Blu-ray versus upscaled DVD?
Q&A
I have a large collection of DVDs. If I was to buy a Blu-ray Disc player, will they be upgraded to HD?
I also have a Panasonic up-scaler to 1080p. Is there a difference between this unit's output and Blu-ray?
Lastly, what's the recommendation on the best Blu-ray to buy regards price?
COMMENTS
ps3
Get a PS3, which is firmware upgradable, and does a fantastic job in upscaling. Tbh many DVDs I watch look almost as good as BD films on my 1080p TV thanks to the PS3.
Upscaling DVDs
Yes, a Blu-ray player will upscale your DVDs to the resolution you tell it to. Will it do it well? Well, that depends on how good the upscaler is.
Upscaling is a tricky business because it has to convert a low resolution signal to a high resolution signal - 576i (PAL DVD) to 1080p (Full HD) is roughly a quadrupling of the pixels. Different Blu-Ray players have different upscalers. And different people like the output of different upscalers.
The only real way to test is to get the hardware demo'd. Get along to a hi-fi store somewhere, take your Panasonic upscaler with you, and a selection of your favourite DVDs. Play them on a 1080p screen and see what combination of sources you like.
