LG Bluray player going back

[Smokey]

Last month bought LG BD610 bluray player which was black friday special from Walmart for $52 and and finally got around to it this weekend to run it thru its paces. Sorry to say that it failed the DVD upscaling test via HDMI.

There is too much noise present and detail leave alot to be desired. My regular DVD player have better picture with less noise. Mind you that DVD picture quality from LG BD player doesn't look too bad, but when compared with a good DVD player, it does not measure up.

I did not try bluray disc on LG player since don't have any, but if doesn't pass the DVD upscaling test, it is not a keeper.

However on LG BD player defence, it got one of best onscreen menu I have seen from any player. One remote button will bring up the whole disc menu, and same time it let you change any settings from same menu without pushing any more remote buttons. And it is so quiet.

So back to square one in search of good DVD upscaler. Think I will try Sony BD player next as it got good reviews for DVD upscaling capability.

[recoveryone]

I can't believe you still have not brought a Blu ray disk yet :(

[Smokey]

I can't believe you still have not brought a Blu ray disk yet :(

Horse before the cart :D

[RGA]

Sony PS3 - DVD quality is better than all three of the other DVD players I own - a Pioneer, Sony and Aspire. The Aspire is second best and the Sony stunk - the Sony PS3 is terrific - a good enough blu-ray player - fast easy to use and built well - and you get a free hard drive to save your movies or pictures on it - oh yeah and it happens to play some video games too.

[BadAssJazz]

Horse before the cart :D


If your current DVD player upconverts well, it might not be a bad idea just to keep the LG Blu Ray player...assuming you have a free HDMI connection on your receiver or TV.

Before upgrading to my first Oppo BD player, I used an Oppo DVD player (the 981 iirc) for DVDs and one of the early Samsung Blu Ray players (which didn't particularly fair well with DVDs) for blu ray movies. Not a perfect solution, but I was content until I had enough scratch to afford "one [player] to rule them all."

[recoveryone]

If your current DVD player upconverts well, it might not be a bad idea just to keep the LG Blu Ray player...assuming you have a free HDMI connection on your receiver or TV.

Before upgrading to my first Oppo BD player, I used an Oppo DVD player (the 981 iirc) for DVDs and one of the early Samsung Blu Ray players (which didn't particularly fair well with DVDs) for blu ray movies. Not a perfect solution, but I was content until I had enough scratch to afford "one [player] to rule them all."

Jazz, first you have to look at what smoke is hoping for, A dirt cheap BR that will upcovert DVD with the same visual wow and pop as a mid range player. I mean Wal Mart had those barn burner deal on mostly low end items or last year models that still were lower end models to start with. I am surprised Smoke has not searched all of the bid sites and found a older mid range player that has good upconverting along with a very good BR showing, but he may have to settle not getting streaming or some of the other bells and whistles. Or cough of the cash for used Oppo 83 for $400 still now days.

[BadAssJazz]

Jazz, first you have to look at what smoke is hoping for, A dirt cheap BR that will upcovert DVD with the same visual wow and pop as a mid range player. I mean Wal Mart had those barn burner deal on mostly low end items or last year models that still were lower end models to start with. I am surprised Smoke has not searched all of the bid sites and found a older mid range player that has good upconverting along with a very good BR showing, but he may have to settle not getting streaming or some of the other bells and whistles. Or cough of the cash for used Oppo 83 for $400 still now days.

Ahh, I see.

In that case, I think Smoky is setting himself up for disappointment. As my English Lit. professor was fond of saying whenever he wanted us to delve deeper into our analyses, "Even Ahab wasn't crazy enough to look for a white whale in a swimming pool. Try the sea."

Granted, I haven't sampled the entire market, but I've owned price-friendly stand alone Blu Ray players from Sony and Panasonic, as well as middle rung units from Samsung and Pioneer Elite. Varying degrees of success on all of those units, but none that hit the spot. Everyone raves about the Sony PS, so I'd probably direct him there as well.

As for myself, the only affordable player that handled both DVD and BR playback well was the Oppo 93. I never owned the BDP80 or the 83, so can't speak to those models, but I imagine both would fill the bill. As suggested, $300 - $350 for pre-owned unit is about the going rate.

[Hyfi]

I guess the question is "what did you expect"?

Shopping with a wal-mart mentality results in wal-mart products.

We all tried to steer Smokey to a quality player but he claims he has no use for any of the extras. That might be today but what happens when a friend comes over with a really great movie, but it's on a USB stick. What happens when he joins the 21st century and decides to stream, video or audio?

Use the crappy $50 unit while you save your money and just get an OPPO and forget about it. It plays anything you need it to play, it stream, it allows you to hook up an external HD or USB stick, it is a wireless networking device and it doubles as a decent CDP. Unless something drastically changes the unit will be good for many years. And it up samples DVDs excellently.

[Smokey]

Jazz, first you have to look at what smoke is hoping for, A dirt cheap BR that will upcovert DVD with the same visual wow and pop as a mid range player.

Well, not anymore :)

Since bought a HDTV and watching alot of HD programs via Antenna and PC, DVD picture quality does not look great anymore and have lost the wow factor. Even the best quality DVDs such as superbit look lame after seeing outdoor scenes or poeple's faces in HD. Its a spoiler.

As for Bluray player, my PC is also hooked up to TV ( joining 21st century :D), so a barebone player will suffice. So far TV give the best DVD picture quality when fed DVD player native resolution (480p) via HDMI. When I set DVD player output to 720p, there is increased noise, which tell me TV does better job of upscaling than DVD player.

So the mission is to find a bluray player that can upscale better than the TV.

The problem with LG BD player was that there was too much noise present in any of its resolution settings for DVD, so picture was noisey even when TV is upscaling. I know PS3 or Oppo players are probably the best, but dang it there must also be lower cost decent players out there and I intend to find it :)

[Worf101]

I have an Oppo BDP 83, it's aces. I can't believe the used ones (without steaming internet) like mine still command 2 to 3 hundred. Wow. Sheesh, oughtta sell you mine and buy the BDP 93! LOL.

Worf

[BadAssJazz]

Well, not anymore :)

Since bought a HDTV and watching alot of HD programs via Antenna and PC, DVD picture quality does not look great anymore and have lost the wow factor. Even the best quality DVDs such as superbit look lame after seeing outdoor scenes or poeple's faces in HD. Its a spoiler.

As for Bluray player, my PC is also hooked up to TV ( joining 21st century :D), so a barebone player will suffice. So far TV give the best DVD picture quality when fed DVD player native resolution (480p) via HDMI. When I set DVD player output to 720p, there is increased noise, which tell me TV does better job of upscaling than DVD player.

So the mission is to find a bluray player that can upscale better than the TV.

The problem with LG BD player was that there was too much noise present in any of its resolution settings for DVD, so picture was noisey even when TV is upscaling. I know PS3 or Oppo players are probably the best, but dang it there must also be lower cost decent players out there and I intend to find it :)

Gotta say, I admire your determination. Just make sure that when it's all said and done you find a component that actually plays blu ray movies well. (As with any gadget, functionality varies: some do, some don't.) :biggrin5:

Speaking of which, before you take back the LG, you should try it out. If watching a standard DVD on your HDTV is now a mostly underwhelming experience for you, I think you'll be amazed by a well done blu ray movie. Lights, camera, nirvana!

[BadAssJazz]

I have an Oppo BDP 83, it's aces. I can't believe the used ones (without steaming internet) like mine still command 2 to 3 hundred. Wow. Sheesh, oughtta sell you mine and buy the BDP 93! LOL.

Worf

Seriously, that's not a bad idea. Take advantage of the decent resale prices while you can.

That's what I did when I sold my BDP93 to upgrade to the 95. Granted, it helped that I also found buyers for some of my other used gear that was sitting in the closet gathering dust, but in terms of peace of mind and squashing the upgrade bug once and for all, it was worth it.

Now if only I could resist this nagging urge to upgrade to a bigger HDTV. :eek6:

[Smokey]

Speaking of which, before you take back the LG, you should try it out. If watching a standard DVD on your HDTV is now a mostly underwhelming experience for you, I think you'll be amazed by a well done blu ray movie. Lights, camera, nirvana!

Since Wallyworld have 90 days return policy, I was thinking of just doing that since it is still hooked up. Then it will be clearer as to what the next best step would be. I think I having more fun looking than purchasing it :D

[Woochifer]

Good gawd Smoke, sometimes I wonder if it's more than just them tobacco sticks that you're drawing from! :ihih:

Let me get this straight, you bought a Blu-ray player because it's cheap. And now you're bringing it back, without having ever played a Blu-ray disc on it, because its DVD performance is worse than the DVD player that you already use. I know you're cheap and seem to enjoy flaunting it, but the old adage about knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing seems to apply here.

[Smokey]

Good gawd Smoke, sometimes I wonder if it's more than just them tobacco sticks that you're drawing from! :ihih:

As the saying goes, "You don't know. And you don't want to know." :devil:

I have started at the bottom of BD player, and now the only way is up.

[Swish]

I have an Oppo BDP 83, it's aces. I can't believe the used ones (without steaming internet) like mine still command 2 to 3 hundred. Wow. Sheesh, oughtta sell you mine and buy the BDP 93! LOL.

Worf

I bought the 93 a couple months or so ago and LOVE IT! I have it set up for Pandora and Netflix, it does a great job at upscaling my DVDs (I have only one Blu-Ray movie and it's The Lion King. Wife bought it for our granddaughter), and I have a pile of tunes loaded on a 32 gig flash drive that I'll plug in tonight during out little soiree with friends. What a difference when you don't have to fumble with a bunch of cds throughout the night.

I bought it mostly because of your glowing recommendation for Oppo, so thanks dude.