Netflix Or Blockbuster?

[RACER X]

Originally Posted by z06boy

I haven't tried Redbox but have seen them and thought about using them but I do like BluRay so that hinders that.

is a dedicated blu ray disc output better then an upconverted reg. DVD ?

[z06boy]

Originally Posted by RACER X

is a dedicated blu ray disc output better then an upconverted reg. DVD ?

Maybe only slightly but YES I think so.

I admit I'm fairly new to the HD and Blu Ray stuff but there is a difference.

[Rider]

Can you tell the difference between blu-ray and regular DVD on a 720P TV? Blu-ray is supposed to be 1080P but if you don't have a 1080P TV, are you going to notice?

[z06boy]

Originally Posted by Rider

Can you tell the difference between blu-ray and regular DVD on a 720P TV? Blu-ray is supposed to be 1080P but if you don't have a 1080P TV, are you going to notice?

I have 1080P so hopefully some of the experts will chime in and clear all of this up.

[LeeNetworX]

Originally Posted by Bluestreak

We use Netflix. 2 at a time with unlimited streaming.

We usually get our movies within 2 days. Send them in on Monday, and have 2 new ones on Wednesday. I'm very happy with the service.

Ditto. NetFlix customer service is awesome, too.

[Captain Morgan]

Drop blockbuster and bump netflix up to 2 at a time. Send the movies back on different days and you are rarely left without a movie to watch.

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by z06boy

I've used Netflix for a few months and so far so good. Really fast turn around considering it's by mail...just have to plan ahead and are SOL if you want to watch something on the spur of the moment.

Blockbuster is my backup plan.

I haven't tried Redbox but have seen them and thought about using them but I do like BluRay so that hinders that.

This!

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by RACER X

is a dedicated blu ray disc output better then an upconverted reg. DVD ?

Well, I'd imagine it's like the difference between chocolate and whipped chocolate. They both occupy the same space but the actual chocolate is much denser and satisfying. It's like the difference between blowing up a 2meg picture to 8X10 and blowing up a 5meg picture to 8X10.

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by Captain Morgan

Drop blockbuster and bump netflix up to 2 at a time. Send the movies back on different days and you are rarely left without a movie to watch.

Yep, I'm with you guys! I'm in another window canceling BB right now! I just got all of the HD movie channels and HBO for free from Suddenlink a couple hours ago so I'll stick with one at a time and unlimited streaming for now and see how that goes.

[Flexin]

Originally Posted by TIGGER

Well, I'd imagine it's like the difference between chocolate and whipped chocolate. They both occupy the same space but the actual chocolate is much denser and satisfying. It's like the difference between blowing up a 2meg picture to 8X10 and blowing up a 5meg picture to 8X10.

This article seems to agree with what you said.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6859904-1.html

2. Can an upconverting DVD player really make a DVD movie look like a Blu-ray movie?
No. Compare a DVD to a Blu-ray movie on a TV that's 32 inches or smaller and the differences aren't huge. However, it's pretty easy to tell the two apart when you're watching on a larger set.

The basic issue is that the maximum resolution of DVD is 720x480 while Blu-ray is 1,920x1,080. The Blu-ray image is much larger and made up of more information than the DVD image, which is one reason your typical full-length high-definition movie just doesn't fit on a DVD disc and requires at least double or triple the storage space (some space is taken up by the audio).

I sometimes tell people it's similar to megapixels on a camera. If you take a picture that was shot on camera with a low-megapixel count (3 or 4 megapixels) and try to blow up (aka scale) the image to print out at 8x10 or larger, the resulting print can look soft or even fuzzy, no matter what sharpening tools you're using in Photoshop. (In fact, sometimes the sharpeners make the image look worse.)

We recently set up the highly rated Samsung PN50A550 50-inch plasma next to a Panasonic TH-46PZ80U 46-inch plasma and our Editors' Choice Pioneer PDP-5080HD 50-inch plasma. We hooked up a top-notch $400 Oppo DV-983H upconverting DVD player to the Samsung and had our PlayStation 3 Blu-ray player outputting video to the other two sets. For the test, we used the DVD and Blu-ray versions of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl and synced them on the TVs so they were virtually on the same frame.
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While the DVD version looked great for a DVD, it didn't measure up to the Blu-ray version. The Blu-ray exhibited significantly more detail and better color-saturation. In close-ups of character's faces, the differences in detail level and sharpness are smaller, but when you get into any scenes involving big depths of field (such as wide shots with sweeping backgrounds), the DVD images appear soft and less three-dimensional by comparison.

Obviously, as you increase your screen size, the differences will seem even more noticeable. Go to a 58- or 61-inch plasma--or a front projector that takes you into the 100-inch range--and you'll quickly realize having a high-definition source (Blu-ray) is essential if you're a stickler for image quality.

James