSL and your broadban comes through that. You basically hook them up via Ethernet, either cabled directly into your router or with a wireless bridge etc. You need to go online to access BD-Live extras, but to be honest they`re mostly worthless at the moment. In the future they could offer interactive commentary tracks and additional footage etc.
This item was edited on Saturday, 17th January 2009, 12:09
OK, so looks as if all I need to factor in is speakers, so what would you recommend to do the job?
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Si Wooldridge
Reviewer
synth.myreviewer.com
I`m not really an audiophile, so there are probably better people on here to answer that question. However, what I did was go to Richer Sounds, tell them my budget, and they told me what I could get for my money. I really should upgrade now that I`m more into it and have more cash, but to be honest I can`t have the volume too loud because I live in a semi. Don`t really want to replace the amp/speakers until they die.