Blu Ray Players: is it (now) worth getting one?

[Conchis]

I've survived without one thus far and i hear they may be soon be 'dead' technology.

I have a lot of DVDs and like physical media (I don't think I'll ever be entirely reconciled to 'streaming' or downloading) but own only one blu ray disc (the Schwarzkopf/Karajan Rosenkavalier, picked up in a charity shop last year - I've never played it). I'm told that blu-ray automatically 'upscales' the picture on DVDs but whether I'll notice much of a difference on my 13-inch Panasonic Viera HDMI television is a moot point.

Another factor is that my Philips DVD player, purchased in 2007, has developed a bit of tray fault: it plays things fine but actually getting the tray to eject can take ages (and lots of patience).

I've got about £80.00 in Nectar points and it's my birthday next week, so I was thinking of getting a little present for myself.

From research I've done the Sony bdps 5200 looks like a good model.

However, I'm still uncertain and thought I'd invite forum members to pitch in with their thoughts - on the assumption that most of you will have had blu ray players for some years already. :)

[umslopogaas]

I've got one, a Philips BDP3300. I forget how much it cost, but more than £80. I hadnt heard that it was likely to become obsolete, but if so, that might mean a lot of cheap secondhand players and discs start turning up in charity shops, which would be a good reason to hang on to it. Like you, I prefer to own the actual disc, I cant get interested in downloads. Cant comment about upscaling I'm afraid, I just use the technology, I dont claim to understand it.

[Conchis]

Thanks for that, umslopgaas.

I considered getting a players a couple of years back; since that time, prices seem to have come down considerably - largely driven by the boom in streaming, I think.

It's a good point about picking up second-hand bargains, so I will weigh that as I consider.

[richardfinegold]

Sony Blu Ray Players are ridiculously cheap and will play SACD. There are some audiophile Classical material that has been released on Blu Ray Audio. Since they will play DVDs, and at the minimum will play them at a Resolution equal to a DVD
Player, if you are contemplating buying a new DVD player this would be the way to proceed. Over here, Sony BDPs go for around $65.00

[Conchis]

Sony Blu Ray Players are ridiculously cheap and will play SACD. There are some audiophile Classical material that has been released on Blu Ray Audio. Since they will play DVDs, and at the minimum will play them at a Resolution equal to a DVD
Player, if you are contemplating buying a new DVD player this would be the way to proceed. Over here, Sony BDPs go for around $65.00

Thanks for that, Richard. They're a bit more expensive over here but not that much.

I only have one SACD at the moment, so that's another consideration.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've survived without one thus far and i hear they may be soon be 'dead' technology.

There will always be people who say this. It's mostly sales-talk from people who want it to be so.

Blu-ray is superb - the sound can be staggering. I've never regretted buying a player and my son has filled several shelves with the discs in his flat.

[umslopogaas]

I havent heard anyone say they will soon be dead, but it may be true that they go into decline as we older disc-loving people shuffle off and the next generation take over, using mostly downloads. I recall that they said LPs would soon be extinct when CDs came in, but far from it, sales of vinyl are actually increasing. Far from regarding it as obsolete, the younger generation actually seem to like it (or perhaps they do think it is obsolete, but they like it anyway, like classic cars). Whatever the reason, my local hifi shop sells a range of new vinyl and several different turntables to play it on, and he wouldnt stock it if no-one wanted it.

[Conchis]

I havent heard anyone say they will soon be dead, but it may be true that they go into decline as we older disc-loving people shuffle off and the next generation take over, using mostly downloads. I recall that they said LPs would soon be extinct when CDs came in, but far from it, sales of vinyl are actually increasing. Far from regarding it as obsolete, the younger generation actually seem to like it (or perhaps they do think it is obsolete, but they like it anyway, like classic cars). Whatever the reason, my local hifi shop sells a range of new vinyl and several different turntables to play it on, and he wouldnt stock it if no-one wanted it.

Yes, I was thinking about this while browsing in one of the few surviving local brick and mortar record shops in my locality. One thing that I'm sure no-one could have foreseen fifteen years ago was the surge of interest in vinyl shown by the under-30s.

[Dave2002]

msg 1 -

Surely you don't really mean a 13 inch TV? The days of 9 inch and 12 inch TVs have long gone. Even small ones these days are 19 inch - and that really is small.

We hardly ever watch DVDs or Blu Rays nowadays - but we do have the ability to do so. Blu Rays can be very good - significantly better than DVDs, though the audio may present problems. Blu Ray production may emphasise sound effects versus speech - perhaps OK in the cinema, but at home this can be a real pain. Do you really want your neighbours to think you are sitting in the middle of a war zone? Some players have adjustments for speech versus sound effects, or you can switch to stereo and suppress the surround sound. Sometimes we turn off any surround, and simply use the TV speakers - in theory not so good, but it does make some videos watchable.

You might be buying at the right time to get voucher/points doubling. I don't know enough about the particular model you are thinking of at present. A couple of things to think about maybe - 3D - some players "throw that in" as 3D hasn't really caught on AFAIK - and you'd need a 3D TV anyway. I wouldn't necessarily rule it out, though. Also, can the audio be directed to a DAC either via an optical output, or via HDMI? It's worth seeing if that can be done. Some Blu Ray players will also play SACDs and/or DVD-As - and some will do just about every format known to man, but at a high price. Cheaper ones may not support so many formats, and not be capable of playing hi-def audio discs. OTOH you may really not be that bothered about that.

With some provisos and caveats I'd say go for it - the video quality should be much better than anything you've seen so far - though you might need to buy a new TV to match. There are some very good opera discs.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Blu-ray is superb - the sound can be staggering. I've never regretted buying a player and my son has filled several shelves with the discs in his flat.

A friend of mine spent part of his redundancy package on a Blu-Ray player and the "sooper-dooper" Solti Ring box. The sound from the Blu-Ray disc is astonishing in its detail and "three-dimensionality" (if that makes sense - the sound doesn't just cross from Left to Right speakers, but there's also a real sense that the woodwinds are further back from the strings - just as in a concert hall).






Pity it was Solti.

[Pianorak]

I know as yet nothing about blue-ray. Sorry if this is a stupid question: Do you need a blue-ray to play CDs and another one to play DVDs, or will one do for both?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I know as yet nothing about blue-ray. Sorry if this is a stupid question: Do you need a blue-ray to play CDs and another one to play DVDs, or will one do for both?

A Blu-ray player will play DVDs and CDs (as well as Blu-ray discs).

[Beef Oven!]

A friend of mine spent part of his redundancy package on a Blu-Ray player and the "sooper-dooper" Solti Ring box. The sound from the Blu-Ray disc is astonishing in its detail and "three-dimensionality" (if that makes sense - the sound doesn't just cross from Left to Right speakers, but there's also a real sense that the woodwinds are further back from the strings - just as in a concert hall).






Pity it was Solti.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A friend of mine spent part of his redundancy package on a Blu-Ray player and the "sooper-dooper" Solti Ring box. The sound from the Blu-Ray disc is astonishing in its detail and "three-dimensionality" (if that makes sense - the sound doesn't just cross from Left to Right speakers, but there's also a real sense that the woodwinds are further back from the strings - just as in a concert hall).

I would buy the Blu-ray disc if Decca were to issue it separately, as I have the other parts of the jumbo set already.

Edit: it does exist separately. http://www.amazon.co.uk/WAGNER-NIBEL...ustomerReviews

[Dave2002]

A Blu-ray player will play DVDs and CDs (as well as Blu-ray discs).

Here is the manual for the model our OP has been considering - http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/4537148111.pdf

It seems that it will do screen mirroring from a portable device (perhaps an iPad or tablet, or mobile phone). It has a few other nice features. It's only got one HDMI socket, which generally should not be a problem, but it will depend what is to be done with it. I think some users like to feed a TV and also an AV surround system, though there are pass through routes which enable the same thing with many AV systems, or other devices which overcome this "limitation".
For surround sound an AV amp/receiver will be needed, otherwise fed into a TV only stereo will come out. It has a digital out - though this is not optical as I'd expected, but coax. That should be compatible with many audio DACs.

I don't think this model does play SACDs - despite a comment earlier up the thread. Some models do, some don't. This one doesn't.
It may not play DVD-As either.

It does look like good value for money - and if the reviews are good then go for it - unless something significantly better is wanted. Our Blu Ray (Sony) cost a lot more with a surround system but that was years ago.