Blu-ray thoughts & recommendations

[Fëanor]

If you have large DVD collection spend the extra money for the upgrade Oppo BDP 83, it has the Anchor Bay VRS upscaling technology.........you would have to spend a small fortune to equal this performance in another player

Opera and ballet in Blu Ray is fabulous if you have the system to deliver the goods 

Well, our collection is largish (but not huge).  But I'm retired so "spending the extra money" is often a non-starter.

[DavidW]

Well, our collection is largish (but not huge).  But I'm retired so "spending the extra money" is often a non-starter.

Well your panasonic has excellent upconversion anyway.  I have a bd65 (broken now) and it's dvd upconversion was AWESOME.  Not equal to blu-ray obviously, but very, very good.

[Fëanor]

Well your panasonic has excellent upconversion anyway.  I have a bd65 (broken now) and it's dvd upconversion was AWESOME.  Not equal to blu-ray obviously, but very, very good.

Yes, I've found the upconversion to be very good with the Panny.  It's generally better than I even expected, but it seems to vary pretty widely from DVD to DVD: I wonder if anyone can explain that?

For some relatively extreme examples I've seen so far, this verion of Der Rosenkavalier has rather poor video quality while this version of the movie, The Fifth Element, is quite close to Blu-ray -- I'm not sure what "Superbit" is all about.

[DavidW]

Yes, I've found the upconversion to be very good with the Panny.  It's generally better than I even expected, but it seems to vary pretty widely from DVD to DVD: I wonder if anyone can explain that?

For some relatively extreme examples I've seen so far, this verion of Der Rosenkavalier has rather poor video quality while this version of the movie, The Fifth Element, is quite close to Blu-ray -- I'm not sure what "Superbit" is all about.

Superbit= more bit rate = less compressed = better pq.  And in fact that answers your question, some dvds are highly compressed and don't look that good, some are not.  Also old dvds weren't mastered well and look too soft.  I like to look at a website called dvdmg to get the low down on individual dvds, but I find that older and also lesser known ones will not receive as good of a treatment as a major release.

[DavidW]

Anyway the thing is that the dvds themselves vary alot in quality, it's not obvious in small crts because they are very forgiving, on the other hand large plasmas and lcds are unforgiving.  But you can always make that dvd look better-- put on a vhs or some sd cable than the dvd will look pristine in comparison!

[Fëanor]

Anyway the thing is that the dvds themselves vary alot in quality, it's not obvious in small crts because they are very forgiving, on the other hand large plasmas and lcds are unforgiving.  But you can always make that dvd look better-- put on a vhs or some sd cable than the dvd will look pristine in comparison!

Thanks for the "tip"!     So true. 

[Brian]

Bump: anybody have any particular favorite Blu-ray concerts to watch that are *not* opera/ballet? I got a set of Dausgaard collecting some late romantic symphonies (Nielsen 3, Dvorak 9, etc) and since we can't attend concerts in person right now, I like the idea of seeing some more on TV.

Of course I could invest in a streaming app like the Berlin Philharmonic's also. But that's a question for another thread 

[DavidW]

Doesn't answer your question at all, but Oslo Philharmonic have been posting entire performances on YT.  It is a treat imo. 

https://www.youtube.com/user/oslophil

[Roasted Swan]

Bump: anybody have any particular favorite Blu-ray concerts to watch that are *not* opera/ballet? I got a set of Dausgaard collecting some late romantic symphonies (Nielsen 3, Dvorak 9, etc) and since we can't attend concerts in person right now, I like the idea of seeing some more on TV.

Of course I could invest in a streaming app like the Berlin Philharmonic's also. But that's a question for another thread 

Have you tried the Stockholm Philharmonic's FREE streaming service - very good orchestra and from what I've seen/heard the technical aspect of these streams is very good too......

https://www.konserthuset.se/en/play/