Given up on BDP-83....

[Affejunge]

Well, with some extra money burning a hole in my pocket, I decided it was time to upgrade to Blu-Ray.

I really wanted to get the BDP-83 to replace my Oppo 980. But with prices on current players dropping and since the 83 realistically will not be less than $499, i decided to keep the 980 for HiRes audio and pick up the Sony S550 for blu ray. (<del>on sale right now at amazon</del> Update: Wow, I just ordered it Wednesday and got it yesterday, and now Amazon says will not be in until Jan 27 and at a price *much* higher than I paid. I paid less for the 550 than the 350 costs... well unless you need analog audio, I would go for for the 350 now)

What sold me on the S550 is it ability to do 480i over HDMI. Since the Samsung 46A650 does a great job at de-interlacing and scaling (much better than the 980 and blows away the S550 which is terrible at it) being able to feed it a 480i signal sold me.

I am sure the Oppo 83 will be a solid product, but for $200 less, I have a solid blu-ray player that can still play DVD (albeit having to switch back and forth between 480i and 1080p) and retain my ability to play hires audio.

I am very happy with the Sony player and absolutely blown away by the quality of Blu-ray. Watching Band of Brothers last night was like seeing it for the first time. Blu-ray is really a theater-killer. I really have no reason now to go to the movies. A BD off Amazon (B-M stores are still way too expensive for BD) is less than 2 movie tickets.

Though I was expecting the increase in video quality, what really floored me is the increase in *audio* quality! Sounds are so clear now. Audio mixes are much better. I am not constantly turning up vol to hear dialog, then back down for soundtrack/action. In fairness, the 3 BD titles I own are all dts HD-MA. Loud volumes level are no long irritating to listen to for long periods of time.

DVD is dead, long live Blu-ray (Hope we get at least 10 years out of it, like we did with dvd)

 

[strube]

DVD is dead, long live Blu-ray (Hope we get at least 10 years out of it, like we did with dvd)

I don't think we will get 10 years - Moore's law seems to be applying more and more to the video world, in contrast to 10 years ago when it was more reserved for computers. They already (occasionally) film with 4k-8k cameras; it is only a short matter of time before comparable displays become mainstream, at least that is my prediction .


Congrats on your new player. I got the Panasonic BD-55 for Christmas myself, and I would agree that audio is a vast improvement, though I think PQ is similarly improved, though it isn't quite as striking since the days of upscaling DVDs began.

 

[allargon]

I don't think we will get 10 years - Moore's law seems to be applying more and more to the video world, in contrast to 10 years ago when it was more reserved for computers. They already (occasionally) film with 4k-8k cameras; it is only a short matter of time before comparable displays become mainstream, at least that is my prediction .

4k displays aren't going anywhere. The only reason why HDTV's have any significant penetration in the US is due to the flat panel craze and confusion about the digital TV transition.

 

[strube]

4k displays aren't going anywhere. The only reason why HDTV's have any significant penetration in the US is due to the flat panel craze and confusion about the digital TV transition.

I disagree. I think there were plenty of the DLP RP HD sets sold before LCDs got cheap enough to kill the DLP RP market, but regardless of how they got their market penetration, the fact is that people are buying them, and people that can afford it will probably buy the highest resolution available.

HDTVs have only become mainstream in the last 5 years or so. It isn't going to be long before CRTs are completely relegated to the history books. How can you say with such certainty what will or will not come in the next 5 years?