BD vs DVD - Blu-ray Forum

Lincoln6Echo · 04-28-2010, 09:23 PM

Not sure which forum to put this in, but here goes...mods please move if need be.

Until I upgraded to BD last Fall, I thought up-converted DVD was pretty good. And now that I've been into BD for, oh about 8-9 months now, I've watched mainly my growing BD collection.

So here we are the last week of April and most of us probably have the Avatar BD+DVD release. And because we have only one BD player in the house with 3 HDTVs, (it's on mine), I was going to give the DVD copy to my father to watch on his set with my old Oppo DV-981H DVD player.

Well, I popped in the DVD copy of Avatar in my old machine on the 52" set and I was shocked....literally shocked. I was shocked to see just how BAD it looked. I mean, not only did it lack the "pop" that the BD has, it was actually blurry. The detail in the Pandora environment was virtually non-existant. The floating mountains looked blurry. I mean, it almost looked like I was looking at a VHS copy.

So the question here is, have we just gotten so spoiled on true 1080p HD BD that regular DVD looks like shit now?

dallywhitty · 04-28-2010, 09:28 PM

I was watching Walk The Line on DVD last night and I was surprised by how dull it looked. I still consider DVDs watchable, but obviously I'd much rather experience the film in high-definition. In regards to the films I've double-dipped for in making the move from DVD to Blu-ray, although I have limited access to the HDTV at night time (parents tend to be using it), I've never settled for the inferior DVD version when I owned the Blu-ray version.

LS2782 · 04-28-2010, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lincoln6Echo

Not sure which forum to put this in, but here goes...mods please move if need be.

Until I upgraded to BD last Fall, I thought up-converted DVD was pretty good. And now that I've been into BD for, oh about 8-9 months now, I've watched mainly my growing BD collection.

So here we are the last week of April and most of us probably have the Avatar BD+DVD release. And because we have only one BD player in the house with 3 HDTVs, (it's on mine), I was going to give the DVD copy to my father to watch on his set with my old Oppo DV-981H DVD player.

Well, I popped in the DVD copy of Avatar in my old machine on the 52" set and I was shocked....literally shocked. I was shocked to see just how BAD it looked. I mean, not only did it lack the "pop" that the BD has, it was actually blurry. The detail in the Pandora environment was virtually non-existant. The floating mountains looked blurry. I mean, it almost looked like I was looking at a VHS copy.

So the question here is, have we just gotten so spoiled on true 1080p HD BD that regular DVD looks like shit now?

Yes, haven't watched a DVD since I watched a BD for the 1st time. eff them DVDs!!

s00perd00per · 04-28-2010, 10:06 PM

I think it all depends on the transfer. Some DVD's still look really good and the blu-ray isn't much of an upgrade. But yeah, I agree that you do become more aware of the difference in sharpness and textures after you've watched a lot of blu-ray.

Freekman · 04-28-2010, 10:07 PM

Last time I watched a DVD was An American Werewolf in London. It was probably the worst quality video I've ever seen in my life.

Johnny Vinyl · 04-28-2010, 10:12 PM

I watched AVATAR on both DVD (first) and then Blu-ray as I hadn't bought a new BD player to replace my dead PS3.

No doubt the differences between the two are dramatic, but I noticed none of the blurriness you speak of. In fact, for a DVD transfer I thought it was quite well done.

John

YodasFootPowder · 04-28-2010, 10:17 PM

I've got maybe 4 or 5 DVDs that I think still look pretty good. But, 99% of DVDs look like ass to me now. It really bums me out too when it comes to movies that aren't out on BD yet, cause it pains me to watch them on DVD.

However, if you watch a DVD on a CRT based monitor, they still tend to look really, really good. It's plasmas and LCDs that have a fixed resolution that DVDs look completely terrible on.

CZAR · 04-28-2010, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John72953

I watched AVATAR on both DVD (first) and then Blu-ray as I hadn't bought a new BD player to replace my dead PS3.

No doubt the differences between the two are dramatic, but I noticed none of the blurriness you speak of. In fact, for a DVD transfer I thought it was quite well done.
John

That dvd is absolutely atrocious!!! I was petrified! Got Em!!

myklipschoath · 04-28-2010, 10:22 PM

There's absolutely no reason not to watch anything in Blu-ray, only if it's not available in BD. I have 3 BD players, they all serve their purpose, If i feed them anything less than BD, that's a shame.

Johnny Vinyl · 04-28-2010, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CZAR

That dvd is absolutely atrocious!!! I was petrified! Got Em!!

I obviously preferred the Blu-ray...I was only saying I didn't expereince the blurriness mentioned before. And I've seen a lot worse DVD transfers than Avatar. As such, for a DVD I thought it was alright.

John

CZAR · 04-28-2010, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John72953

I obviously preferred the Blu-ray...I was only saying I didn't expereince the blurriness mentioned before. And I've seen a lot worse DVD transfers than Avatar. As such, for a DVD I thought it was alright.

John

Man I almost cried when I put in the dvd after watching the blu. And u mean to tell me u actually watched the whole film on dvd????

U are a strong man! Hahaha! Got Em!!

Johnny Vinyl · 04-28-2010, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CZAR

Man I almost cried when I put in the dvd after watching the blu. And u mean to tell me u actually watched the whole film on dvd????

U are a strong man! Hahaha! Got Em!!

I had no choice since I didn't have a BDP at hand, and really wanted to watch the movie. It was still enjoyable, but then the next night I played the Blu-ray and was truly blown away by the PQ/AQ. I'll most likely never watch the DVD again though.

John

kurtis21 · 04-28-2010, 10:32 PM

What I think a MAJOR problem is that...think about it...back in 1997/98 when DVD was up & coming MOST people's biggest tv was around 35" & a 4:3 ratio!! At least mine & all of my friends were. Now days...the SMALLEST tv i see is 42" 16:9 ratio! So obviously...the BIGGER the tv...the WORSE the image will look!

Lincoln6Echo · 04-28-2010, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CZAR

Man I almost cried when I put in the dvd after watching the blu. And u mean to tell me u actually watched the whole film on dvd????

U are a strong man! Hahaha! Got Em!!

I know...I even tried the DVD on my smaller 42" thru my Oppo 83 and it still looked like crap.

So I did some little experimentation. Popped in the DVD of "We Were Soldiers". Man, does that disc look bad. And I used to think that was a pretty solid transfer.

And the thing is, is that I just watched SW:ROTS (on DVD obviously) about a week or so ago and it still looked pretty good. So it must be the quality of the transfer.

But re: the Avatar DVD, I'm thinking they just hastily slapped that one together to include in the combo pack. And to John72953 what I was referring to as "blurriness" was just the utter difference between the clarity of the BD and the 480 transfer of the DVD. In a film like this with so much detail, where the environment is just as much a character in the movie as the actualy characters and story line is, it's just a crime that DVD is still being sold.

Lincoln6Echo · 04-28-2010, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kurtis21

What I think a MAJOR problem is that...think about it...back in 1997/98 when DVD was up & coming MOST people's biggest tv was around 35" & a 4:3 ratio!! At least mine & all of my friends were. Now days...the SMALLEST tv i see is 42" 16:9 ratio! So obviously...the BIGGER the tv...the WORSE the image will look!

Yeah, that's a part of it, but until I went BD last Fall, I thought DVD was still pretty good. And I only went BD when my remote for my old player went bad.

Johnny Vinyl · 04-28-2010, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lincoln6Echo

I know...I even tried the DVD on my smaller 42" thru my Oppo 83 and it still looked like crap.

So I did some little experimentation. Popped in the DVD of "We Were Soldiers". Man, does that disc look bad. And I used to think that was a pretty solid transfer.

And the thing is, is that I just watched SW:ROTS (on DVD obviously) about a week or so ago and it still looked pretty good. So it must be the quality of the transfer.

But re: the Avatar DVD, I'm thinking they just hastily slapped that one together to include in the combo pack. And to John72953 what I was referring to as "blurriness" was just the utter difference between the clarity of the BD and the 480 transfer of the DVD. In a film like this with so much detail, where the environment is just as much a character in the movie as the actualy characters and story line is, it's just a crime that DVD is still being sold.

I'll agree with you there 100%. The detail wasn't even close to the BD I watched the next night. I guess I misinterpreted your defination of blurriness.

John

CZAR · 04-28-2010, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John72953

I had no choice since I didn't have a BDP at hand, and really wanted to watch the movie. It was still enjoyable, but then the next night I played the Blu-ray and was truly blown away by the PQ/AQ. I'll most likely never watch the DVD again though.

John

Be glad u are back up and running! Haha! Got Em!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lincoln6Echo

I know...I even tried the DVD on my smaller 42" thru my Oppo 83 and it still looked like crap.

So I did some little experimentation. Popped in the DVD of "We Were Soldiers". Man, does that disc look bad. And I used to think that was a pretty solid transfer.

Yea Im sure some dvd's look better than others as does bluray's but man I wouldnt have guessed that Avatar would look so bad on dvd and look how at how many copies they sold on dvd and the experience those people have to go through. OUCH!! Got Em!!

Danielle Ni Dhighe · 04-28-2010, 11:25 PM

Last night, I watched Dune on Blu-ray followed by Blue Velvet on DVD. Watching the latter was just painful to my eyes. This was the first time I'd watched a DVD since I went Blu last summer. When DVDs came out, I thought the image quality was amazing, now they look barely better than VHS in comparison to Blu.

MaCruz · 04-28-2010, 11:28 PM

I have not bought a DVD since last year. I won't touch or watch a DVD. However, others told me to compare Avatar on DVD vs. BD. I don't want to.

Atreyu · 04-28-2010, 11:44 PM

I believe blu-ray has spoiled us a bit. Remember when dvd was the new kid on the block? Everyone raved about them, now most every blu-ray owner thinks they are crap.
Agreed dvds are not as good quality as blus but I have several dvds I will not give up and will continue to watch as I know it will take a long time, if ever to hit blu. I will not deny myself the pleasure of watching these because they are not on the superior format as of yet.
I also have a dvd recorder and record many older titles that are on Fox Movie Channel or Turner Classic Movies as some of these may never see the light of blu. If they are on blu I will just watch them and decide if I want to purchase them in the future, but others I will just record.
I feel it's going to take quite some time for blu-ray to be as big as standard dvd, if it ever does.

04-28-2010, 09:23 PM	#1
Lincoln6Echo Special Member Top contributor Member since:Sep 2009 Home Theater Gallery:4 4K collection:312 Blu-ray collection:1517 DVD collection:8 Blu-ray reviews: 25	BD vs DVD Not sure which forum to put this in, but here goes...mods please move if need be. Until I upgraded to BD last Fall, I thought up-converted DVD was pretty good. And now that I've been into BD for, oh about 8-9 months now, I've watched mainly my growing BD collection. So here we are the last week of April and most of us probably have the Avatar BD+DVD release. And because we have only one BD player in the house with 3 HDTVs, (it's on mine), I was going to give the DVD copy to my father to watch on his set with my old Oppo DV-981H DVD player. Well, I popped in the DVD copy of Avatar in my old machine on the 52" set and I was shocked....literally shocked. I was shocked to see just how BAD it looked. I mean, not only did it lack the "pop" that the BD has, it was actually blurry. The detail in the Pandora environment was virtually non-existant. The floating mountains looked blurry. I mean, it almost looked like I was looking at a VHS copy. So the question here is, have we just gotten so spoiled on true 1080p HD BD that regular DVD looks like shit now?

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04-28-2010, 09:28 PM	#2
dallywhitty Blu-ray Grand Duke Top contributor Member since:Aug 2009 Location:Temple of Isis 4K collection:319 Blu-ray collection:1679 DVD collection:178	I was watching Walk The Line on DVD last night and I was surprised by how dull it looked. I still consider DVDs watchable, but obviously I'd much rather experience the film in high-definition. In regards to the films I've double-dipped for in making the move from DVD to Blu-ray, although I have limited access to the HDTV at night time (parents tend to be using it), I've never settled for the inferior DVD version when I owned the Blu-ray version.

04-28-2010, 10:06 PM	#4
s00perd00per Senior Member Member since:Dec 2009 4K collection:53 Blu-ray collection:579 DVD collection:9	I think it all depends on the transfer. Some DVD's still look really good and the blu-ray isn't much of an upgrade. But yeah, I agree that you do become more aware of the difference in sharpness and textures after you've watched a lot of blu-ray.

04-28-2010, 10:07 PM	#5
Freekman Blu-ray Guru Member since:Dec 2008 Location:New York Home Theater Gallery:7 Blu-ray collection:109 Trading Score:2	Last time I watched a DVD was An American Werewolf in London. It was probably the worst quality video I've ever seen in my life.

04-28-2010, 10:12 PM	#6
Johnny Vinyl Moderator Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Jul 2007 Location:At the crossroad of Analogue Dr & 2CH Ave Home Theater Gallery:19 Blu-ray collection:205 DVD collection:7 Blu-ray reviews:3 Trading Score:8	I watched AVATAR on both DVD (first) and then Blu-ray as I hadn't bought a new BD player to replace my dead PS3. No doubt the differences between the two are dramatic, but I noticed none of the blurriness you speak of. In fact, for a DVD transfer I thought it was quite well done. John

04-28-2010, 10:17 PM	#7
YodasFootPowder Blu-ray Guru Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Jan 2009 Location:Twin Cities, MN Home Theater Gallery:40 4K collection:154 Blu-ray collection:565 Blu-ray reviews: 4 Trading Score:3	I've got maybe 4 or 5 DVDs that I think still look pretty good. But, 99% of DVDs look like ass to me now. It really bums me out too when it comes to movies that aren't out on BD yet, cause it pains me to watch them on DVD. However, if you watch a DVD on a CRT based monitor, they still tend to look really, really good. It's plasmas and LCDs that have a fixed resolution that DVDs look completely terrible on.

04-28-2010, 10:22 PM	#9
myklipschoath Active Member Member since:Nov 2008 Location:California Blu-ray collection:102 Trading Score:9	There's absolutely no reason not to watch anything in Blu-ray, only if it's not available in BD. I have 3 BD players, they all serve their purpose, If i feed them anything less than BD, that's a shame.

04-28-2010, 10:32 PM	#13
kurtis21 Power Member Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Feb 2008 Location:Southern NJ Home Theater Gallery:44 4K collection:197 Blu-ray collection:785 iTunes collection:1	What I think a MAJOR problem is that...think about it...back in 1997/98 when DVD was up & coming MOST people's biggest tv was around 35" & a 4:3 ratio!! At least mine & all of my friends were. Now days...the SMALLEST tv i see is 42" 16:9 ratio! So obviously...the BIGGER the tv...the WORSE the image will look!

04-28-2010, 11:25 PM	#18
Danielle Ni Dhighe Senior Member Member since:Aug 2009 Blu-ray collection:120	Last night, I watched Dune on Blu-ray followed by Blue Velvet on DVD. Watching the latter was just painful to my eyes. This was the first time I'd watched a DVD since I went Blu last summer. When DVDs came out, I thought the image quality was amazing, now they look barely better than VHS in comparison to Blu.

04-28-2010, 11:28 PM	#19
MaCruz Community Gaming Moderator Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Mar 2009 Location:Jacksonville, FL Home Theater Gallery:160 4K collection:104 Blu-ray collection:958 DVD collection:18 MA collection:394 Digital collection:570 iTunes collection:527 Prime collection:192 Blu-ray reviews: 23 Trading Score:139	I have not bought a DVD since last year. I won't touch or watch a DVD. However, others told me to compare Avatar on DVD vs. BD. I don't want to.

04-28-2010, 11:44 PM	#20
Atreyu Blu-ray Knight Member since:Dec 2008 Location:North Carolina 4K collection:370 Blu-ray collection:1876 DVD collection:619 Digital collection:1 Blu-ray reviews: 293 Trading Score:4	I believe blu-ray has spoiled us a bit. Remember when dvd was the new kid on the block? Everyone raved about them, now most every blu-ray owner thinks they are crap. Agreed dvds are not as good quality as blus but I have several dvds I will not give up and will continue to watch as I know it will take a long time, if ever to hit blu. I will not deny myself the pleasure of watching these because they are not on the superior format as of yet. I also have a dvd recorder and record many older titles that are on Fox Movie Channel or Turner Classic Movies as some of these may never see the light of blu. If they are on blu I will just watch them and decide if I want to purchase them in the future, but others I will just record. I feel it's going to take quite some time for blu-ray to be as big as standard dvd, if it ever does.

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