Do you have a BluRay player?

Voodu Child · 18-08-2011 07:49PM

sink wrote: »

Most modern cinema projectors are 4K which is 4 times the resolution of 1080p so the cinema you're going to must be poxy.

In Ireland the average digital cinema is 2k (approx the same as 1080p) and a lot of smaller cinemas are still running 1.3k projectors.

I don't know how many 4k projectors have been installed here but its definitely not the majority yet.

Irish Guitarist · 18-08-2011 07:57PM

I don't have one. I refuse to buy one until they spell the word 'blue' properly.

18-08-2011 07:59PM

Have had a Blu Ray player from early on, some of the discs available are absolutely stunning, Zulu in particular is one of the best looking things that your eyes will ever be exposed to.

the reason that Blu-Ray hasn't caught on is that it took so long for the price of Blu-Ray discs to fall, up until the last year or so it was common to walk into HMV and find that the cheapest discs they had were in the high 20s price range. Now thankfully most places have copped on and the deals you can find are fantastic, in Tower Records they have Planet Earth on Blu-Ray for less than the DVD set. In HMV you can get many recent releases in the 2 for 22 offer they run and they routinely put catalogue titles directly into the offer, The Thin Red Line and American Graffiti were both in the offer on release day.

Anyone serious about getting into buying Blu-Ray discs should check out blu-ray.com and in particular their forum board. It's shocking when you see how many releases have been destroyed due to excessive image tweaking and in the case of Ironclad cutting off nearly a third of the image on one side.

One final point before I go, fans of 80s action films should be pleasantly surprised to find that most Blu-Ray releases from the period are available for the first time uncut. Tango and Cast, Commando and the upcoming Cobra are all the uncut versions and anyone who picked up or plans to get Conan the Barbarian can watch it uncut for the first time over here by simply changing the default language on their Blu-Ray player or PS3 to anything bar English.

Sofiztikated · 18-08-2011 08:01PM

Christ, my local cinema can barely manage to stop the projector slipping and cutting the bottom of the screen or the left or the right off. Anything with subtitles is a nightmare, and you expect them to be running 4k projectors?

BluRay, no, I don't have one. Just not necessary for me.

dotsman · 18-08-2011 08:23PM

If you have eyes and ears and love movies - once you go bluray, you won't go back.

I download HD TV shows and watch them on my media player, as the picture quality/sound for tv shows is not as important, but there is a massive difference (if you have the right equipment) between a bluray and a 8GB mkv when it comes to a well produced movie.

As for the original question, I don't think you understand how successful bluray is and how it will completely replace dvd.

DVD was developed in '95, only began to take off in the late 90's, became on a par with VHS by'02/'03 and fully replaced VHS by '05/06.

Bluray, on the other hand was developed in '06, because of the format war with HD DVD, only began to establish itself in '08. If you take a shop like hmv etc as an example. In '08, bluray would have merely been a "special interest" shelf, completely swamped by DVD. By '11, bluray is now a huge part of the shop, although still smaller than the DVD floorspace. In the next 2 years, it will have more floorspace than DVD and a further 2 years after that (circa 2015), dvd will be consigned to antiquity.

The thing you have to remember is that bluray is backward compatible. It is not competing with DVD - it is replacing it.

ScumLord · 18-08-2011 08:26PM

Deleted User wrote: »

the reason that Blu-Ray hasn't caught on is that it took so long for the price of Blu-Ray discs to fall,

I think it has more to do with needing to buy an expensive tele before you can even think about getting the expensive player to play the expensive disks with.

It's looking like it's just becoming a redundant technology, it'll become a popular storage medium if it's lucky.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 18-08-2011 08:28PM

Fago! wrote: »

I watch the film live.

I hope No Country For Old Men tour Europe this winter.

x in the city · 18-08-2011 08:37PM

Stinicker wrote: »

I was just talking to a friend of mine last night and he commented on BluRay's never caught on like DVD's did. I have had a BluRay player for the last year and before that had the HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360 before HD-DVD lost the format war.

Has it reached a stage now where people have moved beyond physical format mediums and are happy to download a 700mb avi rip in crappovision instead of embracing High Definition.

.mkv tbh.

Kiera · 18-08-2011 08:48PM

Yip have a PS3 and a normal bluray player. Cant tell the difference in picture tbh

SirLemonhead · 18-08-2011 08:55PM

Deleted User wrote: »

One final point before I go, fans of 80s action films should be pleasantly surprised to find that most Blu-Ray releases from the period are available for the first time uncut. Tango and Cast, Commando and the upcoming Cobra are all the uncut versions and anyone who picked up or plans to get Conan the Barbarian can watch it uncut for the first time over here by simply changing the default language on their Blu-Ray player or PS3 to anything bar English.

I'll be getting those

I've quite a few discs now..30-40 or so. I much prefer owning the discs than having to arse about downloading them and having to convert them. I feel like the format does film waaaaay more justice than DVD did so it's worth spending money on.

Turtyturd · 18-08-2011 08:57PM

Yep....bought it purely for the fact that I can plug a memory stick into it and watch movies from it.

Rabidlamb · 18-08-2011 09:11PM

Turtyturd wrote: »

Yep....bought it purely for the fact that I can plug a memory stick into it and watch movies from it.

Some new TV's come with a USB slot so you don't even need the player anymore.
Only problem with USB sticks is 2GB is the max file size due to them being formatted in FAT32.
Learn this to your cost when watching a 2.2GB mkv that cuts out 15 minutes before the end.

sink · 18-08-2011 09:15PM

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Some new TV's come with a USB slot so you don't even need the player anymore.
Only problem with USB sticks is 2GB is the max file size due to them being formatted in FAT32.
Learn this to your cost when watching a 2.2GB mkv that cuts out 15 minutes before the end.

You can re-format them to NTFS using a PC, just so long as you're player is compatible with NTFS, not PS3 or XBOX afaik.

bnt · 18-08-2011 09:45PM

A Blu-Ray player would be a waste, since I don't have a HD TV. I have no plans to upgrade in the foreseeable future, and even then I might avoid Blu-Ray for one simple reason: Sony. The RootKit scandal was the last straw, and I refuse to put any more money in their pockets - and they get royalties on every Blu-Ray player and disc manufactured. :mad:

Biggins · 18-08-2011 09:58PM

SuperInfinity wrote: »

Well your local cinema must be a kip. Proper cinemas have resolutions of several thousands (horizontal and vertical) for the past century, and for the past 50 at least objectively look a lot better than any home equipment.

Also, you can't or you would do anything you could to try to watch it in HD? I can not take you seriously if you literally would refuse to watch a movie that wasn't in HD. That is just idiot talk. Like people who claim they can't play old video games anymore.

Once I saw someone say that they did not "see the point" of watching a show like Game of Thrones if it wasn't in HD.... wow, how stupid can you get.

Yes - our cinema IS a kip and if you stick your head into the Louth section, you will read many complaints about it.

As for my home equipment - its the best that can be got and trust me when I say, its far better than our local cinema.
(I've even got an 46" LED flatscreen with 7.1 surround sound in our bedroom. Right now my oldest daughter is in there watching the Sound of ruddy Music in HD)

I didn't say anything about old games - and to be honest as I'm a rather old fart, I prefer them!
I'd rather HD now than the lower resolutions - thats all.
O' and as for Game of Thrones in HD, it looks absolutely stunning - especially when the lassies are naked.

18-08-2011 10:07PM

ScumLord wrote: »

I think it has more to do with needing to buy an expensive tele before you can even think about getting the expensive player to play the expensive disks with.

It's looking like it's just becoming a redundant technology, it'll become a popular storage medium if it's lucky.

Most people have a HD capable TV and have had for a few years now, I don't think I know a single person who hasn't a TV capable of playing Blu-Ray through.

As for it being a redundant technology, that's really not true. While people will constantly herald the coming of the next gen of film watching, downloading anything you want directly to your computer or TV in reality that's a long way off. I'd much rather pay 11 euro or so for a 50GB Blu-Ray disc with all my special features within than pay 8 euro for a digital download of the same film. With the disc I'm guaranteed the best possibly version of the film free from any compression and no matter what anyone tells you there is a noticeable difference between an 8 gig rip of a film and the version on the Blu-Ray disc. There's also the hassle of having to download a film again if your hard drive fails and you haven't it backed up.

The upcoming Ultraviolet cloud based streaming is seen as the way of the future but it has numerous drawbacks. Here's an interesting article discussing it.

nlgbbbblth · 18-08-2011 10:20PM

Don't have a Blu-Ray player yet but do have a few discs. Some DVDs I buy are "dual format" i.e. a DVD and Blu-Ray in the one package. BFI Flipside releases for example.

Most of my DVD purchases are archive television shows from the 1960s / 1970s that were shot on videotape so Blu Ray is not an option nor would it benefit them.

For movies I'll probably buy a few on Blu Ray but having purchased a good few on VHS and loads on DVD I doubt if I'll be triple-dipping.

Have to laugh at the comments towards "physical media" as if it were some form of disease to be avoided.

A hard drive of MP3s and downloaded television shows = my idea of hell.

Its shelves and shelves of LPs, CDs and DVDs for me and it'll always be like that.

Biggins · 18-08-2011 10:25PM

Deleted User wrote: »

...The upcoming Ultraviolet cloud based streaming is seen as the way of the future but it has numerous drawbacks. Here's an interesting article discussing it.

I don't like the sound of that to be honest!

Gummy Panda · 18-08-2011 10:25PM

Darko wrote: »

Conan the Barbarian can watch it uncut for the first time over here by simply changing the default language on their Blu-Ray player or PS3 to anything bar English.

What was cut from Conan the barbarian?

noxqs · 18-08-2011 10:33PM

Movies on plastic disks? LOOL. Oldtimers.

nlgbbbblth · 18-08-2011 10:35PM

noxqs wrote: »

Movies on plastic disks? LOOL. Oldtimers.

Are you a fan of collecting farts in a jar as well?

Nerdkiller1991 · 18-08-2011 10:42PM

Really? There are people who are going against physical media, even people going as far as to say that they straight up pirate their movies? Well let me tell you this...how many digital downloads offer 7.1 lossless audio? Hell, how many digital downloads offer lossless audio at all? And how many digital downloads offer a bit rate, higher than BD? Some people, eh?

And regarding digital cinema seeing as some people have brought up digital cinema projectors, I friggin' hate it. I hate the fact that cinemas are replacing their old projectors for digital ones and that some film makers are moving away from filming in...well, film and using digital cameras instead, with set resolutions like 4K (not good for any future physical formats once UHDTV is introduced). Christopher Nolan himself said that digital film (or whatever you like to call it) doesn't capture as much detail as regular film, which was one of the reasons as to why he chose not to film Inception in 3D (shooting a film in 3D on film has been done for many years, but it was always a cumbersome experience with the larger camera).

Well, that's all I have to say for now.

Rabidlamb · 18-08-2011 10:53PM

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

Really? There are people who are going against physical media, even people going as far as to say that they straight up pirate their movies? Well let me tell you this...how many digital downloads offer 7.1 lossless audio? Hell, how many digital downloads offer lossless audio at all? And how many digital downloads offer a bit rate, higher than BD? Some people, eh?

Most offer the AC3 codec 5.1 surround, I've listened to both on my setup & find it hard to differentiate.
Maybe music shows it up better with 320kb mp3 vs Flac.

18-08-2011 10:58PM

Gummy Panda wrote: »

What was cut from Conan the barbarian?

A number of horse trips, the last action scene was ruined due to the poor edits where it just went black for a second before returning to the film.

ScumLord · 18-08-2011 11:03PM

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

Christopher Nolan himself said that digital film (or whatever you like to call it) doesn't capture as much detail as regular film,

That's just nonsense, digital films possibilities are limitless and constantly improving. There's digital equipment that can capture all kinds of details it's just the old school way of doing films is so unionised they don't want to see their jobs wiped out by the digital film.

Voodu Child · 18-08-2011 11:08PM

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

Really? There are people who are going against physical media, even people going as far as to say that they straight up pirate their movies? Well let me tell you this...how many digital downloads offer 7.1 lossless audio? Hell, how many digital downloads offer lossless audio at all? And how many digital downloads offer a bit rate, higher than BD? Some people, eh?

An unscrupulous person could get all those things you mention, but in fairness 7.1 lossless is a bit of a sham.

Firstly very few movies are mixed in 7.1 anyway.

And in blind tests very few people can tell the difference between an uncompressed DTS-HD stream and a 640kbps AC3 stream. Certainly not on your average consumer setup, which tends to be a cheap all-in-one unit with crappy little satellite speakers and a flimsy sub in the corner.

Sierra 117 · 18-08-2011 11:25PM

I have a Blu-Ray player. Bought it last year soon after I bought my HDTV. I like physical media and I don't think that's ever going to change.

MysticalRain · 18-08-2011 11:56PM

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

Really? There are people who are going against physical media, even people going as far as to say that they straight up pirate their movies? Well let me tell you this...how many digital downloads offer 7.1 lossless audio? Hell, how many digital downloads offer lossless audio at all? And how many digital downloads offer a bit rate, higher than BD? Some people, eh?

You must be new to this internet downloading business.

sink · 19-08-2011 12:11AM

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

Really? There are people who are going against physical media, even people going as far as to say that they straight up pirate their movies? Well let me tell you this...how many digital downloads offer 7.1 lossless audio? Hell, how many digital downloads offer lossless audio at all? And how many digital downloads offer a bit rate, higher than BD? Some people, eh?

I spent just over €2K on a new home cinema setup (LG 47LX9900, Onkyo TX-NR609, Tannoy HTS101). I have it hooked up to a HTPC as well as a PS3, Xbox 360 & Sky+ HD.

Playing an 8GB+ 1080p x264 AC3 .mkv using HDMI passtrough I cannot discern a difference either in picture or sound between that and a BD. Maybe I just lack the sensitivity to these things but if I don't notice the difference I'm not going to fuss over it.

Nerdkiller1991 · 19-08-2011 02:59AM

sink wrote: »

I spent just over €2K on a new home cinema setup (LG 47LX9900, Onkyo TX-NR609, Tannoy HTS101). I have it hooked up to a HTPC as well as a PS3, Xbox 360 & Sky+ HD.

Playing an 8GB+ 1080p x264 AC3 .mkv using HDMI passtrough I cannot discern a difference either in picture or sound between that and a BD. Maybe I just lack the sensitivity to these things but if I don't notice the difference I'm not going to fuss over it.

Strange, I can notice the difference when playing titles like Ratatouille, as there's really an extra OOOMF to it when comparing it to old 5.1 Dolby Digital. You can hear the clarity in something like a lightning strike when playing in 7.1 LPCM, compared to 5.1 Dolby Digital.

Do you have a BluRay player?

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