Not many films to encourage upgrading to BD!

[Beta Man]

I'm jumping on this late, as you guys are way too quick for me...... but here's my take-away from the original post:::

as an avid technology junkie

If this were anywhere close to the truth, you'd ALREADY own a 1080p t.v. (you don't feel the need 'yet' what???) A Blu-Ray player, AND an HD DVD player. That's what "avid Technology Junkies" do.... they invest in new technologies!

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Riverside666

The matrix is one of those films that you buy with no shame or no real regret. Yeah anyone will say only the first one is really good but at the same time it's not like you're hating watching the the other 2. They may be boring at times but the action value out of them is pretty good. It's just one of those dumb guy flicks where you just watch it for the hell of watching it, similar to die hard.

I watch Die Hard more for the cheesy lines, than the action!!! I think it's HYSTERICAL!!!

[rlj1010]

I have taken the plunge, and bought a Blu-Ray player in November.

And I am overall pretty happy with my decision.


But, I do admit, so far the overall selection of available titles has room for improvement, at least for me. (But it does seem to gradually be getting better, and more variety is coming.)

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by Tiamat_M

I came to this forum in search of information that would allow me make an informed decision about purchasing a Blu-Ray disk player and 1080p screen.

Tiamat_M

After reading your rebuttal posts, I think your intentions were honest and that you are not a troll. But you did make some confrontational statements, perhaps unknowingly, while posting and later contradictory ones along with already having predrawn conclusions before posting. That's like pouring gasoline on yourself and striking a match on any forum and not just this one.

If the above excerpt was your original intention, no one on this forum would have had any reason to flame you . You didn't make it clear until a later post what you were after: I came to this forum in search of information that would allow me to make an informed decision about purchasing a Blu-Ray disk player and 1080p screen.

You would have done better to make this clear to start with. Also you left out other facts, like you live in Europe where new tech is expensive. Everyone on the forum would empathize with that. Please give us enough information that would help us to understand your situation.

Another big mistake you made in your posts is that you had made it clear to us that you had already drawn your conclusion before posting that you are not ready to upgrade to a BD player in direct contrast to your posting initially: ...and as an avid technology junkie it's clear to me that Blu-Ray is the way to go.

and later...
and my conclusions are that it is still 'bleeding edge' and expensive for the incremental benefits provided. Did you get this information from anyone on this forum replying to your original post? No, that was from previous research: I have gathered some useful information about the status of Blu-ray... Why didn't you share some of that info with us?

and also...
it makes no sense to purchase BD versions of my existing DVDs if I can watch them in a higher definition by connecting my existing DVD player via an HDMI cable to an 1080p screen, why would would I upgrade for such an incremental benefit? You can upconvert DVDs from 480i to 1080p, but it's not true HD. The difference between upconverted 480i and a BD player displaying 1080p/24 content isn't just merely incremental, it's profoundly clear to see by anyone who views it. Otherwise, I would agree with your predrawn conclusion that it would make no sense to purchase BD versions. When I play the BD versions of my old DVDs, I go, "Wow!", and it's like seeing them for the first time, not to mention the superior AQ from the BDs. Since you had done some research, you probably already know this.

A person has no need to ask what one already knows, buts asks instead what one doesn't know. I don't see your post as an attack, a threat, or thing of that nature. However, I think what you were really seeking was unclear and tangled up with conclusions you had already made

[Tiamat_M]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

I'm jumping on this late, as you guys are way too quick for me...... but here's my take-away from the original post:::



If this were anywhere close to the truth, you'd ALREADY own a 1080p t.v. (you don't feel the need 'yet' what???) A Blu-Ray player, AND an HD DVD player. That's what "avid Technology Junkies" do.... they invest in new technologies!

Hi Betaman,
That's not necessarily the case. I have lots of other areas of interest to spend my money on. Having been at the forefront of earlier format upgrades I paid premium prices for both DVD player and early DVDs when wanted to swap out my VHS collection.

I have been wary of backing the wrong technology, I think that uncertainty is clearing now and that BD is the way to go. Interestingly the recent upgrade in interactive features in the Blu-Ray standard which early adopters (with the exception of PS3 players I believe) will not be able to upgrade the player firmware and thereby miss out on these new features. It may be that this new feature is a trivial feature, however I demonstrates the risks of plunging for new technology.

It is certainly true that vendors are still charging premium prices for 1080p screens. And that prices will drop substantially as sales volumes increase. I checked out prices locally in the post Christmas sales and a 36" Panasonic was costing €1,040 or $1,475. The cheapest BD Player is a PS3 costing €399 or $566. If I wait a year that price will have halved and there will be better availability of BD disks. Also I checked out prices of BDs here and the minimum price is €20 or $28 per disk, that still steep enough.

I really haven't seen a lot of BDs available in stores either here, (Dublin or London) and I believe that the studio still retain regional coding on BDs, so if I buy a BD from Amazon in the US it may or may not play on a PS3 here.

Given the small number of films that I would definitely buy in BD that are available, I think my best option is to hold off for a year and review next year.

I do have different film tastes, blockbusters, with few exceptions leave me limp.

Tiamat_M

[Joe Cain]

Originally Posted by Tiamat_M

I really haven't seen a lot of BDs available in stores either here, (Dublin or London) and I believe that the studio still retain regional coding on BDs, so if I buy a BD from Amazon in the US it may or may not play on a PS3 here.

A little more information on region coding:

Originally Posted by Merlins

Rough guidelines:
Neutral studios release region free discs.
Exclusive studios have the day-and-dates region coded, everything else region free.

However there are exceptions and here are a little bit more specific information studio by studio:

Sony: Only day-and-dates are region coded, however some older releases was region coded. For Releases in Europe and Australia, all releases are region free (like Spider Man 3 for example that even is released sooner in Australia and is region free.)
Disney: Only day-and-dates are region coded, however some older releases was region coded.
Lionsgate: Have a mix of region coded and region free discs. Will probably only region code their newer in the future.
Fox: Have only released region coded discs in USA but have almost only released region free discs in Europe and Australia lately.
MGM: Have some region free discs but have followed Fox otherwise.
Paramount: All discs are region free.
Warner: All discs are region free.
New Line: Only day-and-dates are region coded.
Starz/Anchor Bay: Have only released region free discs.
Magnonlia Pictures: Mostly region free discs but have some region coded also.
R&B Films: All discs are region free.
Image Entertainment: All discs are region free.
Eagle Rock Entertainment: All discs are region free.
BBS Video: All discs are region free.

In Europe are even more exclusive Blu-ray distributors region free.

http://bluray.liesinc.net/

The link in the quote breaks down BDs by title and coding (which may or may not be consistent with the region code label).