Have your say & ask the experts

I agree Marc. Of all the BD's and HD-DVD's I've seen, I've not been disappointed with any of them, and only The Hulk has given me problems in one part of the film on HD-DVD. Other than the occassional disc not having great black levels (I Am Legend), or having excessive grain (Underworld), which is down to many things including the way in which it is shot, they've all been a fair step above the DVD release. Some are like watching a completely different film.

I can understand a few people having a few issues with the format, we all do with various things. But some of the arguments people are pulling up against BD are just so petty and some are quite obviously part of an anti BD campaign by various parties. I hate Sony, and yes there are some things they've made a big balls up on regarding the format (DVD and HD-DVD also had initial problems), but anyone with a screen good enough can and will appreciate the difference in quality. I've yet to see one of these 'sub-standard' discs.

FrankHarveyHiFi:

I agree Marc. Of all the BD's and HD-DVD's I've seen, I've not been disappointed with any of them, and only The Hulk has given me problems in one part of the film on HD-DVD. Other than the occassional disc not having great black levels (I Am Legend), or having excessive grain (Underworld), which is down to many things including the way in which it is shot, they've all been a fair step above the DVD release. Some are like watching a completely different film.

I can understand a few people having a few issues with the format, we all do with various things. But some of the arguments people are pulling up against BD are just so petty and some are quite obviously part of an anti BD campaign by various parties. I hate Sony, and yes there are some things they've made a big balls up on regarding the format (DVD and HD-DVD also had initial problems), but anyone with a screen good enough can and will appreciate the difference in quality. I've yet to see one of these 'sub-standard' discs.

Did you really need to quote the whole post to comment on one line?

How is it a ridiculous comment? Sony were once top of the pile with their ES range and even the great VFM QS range, which they've stupidly dropped to make cheaper ES products, which to me, devaluates their once acclaimed ES series. They've messed the public around with BluRays launch and cost people money. With this mess, I can understand why the HD-DVD crowd are so anti-BD and sinf the praises of HD-DVD. They give UK buyers a much shorter guarantee period, and their service department is a nightmare to deal with, which is why we stopped dealing with them because it's impossible to get anything done efficiently. The point I was trying to make was that I can't understand some of the negative comments being made about BluRay. I find these ridiculous, even with my dislike for the company.

Of course this is only my personal view.

I visited my Video shop yesterday and cheked out some of the Blu Ray dvd's that were for sale and some of them like "Dracula" did not have 1080i or 1080p details. It just said " High Definition" , is this becase it is not even 1080i ?

Gerrardasnails:

Sony have faults of course but it has brought the public many many products and to say you hate a company is, in my opinion, ridiculous.

Kestrel:

I visited my Video shop yesterday and cheked out some of the Blu Ray dvd's that were for sale and some of them like "Dracula" did not have 1080i or 1080p details. It just said " High Definition" , is this becase it is not even 1080i ?

Well whatever resolution it's in, it sure don't look as a Blu-ray disc should!

And by saying that, please do not - as some people on this thread have done - assume I am anti-Blu-ray. Far from it - I adore HD (watched Batman Beginson Blu-ray last night, ahead of a cinema visit to Dark Knight later - awesome stuff).

But that's the point - I want and expect my Blu-ray discs to look and sound amazing, and blow my DVDs out of the water. I also want - and expect - a wide range of hardware options, at a range of price-points, from entry-level to high-end, so as many people as possible can enjoy their movies (and music!) in glorious HD.

If any of those expectations fall short - either hardware or software - it's our duty as consumer journalists to inform you of the realities. We'll leave the BD marketing to the manufacturers. 

But that's the point - I want and expect my Blu-ray discs to look and sound amazing, and blow my DVDs out of the water. I also want - and expect - a wide range of hardware options, at a range of price-points, from entry-level to high-end, so as many people as possible can enjoy their movies (and music!) in glorious HD.

I guess that's what every person here wants. And I expect many people feel that we're not always getting it.
The same thing happend with SACD and DVD-Audio. Sure there is some great stuff out there, but I have bought a lot of pretty bad stuff too. And I'm sure the same will happen when buying blu rays.
But when done right, blu ray is amazing.