Audio

[ajaybali]

At the moment, I only own a 26" Toshiba 1080i Hi-def CRT. I am considering a new laptop and may buy one with a blu-ray player. Am I wasting my money? At 26", is blu ray worth it? I already use an upcoverting DVD player. At what size do the benefits of blu ray show?

[3M_3TI8]

       You won't see a much of a difference over your upconverting DVD player. However, looking towards the future, you may want to get the BluRay player. Keep in mind that it will also play standard DVD's as well as CD's.

       The benefits of BluRay will be more visible on larger TV's 42" and up. This is also dependant on your viewing distance from the TV. Even on the larger sets, as you move further away, your eyes cannot no longer see the finer details BluRay has to offer. However the overall clarity will still be evident.

[sonimax]

With a 26 inches TV, you need to be at a maximum of 3 feet to be able to see a difference between BD and DVD. From 5 feet and more forget it.

[dobyblue]

I think the benefits of Blu-ray are very much worth it. People are only dealing strictly with resolution, but what about the increased colour accuracy (NTSC = Never Twice the Same Colour), lack of 3:2 judder, less pixelation and macroblocking, better shadow detail, clearer audio?

Yes, for several reasons other than visual acuity you will appreciate Blu-ray on any size screen.

Heck until four weeks ago I was watching all my Blu-ray Discs since 2006 on a 32" 480i CRT, and the differences were VERY clear to me. Much more to home video than just resolution.

[larry777]

Also keep in mind the upgraded sound capability from the Blu Ray disc format,which may also be an important consideration.

[TheDaver]

Future-proof your self and get the blu-ray. You will eventually buy a larger TV anyway, might as well take the plunge.

[Essi]

I agree with TheDaver. Depending on how much more it'll cost you and how HDTVs are coming down in price, you will likely upgrade at some point in the future. Given that you'll have your computer for another 2-4 years, it's worth getting it and "future proof"ing yourself in the words of TheDaver.

[amonialogin]

It won't be too long before the argument is moot. Most of sets at the local (competitor) that are 32 in or bigger are 1080p models. I haven't seen anything smaller than 32 in with more than 768 rows of pixels. That's probably due to manufacturing limitations governing smaller screens.