Converting DVD to Blue Ray

There are 21 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 5,704 times. The latest Post () was by Hondo Duke Lane.

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    In order to not be off topic on Smokey's topic, I decided to start a new thread and comment on Jim's post.

    Quote from Stumpy

    I feel exactly the same way, Jay. I fell for that money-grubbing scheme in switching to DVD from VHS but I won't do so again. These so-called "technological improvements" just never end and the goal is always the same; to extract more money from the gullible public.



    Unfortunately Jim, this change over from VHS to DVD has been forced on you because of the fact that VHS will no longer be available very soon. They are not making any more VHS machines and the blank tapes are getting harder and harder to find. They haven't made any prerecorded movies since 2003.

    The faith of DVD seems to be taking the same course, however we won't see that happen for a while. I'm seeing more and more Blue Ray movies out and the players are getting cheaper and cheaper.

    Blue Ray unlike DVD players/recorders can play DVDs so changing to a Blue Ray player is not as big sacrifice as it was with DVD that didn't play VHS. If you are replacing a player, then why not replace it with a Blue Ray? Then you have a choice of buying either DVD or Blue Ray movies. You get to choose.

    I still have some VHS movies, mainly John Wayne, and they are in my way for space. I do have a VHS, but it's showing it's age. And the quality is not so good because of the decoration of the tape, wear and tear of the player and/or the overall quality of the whole thing.

    And let's face it, the picture quality has improved over the last ten years with the flat screen TV, digital process, computer technology and movie quality.

    I started my DVD collection back in 1997 when I received my player. I stopped buying VHS prerecorded movies when I bought my DVD player. Today I have over 750 DVD movies/TV shows in my collection. Though this may sound impressive, I know there are others who have thousands of movies. I just don't have the money, space, and time for that kind of collection, and I don't think there are that many movies out that good, meaning I am picky as to what movies I like.

    I'm not trying to sell you on Blue Ray, just giving you an option to think about, Jim or anyone else. I'm not in the market to buying a Blue Ray player right now. I am considering my options when I will have to buy one in the future. Let's face it, the manufactures want you to buy, that's why the players don't last. That should be your biggest complaint.

    Cheers :cool: Hondo



    Quote

    "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it"

    - John Wayne quote

    Quote from Stumpy

    These so-called "technological improvements" just never end and the goal is always the same; to extract more money from the gullible public.



    Jim, you almost sound like a liberal. Isn't this the American way? Let the markets do what they want to do. Keep government out! I mean, how do we (private markets) stay in business, if we don't make money?:))):

    Cheers :cool:



    Quote

    "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it"

    - John Wayne quote

    Quote from Hondo Duke Lane

    Jim, you almost sound like a liberal.



    I'm probably the most ideologically conservative person on this board, Mike, but that definition also includes financially conservative, meaning I watch my pennies. My feeling is, if plain old DVD satisfies me (and it does), why spend more money buying another "technological improvement". And you wait, it won't be that many more years before the entertainment industry introduces another "technological improvement" that will cost more money. Like I said, it never stops.

    The whole process is akin to Bill Gates' Microsoft. Every three or four years MS comes out with another operating system that's the greatest thing since sliced bread. The only thing is, that "greatest thing" only lasts 3 or 4 more years before the next "greatest thing" comes along. And guess what - each one of these greatest things makes old Bill another bundle of money. (Before you remind me, I know Bill is no longer the CEO of Microsoft but I'll bet he still gets a cut of the profits from those "technological improvements".)

    De gustibus non est disputandum

    Edited 4 times, last by Stumpy ().

    I heard that talkies at the movies were a passing fad, too. Though I agree with your analysis of your point, I am not a person who goes out and buy the first thing that comes out ASAP. The DVD player I have is the original one that I bought in December 28, 1997. My recent purchase of my computer is the first one I bought since October 10, 2001, and my current car is one purchased since September 26, 2001 (and it's a 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue {which is not being made [not the Intrigue, but the Oldsmobile]}). Why do I date so accurately, well that simple, I have a memory for dates, and I keep a tidy record of these things for tax reasons.

    I like nice things, but I have to have a good reason to purchase and see if I can afford it. Myself...... You may have to replace the Ole DVD player, my response was simply an option, nothing more than that.

    Did you know that the best ever is a selling point. The locomotive's selling point was the best ever. The Model T was the best ever. Everything that sales is the best ever. We are to figure it out as to what is the best ever for us.

    I could go on and on, but if the truth be known, you may think things are bad but that is because you want them to be bad. A rose has thorns, but it is still beautiful. You have to look at things from a different perspective. The media don't help by the way.

    Cheers :cool:



    Quote

    "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it"

    - John Wayne quote

    Edited 2 times, last by Hondo Duke Lane ().

    I personally don't see that great an improvement in quality between DVDS and Blueray to justify the expense of trading "Up". I have a 52 inch Pioneer plasma TV and a liquid crystal projector onto a 10 foot movie screen and DVDs look great on them. VHS does look a bit more ragged.
    I also still have a VHS player and two laserdisc players which I still use because I have a huge library of titles on each format that are not yet on DVD. For example, the laserdisc of The Alamo contains all the missing footage (widescreen) as well as the full documentary which is partially missing from the DVD. I haven't bought this DVD because having seen the restored missing footage, it would drive me crazier without it.
    I don't know how I missed Beta, but I do have duplicate titles on VHS, Laser and now DVD and don't plan on getting sucked into a newer, supposedly better format. Besides, my wife would kill me.


    We deal in lead, friend.

    I just got a Blu-Ray player from my brother for Christmas. I was really floored when he gave it to me. Was not expecting it at all. It's a SONY but, not that expensive and so far, I've bought 4 Blu-Ray movies for it, Star Trek, Coraline, The Wild Bunch and, Casino Royale. The last two, I've also got on regular DVD. For the most part, if I buy a Blu-Ray movie, it'll be one I don't already have on DVD. No sense having too many duplicates. Nice part about the player is that you can play DVd's on them. In fact, the player upconverts them to give them a more HD look to them. The player is hooked up to a 52 in. rear projection HD tv. I'd like to try hooking it up to the tv my son is letting me use, a 42in. LCD flat screen HD. Bet it would really look fabulous. Really don't know which John Wayne movies are out on Blu-Ray but some are. I think The War Wagon is, The Searchers, Rio Bravo is, maybe El Dorado. I know The Alamo is not and I wish it were.

    The only way I would ever buy a BR release is if it's one of my all-time favorite movie/TV titles that haven't yet been released on regular DVD. Such as "The African Queen", "High Chapparal", Lee Marvin's "Monte Walsh", etc. Otherwise, I'll be satisfied with what I already have.

    I've spent a small fortune converting my movie collection from tape to disc and with 897 titles on DVD, I'm not about to start over.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

    Quote from Stumpy


    I've spent a small fortune converting my movie collection from tape to disc and with 897 titles on DVD, I'm not about to start over.


    I agree. To me the quality of your average DVD on a regular wide screen TV
    is just fine. So much better than what we use to have.


    Although, as I get older, and my eyesight gets worse, maybe I will upgrade to a HiDef TV. :wink_smile:



    Chester :newyear:

    Quote from chester7777

    as I get older, and my eyesight gets worse, maybe I will upgrade to a HiDef TV. :wink_smile:


    Chester :newyear:



    I'm really behind the times as I'm still watching my DVDs on a couple of old Sanyo analog TVs. When they switched to digital from analog, I just bought a couple of those converter boxes and kept on truckin'.

    The wife and I aren't big TV watchers anyway so we make do with what we have. I'm not really a Luddite; it's just that I have different priorities than most other folks. To me, TV is not that important. As long as I can watch the weather and local news with my current equipment, and play my DVDs, I'm perfectly satisfied.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

    I upgraded my Sky TV box to HD last Saturday and I already have an HD TV. The Searchers was on the other evening, on HD and non HD channels the same time, so I switched between them to see what difference there was.

    There was a noticebale difference. The HD one was sharper and the colours crisper. It was excellent.

    Since I don't have a Blu-Ray player yet I can't say how much difference there is with the DVDs.

    Bob

    WEll, this subject is right up my alley. I have a 50 inch Plasma with a PS3, which has a built in Blu-Ray player. I use the PS3 mostly for watching movies, maybe alittle Guitar Hero when I feel the need to release my innner Rock Star!!!!

    Anyways, I have many of John Waynes movies on Blu-Ray, atleast the ones that have been released. They are The Searchers, Rio Bravo, and How the West was Won. The ones that I don't have on Bluray are The Cowboys, The Green Berets and The Longest Day. I have those on regualr DVD though. we have brought this subject up every so often on the forum here and I can definetly tell a difference between the 2 formats. Is it a must to switch? Probably not, but if you need a new DVD player you might as well go buy a bluray player as Mike stated above, they are getting cheap, I think Wal-Mart has them for around $80.

    One thing to remember though is how you hookup the bluray player will determine your video quality. You can have the best bluray player in the world but if you hook it up using the RCA or S-video ports, you are not even getting half the resolution that bluray has to offer. You need to hookup using the HDMI port and hook it up to a TV that has the same port. This will give you the full resoultion that the movie is offering. This same port transfers both video and audio so you don't need seperate cables for the audio, whether its the rca stereo cables, digital optical or digital coax.

    If you hookup any other way the video differences between DVD and bluray will probably not be that significant. But if you hookup using the HDMI and you hook into a TV that has HDMI ports and has 1080p resolution(All new flat panel TV's whether they are plasma, LCD or LED LCD will be 720p or 1080p), you will see what I mean. Too me, there is a significant improvement over regular DVD.

    Life is hard, its even harder when your stupid!!
    -John Wayne

    Not to blow your minds people but brace yourselves for he coming invasion in 2010.

    That is right, 3D in the home and not using those stupid red and blue glasses. This is the next big thing for our home entertainment. Just giving you guys a heads up, not saying it will be good, bad or other as I have no experience in it what so ever.

    Life is hard, its even harder when your stupid!!
    -John Wayne

    Well, I am not sure if this pass, but we'll wait and see. I'll not be in a hurry for this, I know I can't afford it.

    Cheers :cool:



    Quote

    "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it"

    - John Wayne quote

    Mike, I wouldn't be in a hurry to adopt it either as it will be quite awhile before it takes off. Until then, just do like now as most big screen TV's have fallen in price as they have become so common. I was just posting about the 3D because it will be a big thing in the coming year.

    Life is hard, its even harder when your stupid!!
    -John Wayne

    I won't disagree with the pricey part of it, for the coming future. But, there is a big push for it from Hollywood and the TV broadcasting companies. The amount of 3D movies coming up this year should be quite noticeable and ESPN will be starting a new channel that will broadcast 85 sporting events in 3D this year. The new BluRay players will all come compatible to play the new bluRay 3D format as well. The biggest thing that they say they have accomplished is the fatigue and eye soreness that the red/blue lens glasses used to have in common. I am not standing up for 3D and shouting it's merit's but I don't think it will be a fad at all. Have you seen Avatar in 3D yet?? I did and was totally blown away and impressed. That same technology that the theaters use will be what the new TV's coming into people's home's will have. Will I go out and buy one right away? I am pretty sure that is a great big no, it's just really cool to see this tech coming to our homes.

    Life is hard, its even harder when your stupid!!
    -John Wayne