Dvd or Blue-ray?

[TheSapphireKnight]

Overall Blu-ray has far superior quality. I don't usually rush out to buy films or TV series the day they are released unless it is something you are really into. There is plenty of quality Blu-rays that don't come at a premium price.

If you have a 42 HD TV than I can only really see a couple of reasons that you wouldn't buy a Blu-Ray version of a film if you have something to play it.
1.) It doesn't exist yet and there are no forseable plans to release it.
2.) It is a indie production that lacks the funds to put out a quality Blu-Ray
3.) The Blu-Ray has royally fucked with the original film(cough*Star Wars*)

Some Blu-Ray transfers are cruddy but there are often multiple releases of a film of varying quality so just do your research. As a general rule if you see Criterion on the lable than that is the mark of a quality blu-ray. Services like Netflix or Hulu Plus are also great for checking out quality shows you still might not want to spend the money on for a Blu-Ray.

Buy the Blu-ray if at all possible for stuff you know and love, I would reserve DVDs for impulse purchases

 

[Bvenged]

So if there's a couple of quid in it, go for bluray, But since they're normally twice the price; I tend to stick with DVDs.

This. If it's £3-5 in it, go for bluray, but if it's more than that go for the cheaper DVD. I use my Xbox for films all the time and I'm happy enough without HD. I got The Dark Knight for £3 on Amazon the other day when the bluray was more than a tenner. Good saving, film was still epic.

 

[Callate]

If you have a 1080p television with one of those ridiculously high refresh rates and a kick-ass sound system, by all means, go for Blu-Ray.

Otherwise, I can't say (in my admittedly limited experience) I've found enough of a difference to make it worth the bother.

 

[deidara]

DVD's. I dont have a blu ray or PS3 anyway. But the other day I was watching a movie with some friends, I I didn't realize it was blu ray until half way in when someone told me. I'm not the most perceptive person, so god ol' DVD's are fine for me. Besides, I have a massive DVD collection. wouldn't wanna start over.

 

[Esotera]

It costs more and your Xbox won't support it and neither will your PC (unless you've bought it quite recently). Personally I'm sticking with DVDs for a couple more years until it becomes far more widespread. I know for a fact that if I take a DVD round to a friend's house, I'll be able to play it on their TV, laptop, or console. If it's a blu-ray, I have no idea if it will work.

 

[chimeracreator]

I just Stream everything from Hulu, Amazon and Netflix all of which only go up to 720 at the moment if memory serves so I don't see much of a point to Blu-Ray if the cost difference is large. That said my vision isn't the best.

 

[DanielBrown]

I think blu ray does make it look better. Watched some movie(Righteous Fury I think it was called) on my big ass TV and it looked like I was staring at the set of the movie. Though in general I really don't think it matters enough to buy expensive blu rays over cheap DVDs.

 

[Neyon]

There is a difference and the larger the screen you have the more pronounced it will be. To be honest on a 40+ inch screen even 1080p is painfully low pixel density. Better resolutions have been around for years, but havn't made it into the mainstream tv market yet, partly due to cost, partly due to the fact that resolutions need to be standardised more for tvs than PC monitors.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Overall Blu-ray has far superior quality. I don't usually rush out to buy films or TV series the day they are released unless it is something you are really into. There is plenty of quality Blu-rays that don't come at a premium price.

If you have a 42 HD TV than I can only really see a couple of reasons that you wouldn't buy a Blu-Ray version of a film if you have something to play it.
1.) It doesn't exist yet and there are no forseable plans to release it.
2.) It is a indie production that lacks the funds to put out a quality Blu-Ray
3.) The Blu-Ray has royally fucked with the original film(cough*Star Wars*)

Some Blu-Ray transfers are cruddy but there are often multiple releases of a film of varying quality so just do your research. As a general rule if you see Criterion on the lable than that is the mark of a quality blu-ray. Services like Netflix or Hulu Plus are also great for checking out quality shows you still might not want to spend the money on for a Blu-Ray.

Buy the Blu-ray if at all possible for stuff you know and love, I would reserve DVDs for impulse purchases

For that matter, if you see criterion on the label of a video product of any sort and it doesn't cost a fortune, grab it. They've been around since the Laserdisc days, and not only is it a mark of quality, it's a mark of resale value.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

I have a 50" screen, and a fair amount of dvd's look terrible stretched that far, but a lot look fine too...

I'd say it's worth judging on a case by case(show by show) basis. Bluray generally looks very good, but there are times when it doesn't justify the money spent...especially if we're talking about TV shows where less care is taken to make it a visual feast.

Feature films tend to make the case for HD.

Anyway. bluray.com reviews most of the discs available, easy to look up.

 

[ign0rantc0nsumer]

To me it depends on the Movie/ tv show in question... heavily CGI'd or special effects driven action movies, blu-rays; everything else is fine on DVD. Even in the first category, the difference is not that noticeable between the two, however, I really noticed the amount of detail in the Blu-ray of House of Flying Daggers in the fight scene in a meadow where every blade of glass and flower looked sharp and defined while the fight scene raged on.

47" Plasma.