All three films you mention I have seen at the cinema and on DVD on a reasonable SD TV. Why would I want to spend at least three times the cost of a DVD on BR when the experience will not be three times as good? As has been mentioned before, an engaging story is far more important than the delivery.

You wouldn't. Most people wouldn't. Hence my rant earlier. People don't care and that's why marketing gurus are moaning. But I would, because I want to see the film in it's best possible light - as the director intended. My point in the last post was about the sets. Business cards at the Daily Planet were specifically printed to be able to stand up to scrutiny in 1080p. You didn't get that level of detail even 10yrs ago.

I'm suprised the same arguments against Blu-Ray are still being used now as when it was launched. With players (even 5 star rated ones) on sale for under £100 (which also do a bloody good job in making your current DVD collection look a whole lot better) and films for £10 and less on Play.com and even instore in HMV the "it costs too much" argument doesnt hold water for me. For the improvement in DVD quality on a good upscaler (I use the Sony BDP-S360) and the ability to play Blu-Ray as well as content from my memory stick e.g. AVCHD video from my camera I find £100 good value.

My brother came around the other day and Ratatouille was on (DVD) the BD player. After looking at it for a while he said "why is your TV so much better than mine". The answer really is that its not. He knew the film was a DVD but was amazed at the quality of the upscalling. Now I know he's not that bothered about BD but I'd bet by the end of the month he's got a BD player if even just for the quality of the upscalling.

There's also the cost of buying a HDTV.

Except that HDTVs are only £300 these days, or less online.

It all adds up though.

A new film is still often too dear though, and £10 for something like Predator in 2010 (when times are tougher than usual) is ridiculous, and that's only online... They haven't even the sense to drop the price of at least a few of the bigger sellers to draw people in - the likes of Transformers and TDK still sell for around their original RRP, years after the fact

Joe Average just has little reason to invest - hell, he probably doesn't even realise that DVD player he bought in Tesco or his PS3 has actually been upscaling the whole time, which makes BR look even less of a draw

And if you're in the market for a new TV an anyway you'd struggle to buy one thats not HD.

I wouldnt suggest upgrading your TV, DVD player and audio just to watch a BD film or two if you're not i)loaded or ii)a filmy/techie type. But when the current TV is on its last legs then IMO £100 for a quality player is not a lot.

I'm sorry but there's a massive difference in the quality of upscalling. My brother has an upscalling DVD player and an Xbox360 (which I think upscales?) and he was still blown away with the upscalling on the BDP-S360.

To be fair though, it's heavily software dependent.

My point stands. Blu-Ray is fine. If people don't want it - that's up to them, but whining about it isn't gonna change anything. Like I said, the majority of people don't care. Just like the majority of people are happy with 128k mp3s and Fiestas. Up to them.

I had a look on Play at some of the cheaper film. I do agree that some titles seem to hold their price (especially the 'blockbuster' titles) but there are some cheapies coming through too which arent that much more than their DVD equivalents.

(£5.66-£6.99 - OK the selection here isnt everyones cup of tea, I've just picked out a few films I've seen before)
Almost Famous
Big Fish
Bram Stokers Dracula
Jerry Maguire
Nick & Norahs Infinite Playlist
Talladega Nights
The Pursuit of Happiness
Seven Pounds

+1, I get brilliant upscaling on a £30 DVD player not a million miles away from my PS3's equivalent output, and the BR difference just isn't that great either IME. That's on a 37'' 1080p TV.

Each to their own, but really the only thing holding BR back is the price of the discs in stores - there certainly are deals to be found online if you know where to look, but why should you even have to go to that trouble for something we're told is so great and that they're currently struggling to sell (in any sense)?

With respect Ernie, either you're TV is not that great, or you really just can't see it. I suspect at 37" you have a so-so panel as most of the good ones come in 32 or 40 for mainstream sizes.

A £30 DVD player will not upscale as well as a dedicated BD player and neither will a PS3. The processing required continually moves on and the latest BD players are more advanced in that department. Also some DVD players only upscale to 720, not 1080.

As I've said, Blu-Ray doesn't need anything. Buy it or don't. If you don't care, then spend your money on something else...

Nope, it's a good TV, I think veato has the same one or one in the same range IIRC

I've often seen the PS3 described as a good BR player, and *I believe* that's what some of the firmware updates are about. There should be a fair bit of difference between a cheap player and a PS3, should there not? My player upscales to 1080p.

Talking to people less geeky than ourselves, they just don't really see much benefit either IME. I'm waiting on seeing/hearing about my mate's experience with TDK on his 46'' 1080p LED backlit TV...

+1

Fact is, it's just not that expensive anymore, especially if you avoid the HMV's of the world - supermarket prices are excellent. Sure, it's still a little more than DVD, but not much and to me the image and sound quality are worth it.