Eric5676 Posted June 8, 2009 Report Posted June 8, 2009 On the downside it will ruin your ability to watch TV at other people's houses. I've got a Samsung LA46A950 which is one of the previous generation of LED models and when the screen goes black you can't really tell the TV is on as there is no glow at all. Once you get used to a display like that you won't be able to unsee the lack of true black on most TVs. So true. It's blacks and lots of other things that help come together for an overall quality of picture and they're all important. When you pay for some nice quality like what you're talking about or the Panasonic that swt61 bought or the Kuro that I have, and so forth...even if you're not some die hard videophile...you get used to that quality quickly and you won't settle for less. Your eyes don't lie to you just like your ears don't lie to you, either.
Fitz Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 You're in for a world of fun with that new TV, Steve. I have a Panasonic plasma too, and even though it was on the bottom end of the scale for the models at the time it's still amazing. I only use it with DVDs right now, but hopefully BluRay will eventually get cheap enough for me to give it a try.
swt61 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 Thanks Fitz. The really cool thing about living in a really small town is some of the deals you encounter. My local grocery store has recently decided to start stocking Blu-ray movies in the rental section. They not only rent for a meazly $1.00 a day, but nobody here has Blu-ray players (not in any quantity anyway), so the movies are always available too. I'm not real big on buying movies, but I rent regularly. Just had a thought...Porn on Blu-ray would either be brilliant or extremely gross.
Hopstretch Posted June 10, 2009 Author Report Posted June 10, 2009 (edited) Just had a thought...Porn on Blu-ray would either be brilliant or extremely gross. It rather depends on the "production values". Oh, and last night I came across a new review of the Panny TV I think you're looking at, lessee ... it's here. Edited June 10, 2009 by Hopstretch
swt61 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 Same TV, I'm opting for the 50" version though. Good review! Thanks for the link, there's some usable setup tweaking info in there too.
Eric5676 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 You're in for a world of fun with that new TV, Steve. I have a Panasonic plasma too, and even though it was on the bottom end of the scale for the models at the time it's still amazing. I only use it with DVDs right now, but hopefully BluRay will eventually get cheap enough for me to give it a try. Not sure how cheap you're looking for but if you shop around at places like Amazon, Deep Discount DVD, and the like there are plenty of good BDs that basically are about the same costs as DVDs or just a few bucks more expensive. Example: Amazon had some deal the other day where the new Ghostbusters BD was $10. Hardware prices: I know Vizio is going to come out with a $200 player soon and there's a lot of "last year" players that are clearance selling for at or around $200 as well that are excellent. There's even some new players this year that float around $300. Again, I just don't know how "cheap" you're waiting for. Otherwise there's always rental options like Netflix and such. You're really missing out and needlessly IMO if you have a nice TV like that and you aren't fully utilizing its potential. I hope you can jump on board soon. swt61: Enjoy your new set!
manaox2 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 Just had a thought...Porn on Blu-ray would either be brilliant or extremely gross. BTW, Blockbuster rents several titles you can try out if you would wish such as "Pirates 2". My ex pointed that out to me. I purchased my player for $135 after tax last black Friday, I fully expect $100 players to be available by Christmas.
Hopstretch Posted June 10, 2009 Author Report Posted June 10, 2009 I would keep an eye out for a deal like this. I have one of these and it's a very good player. DVD upconversion is not up to the Oppo's standard -- but what do you want for the money? Videogon ForSale: Panasonic DMP-BD35
Eric5676 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 I would keep an eye out for a deal like this. I have one of these and it's a very good player. DVD upconversion is not up to the Oppo's standard -- but what do you want for the money? Videogon ForSale: Panasonic DMP-BD35 ^^ That's a really solid player at that price point.
penger Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 I purchased my player for $135 after tax last black Friday, I fully expect $100 players to be available by Christmas. Almost there. Walmart's got one for $128. Gizmodo - Walmart Drops Blu-ray Player Price to New Low of $128 - Gadget deals
Fitz Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 Not sure how cheap you're looking for but if you shop around at places like Amazon, Deep Discount DVD, and the like there are plenty of good BDs that basically are about the same costs as DVDs or just a few bucks more expensive. Example: Amazon had some deal the other day where the new Ghostbusters BD was $10. Hardware prices: I know Vizio is going to come out with a $200 player soon and there's a lot of "last year" players that are clearance selling for at or around $200 as well that are excellent. There's even some new players this year that float around $300. Again, I just don't know how "cheap" you're waiting for. Otherwise there's always rental options like Netflix and such. You're really missing out and needlessly IMO if you have a nice TV like that and you aren't fully utilizing its potential. I hope you can jump on board soon. swt61: Enjoy your new set! Cheap enough to where it makes any sense at all to spend money on a player and replacing DVDs I already have when 90% of what I watch isn't available on BluRay anyways.
penger Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 A lot of new anime is on bluray though. Though, arguably the quality of animation has dropped significantly.
Fitz Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 Not really, there's still very little on bluray (even less so of any interest or at affordable prices), and many of the titles that came out early on have gone OOP. The only one of any real interest for me to re-buy would be FMP: TSR, which is going to be twice what I paid for the DVD version.
bhd812 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 SWT my Best friend upgraded his 50" panny pre-Viera set for a 58" panny Viera and loves it! he sold his panny blueray player and is looking for another player in the $1500 range (he is using his ps3 until then). anyway he swear by the 50 and 58 inch sets! at my bar every plasma is Panny, we do run two of the sets we have for 20 hours every day, the other 5 sets are ran 16 hours everyday but shut down at 12am to save energy. we had them for at least 4 years and they never gave us a problem. Panasonic makes a great TV for the price they sell at forsure! if i had to buy a TV today and seen a Panasonic at a good price i would buy it without a single thought of regret or worry.
Hopstretch Posted June 10, 2009 Author Report Posted June 10, 2009 ... is looking for another player in the $1500 range (he is using his ps3 until then). Tell him to just buy the Oppo and spend the rest on drugs.
bhd812 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 Tell him to just buy the Oppo and spend the rest on drugs. thats what sent me to view this thread rite now, i told him i only know of one blueray player the hifi peeps been talking about...
swt61 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 Not really, there's still very little on bluray (even less so of any interest or at affordable prices), and many of the titles that came out early on have gone OOP. The only one of any real interest for me to re-buy would be FMP: TSR, which is going to be twice what I paid for the DVD version. Pardon my Anime ignorance, but would Blu-ray really make much difference on an animated movie? I could be way off base here, but I can't see where the extended definition would be that noticable. Please correct me if I'm wrong. SWT my Best friend upgraded his 50" panny pre-Viera set for a 58" panny Viera and loves it! he sold his panny blueray player and is looking for another player in the $1500 range (he is using his ps3 until then). anyway he swear by the 50 and 58 inch sets! at my bar every plasma is Panny, we do run two of the sets we have for 20 hours every day, the other 5 sets are ran 16 hours everyday but shut down at 12am to save energy. we had them for at least 4 years and they never gave us a problem. Panasonic makes a great TV for the price they sell at forsure! if i had to buy a TV today and seen a Panasonic at a good price i would buy it without a single thought of regret or worry. Yeah the Panny advice on here was right on target. They do indeed seem to be at the forefront of Plasma technology. I'm also interested in some really good Blu-ray recommendations for my first Blu-ray movie on my new rig when it arrives.
mirumu Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 A lot of new anime is on bluray though. Though, arguably the quality of animation has dropped significantly. I've been importing a few anime Blu-rays from Japan lately. Code Geass R2 and White Album. The quality isn't perfect, but they are still quite a step up from DVD. It's a fair point you make about the quality of animation, but as with live action film I still find it preferable to see what detail there is rather than have it blurred away on a poor DVD transfer. Rebuild of Evangelion: 1.11 looks to have a pretty spectacular Blu-ray transfer too from the few screen grab comparisons I've seen.
penger Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 Heh. There is a definite difference between the 480p and 720p versions fansub groups put out. And I can tell you the raw sizes are huge. =P I've seen GitS and other more "high budget" anime series and there is a definite difference between the bluray encodes and the tv rips. Anyway, we digress.
mirumu Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 Pardon my Anime ignorance, but would Blu-ray really make much difference on an animated movie? I could be way off base here, but I can't see where the extended definition would be that noticable. Please correct me if I'm wrong. It's noticeable, but in different ways. Of course there isn't the same inner detail you'll get from live action film, but edges are smoother and more defined and small touches in the artwork are more visible. Anime also tends to suffer heavily on DVD from compression artifacts like macro-blocking and noise. These problems are more visible in animated material given the large areas of the same color. On the anime Blu-rays I've seen these problems haven't really existed. The worst problem I've seen was some color banding on the White Album Blu-rays, but the problem appears to also be present on the DVDs. I'm also interested in some really good Blu-ray recommendations for my first Blu-ray movie on my new rig when it arrives. Iron Man makes for a good demo disc as there's huge detail in many of the scenes. The Dark Knight is great for showing off superior black levels. Ratatouille and Corpse Bride also have very clean, detailed and color rich transfers. The newer version of The Fifth Element (avoid the original BD release) and Speed Racer also look very good. Some of the older titles benefit a surprising amount as well. I was quite impressed how good The Searchers looked after all these years.
penger Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 I'm also interested in some really good Blu-ray recommendations for my first Blu-ray movie on my new rig when it arrives. Maybe Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or House of Flying Daggers. There are a lot of flowing and rich colors in both those films.
Fitz Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 Pardon my Anime ignorance, but would Blu-ray really make much difference on an animated movie? I could be way off base here, but I can't see where the extended definition would be that noticable. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Mirumu pretty much nailed it. It's not so much about the extra detail on the actual material itself, but getting rid of artifacts that aren't supposed to be part of the video. Lots of sharp, clean lines and big areas of solid color make even minor compression artifacts stand out like a sore thumb.
swt61 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Posted June 10, 2009 Mirumu pretty much nailed it. It's not so much about the extra detail on the actual material itself, but getting rid of artifacts that aren't supposed to be part of the video. Lots of sharp, clean lines and big areas of solid color make even minor compression artifacts stand out like a sore thumb. OK, I can understand that.
Dusty Chalk Posted June 11, 2009 Report Posted June 11, 2009 BTW, Blockbuster rents several titles you can try out if you would wish such as "Pirates 2". My ex pointed that out to me. I purchased my player for $135 after tax last black Friday, I fully expect $100 players to be available by Christmas.I saw a Hitachi or something for $80 on NewEgg or Amazon gold box or something the other day. And yes, it was a Blu-Ray player, not a DVD player. I did a double-take.
Dusty Chalk Posted June 11, 2009 Report Posted June 11, 2009 Dark Knight! Friggin' reference quality. Blade Runner, too ("Final Cut").
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