finally going to blu-ray. few questions. mainly upscaling

[neok182]

So my family is finally going to get a blu-ray player now that the prices have come down a bit and the damn format war is done with.

our biggest concern is that it supports all the major blu-ray features as is more or less future proof (enough to get us through 3-4 years at least) and is a good quality player for this money we want to have the best quality player that we can. not one thats going to break in a few months/year and the most important thing is the DVD Upscaling.

We have probably 350 DVDs and were not rebuying them all on blu-ray so our #1 concern is really how good the upscaling quality is. we have an LG 1080p upscaler and it's pretty good IMO.

From reading around it seems that everyone thinks the PS3 is the best. but with upscaling in mind is this still the case? And is there any difference in the PS3 blu-ray quality/features between the models because we could get the cheapest model.

Our TV is a 40" Sony Bravia 1080p if that helps at all.

And one last question. should we buy now or wait till black friday and the holiday season..

[Riff Magnum]

Originally Posted by neok182

So my family is finally going to get a blu-ray player now that the prices have come down a bit and the damn format war is done with.

our biggest concern is that it supports all the major blu-ray features as is more or less future proof (enough to get us through 3-4 years at least) and is a good quality player for this money we want to have the best quality player that we can. not one thats going to break in a few months/year and the most important thing is the DVD Upscaling.

We have probably 350 DVDs and were not rebuying them all on blu-ray so our #1 concern is really how good the upscaling quality is. we have an LG 1080p upscaler and it's pretty good IMO.

From reading around it seems that everyone thinks the PS3 is the best. but with upscaling in mind is this still the case? And is there any difference in the PS3 blu-ray quality/features between the models because we could get the cheapest model.

Our TV is a 40" Sony Bravia 1080p if that helps at all.

And one last question. should we buy now or wait till black friday and the holiday season..

Between now and Christmas you should be able to get a 40gig PS3 for around $300. In my opinion, the only downside to the PS3 is the fact you have to buy a separate remote and the remote doesn't control power On/Off.
Other than that it's built like a tank, as future proof as any tech gets, and plays some fun games to boot.
I wouldn't worry about upscaling too much. That's more for people with really big sets or front projectors. DVD's look fine on my 30" and you never know, once you go blu you might start re-buying all your old stuff. It happened to me.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by neok182

So my family is finally going to get a blu-ray player now that the prices have come down a bit and the damn format war is done with.

our biggest concern is that it supports all the major blu-ray features as is more or less future proof (enough to get us through 3-4 years at least) and is a good quality player for this money we want to have the best quality player that we can. not one thats going to break in a few months/year and the most important thing is the DVD Upscaling.

We have probably 350 DVDs and were not rebuying them all on blu-ray so our #1 concern is really how good the upscaling quality is. we have an LG 1080p upscaler and it's pretty good IMO.

From reading around it seems that everyone thinks the PS3 is the best. but with upscaling in mind is this still the case? And is there any difference in the PS3 blu-ray quality/features between the models because we could get the cheapest model.

Our TV is a 40" Sony Bravia 1080p if that helps at all.

And one last question. should we buy now or wait till black friday and the holiday season..

The PS3 does a great job upscailing the DVDs. The Samsung 1400 does a very good job upscailing, but I would not recommend that player at this time. I would go with the Sony BD-S350 which is now selling at amazon for $299. The Samsung BD 1500 is also selling at amazon for around $250, but I am not sure about the upscailing capabilities on that one. BTW...My brother owns a Sony BDP-S350, and the upscailing on the unit is excellent.

[gvortex7]

If upscaling DVD's is important to you, then you may want to give the Samsung BD-P2550 a look as well. It has the highly coveted HQV chip inside for DVD upscaling, and it has had its retail price reduced recently to $399.99. I know it's a Samsung player and the firmware updates could take a while to surface, but you got nothing to lose for 30 days. Just try it and see what you think.

Other units to check out would be the PS3 and the BDP-S350. They both do a solid job of upscaling DVD's.

[neok182]

so on a 40" the PS3 is probably the best bet. $400 is really the cut off price wise. no way were spending $2000 lol.

Games isn't an issue cause it's for our family room and i use a 360 and my PC for gaming.

as far as lossless audio is concerned. our speaker setup isn't good enough to to really care for that. what we really want is just the best quality picture and sound from upscaling the DVDs and still be good for blu-ray and future features.

And i know a lot of people rebuy their movies. and i know a few of them i will like fifth element, transformers and iron man since il'l be buying the DVD on tuesday. but we have lots of movies that arn't worth rebuying (or arn't out in blu-ray yet so we want to make sure the quality of upscaling is very good.

[HDPlasma]

Originally Posted by gvortex7

If upscaling DVD's is important to you, then you may want to give the Samsung BD-P2550 a look as well. It has the highly coveted HQV chip inside for DVD upscaling, and it has had its retail price reduced recently to $399.99. I know it's a Samsung player and the firmware updates could take a while to surface, but you got nothing to lose for 30 days. Just try it and see what you think.

Other units to check out would be the PS3 and the BDP-S350. They both do a solid job of upscaling DVD's.

I agree.
Get a player with a HQV/Reon chipset if upconverting is important to you.
All other players that have their own upconverting chipset/methods are not that great compared to players that have the HQV/Reon type chipsets.

Samsung support is not the fastest but they do support their products.
The BDP-1200 was discounted a year ago and Samsung still provides FW updates when needed.
I still have a BDP-1200 and the upconvert on that player beats my Panasonic BD-30, Toshiba HD-A20 & HD-A35 hands down.

*This is also on a 40" LCD.

[StretchMaK]

Originally Posted by gvortex7

If upscaling DVD's is important to you, then you may want to give the Samsung BD-P2550 a look as well. It has the highly coveted HQV chip inside for DVD upscaling, and it has had its retail price reduced recently to $399.99. I know it's a Samsung player and the firmware updates could take a while to surface, but you got nothing to lose for 30 days. Just try it and see what you think.

Other units to check out would be the PS3 and the BDP-S350. They both do a solid job of upscaling DVD's.

I have a BDP-s350 and it upscales great. Alot of the regular dvd titles I have look amazing upscaled, was surprised how good they look. I will just keep the reg DVD's I have now ( a few have already been replaced with the blu ray version ) and buy blu-ray from now on. Prices are down to $299 here in NE Ohio. Very happy with this player.

[JimShaw]

Love my Marantz BD8002.

I have about 700 DVDs and won't upgrade them to Blus.

My TV is not an HDTV it is only HDTV ready meaning it does not have an HDMI connection. I use component to connect to the receiver.

Now that I have the BD2008 I have noticed the DVDs are looking so good that I don't need to go out and buy a new TV. The picture quality of the old DVDs are really good and the Blus are amazing.

I will now keep my old projector until it burns out. Even though I spent a lot of $$$ on the player, I save more money by not having to get a new TV

[neok182]

so i guess i have 3 finalilsts. so when taking upscaling and blu-ray features and updates into consideration which one would you guys say is the best?

40GB PS3
Samsung BD-P2550
Sony BDP-S350

[raven1138]

The PS3 does great upscailing in my opinion. And the remote does control the power. I also like the firmware updates, easiest way to keep up to date for a few years. As for the blu-rays I don't think there is a differance.

[BirdManJr]

Yeah just get a ps3....try to get a 80 gb metal gear solid bundle one.

If not go with a 80 gb one that comes with the duel shock 3 controller.
(thats what i see in stores now but do see mgs4 bundles sometimes)

The games are pretty good man...try out stuff like motorstorm..uncharted...ratchet and clank future tools of destruction...

Any of those are easy to hop into and have fun with...motorstorm 2 will be a good one too.

Theres more im just throwing out some to start with.

[doctorsteve]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

The PS3 does a great job upscailing the DVDs.

Agreed. I've got a 52" with a PS3 and I regularly watch my DVD's and I've yet to say "wow, that looks like crap (or worse, VHS!)". Go PS3, mein froind.

[BIslander]

BD players are not really known for their DVD upscaling. Your best bet may be the the new Oppo BDP-83, which will be released later this year or early next year. Oppo players are renowned for their upscaling. Among current players, the only really good choices are probably the Denon 3800BDCI and its twin, the Marantz BDP-8002. But, those are $2,000 players.

Are you interested in lossless audio from your BD player? If so, it's important to match the player with your receiver's capabilities.