Question on blu-ray quality

[hibby989]

Hey guys...sorry if this is in the wrong area, but I've got a question on the quality of these discs when used with TVs. If you have a 1080p TV, how exactly does playing a blu-ray disc improve the quality? I mean, if the TV already produces the same quality picture, then what can the blu-ray do to add on to it? Sorry, just something I'm curious about. Thanks

[Bobby Henderson]

A 1080p TV doesn't automatically make everything 1080p quality. Some standard definition TV material or old DVD stuff is still going to look like standard definition quality when shown on a 1080p TV.

Movies on Blu-ray usually have native 1920 X 1080 resolution and are encoded at video bit rates higher than anything you'll ever get via cable, satellite, OTA broadcast or download.

[UFAlien]

Basically, a DVD is always 480i. The 1080p on the TV is just the highest resolution it can support, not what it makes everything.

There are upscaling DVD players that take the 480i picture, smooth the edges, and output a 1080p SIGNAL, but it's not 1080p PICTURE. It can't add more detail - it's just a smoothed out, sometimes color boosted or artificially sharpened, 480i picture.

A Blu-ray uses an actual 1080p (sometimes 1080i) picture, which includes more detail and truer colors.

[SkantDragon]

There's a lot of misinformation out there from companies who would like to sell you magic boxes that supposedly upgrade low definition video to full 1080p HD. Those claims are bogus. These companies are selling you snake oil.

Your TV can not show more detail than the source video it is currently displaying. If you're watching a 720x480 standard definition DVD, it may be displaying in the 1920x1080 resolution mode on your TV, but there is no more detail or sharpness than the original 720x480 signal had. It will look no better than a standard definition television would displaying the same material.

In effect, the 1080p resolution you paid for is being wasted. Your new HD TV might still look better than your old TV anway, but only because it's newer and has better color reproduction, etc... not because of any additional resolution.

Blu-rays are true 1920x1080 resolution media. They make full use of all of the resolution your 1080p TV can provide. And the difference in video quality is really quite stunning.

You have to see the two running side by side to fully appreciate just how dramatic the difference really is. I've found that a lot of people, when seeing DVD and Blu-ray side by side, think that the DVD video is being purposefully degraded below normal DVD quality to make the Blu-ray side look even better. But it's not so. DVD looks _defective_ when its displayed next to a Blu-ray of the same material.

[Clark Kent]

It comes down to the fact that Blu-rays are taking full advantage of the display's capabilities while most forms of media including broadcast are not.

[vamsilak]

not only that
when u use ur hdtv and bluray player
"PLEASE" get a hdmi able it doesn't have to be 50.00 dollars
if u wanna take full advantage of the sound and picture hdmi to go

[Pelican170]

Heres how i look at it. I used to like the HD channels on TV cuz of the "HD quality" after getting a bluray player and movies, i now see how much better those bluray disks are compared to the HD TV channels, its no comparison, Bluray is just so much clearer...

[Rhygar]

Originally Posted by hibby989

Hey guys...sorry if this is in the wrong area, but I've got a question on the quality of these discs when used with TVs. If you have a 1080p TV, how exactly does playing a blu-ray disc improve the quality? I mean, if the TV already produces the same quality picture, then what can the blu-ray do to add on to it? Sorry, just something I'm curious about. Thanks

Just go into a store and ask for a blu-ray demo on a 1080p TV. I can guarantee you will be very impressed.

[andyman1970]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

Heres how i look at it. I used to like the HD channels on TV cuz of the "HD quality" after getting a bluray player and movies, i now see how much better those bluray disks are compared to the HD TV channels, its no comparison, Bluray is just so much clearer...

That's because while the channel may be broadcasting in HD most of the content itself isn't in HD.

To answer the OP's question it's not just the TV. It's the Blu-ray disc as well. The content on the disc is in High Definition unlike a DVD which is in standard definition. That's why most of us can see the difference between BD and DVD.

[mgrimsley]

if my wife spotted the difference between dvd and blu-ray its gotta be worth it !

It's like night and day.

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by hibby989

Hey guys...sorry if this is in the wrong area, but I've got a question on the quality of these discs when used with TVs. If you have a 1080p TV, how exactly does playing a blu-ray disc improve the quality? I mean, if the TV already produces the same quality picture, then what can the blu-ray do to add on to it? Sorry, just something I'm curious about. Thanks

It isn't a matter of BDs improving the quality. Rather, it's a matter of reproducing the quality of the source. It takes a 1080p HDTV to display to the fullest extent the resolution available on a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Now if you pop in a DVD with SD resolution you really can't get better resolution than what's already there despite the player's or HDTV's attempt to upscale the DVD to 1080p. It just won't be comparable. It's nothing more than a guess albeit sometimes a good remarkable guess but nothing near the quality of a 1080p BD displayed on a 1080p HDTV. Get the picture?

[syncguy]

Hi OP, Good question. I see many good explanations as well. I will try to explain slightly differently. Let’s say that you got a high quality 15 mega pixel camera. If you take a photo of an old photograph would this camera produce a better picture out of that old photograph? Of course it will not. It is needed to go to the original source and reproduce the photograph to see the full quality of the camera.

Your 1080p new TV is the same. If low quality source is fed to that TV, it cannot produce a good quality picture. It cannot create something out of nothing. So, blu-ray is vital to get a good quality picture. Blu-ray gets the source material from the original movies to faithfully reproduce the original picture with its original glory.

There are techniques such as better-quality upscaling to improve the picture quality of the low quality DVD material. However, this is no way near blu-ray disks which includes the high definition images of the original source material.

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by syncguy

Hi OP, Good question. I see many good explanations as well. I will try to explain slightly differently. Let’s say that you got a high quality 15 mega pixel camera. If you take a photo of an old photograph would this camera produce a better picture out of that old photograph? Of course it will not. It is needed to go to the original source and reproduce the photograph to see the full quality of the camera.

Your 1080p new TV is the same. If low quality source is fed to that TV, it cannot produce a good quality picture. It cannot create something out of nothing. So, blu-ray is vital to get a good quality picture. Blu-ray gets the source material from the original movies to faithfully reproduce the original picture with its original glory.

There are techniques such as better-quality upscaling to improve the picture quality of the low quality DVD material. However, this is no way near blu-ray disks which includes the high definition images of the original source material.

congratulations
one of the best answers i've heard to that question

[Squozen]

Originally Posted by Blu-man88

congratulations
one of the best answers i've heard to that question

An even easier answer - play YouTube videos in fullscreen on your computer monitor. Doesn't look too good, does it?

[Run L1ke H3LL]

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