How do you hookup the DVD player?

I have a DVD player w/ HDMI hookup, is it worth buying a Blu Ray player?

• I have a panasonic 5 disc surround system dvd player that i use an HDMI cable to plug it in to my 720p LG plasma, i sit about 5 feet or so away from my TV. I really want to buy Ironman when it comes on DVD and feel like i may as well buy blu ray player because its the next big thing. Do you think the Blu Ray player would be a bigger difference than my HDMI cable dvd player.

• Answer:

  If your display device was a 1080p device, my answer might be different, but since you're going to have to set up the Blu-Ray player to down-rez to 720p anyway, so you're definitely losing some value there. But even if you had a native 1080p display device, here are some things to think about... 1. Many people who have seen a comparison of a Blu-Ray image side-by-side with a standard def DVD up-rezzed by a high quality player (Oppo being the standard bearer) don't feel the difference is significant. (Noticeable, yes, but certainly not dramatic.) It's not that Blu-Ray is inferior in any way - it's that the original DVD format is _that_ good. 2. Consider your existing DVD library and your wish list of movies you don't yet have. How many (standard def) DVDs could you buy with the $400 you would spend on that Blu-Ray player? Then, from there, for every BD disc you buy, you could buy 2, sometimes even 3 DVDs. Is Blu-Ray the new standard? Certainly. Will videophiles everywhere be replacing every DVD they own with Blu-Ray discs? Probably. Eventually. My advice would be to (A) wait for prices to come down, and (B) wait until you have native 1080p device (get a projector!) to watch them on. All that said, some (if not most) Blu-Ray discs also contain a 480p version of the movie on the same disc or in the same case. If you can live with the current price tag for BDs, start buying them now. Then, when your collection warrants it, and STB prices have come down, you could buy the set-top box.