05-22-2008, 04:40 PM
I have a 720 37" lcd tv, and bought a HD-DVD player. We sit about 10' back, so well outside the range of what you are supposed to see the difference. It upscales really well. I could see the difference between a DVD being upscaled on the new player vs. my old $20 black friday DVD player (but it wasn't a huge difference). I haven't compared a HD DVD to the same DVD being upscaled. I would guess I could see the difference in some scenes, but that depends also on the quality of the transfer to HD and the source of the original film. There is a huge difference between OTA HD TV and regular TV; that difference is upmistakeable, and it is hard to watch analog now. I can see getting a blu-ray player in several years when they are cheap, but nothing I am seeing now on my set suggests that I will "have to" do that, or that I will be unhappy at all upscaling regular DVDs.
Blu-rays problem to me is that many (most) people still rent DVDs from a shop locally, and those places may not have Blu-ray disks, and certainly don't have a large inventory. Our video place has none. By the time they upgrade their inventory, if they ever do, because so few people have Blu-ray disk players, I think video on demand of HD content willl be viable and there won't be a compelling need to buy a HD disk player in any format.
Blu-rays problem to me is that many (most) people still rent DVDs from a shop locally, and those places may not have Blu-ray disks, and certainly don't have a large inventory. Our video place has none. By the time they upgrade their inventory, if they ever do, because so few people have Blu-ray disk players, I think video on demand of HD content willl be viable and there won't be a compelling need to buy a HD disk player in any format.