Need a Blu ray by August

[Tommygun]

What should I get? I believe some new models are coming before then? I want to view How The West Was Won in SMILEBOX that will only be on the Blu ray release. I mentioned long ago this was on the way before the format change here. Thanks.

[krammer]

What should I get? I believe some new models are coming before then? I want to view How The West Was Won in SMILEBOX that will only be on the Blu ray release. I mentioned long ago this was on the way before the format change here. Thanks.

I do not know what you mean when you say you want to view that film... SMILEBOX :confused:

Yes, Pioneer, & Sony will be releasing a few new models along with Panasonic. If you have HDMI on your HDTV + a HDMI receiver, than the PS3 is still the best option for BD playback. IMO of course.

[Guido Henkel]

Get a Playstation 3. It is one of the best and clearly the most versatile Blu-Ray player in the market. Interestingly enough, it is also the cheapest.

[gil]

PS3...regular firmware updates keep this gem current.

[Guido Henkel]

Just to drive the point home some more...

I have never heard anyone say anything bad about the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player but I know plenty of people who wish they hadn't bought certain settop players.

[Jedi]

FYI:

"SMILEBOX" was [is] a slang for the old style Cinerama films. ( link : )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinerama

I thought that "How The West Was Won" was being released in both BD and SD-DVD , am I wrong about that ?

Also ; 2nd FYI

Sony`s new line of BD players should be out soon.
The BDP-350 and 550.

Have fun and let me know about HTWWW , thanks !! :D

Later ;)

Gary 

[Guido Henkel]

Yes, the film is released on DVD and Blu-Ray but the smilebox version is included only on Blu-Ray.

[Jedi]

Thanks for the FYI , Guido ! :)

Smily only on BD , O_well , it was a good movie , but if we were taking something like 2001 or Grand Prix , that would be different ! ;)

Looks like BD is getting poised to be the next Laser Disc :eek:

Take care :D

Gary 

[krammer]

Ahh, alrighty.. thanks for clearing that up.

The aspect ratio of the film is 2.89:1 :eek:

[Guido Henkel]

Blu-Ray is already way beyond Laserdisc status. There are a lot of naysayers out there and eternal pessimists with unrealistic expectations. But all things considered Blu-Ray has been adopted very well so far.

Many people expected it to take off like a bottle rocket the way DVD did but that's always been unrealistic because it is inherently a much tougher sell. The gap between VHS to DVD was huge - no more rewinding, no degradation of repeat playbacks, higher resolution, no degradation over time, better sound, better colors, smaller cases, and so forth, all made DVD an easy sell and a guaranteed success. With format's like Blu-Ray many of these benefits that helped DVD are no longer there and you're looking at selling a format that offers improved picture and slightly improved audio. Of course, people will be slow to jump into it, especially after witnessing the bloody format war until only 3 months ago.

[Jedi]

I remember my first LD , and it was amazing compared to VHS.
LD to DVD was good to , but the really big thing I noticed was that dvd`s didn`t have the flaws that LD`s had.

So yes , the transition from dvd to blu-ray would not be as as huge as vhs to ld.

I`m sure though that the color difference and detail is very good indeed.

I will get into BD at some point , but it will still be awhile before some of the great SpEd`s that we have on sd-dvd will be on bd-dvd , but I`m sure it will happen at some point.

Like the Lord of the Rings extended and many other sp-ed , in time I`m sure they will be ported to BD.

Later, :)

Gary 

[Guido Henkel]

What's holding you back? I mean, seriously? Especially since Blu-Ray players play DVDs as well and upconvert them wonderfully. Get a PS3 and you can buy Blu-Ray titles that interest you while you still keep buying and viewing the rest on DVD. I am not sure why people are holding out because it only has upsides. Just because you own a Blu-Ray player doesn't mean that from then on everything you buy has to be in high definition. It is just a nice addition to what you already have. You can be every bit as selective as you want to be.

[Nick August]

Yes,I want a Blu-Ray too,I wish they would make a Blue-ray player/recorder/vhs deck machine that would be nice,I'm sure that'll be in the future. It would save a lot of sPACE! too.

[Jedi]

Well , the one thing is that I want to wait and see what the new Sony Blu-Ray players will be like.

I have waited this long , and so far SD - DVD`s , have been fine.

Although lately I have noticed that some are not as good as others , I remember when dvd`s first came out they all looked the same , ( just about ) now there seems to be more that don`t look as good as they could.

I know they are not "defected" , but just maybe too mass produced.

Like I have said , Blu-Ray will be in the house sooner or later , I`m already selling dvd`s that I don`t want or watch that much to make room.

I think thats the biggest problem is finding enough room , I don`t know how many dvd`s I have , but it`s a lot :eek:

Take care :D

Later,

Gary 

PS:

Anyone want "Bram Stokers Dracula" SuperBit ? , I bought the SpEd that came out , so this is taking up space !!

Here is my eBay link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320252436792&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=011

TY :)

[krammer]

If your serious about getting a standalone BD player & you are not in a hurry, you can simply wait for 2.0 Profile (enter manufacturer here) players which will be out this fall. :)

Like Guido pointed out there is no real loss (minus the 2.0 ) to upgrade right now sinse upconversion on all BD players best the top tier DVD upcon players. So in fact your DVDs would even look better than your current player!

[Jedi]

Yes !

That is in part what I`m waiting for , the new Sony`s to look at either the `350 or `550.

Those are supposed to have all the latest { final ? } updates.

But there has been a thorn tempting me :eek: >link:
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PAHD3

I would not mind selling my `79AVi and picking that up , not to forget about BD , but as a great player at 1500 bucks off !!

Later !! :D

Gary 

[krammer]

Nice but DCDI = MBB, imo.

Enough acronyms there for ya. ;)

[Jedi]

Yes , but on the Halo D3 you can turn off the DCDI and prevent MBB !! :D

The one down side is Halo`s onscreen display , it is bare-bones at best. Not even a "bit-rate" counter.

But , you have to love the quality of some of the older stuff !! :D

There is still time to bid on Dracula !!! LOL ( has if you don`t have it :) ) !

( just in case you don`t : link: )

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320252436792&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=011

I also have many more dvd`s that I have 2 of ( since buy the SpEd`s ) and that I don`t watch anymore , so if you frequent eBay , put jedi2952 as your favorite seller and check from time to time , always perfect dvd`s at great prices !!

Later ;)

Gary 

[krammer]

There is still time to bid on Dracula !!! LOL ( has if you don`t have it :) ) !

Gary 

Yep, Have it on BD. Its a minor improvement over the Superbit & it is not demo material, thats for sure. The audio bests the Superbit easy though. :)

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

HD Video - 7/10
HD Audio Dolby Digital - 7/10
HD Audio LPCM - 9/10

:)

[Jedi]

That`s the same thing I noticed with the Sp Ed , the audio now rock`s !! :)

The Super-Bit version never seemed to have enough bass , it would always put my Velodyne SPL-1200 to sleep ! :eek:

Now it can rock-on !! :D

Extra stuff is good , but still not as great as the Criterion LD the came out in the `90s __ O well.

Later ,
Gary 