Samsung BD-Player vs. DVD-Player (1 Viewer)

I currently have a Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-ray player & a Samsung 1080P7 DVD player connected to my Samsung 52" 1080p LCD. My wife & I tend to watch a lot of classic b&w movies on DVD, and are curious which of these two players would be best suited for this type of film? Since both players upconvert the image, I would imagine the differences (if any) would be negligible, but am curious to hear some feedback on this. Many Thanks !!

In general, BluRay players have better upconverters/scalers/? in them to help justify the higher price. I had a Samsung 1400 and thought it did a great job with standard dvd. But I think I remember reading somewhere that with the 1600 Samsung went to a cheaper 1080P upconverter. But I would think the 1400 would be better than the 7 or the display but I'm not sure how noticable the improvement would be.

If you have both players on hand I'd say hook them both up and see if you can tell a difference.

The problem is that image quality is so subjective - and opinions will be affected by the TVs or projectors other people watch, to say nothing of how the sets are calibrated and the viewing conditions. In short, anything you hear from anyone else isn't likely to tell you much about how the two will compare on your system in your house.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that you can get your answer with an easy experiment that can actually be a bit of fun.

Borrow or rent one or two movies that you and your wife have seen many times. Now, with one of you controls the system. Put one copy of movie number 1 in each player. Fire them up as close to simultaneously as possible. Now, without telling your significant other which player is which, switch back and forth (you'll have to keep track of which player you're on when) and ask which looks better. (Pretend you're an eye doctor. "Better now? Or now?") Make a note of the responses. If your system makes it obvious which input you're on, place a piece of cardboard so that you can see the input, but the test subject can't. (Or go with closed eyes on cue - if you trust the other person that much. )

Now, reverse positions and try the same thing with the other spouse. If you really want to be thorough, do two more blind tests with the second film. By the time you're done you'll have a very good idea if one looks better than the other, and you'll have played an interesting game. (You can even bet on whether or not each of you can tell the difference between the two or predict which one will be better.)

Regards,

Joe