DZ
I have a panasonic 5 disc surround system dvd player that i use an HDMI cable to plug it in to my 720p LG plasma, i sit about 5 feet or so away from my TV. I really want to buy Ironman when it comes on DVD and feel like i may as well buy blu ray player because its the next big thing. Do you think the Blu Ray player would be a bigger difference than my HDMI cable dvd player.
Answer
If your display device was a 1080p device, my answer might be different, but since you're going to have to set up the Blu-Ray player to down-rez to 720p anyway, so you're definitely losing some value there.
But even if you had a native 1080p display device, here are some things to think about...
1. Many people who have seen a comparison of a Blu-Ray image side-by-side with a standard def DVD up-rezzed by a high quality player (Oppo being the standard bearer) don't feel the difference is significant. (Noticeable, yes, but certainly not dramatic.)
It's not that Blu-Ray is inferior in any way - it's that the original DVD format is _that_ good.
2. Consider your existing DVD library and your wish list of movies you don't yet have. How many (standard def) DVDs could you buy with the $400 you would spend on that Blu-Ray player? Then, from there, for every BD disc you buy, you could buy 2, sometimes even 3 DVDs.
Is Blu-Ray the new standard? Certainly. Will videophiles everywhere be replacing every DVD they own with Blu-Ray discs? Probably. Eventually.
My advice would be to (A) wait for prices to come down, and (B) wait until you have native 1080p device (get a projector!) to watch them on.
All that said, some (if not most) Blu-Ray discs also contain a 480p version of the movie on the same disc or in the same case. If you can live with the current price tag for BDs, start buying them now. Then, when your collection warrants it, and STB prices have come down, you could buy the set-top box.
Do you think that it is wise to buy a Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo player...?
Nick
or is it just a waste of money with Blu-Ray having won the format war? I see more and more combo players in stores and I don't know if they are marketing towards the people that had HD-DVD players and are trying to at least salvage their DVD collection, or if the DVD companies are still going to be stuborn and stick with the HD-DVD format. DO you think that all DVDs will go to Blu-Ray eventually or is the combo a better choice?
Answer
I wouldn't consider it. There are still only two companies making combination players: LG and Samsung, and the current models are probably their last (Samsung's first model is already out of production, the one in the stores now is the second generation). They're perfectly good Blu-Ray players, but tend to be much more expensive than Blu-Ray only players.
One argument you could make is that there are many HD-DVDs now being liquidated. If you buy 25 HD-DVDs for $7.00 each rather than 25 BDs for $20 each, that's a $325 savings... probably around the difference between the dual format and the Blu-Ray only players... maybe even a bit more. Of course, when that player wears out, you won't be able to play those HD-DVDs anymore... no one will be making a combination player in the future.
When Toshiba announced they were going to stop making HD-DVD players, there were only a few companies still making HD-DVDs: NBC/Universal, Paramount, and Dreamworks Animation. NBC/Universal has already announced they're going to enter the Blu-Ray market. Paramount hasn't that I know of, but they have stopped marketing HD-DVD, and presumably, will not release any new HD-DVD titles. At the loss-leader prices for the discs, it's unlikely anyone's even making new HD-DVD discs... I think they're just clearly out the distribution channel, and these may vanish althogether in a few months.
If the HD-DVD function were free, I'd say "go for it", or if you know of 25-or-so HD-DVD titles you really want and can find on sale. But beyond that, the future is clearly Blu-Ray.
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