Will Blu-ray Benefit YOU? FAQs, Common Myths, etc.

[Beta Man]

I thought it may be helpful to create a place to answer several questions that have been posed to me and others..... Some info is objective, and some is subjective.... and personal opinions vary greatly in some areas....

Will Blu-ray Benefit YOU?

Blu-ray is currently THE BEST available format in terms of Picture Quality, as well as Audio Quality..... The capacity of a Blu-ray Disc allows for much more information to be stored than a DVD, which in turn leads to less compression, and the ability to produce a greater picture, and better sound.

Upconverting DVD players attempt to take a disc with less information and "fill in the blanks" using algorithms etc.... and although the picture is improved, it simply can not match the picture quality that a blu-ray is capable of, and offers no improvements in the audio quality.

I have an HD DVD player that is touted as being one of the better Upconverting DVD players available, and the difference in picture quality between most upconverted DVDs and their Blu-ray counterpart is significant. Also Blu-ray, even displayed at 1080i/720p is superior to over-the-air HD broadcasts for this reason, although many feel over-the-air HD looks better in some cases, when it is in fact due to the image being artificially brightened in terms of contrast.

It's important to realize that like DVDs, some Blu-rays have better transfers, and technical aspects compared to others.


A good piece of information regarding Upconversion is available here:
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/fea...fallacies.html

SCREEN SIZE AND RESOLUTION

Many people may feel that due to their display they can not reap the benefits of Blu-ray. Again, the improvements in audio quality is great, but dealing specifically with Picture Quality, I find a tremendous benefit from Blu-ray in all of my displays, from 32" to 106"..... Many factors must be taken into account when considering this difference, but the most important are:

1) Your eyesight
2) Your Viewing Distance
3) You Screen Size
4) Your Screen's Resolution/Contrast

Here is a guide, not to be taken as the be-all-end-all, since again, all screens are not created equal, and all people don't have identical eyesight.



What this chart shows is the point where most people will begin to be able to differentiate between 480p, 720p, and 1080p given their screen size, given the distance they are sitting from the screen. An exaggerated example, would be that sitting 25' from a 32" display, it doesn't really matter what the resolution is, since the human eye wouldn't be able to see much detail anyways.

This chart is also useful to dismiss blanket statements like "1080p is only useful if you have a 50" or larger display" What makes this statement false, is based on this chart, if one were to sit approximately 7 or 8 feet from their television (which is a fairly common viewing distance) they would be able to differentiate the details between a 720p and 1080p display side-by-side.

DOES ANIMATION BENEFIT FROM BLU-RAY

I have had family say, since Animation is digital etc. that they don't see how Blu-ray can possibly benefit from it. Many find animation the most stunning example of the benefits of Blu-ray however. First, Contrast/Color Saturation, and Tone in Blu-ray is much greater than DVD, which makes the images much brighter and "Alive" Also, just like film, Animation is displayed in pixels, and since Blu-ray will offer a vast increase in pixels on the display. An analogy for this would be pointillism paintings.... if a picture is created using pointillism with a needle, compared to one with then end of a paperclip which has a larger circumference, the one with the needle will take many more "points" to make the image, but it will be capable of finer lines etc.. making the transition from color to color, and shape to shape much smoother looking.

BLU-RAY IS ONLY WORTH IT FOR ACTION/SCI-FI FILMS RIGHT?

Absolutely not... There is no reason why your favorite Comedy or Drama can't look and sound fantastic. Although special effects and explosions may look and sound terrific on Blu-ray, the audio score from your favorite sappy love story can also be mesmerizing.

DOES BLU-RAY BENEFIT "OLD" FILMS: FILM EXPLAINED

Many people feel that since a film was shot many years ago, with "OLD" cameras, that it can't possibly look good at all. This is simply not true. One of the oldest films available on Blu-ray is "The Adventures of Robin Hood" with Errol Flynn.... It's a magnificent looking film on Blu-ray. The reason Blu-ray benefits older movies, is the fact that FILM, whether it be 35mm, etc. is capable of much greater resolution than Blu-ray is even capable of. For example.... take a new film for example, such as "The Dark Knight" which is celebrated for looking great both in theaters, and on Blu-ray. If you were to display your Blu-ray copy of "The Dark Knight" on a 50 foot screen as in a cinema, it would much worse than any decent local cinema due to the fact that the 35mm film is capable of many more lines of resolution than a Blu-ray player can output. Many feel their home-theaters look better than their local cinema, and although that may be true, they certainly aren't watching films on a 50' screen in their homes.

Getting back to "OLD" films.... it's for these reasons, and the resolution that film is capable of, that certain films like 2001: A Space Odyssey is regarded as one of the best looking films available on Blu-ray. In order to be capable of achieving this, however, the original film from which the transfer is created from must be properly stored and carefully restored.

WHY DO SOME BLU-RAYS LOOK BETTER THAN OTHERS: AND WHY ARE SOME GRAINY?

Many factors come into play as to why some films look better than others on Blu-ray. The original source material (the film) as well as the effort put forth in transferring the information to Blu-ray is very important, as is the lighting and direction when the material was shot.

Grain is a widely debated topic. Grain is inherit to film since film is created through a chemical process using silver halide. Wikipedia has a more "technical" description of what it is...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_grain

In some cases Grain is added by the director in order to achieve a desired effect. A perfect example of this is in the movie "300" where heavy amounts of grain were added to the film. Only films shot digitally will be totally devoid of grain.

Where the debate comes in, is the amount of grain that is perceived as "good" or "bad". Many films are "scrubbed" and grain is removed to give the film a "cleaner" or "crisper" look. By removing grain entirely detail is lost.... so grain is often simply "reduced" When you see Grain that you didn't see on the DVD, it's not because the grain wasn't there, it's due to the fact that the increased resolution is showing more detail, which includes the subtle and intricate presence of grain, that standard definition resolution didn't show. There is certainly a great difference between film grain, and simply blurry lines and lack of detail from standard definition.

BLACK BARS ON MY T.V.

I won't go much into this since it's been covered so much, and much better than I can explain, but in short, you are seeing the original aspect ratio that the film was shot in, and manipulating that image to fit your t.v. screen would cause parts of the image to be cut off, or stretching of the image to fill the screen would cause loss in details and make circles look like ovals etc....

Here are just some of the various resources available here to help understand ASPECT RATIOS, and Black-Bars.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=72428
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=16529

SO I UNDERSTAND THAT SOME MOVIES LOOK AND SOUND BETTER BUT HOW DO I KNOW WHICH ONES TO GET?

Mostly subjective as to what are the "Best of the Best", but reviews here, amongst other sites will help you determine whether or not you want to spend your hard earned money to replace your existing DVD with its Blu-ray counterpart. One important thing to note however, is the fact that although a particular Blu-ray may not achieve high marks for picture quality, or may not even be given the best possible audio, I have yet to see a Blu-ray that doesn't look better than it's DVD counterpart, and this includes movies such as "House of Flying Daggers" "American Psycho" and "Commando" despite the fact that many will make the claim that "It looks like the DVD"

Here are some resources to find what many find to be the cream of the crop

The BEST Audio Quality Blu-ray Megathread

The BEST Video Quality Blu-ray Megathread


WHY WOULD YOU BUY A BLACK AND WHITE MOVIE ON BLU-RAY?

The answer to this is simple..... RESOLUTION. Casablanca, The 400 Blows, and Young Frankenstein are just a few of the current Black and White films available on Blu-ray, and they all look outstanding. The detail of the images is fantastic despite the fact that they don't have vivid colors.

The director of Clerks. Kevin Smith stated that he didn't see a point in releasing this film on Blu-ray as it wouldn't benefit, but like the movies listed above, if done properly Clerks. is also capable of looking stunning on Blu-ray.

Many of these movies, including "The 400 Blows" come only with their original Monaural audio track. This is NOT a case where the Blu-ray is simply only capable of reproducing the same audio quality of the DVD's Mono-track. The increase in data allows for a much more detailed, and clean Mono-track to exist, as shown:

From the Review on this site for the Audio of "The 400 Blows"

Criterion have supplied a French: Uncompressed Monaural track for the Blu-ray release of François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows. As expected, the audio treatment is as solid as the video presentation discussed above. The dialog is crisp, very clear and without any distortions that I could detect. Furthermore, Jean Constantin’s music sounds quite lovely. As far as I am concerned, the soundtrack is also notably well balanced (indeed, it is fairly easy to tell that the audio has undergone a full-blown restoration). You won’t hear any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings either. This is a solid and well cleaned up audio track that most definitely does not reveal any technical deficiencies.

SO BLU-RAY OFFERS UP BETTER AUDIO AND VIDEO, THAT'S GREAT

That is great, but that's not all. Given the addition space available, many Blu-rays now offer up many many many extras in the way of Director commentaries, photo galleries, additional languages/subtitles, deleted scenes and alternate versions.

Blu-ray also provides many titles with Online interactivity from BD Live including chats with cast/directors through online events, and interactive games. I personally don't have much experience with BD Live though.

O.K. I HAVE AN HDTV, WHAT ELSE DO I NEED?

Once you decide what player best suits you, you simply need an HDMI cable. I suggest going to Monoprice.com or Bluejeanscables.com for the best prices. More information on "why a cable is a cable" and the reason you don't need to spend your child's inheritance on an expensive one can be found here:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=33168

For audio, it really depends on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go..... Blu-ray does offer new, advanced audio formats, but only you can decide if those are necessary to you.

Here are two great links that give information regarding how to get various forms of audio.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=71252
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=32961

I KNOW WHAT I WANT, NOW HOW DO I CONNECT IT ALL?

This is yet one more area that one of our great members has already covered in detail....

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=32976

I GOT MY HDTV AND BLU-RAY PLAYER SET UP.... BUT IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT DID IN THE STORE???

Before you come to the conclusion that I was wrong in saying you didn't need that $150 Monster Cable, there are A few factors.... many times a store bumps up the colors/contrast on their display to give it more of a "wow" 3D look, and makes the action seemingly jump off the screen. For many people this makes the people look too much like cartoons, and isn't desired. In any case, in order to ACCURATELY REPRODUCE THE IMAGES AS THEY WERE INTENDED, it is highly recommended that you calibrate your T.V.

This is just one more instance where someone else has covered this in detail, and far better than I could

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=32738

O.K. I THINK BLU-RAY IS THE RIGHT CHOICE TO ME


Well...... what are you waiting for?

[Marine Mike]

I just finished skimming through it and it appears to include everything a new BD Home Theatre junkie should need to know about.

I like how you included links to a lot of mega threads while including the pertinent information from them as well.

Good job!

[Sussudio]

wow.....great thread beta

maybe also note in there that another benefit of bluray is early releases (i.e. blus occasionally released before the dvd counterparts) which are becoming more and more prominent...just a suggestion

[crazyBLUE]

Good job Beta !

[Diesel]

great idea beta

[Q?]

This should be sticky!!!!
Really good and covers just about everything.

[quirkmanly]

[JasonR]

Nice thread Beta! Made it a sticky!

[JJ]

Beta go work on your house instead of nonsense like this,

[quest88]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

Good job Beta !

another member approval here

[Johnny Vinyl]

Well done indeed, Beta!

John

[assydingo]

I'm wondering what I should do. Part of me would be very irritated if I eventually got a huge TV and the difference really is as big as everyone says.

What I should do is get sound stuff... I'm pretty content with my TV and that would be a big difference also.

Anyways this was a good idea. I can see this being helpful. Good job Beta!

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by JasonR

Nice thread Beta! Made it a sticky!

Not quite the reaction I was trying to create

Originally Posted by JJxiv1215

Beta go work on your house instead of nonsense like this,

Tell me about it! Updates will happen.... trust me

[repete66211]

Well done sir!

Kevin Smith, the director of Clerks, stated that he didn't see a point in releasing this film on Blu-ray as it wouldn't benefit

I agree with Mr. Smith. I found the best way to make Clerks more entertaining is to turn both my brightness and volume down to zero.

[Suntory_Times]

Originally Posted by repete66211

I agree with Mr. Smith. I found the best way to make Clerks more entertaining is to turn both my brightness and volume down to zero.

Really, I found it to tak the disc out and burn it.

Good thread, hopefully people looking for answers will read it before they 'flod' the message boards with questions that have already been answered.

[Azyiu]

Nice thread, Beta.


So I have a question for you. I live in Hong "Commies Infested" Kong, and we do get some localized version of Hollywood films and such on Blu. While their specs all seem to be identital with their US counterparts, as a buyer do we still need to worry about a possible video discrepancy; like we do back in the dvd days? For one reason or another I am still under the impression that, these localized version BDs might not look as good as their US counterparts. Your thoughts?

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Azyiu

Nice thread, Beta.


So I have a question for you. I live in Hong "Commies Infested" Kong, and we do get some localized version of Hollywood films and such on Blu. While their specs all seem to be identital with their US counterparts, as a buyer do we still need to worry about a possible video discrepancy; like we do back in the dvd days? For one reason or another I am still under the impression that, these localized version BDs might not look as good as their US counterparts. Your thoughts?

That's a good question.... I was under the impression that during the DVD days, many of the Hollywood films that hit your stores/streets were bootlegs, and thus were created with poor Audio/Video..... and often stripped of extras...

That's not a problem "yet" with Blu-ray. I think they're the same pressing of the disc.... but I'm not sure. This would be a good question for the Insider's thread....

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

That's not a problem "yet" with Blu-ray. I think they're the same pressing of the disc.... but I'm not sure. This would be a good question for the Insider's thread....

I hope you are right, but I still try my best to buy only the US versions. Having said that, I bought the localized, Asian version of Kung Fu Panda, and Dr.Strangelove (just bought this one two days ago). While the former looks and sounds awesome, and seemingly with all the same extras as in the US version, the latter does NOT have English subtitles! Yes, sir, while it has all the same extras, it only offers Chinese, Thai and Korean subtitles but NO English one, WTH? Don't they (Sony) know some people in Asia don't know read any of the above but English? Looking back I should've waited for the US version to come out... oh well...

[blugojira]

[DarkDune]

All Work And No Play Makes Beta Really Creative

Good "Work", please don't kill anyone now