Blue Ray Player
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Blue Ray Player
Hey guys... I've been thinking about a Blue Ray player. Will they be around and are they worth it? I know a person who got a HD DVD player and was not happy that it did not stay around so I don't want to waste my money. If I get one, I was thinking $150-200 range. I have a Best Buy gift card. Any suggestions on models? I forgot, do they play DVDs? I have quite a few of them, but also have the Xbox 360 to play them.
Last edited by GreenBuck50; Jan 6, 2010 at 03:28 PM.
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From: NorCal / AZ
Blu Ray is the standard now, so it will be around for at least the next few years. I have a PS3 with blu ray and the quality is awesome, but you NEED an HDTV to take advantage of it. If you don't have a HDTV don't bother wasting your money. In my own personal opinion in the next 5-10 years we are going to see basically all forms of physical media disappear (Blu ray, CDs, DVDs, etc) and replaced by downloaded content.
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From: Circleville, Ohio
^^^^^^Very good post^^^^^ I bought a Panasonic Blu-Ray player right after Thanksgiving at HHGregg. So far I love it! I have it matched up with my Samsung 52" lcd TV. The clarity and sound is just unreal! Even regular DVD's look better on it. This player was regular $200 but they had it on sale for $100 that day. Id say keep an eye out and you could probably catch one on sale for $150ish.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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From: So. Texas
If your TV is rated at 1080, then Blu-Ray is a neat toy. I have a videophile friend that buys new every year so he has the latest. His is all Toshiba- TV and Blu-Ray and the picture is awesome. He's also got the latest surround sound and it's as good as any theater....maybe better. Personally, while the picture is clearer, no doubt, I don't see where it's worth the asking price for the equipment or the discs.
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From: Skaneateles, NY
In my mind they complete a home entertainment center. If you have an hdtv go for it, but then your also gonna want surround sound to really have a true blu-ray experience. I have the samsung one and am very happy with it was only like $200 and my dad has the top of the line sony one and I dont see what makes it any better, they both play blu-ray dvds and regular dvd's at top quality.
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From: NYC, Ct & NC
If you get one make sure you get one with Netflix this way you can stream movies straight to your tv for $8.99 a month if your into that but you must have a broadband connection. The Samsung BDP1600 is now $149 and it has it as well as youtube and Pandora.
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for those of you with them-do they offer other connectors other than HDMI? my dad has a 46" plasma (3-4 years old) and it doesnt have HDMI but it does have that YBrPr and component for 1080p
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From: Concord, NC
Blu Ray is the standard now, so it will be around for at least the next few years. I have a PS3 with blu ray and the quality is awesome, but you NEED an HDTV to take advantage of it. If you don't have a HDTV don't bother wasting your money. In my own personal opinion in the next 5-10 years we are going to see basically all forms of physical media disappear (Blu ray, CDs, DVDs, etc) and replaced by downloaded content.
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From: Concord, NC
No, they have other ways of doing it, but HDMI is what you need to take full advantage of the increased sound and video clarity
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From: Statesville, NC
My fols got a LG, and I just got a Panasonic. They both have the Net Flix hook up, bu wehaven't tried it yet. Unfotunately I had a full surround set up with the old dolby. Looks like time for a new tuner, to step up to 5.1. Picture with the HDMI cable is amazing.
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The Blu-ray Disc® (BD) player will not output a 720p, 1080i or 1080p signal through the COMPONENT VIDEO OUT jacks.
Solution
The Blu-ray Disc® (BD) player can output a 720p or 1080i signal through the COMPONENT VIDEO OUT jacks, but only for BD-ROM media. For DVDs, especially copy-guarded DVDs, the BD player will output signals up to 480p through the COMPONENT VIDEO OUT jacks.
The COMPONENT VIDEO OUT jacks are not capable of handling a 1080p signal; to output a 1080p signal, an HDMI connection must be used.
So -
HDCP authentication & handshaking is only offered via an HDMI connection, hence the signal downgrade, and Component does not output 1080p.
Most players do however have both types of connections.
For audio, the optical and/or S/Pdif connections can deliver the same high quality mutichannel bitstream as an HDMI cable, so that's a little good news.
