blu ray player advice

Blu ray definitely improves picture: the simplest way is that subtitles no longer appear pixelated; then landscapes look much better. Finally, you can see the pores in faces in close-ups (perhaps we didn't need that). :-) 

I assume that there should be a substantial sound improvement on a good system, but I've never bothered to do the A to B comparison. I watch Blu Ray for the picture.

Hi David,

Get a quality blu ray player but don't waste your money on the discs - the up rez scaler in your player will increase the picture quality automatically the blu ray disc is a bit of a marketing trick for the extra 10 - 15 quid its not worth it.

So upscaled DVDs have the same image quality as Blu-Ray discs - when did that happen? 

any other suggestions as to what player to get?  Anyone with experience with this particular Sony player?

Well, no, of course not. But if your screen is small and/or you sit fairly well back, the difference won't be particularly noticeable. There is a very big difference if you have a large screen. At the approximately 3m viewing distance in our room, the difference was small on a 40" screen but is very noticeable on our new 60" screen.

I find a really big difference in sound quality. Blu-ray is very much better overall and the down-mixed stereo PCM feed to the SuperNait gives proper balance to the vocals. Many DVDs were/are mixed such that vocals were subdued without a centre channel or 5.1 system.

David - I have found that my Oppo Bluray player produces a superior picture and sound as compared to DVDs played on my Naim n-Vi, and n-Vi is/was one of the best in the business at DVD quality. The Oppo also produces a better picture with DVDs as compared to the n-Vi.

I've got no experience of the Sony player you are looking at but my earlier Samsung Bluray player which cost about £120 a few years ago was of markedly lower quality that my £500 Oppo and it didn't prove mechanically reliable either.  I can well understand your concern about cost v likely usage but I suspect if you go for a market entry level player the flimsiness of the touch and build quality will eventually jar with you, given the quality you have become accustomed to with your lovely, high-end olive system.  

MDS 

well went in different direction.  Got apple TV device, and  bagged the blu ray player.

Realized I had no intention of buying blu ray discs, now I can stream from I tunes, Netflix etc plus whole bunch of other streaming sources.

Will still keep my denon DVD hooked up but doubt will use much

Set up apple TV (such a tiny thing) and movie selection is great!  Plus if I want I can use my ipad to show home pics or videos on my TV.  I like it. david

I really have to disagree wit this.

I have a £350 Samsung 32" HD TV, and a £50 LG Blu-ray player connected via a £15 HDMI cable (so nowhere near high-end kit) and the difference between a DVD and a Blu-ray disc is pretty staggering as far as I am concerned!

I partially agree with the comment.

I still primarily buy DVD. I buy BluRay for big blockbusters.

The upscaling available through either your modern TV or player is impressive, I wouldn't use both at the same time. Can I tell the difference? This depends on the mastering and source, but most of the time I would say yes, BluRay is better, but I don't find it to be the same as the leap from Video to DVD, that was night and day.

Would I say this if I was using a 4k TV or projector? Don't know, as I don't - but I would love to hear from someone who does.

One other factor, soundtrack: Some on the forum are of the strong opinion that the HD tracks are better, I have heard differences, better I am not so sure of.

My personal preference for DVD is primarily driven by the fact that I rip my movies and prefer not to chunk through lots of HDD space for a marginal improvement in picture quality.

......that said, my wife noticed the quality uplift in the picture for one BluRay with no prompting. Horses, courses, mastering and all that jazz.

M

...and

I bought the cheap Sony BR player three years ago. I use an Oppo for the main system.

The Sony has performed faultlessly.

I use LoveFilm, which the Sony streams for me. I use this on a SD Panny, and on that it looks fine. The soundtrack is not HD, and I only use it in Stereo, which I think is all that is available.

In the context of a secondary non-HD system the Sony/LoveFilm solution is great. I haven't plugged it into my main system.

M

Personally I use an OPPO myself and it is a very nice bit of kit.

For the small difference in price between Blu-Ray & DVD these days, along with how much I've invested in my kit, it's BR every time for me. Picture & HD sound are well worth it for me. Expecting Blu-Ray to become cheaper when 4k hardware & software become 'mainstream' too.