Blu-Ray with 42' 720P Panny Plasma (1 Viewer)

[Steve>JF]

Do I need to buy a new tv if I buy a Blu-Ray player? I have a Panny 1024x768P Plasma and the picture looks pretty good with SD DVD and TV. Will it do Blu-Ray DVDs justice? I've heard/read that unless you have a screen greater than 42", there isn't a real noticable difference. Does anyone have this setup (Blu-Ray player hooked to 768P Plasma/LCD tv)?

Steve

 

[David Norman]

Many people do and most say BR makes a significant difference depending in large part to your viewing distance. The argument about screen size is much more about 720p vs 1080p rather than 1080p Bluray vs 480p DVD -- it's better to throw away half the extra pixels than to attempt invent 2/3 of the pixels that aren't on DVD to begin with. Even on my 23inch set Bluray is noticeably better -- color saturation, detail, jaggies. On the audio side there is a significant improvement as well.

 

[Stephen Tu]

If you can tell the difference between SD DVD and HD broadcast, then Blu-ray will be at least that much. If you are so far away that you don't see much difference between DVD & HD then you may not want to bother. But I would argue that if you are sitting so far away you can't tell a difference, that you are missing the point of home theater & have wasted the improvement HD brings. Move your seat closer! 2.5x the TV size at most IMO and 2x would be better.

 

[Dave H]

This might help.

Chart: 1080P Does Matter - CarltonBale.com

 

[Nathan Eddy]

I've got a 50" Panny Plasma, 768p; I sit about 11-12 feet away.

I was a bit disappointed with BR when I first got my Sony 550 on Black Friday. Honestly, I've been more consistently impressed with NBC's over-the-air broadcasts (ABC looks a tad "soft" and I can't pick up CBS or FOX well enough, so I just watch the SD cable versions).

So obviously, it's not a problem with the TV. But I don't think it's a problem with the format, either. It's the particular films and the particular scenes in those films. Frankly, I don't think I've watched enough titles yet (around 10). In Hellboy and Hulk, for instance, I could see an improvement, but it wasn't a knock-your-socks-off improvement. But in The Dark Knight, the IMAX scenes were simply breathtaking. I was blown away, had to stop the movie and "rewind" to watch each one again. It was a bit of a let down to return to the smaller AR. The Lost Season 4 BD set was beautiful, especially in wide, still shots and close-ups of actors' faces. However, in quick movement through the jungle, there is a lot of blur (motion blur? judder? I don't know) which stands out because the rest looks so good. I've bragged on the Rush Snakes and Arrows concert BD in another thread . . . I can see individual gray hairs on Geddy's head (bet he loves that!) and knuckle hair on Alex's hands as he plays solos. I can see individual strings, and tell which ones are vibrating and which are not. That's pretty freakin' sweet! As a bass player, I can actually see which frets are being played, and figure out some of Geddy's tricks.

So I can tell an improvement. It's not huge in every scene, but quite often it is stunning. Perhaps I was expecting too much to think that every fast motion would be clear, but that's why I bought a plasma, after all. After spending $1700 on the TV and player, I just wish everything looked crystal clear and mind-blowing. But it doesn't. And I don't think that has anything to do with resolution (though maybe I'm wrong about that), but the limitations of film itself. (My set and player do support 24p, btw.)

 

[Steve>JF]

Thanks for all the help, guys. I think I'm going to buy a BD player and see how some BD movies look on it before I go out and buy another TV.