Finally upgraded my home theater question

[Lee33]

I just upgraded my home theater. One of the upgrades was an Oppo BDP 93 Blu-ray machine which also has the capability to stream movies from Netflix. I can pretty well guess that any movies you stream are not going to have the quality of a HD DVD or Blu-ray experience. As I have never owned a Blu-ray player I have no experience in comparing it to a HD DVD. Netflix wants an extra $2/month for Blu-ray movies. I don't mind paying the extra if there is a noticeable difference between those and reg. HD DVD's.

Can anyone educate me on this? I know Blu-ray can store much more information on the disc but is there a noticeable difference in audio and video quality?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Lee

 

[dapack69]

There is HUGE difference between SD and HD.

I don't even buy DVD's any more and just buy BD and sometimes HD DVD. I can't even stand watching SD content anymore.

Yes the audio makes a difference as well, if you have AVR to process the new formats you will hear the difference.

 

[Lee33]

Thanks for the quick reply, dapack.

I know there is a big difference between SD and HD. Is there a noticeable difference between HD DVD and Blu-ray?

 

[dapack69]

Since HD DVD is a dead format your not going to be able get new movies, that is why I missed that part and am sorry for that.

There is no difference at all between the two as far as picture quality.

 

[Lee33]

Oh, I didn't know that. I don't buy movies, just rent them. So, when I order a movie from Netflix, and it's not a Blu-ray, has it just been SD?

 

[dapack69]

That is correct. You've just been watching SD the whole time. A HD DVD requires a special player just like BD does.

What kind of TV do you own?

 

[tjf120]

Oh, I didn't know that. I don't buy movies, just rent them. So, when I order a movie from Netflix, and it's not a Blu-ray, has it just been SD?

When you order a movie from netflix, underneath the title, if the movie is in 'HD' it will say 'HD' in a yellow box. If it is 5.1 sound, it will say 5.1 sound.

When I play a bluray disc, my oppo usually tells me there is around 25-40 mbps playing. Netflix streams at ~2 mbps. So there is around 20 X as much data coming at you from your BD player.

You will 100% get better audio and video coming at you from a BD over any streaming source using existing technology. Whether you can see/hear a difference is dependent on your audio/video setup.

On mine, the differences on streaming vs BD is staggering. Almost unwatchable for ~50% of netflix content.

 

[jostenmeat]

I agree with the above post by tjf120, as I recently saw streaming for the very first time, shown to me by a friend, it looked like pure chit, and while I was already wondering why some AHer stream as much as they do, now I really* have to wonder.

For dumb shows, maybe it's good enough. For anything approaching cinematic qualities, what a shame.

Most blurays I own, and most blurays made, are using 50 GB discs. My Godfather collection alone is just a hair short of 200 GB in recorded material.

 

[Lee33]

Geez, I need to get out more, don't I? LOL I had no idea there were competing technologies for HD playback just like the old Beta/VHS wars in the 80's.

I had an old Pioneer Elite HD TV until a year ago when if finally died. It was one of the old "box" TV's. Looked great but it was a monster to move. I replaced it with a Pioneer KURO PDP 6020FD flat panel, dapack. Just got the Onkyo TX NR808 receiver a week ago and have ordered, but not received yet, the Oppo BDP 93 Blu-ray.

One of the things I was looking forward to was the convenience of streaming some of the movies. I knew it would not be good but had no idea it was as bad you your guys are describing. So much for that. I'll stick to DVD rental. Thanks for the stats, tjf120.

 

[its phillip]

Streaming isn't too terrible, and will only improve as our internet infrastructure does...but blurays are so cheap nowadays it's easy to build a decent collection. Netflix also rents blurays if you wanted to go that route.