Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Blu-Ray on a 720p plasma?

My brother has hinted he might like a blu-ray player for his birthday. My only hesitation is that he has a panasonic 720p plasma tv.

Anyone out there have a 720p plasma and blu-ray player? Is it worth the cost to go blu-ray and be limited to 720p?

He has no high-def to compare it to, as he doesn't have cable tv...he only watches movies or tv shows on dvd.

What say you all? Should I get him a player?

How big is his TV, how far away does he sit, and does he have an audio system that would take advantage of the new sound formats?

40" (maybe 42", I don't remember)

He sits pretty close. (probably about 7-8')

Axiom M22's powered by a Rotel integrated amp. (No surround sound)

I would think that any HD TV will benefit from Blu-Ray, the difference between 1080p and 720p should be all but unnoticeable with TVs under 50". If he's not watching anything HD I'd be inclined to believe the BR would be a vast improvement over what he's watching now.

Craig, I have the Panasonic 50" 720p, and no Hi-Def source - just an up-converting DVD player. My neighbour was kind enough to let me borrow his Toshiba HD-DVD player and movies for about a week.

In a nut shell, it was definitely better than my up-converted DVD's, and simply blew away everything else. I hated to give it back. Worth the investment - no hesitation.

The other thought would be a PS3.... You could buy two, and send one my way!

And, it did a better job of upconverting standard DVD's than my player.

I have a 1024x768 Panasonic Plasma (so 720p) and the difference between Blu-ray and well-upconverted DVD is immediate. A trick I frequently play to guests is to put my Blu-ray copy of Lost III and put the DVD in my good upconverter (BD-30). As they marvel to the picture from the BD-30 (which IS very, very good), I then switch to the PS3 running the Blu-ray version of the same episode without telling them ("oops, sorry I pressed on the wrong button!").

And then the comments vary, but the midlest I ever heard was "Hey Dude, I don't know what you did, but... it looks better. Like... I don't know... static free".

In other words, the difference is quite visible. Is it worth the price, that's always one for budget and priorities in life! For me it is without the shadow of a doubt.

Sounds like you have your answer. I'd think PS3 as well though, that way you can say you got him a gaming console AND a BluRay player. What a great brother!

I have a Pioneer Kuro 768p 50 inch set and sit 8 feet away from it. Most Blu-ray's that I watch definitely stand out over regular dvd's. The big differences are color, more detail and sharpness. Every now and then you will run into a Blu-ray that isn't mastered that well where it doesn't look much better than a nicely mastered dvd. But, this is quite rare and not really what your question is. Since this is a suprise Christmas present it is a little bit difficult to just hook it up and see for yourself. Unless you were to sneak in while he was away for some reason. In that case, try renting Pirates of the Caribbean on Blu-ray and dvd. You should notice a difference on this title over the standard def. If not then Blu-ray is not worth it on the display.

- Nick

Craig-
Are you open to adopting more brothers?

Boy, I wish I had a brother that would get me a gift as pricey as a PS3. Then again, I think that I would have to start with having a brother and not a sister. Sisters just don't understand...

Maybe I'll trade you a brother for your sister. Is she hot?

<<insert hysterically laughing emote of your choice here.>>

Ewwwww.... Gross.......

Especially since, after the trade, she would have become his sister...

I've watched Blu-ray on both my 720p and 1080p sets and Imo there is a huge difference between Blu-ray and SD on both sets. I think he would be very happy with a HD player.
You may want to wait until Black Friday to see what kind of deals are available before purchasing.

We need a Black Friday in Canada.

Maple Syrup Sundays just are not cutting it anymore.

Murph, what do you think Boxing day is? We just never see the same type of deals up here.

OK, so the next question is which player to buy. Since he only has 2-channel, the latest wiz-bang audio codec aren't too important. Picture quality for blu-ray discs and uprezing his standard def dvd collection will be the primary issue.

What's the best bet for that situation?

I should also note he doesn't have easy net access from where his tv is positioned, so "live" access to the web would likely not be possible.

ok...I think I'm answering my own questions here...

I also have a $100 gift cert from Walmart. I'm thinking this may be my best bet.

Anyone strongly disagree?

Well, Since I have each, I was going to chime in about BD + 720 (it's significant and wonderful), but looks like you passed that pop stand already.

I DO want to give a big vote for the PS3. With your $100 Wally cert, it would be pretty close to the $239.

Keep your eye on SonyStyle as well. They are overdue to offer "Get a Sony Visa, any purchase over $299 gets 12 mos no interest, $100 (sometimes $15)) credit on your bill after a $299+ purchase and free ground shipping".

One of the best things I've done for my HT rig!

I love my PS3 as well, but he'd never use any of it's extra features and the bluetooth remote would drive him nuts. He likes using one remote.

Wal-mart is believed to take the Magnavox Blu-ray Disc Player, NB500MG9 down to a $128 price tag.

The price is expected to be announced around Black Friday.

Use the gift card and you only have to come up with $28.00

Craig, ditto Michael's suggestion as to the expected upcoming sale on the Magnavox player(top-rated in this month's Consumer Reports tests).

You are correct on both accounts. I forgot about boxing day but the hugeness of the sales don't seem to be as extreme.

The Panasonic is supposed to do an excellent job at upconverting dvd's as well. It may be worth the extra $100 over the Magnavox.

- Nick

Hmmm - I ended up buying a solution for the PS3 that allows me to use my MX-900 / MX-850 remotes. It's at schmartz.com if you are interested. The on I got is the "PRO" version. Includes discreet ON and OFF for the PS3.

I'm using the schmartz Pro also, now I'm back to one remote and I'm a happy camper with my PS3.

Me too, thanks to you two guys.

I'd purchase a Blu-ray as my next player even if I had an old SD tube TV (which I don't). That way I could begin to amass a library of movie's in the latest format right now. I'd be ready for the future if I was to upgrade from my tube (or even an 720p screen). It kind'a sucks to have invested $100's or even $1000's in the older DVD format and then end up upgrading later and regretting not having bought Blu-ray from the beginning.

One thing I always considered important with both BR and HD-DVD was the Ethernet connection. Even if the physical format dies, the codecs are still useful and go be used to turn any box into a new format reader (a bit like Microsoft did with a "pluggable" HD-DVD or Blu-ray module). USB expension is also important. There are enough Blu-ray units out there that someone will find a way to re-use them with a bit of programming and ingenuity. (actually I find it lacking from Toshiba or Toshiba-hackers not to have been more aggressive into turning their boxes into video and audio streamers).

This is unlike prior dead technologies where the player was totally captive to one physical disk format.

Just chiming in with every one else: I have a Panasonic 720p 50in plasma that I'm sitting about 10 ft. away from. There is a dramatic difference between BR and DVD. At that distance, you can't make out the difference between 720 and 1080.

Go for the BR, he'll like it i swear! ;-)