Question About Blu Ray Players

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Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 11/22/12 at 8:56pm

I'm trying to decide if getting one would be worth it. I don't know very much about technology, so I am clueless. And I don't really know anyone who does either.

I just recently got a new tv. It's a 19" LED, LCD. I think the HD is 720p. Would getting a blu ray player for something like that be dumb? Thanks for any help.

"I don't want the pretty lights to come and get me."-Homecoming 2005 "You can't pray away the gay."-Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy. Ignored Users: suestorm, N2N Nate., Owen22, master bates

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 11/22/12 at 8:59pm

If you're only using a 19" screen, unless you're buying it for the blu ray features, you really won't notice any difference from a regular DVD.

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 11/22/12 at 9:04pm

Okay, thanks. Yeah, blu ray features are not that important to me. Guess I will be crossing this off my list of wants for right now.

"I don't want the pretty lights to come and get me."-Homecoming 2005 "You can't pray away the gay."-Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy. Ignored Users: suestorm, N2N Nate., Owen22, master bates

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 11/22/12 at 10:30pm

That being said, Blu Ray players are now in a very affordable range, especially if you don't want/need excessive amounts of features such as wi-fi or 3-D. At this point if you are needing to replace an existing DVD player then it would probably be smarter to make the leap to Blu Ray. You can still play all of your existing DVDs on it, so you don't have to restart your library from scratch.

If you have a DVD player that still works I would suggest checking to see if it has component outputs (the cable that is red, green, and blue, as opposed to the red, yellow, white cable). That will send a better picture to your new television set than the composite cables.

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 11/22/12 at 11:46pm

Do BluRay players play all DVDs - regardless of whether they are Region 1,2,3 or whatever?

Beyoncé is not an ally. Actions speak louder than words, Mrs. Carter. #Dubai #$$$

Updated On: 11/22/12 at 11:46 PM

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 11/23/12 at 12:04am

No (though I suspect, like regular DVD players, there are some somewhere you can buy with no region). Here they would be region 1 DVD, and I believe it's region A for the BluRay discs (of course more and more BluRays seem to be region free--it helps as well that BluRay doesn't have the NTSC/PAL format prob regular DVDs have).

I agree with AEA--for 19" it prob isn't that important (though you got an HDTV, so a part of me wonders why not)--but if you ever need to get a new DVD player, standard BluRay players are so cheap now there'd be no reason to get a regular DVD player (if they're even easy to find).

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 11/23/12 at 12:55am

Thanks. I lived overseas for a bit, and have several Region 2 DVDs.

Beyoncé is not an ally. Actions speak louder than words, Mrs. Carter. #Dubai #$$$

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 11/23/12 at 11:31am

My blue-ray player has no problem playing regular DVD's.

I bought my blue ray player a year ago, so it's newer. Maybe the older ones do not play DVD's.

"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>> “I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>> -whatever2

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 11/23/12 at 12:44pm

amazon sells region free BD and DVD players.

....but the world goes 'round

#10

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 11/23/12 at 12:50pm

Thanks for the responses everyone. The DVD player I own still works, so I can definitely wait.

"I don't want the pretty lights to come and get me."-Homecoming 2005 "You can't pray away the gay."-Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy. Ignored Users: suestorm, N2N Nate., Owen22, master bates

#11

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 11/23/12 at 9:47pm

I only have a 19in HD TV as well, but I can definitely tell the difference between a DVD & Bluray.

#12

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/2/12 at 11:48pm

What brand of Blu Ray player would everyone recommend?

#13

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/3/12 at 12:50am

I like my Panasonic 3D Blu Ray player (though the only 3D disc I own is a Kylie Minogue concert--but the system was forced on me by my new step father who was appaled that I had a standard DVD player and no HD tv, so really who am I to say no when he insists on 3D too :P ). They seem a reliable brand...

#14

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/3/12 at 7:35am

Thanks Eric. I have no desire to have a 3D player but would like a Blu Ray player. I don't really like 3D movies and usually leave the theater with a headache after seeing one. Your stepfather would be appalled at me too since I don't have an HD TV either. I think I am the only one that doesn't even have a flat screen TV! I am so far behind with technology.

#15

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/3/12 at 7:49am

If you don't have an HD television, then why do you want a Blu-ray player?

I'm not even sure most Blu-ray players will work with standard-def TVs. It depends on what input connections you have on your TV and its age. I would look into that before I spent the money upgrading to Blu-ray.

I would also upgrade your TV before you upgrade your player, or at least do them simultaneously.

To answer the earlier questions, Blu-ray players are backwards-compatible and will play DVDs, but that doesn't mean they are "region free."

Most DVDs are not region free, so you would need a region-free player for that. They are not (technically) legal, although I see them sold online, so I'm not sure how much of an issue it is. Most companies offer little to no tech support for region-free players. Also, keep in mind that the machine auto-conversion from PAL to NTSC can be very glitchy (or steppy) during playback. If that doesn't bother you, then fine.

Blu-ray Discs have less regions to deal with and many discs are released region-free now. I think this is a result of the classic sentiment: "if you can't beat them, join them." Regional coding is, in my opinion, a pain in the ass. It's just a way for studios to charge certain areas of the world a different price than others for the same thing. Consumers didn't like studios having that control, so the region-free machines went on the market with an attitude of "just try to stop me!" from consumers. In the end, I think the consumer is winning that game.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

Updated On: 12/3/12 at 07:49 AM

#16

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/3/12 at 8:17am

Completely agreed with the region thing (as I mentioned, at least with BluRay and HDTV the whole PAL/MTSC issue is eliminated). The way that so many things are bought online now, makes it all the sillier (I have the same feeling when it comes to things like music being released at different times in different markets, etc). Of course I get the issue--I have a number of Studio Ghibli animated films in their Japanese Blu Ray just because the region is the same as N America anyway, and the films always have English subtitles even though the English releases often don't come for close to two years following the Japanese release.

I don't think there's much issue with most non HDTVs from the last ten or even fifteen years being able to work with BluRay players.

#17

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/3/12 at 1:35pm

Here's the Blu-ray player I own and love. And on Amazon right now it's at an irresistible $68.00.

Things I like about it:
1) USB port on the front. Great for viewing your photos, listening to mp3, and watching movies without having to burn a disc in order to do it.
2) Wired streaming. Does a beautiful job. Amazon, Netflix, Pandora, and many more.
3) Standard DVDs look great. Blu-ray looks spectacular.
4) Discs load quickly.

Sony BDP-S185

Updated On: 12/3/12 at 01:35 PM

#18

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/3/12 at 1:52pm

I think that's the DVD player I have. I finally bought one this year.

I agree with Morosco that the USB port on the front is important: I can copy a movie from my laptop onto a flash drive and then pop the flash drive into the Blu-Ray and watch it.

Also, wired streaming is better than wireless. If your Blu-Ray player will be sitting near your cable box/router, streaming HD movies is smoother using the wired connect than the wireless.

#19

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/3/12 at 2:24pm

I have that player as well and it is wonderful. However I have yet to figure out this whole downloading movies and putting it on a stick and watching it thru the player thing. Ever since Limewire and Vuze stopped working I don't know how to download or find anything on the mac.

HUSSY POWER! ------ HUSSY POWER!

#20

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/3/12 at 4:48pm

Yeah the USB port has made a huge difference to me (though I believe it's on the back of my player :P ), and one I didn't really expect. I download a TON of torrents (bad, yes, I know), and sometimes would burn them to a DVD if I wanted to share them with friends, or whatever, but I never seemed to have blank DVDs, it often was a pain to do, etc. So the fact you can just put an .avi or .mkv file (more often than not, one already in full high def), with a flashdrive, has made a huge difference, and frankly has spoiled me.

Dame, Mac's use torrents, don't they? Torrents is something that people always seem to think looks very difficult and complicate to learn--I'm fairly computer iliterate and it took me a while to finally give in and try them, but they're really just as simple to use as Limewire, and you are almost always guaranteed a better quality result. I think I managed to explain it well enough for Jay-lerner to learn how to use them very quickly on here--send me a PM if you're curious.

I have noticed that the upgrade conversion most BluRay players give to standard DVDs was also a surprise to me. Some BluRay discs really don't look significantly superior to the standard DVD on the same player, at least on my 46" screen (Brokeback Mountain comes to mind), although I almost always notice a big improvement with BluRay discs using hand drawn animation (at least when the BluRay is mastered carefully like with recent Disney and Studio Ghibli releases), it might just be that imperfections show up easier with cell based animation.

#21

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/4/12 at 9:03am

I'm trying to find a Blu-Ray player that can play both NTSC and PAL DVDs, but it's very difficult finding any definitive information.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#22

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/5/12 at 11:42pm

That's a good point that I would really need an HD TV in order to take full advantage of a Bluray player. My TV is very old and the screen size is so small that it is annoying watching a widescreen DVD. My DVD player is starting to go and that is why I was looking to replace it. It's intersting that so many of you have the same Sony Bluray DVD player and are satisfied with it. I checked out the link morosco provided and it looks like a great player and is very affordable. It would make sense to replace my TV at the same time and go with an HD smart TV and get an HD cable box from my cable company. The prices are pretty good right now for the holiday season. I am having trouble deciding on what brand TV I should go with and also what size to get. I am thinking of somewhere between 40" and 46". It's hard to visualize it in the space I will be putting it in and if it will be too overwhelming or not. Any advice on what brand I should be looking at? If I purchase the Sony Bluray DVD player, should I look into a Sony TV?

Updated On: 12/5/12 at 11:42 PM

#23

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/6/12 at 12:05am

Someimes the same brand is more convenient--but if you find one brand is good quality and a good deal, I wouldn't worry about it.

How big is your space? That's the main concern for screen size IMHO. I think 40" is more than big enough for a smaller room (and trust me, it does seem like a huge change at first, but you get used to it quickly)

#24

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/6/12 at 10:58am

I got a Samsung HD TV and Blu-ray player and I am happy with both.

"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal "I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello

#25

Question About Blu Ray Players

Posted: 12/6/12 at 12:23pm

If I purchase the Sony Bluray DVD player, should I look into a Sony TV?

pushdabutton, I think the only advantage to buying a Sony TV to go with a Sony player would be the feature that enables the two to "talk" to one another. For example when I turn my BluRay player on it automatically turns my television on and switches it to the proper HDMI connection. Also lots of functions of each Sony device are repeated on each device's remote control so that does allow you to use just one remote instead of two. Both issues are convenient but maybe not a big enough deal to not consider other TVs.

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