Is Blu-Ray worth it with a 720P plasma?

[Bob Walters]

Folks,
I hate to be the "bubblebuster" but with my Panasonic 720p display hooked up to HD-DVD player at one input & an OPPO DVD player at another, at 10 feet I [and others] saw NO APPRECIABLE difference between the two. A difference...yes... but not enough to change my entire library, buy new equipment & new HD-DVD's [in the generic sense]. Substitute Blu-Ray for HD DVD at any point within the thread. Again, a SUBJECTIVE observation.........your mileage may vary.

[PalmHarbor]

Originally Posted by Bob Walters

Folks,
I hate to be the "bubblebuster" but with my Panasonic 720p display hooked up to HD-DVD player at one input & an OPPO DVD player at another, at 10 feet I [and others] saw NO APPRECIABLE difference between the two. A difference...yes... but not enough to change my entire library, buy new equipment & new HD-DVD's [in the generic sense]. Substitute Blu-Ray for HD DVD at any point within the thread. Again, a SUBJECTIVE observation.........your mileage may vary.

I think what you describe the JND, or just noticeable difference. That is something I am not will to put out $300 for.
My Samsung has a dv output that I convert to HDMI and use w/the Marantz and it works just fine.

[rbinck]

I would tend to agree with you somewhat, Bob. There are two different things to consider though. One would be the media and I'd agree that it may not be worth changing from DVD to Blu-ray on many, if not most, discs. However, if the issue is whether to buy a Blu-ray player or an up-converting DVD player, I would go with the Blu-ray player. The Blu-ray players are available in a similar cost range as the good up-converters like Oppo and many, if not most, will up-convert standard DVDs as well as play Blu-ray discs.

[AnthemDBA]

I have a 720p Panasonic plasma with a Panasonic BluRay player. BluRay on 720p is most definitely worth the investment many times over. In fact, I use this setup as a demo system in one of my demo rooms. Anytime someone comes to see it they are absolutely blown away by the picture and sound quality. Keep in mind that some BluRay movies are better than others. So some may look only slightly better than an upconverted DVD, but that has nothing to do with the question of 720p vs.1080p. If you have a decent 720p television that has been properly setup then 95% the time you will not be able to tell the difference vs. 1080p. As far as television broadcasts go there are still very very very few television stations that broadcast in 1080p (in the US). The vast majority of television stations in the US broadcast in 720p or 1080i, which is then upcoverted.

As far as going with the very high end players vs. a more reasonably priced player it all depends on your standards. Will there be a big difference in PQ/AQ between a $2000 Denon and a $500 Panasonic? The answer is no. Under the right conditions there will be a difference, but it will not be a night and day difference. Many of my colleagues and clients use $400-$600 Panasonic players for their reference systems and I have never once heard a complaint oe desire to upgrade. On the other hand what improvement those higher-end players do bring may be worth the money to YOU. And, just because you don't have a 1080p television now does not mean you won't someday.

[Mitchell Erblich]

With Blu-Ray, you get a better VIDEO and AUDIO set of specs. Which means your DVD media quality is dependent on the source material and a great cheaper set (maybe a 720p Pioneeer Kuro Plasma vs a 1080p Kuro Plasma) which is a plasma may /more than likely outperform significantly better than say some mass produced 1080i L:CD set in a large number of the aspects of the set. However, if we stay with video your Blu-Ray player may be able to enhance the video of a standard DVD to a video quality that would be almost equal to the quality of a Blu-Ray. In addition, to the quality / age of the source/movie, is the distance that you watch your movies. If you are are in excess of 15' of a 50" set, then the extra pixels might be a waste. Lastly, if the set is smaller than 40" and you sit closer, again the extra pixels might be a waste. Overall, I try to buy a set based on a number of parameters and not just one. Video: Owner of a Sony BDP-S1 and 60" 1080p Kuro .

[JustSayKB]

Hello. New to the forum here.

As much as I enjoy the improved sound and uncompressed video there is definitely a difference on my Samsung 50" DLP. I want to upgrade to a Panasonic TC-P50G10 plasma.