Posted on 11/27/2010 2:52:35 PM PST by snarkpup
Beta WAS better than VHS especially when recorded in the slowest speed. I know because I owned a betamax.
I recieved the Toshiba XDE-500 dvd player for Christmas two years ago. This standard dvd player was designed to upscale regular dvds from 480I to 1080P “extra definition”, with extreme clarity for LCD HD sets, through HDMI. It is, without a doubt, the BEST (least expensive-available from Best Buy for less than 75 dollars now) upscaleing DVD player available.
Sure, it is NOT by any means as good as Blu Ray..but if you own an extensive standard dvd collection, this player is the way to go. I am amazed at the quality of the video when watching my dvds with this player.
If you want better quality, then be prepared to buy the 500 dollar plus OPPO DVD player..I am told that the OPPO is the finest upscaling standard dvd player available.
But the Toshiba XDE-500(or the newer Toshiba XDE-600) is the way to go, to get terrific well defined clarity from your standard dvd collection. (granted, it will do better on well mastered transfers, like “QUANTUM OF SILENCE”)
Note: The Tosh will only play video in 16x9 aspect format, for those older films that were filmed in 4x3 aspect ratio, it will play them as if they were in the 16x9 aspect. This can be corrected with the aspect ratio setting on your HDTV set.
I have a Sony 1080P 40" XBR4 that I watch in the loft. HDMI connection is the only way you can get 1080P. I believe you can get 1080i with component cables, but I would not waste my time with those.
Yeah, that’s pretty much the story. Vidoe taped series TV shows up to the mid 90’s were shot on 525 line media, and they’re not going to get any better. Filmed shows were usually transferred to SD tape for post. One exception is those shows that were sold to European syndication, where the original negative was cut subsequent to the US airing. A re-transfer off those negatives is pretty attractive.
Studios started converting movies to DVD back in the mid 90’s, and all those transfers were 525 SD, so there’s a lot of that product sitting around, and an upconversion from those tapes is pretty lame. You have to find a Blu-ray disk where they actually retransferred the film in HD in order to really get the quality improvement.
The other day, I watched a Blu-Ray disc shown on a 15 foot screen using a quarter million dollar 4000 line projector. It was stunning, but after a while I realized it represented only a tiny incremental improvement in entertainment value, and, in terms of enjoyability, wasn’t all that different from those shows I stream from the internet. Not different, that is, except that I’d never miss watching my first choice in order to “experience” some show I didn’t want to see on a supermegawhatever system.
I guess it depends on whether you want to be entertained, or whether the medium really is the message for you.
Hi, Dolly and company:
Was never really sold on the idea of Blu-Ray after investing so much into Beta, VHS and DVD.
Jack.
Resolution is the biggest part of the picture, but don't neglect frame rate. Film masters are 24 fps, NTSC video tape 29.97 fps, material originally shot in HD 60 fps. That's why HD is so noticeable in sports or in action flics -- depending on the source and what's going on on screen, 720p at 60fps can look better than 1080p at 30 or 24 fps.
Upconverting and deinterlacing video involves a computer making its best guess at what comes between frames or between lines. It's like blowing up a picture to a higher resolution in Photoshop. A good algorithm is better than a bad one, but the best algorithm is a poor substitute for quality source material.
I recall hearing in the early days of HD broadcasting that TV Land was one of the first networks to have a substantial HD library. Network shows of the last several years were shot straight to tape, while the older shows had film to go back and scan.
exactly!
Thanks for this info. I am one with an extensive DVD collection .. will definitely check this out when I get a couple nickles to rub together!
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Actually, for about the last 20 years there’s been very little origination of network series on video. With the exception of “live” reality shows and soap operas, most episodic series are shot on film, then transferred to tape for post production. The days of the old four-camera sitcom video trucks pretty much died out. The reason was that foreign customers stopped buying US shows because the standards converted product looked worst than their home grown stuff. The studios moved heavily into film so that they could do PAL and SECAM syndication transfers from the negative.
Starting in about ‘94, a gradually increasing percentage of the original film transfers for the US product were in HD instead of SD. We cut the shows on HD, then down-ressed for broadcast. So that’s why there’s HD masters for those shows.
:-) cool!
As for BD, things like Planet Earth are a must in BD. I buy my TV series like X-Files and Stargate in DVD but I would buy the LoTR Trilogy in BD as well as anything Pixar.
I have a 46" Sony Bravia connected to a Sony Blu-ray player.
Watching, for example, Iron Man in Blu-ray sold me instantly.
It's higher resolution than real life!
It depends on the source and the mastering technique. Some sources are barely better than DVD, so you won’t see an improvement. I bet sometimes they take the DVD master and convert it into Blu-Ray. I saw some horrible conversions in the early days of DVD too. I swear they either ran the cassette tape into a digitizer, or they just straight digitized old film without cleaning it up.
However, there is no competition with some movies. What is most clear is in dark scenes where you will see compression artifacts in DVDs, or banding especially with a gradient such as a light in the dark. A good Blu-ray has none of this, the scene just looks perfect.
The best DVD player for upscaling video, and cleaning it up such as removing mosquitoes (variable user setting), is the PS3. The processor in it can decode and resize 48 DVD streams simultaneously, so some serious cleanup on one stream is peanuts. It’ll also do this for video files stored on the hard drive. I was an old Get Smart fan and rented the Nude Bomb. Not only was the movie bad (sadly), but the transfer was HORRIBLE. The PS3 cleaned it up pretty well.
Oh yeah, the PS3 plays games too.
I did a lot of video only shows in the 70’s and 80’s. On many of them I did the original 525 recordings, so I know what they looked like when the pictures left the stage, and I know what going down the generations during editing did to them. I recently saw one of my old Sonny and Cher's that had been remastered, and it looked better than it did coming in from the studio. I was impressed.
I just looked at the Best Buy website; this specific model (Factory Refurbished) is being offered now for $35.00..yup..35 dollars. (!)
Please keep in mind that this machine IS cheaply made..and, from what I’ve read on the AVS forum (www.avsforum.com) while people truly like the video clarity that the player provides, the player itself may break easily.
I have NEVER had any problem using the Toshiba XD-E500 dvd player. A suggestion; - just be extraordinarily careful, because the dvd transport tray is flimsy. I never manualy close the tray. I always use the remote control. I never “Play” with the settings. I’ve used this player extensively, it’s still plays as well as the first day I used it. As with any electronic item, if it is well taken care of, it will provide good service.
It’s a good upscaling standard DVD player. It will provide EXTRA DEFINITION video on your 1080P High Definition TV set; but please keep in mind that this will NOT be Blu Ray High Definition quality. But it’s AMAZING what it can do for ordinary standard dvds. If you get this Toshiba dvd player, I think you’ll like it.
Even if you do not have an HDTV yet, your next TV will be one whether you like it or not. Now is a good time to start with a Blu-ray player and discs.
I thought flash drives don’t have long enough data retention to archive data.
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