Blu-Ray worth it at 1680x1050

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volt01

Limp Gawd
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I have a 1680x1050 monitor, and have considering buying a cheaper blue-ray rom drive preferably <$110, I was wondering would a Blu-ray drive be pointless at my screens resolution.

Also would a 4x blu-ray rom speed be fast enough for playback usage, would it be ludicrously slow for ripping?
 
4x isn't the fastest but it certainly isn't ludicrously slow... it would certainly work fine.

Why would bluray be pointless at 1680x1050? Bluray isn't pointless on 1280x720 screens so it CERTAINLY isn't pointless on that resolution.

The bigger question though is with regards to screen size and viewing distance: the farther away you sit, the bigger the screen needs to be for the differences to be appreciated. If you are going to sit in a chair right in front of the screen to watch the movie, you will notice a difference over DVDs for sure.
 
I'd mainly be using it at school, on my 22" dell 2209wa, I would be sitting fairly close to the screen, as my dorm room is rather small. From my understanding the read speed doesn't affect playback as much as rip speed, is that correct?
 
If it were me, on a small computer screen, I wouldn't bother. But that's just me. I couldn't see much of a difference.
 
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Considering DVDs are only 480 the bluray would be a big step up... You don't need a 100in projector to enjoy the benefits of HD video.
 
Just take note that a $110 drive isn't going to have the software bundled with it to actually play bluray movie discs. Yes, it'll probably come with PowerDVD8, but not the version that supports Bluray (PowerDVD9Ultra).

No, you can't simply download MPC-HC and play Bluray/HD-DVD movie discs. Nor will it play on WMC or WMP. There is no freeware/open source solution, or at least none that work even remotely decently.
 
To playback a movie all you really need is 1x speed. However, the faster the speed the faster the rip.

If you want to start a Blu-Ray collection then go ahead. With a resolution of 1680 x 1080 the point is moot about DVDs or Blu-Rays. DVDs will be upscaled to that resolution, while Blu-Rays will be downscaled to that resolution. Either way of scaling the image quality will not be at it's absolute best.
 
^^^

It will since it is "BD" version 7 it will. However, I've read version 8 has fewer issues. Version 9 is more current, but I've also read it doesn't include some features in older version. Something you should probably Google about before you make a purchase.
 
After checking my system for HDCP compliance, My GPU and Monitor are HDCP compliant, however I can't find anything about my mobo saying one way or the other. GA-MA790XT-UD4P any help would be appreciated.

Does the mobo even matter if you have a dedicated gpu?
 
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Neurofreeze said:
Just take note that a $110 drive isn't going to have the software bundled with it to actually play bluray movie discs. Yes, it'll probably come with PowerDVD8, but not the version that supports Bluray (PowerDVD9Ultra).
Click to expand...

What? PowerDVD 8 Ultra and even 7 Ultra support Blu-Ray... most Blu-Ray drives come with software that supports Blu-Ray, so don't buy any software until after you receive your drive and try the included software first.
 
Archer75 said:
If it were me, on a small computer screen, I wouldn't bother. But that's just me. I couldn't see much of a difference.
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I use a 24" monitor to watch stuff in my bedroom from about 4 feet. I notice a difference in HD and SD content at that distance when it is playing in full screen
 
volt01 said:
Does the mobo even matter if you have a dedicated gpu
Click to expand...

Motherboard does not matter unless your planning on using some sort of digital sound output (like the coax out line).


gtg465x said:
What? PowerDVD 8 Ultra and even 7 Ultra support Blu-Ray... most Blu-Ray drives come with software that supports Blu-Ray, so don't buy any software until after you receive your drive and try the included software first.
Click to expand...

As long as he buys a retail version he will be fine. He should because he wouldn't really be saving any money at all if he bought OEM then had to buy the software.
 
I had a blu ray drive in my old pc before I sold the entire rig.I had it hooked up to a 17 inch 1280x720 monitor.The difference between dvd and blu ray is huge man.The clarity of the picture on my screen was night and day man.

the Drive i bought came bundled with software.I got a LG drive from best buy.I had no trouble at all with playing any movie
 
Archer75 said:
If it were me, on a small computer screen, I wouldn't bother. But that's just me. I couldn't see much of a difference.
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Compared to DVD I used to see a nice difference on a 22" screen from 4 to 5 feet away, i've since started using a 32" LCD next to my desktop though.

OP it's your choice, you can pickup a $60 player with powerdvd 8 bundled. I may be wrong but i have heard the bundled version can play blu-ray but only with 2.0 stereo audio (might be worth a google search). Edit: As per Bman above he said his bundled software played it just fine. At the very least having a blu-ray capable optical drive would be good for ripping/shrinking dvd's to your hard drive.

OR, you can pick up a $99 magnavox blu-ray player at Walmart. The magnavox is a Funai based unit and has been well-tested for many months now. The shelf price may not reflect the price at the register so you may have to get a cashier to ring it up for you.
 
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