Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yaya]

I'm just wondering how the pic looks on a regular HD TV (and on one with full HD). I know that the PS3 has a built-in Blu Ray player and that its upscaling ability is impressive.

[smogdonkey]

Unless you have maybe a 50"+ TV, you really won't notice the difference between 720p and 1080p. It looks spectacular on both.

Also, nowadays on HD torrent sites, you can find movies on occasion made in .mp4 format, so you can transfer them via network connection (simple with Window Media Player's share function) or via USB memory (or, I suppose, by burning DVDs, but never tried) and take advantage of the PS3's computing power. I do this because my Core Duo laptop doesn't have enough CPU juice to smoothly run HD content all of the time, but the PS3 does.

Upscaling, though, meaning making a lower-resolution source (ie regular DVD) look better on an HD screen, is not the PS3's strong point, as I understand it. I have never tried this on my ps3, though, as I download everything I watch for movies nowadays (because I haven't seen a Blockbuster around recently).

[Yaya]

I hear the PS3 does a GOOD, not great, job of upscaling. Thing is, I am not really into games much and will probably use the machine more for Blu Ray than games, and so I'll probably just wait until the players fall in price.

[FistFace]

I own a PS3 (a Japanese one I've owned since maybe February) and over 70 blu-ray movies.

Since an update a few months ago, the PS3 does a great job of upscaling standard DVDs. The differences between "great" and "excellent" are nitpicky, at best.

Last weekend, I purchased my girlfriend a 70,000 won, cheap-ass non-HDMI chinese model standard DVD player from Homever that upscales to 720p or 1080i over component, and does a "very good" job of upscaling DVDs. It doesn't upscale to 1080p, but her TV doesn't do that anyway.

http://itempage.auction.co.kr/detailview.aspx?itemNo=A089719166&frm=&frm2=through

It also has a USB and a SD Media card port. She uses that for DIVX/XVID, and it works/looks awesome. It's not as good at upscaling as my PS3, but it does a job well enough that 90% of people out there wouldn't care to have one over the other.

The differences between "great" and "excellent" as far as upscaling standard DVDs is even less to worry about. We're talking about standing and staring at the two pictures side-by-side for several seconds, rewinding and re-watching frames over and over again to find one reason to like one over the other. Not worth the worry.

The standalone Blu-ray and HD-DVD players are said to upscale standard DVDs slightly better than the PS3, but it's not enough reason to make a stink about. Again -- nitpicking. HD-DVD has about 7 titles for sale in Korea (and not all of them have Korean subs), so HD-DVD is not worth the bother here.

I will say, however, that there are lots of chinese HDMI-upscaling units (I've bought and returned) that do a downright CRAPPY job of upscaling. Just because something has HDMI doesn't mean it always looks better -- not by a longshot! I'm shocked at the value player my girlfriend got for 70,000 won.

[FistFace]

Another note about high def....

Blu-ray only has about 20 to 25 titles available in Korea, because only the Sony titles come with Korean subs (and not always). Some imports are for sale here, but at crazy prices. When I sell mine, my prices are reasonable. Heck, you can even buy "The Host" in the USA on blu-ray, but not in Korea (unless it's from the goofball on auction who imported it and wants $40+ for it).

I have little doubt that I have one of the largest (if not the largest) blu-ray collection in all of Korea. I have yet to find even an online store in Korea that has more titles that I do.

The best you'll find are titles up for sale (I put mine up for sale there, too) on auction.co.kr:

http://search.auction.co.kr/search/search.aspx?keyword=blu-ray&itemno=&seller=&dom=auction&isSuggestion=No&optSection=%C5%EB%C7%D5%B0%CB%BB%F6&txtKeyword=blu-ray

The reason I do is because I spent about $1,300 on blu-ray movies while on vacation in the USA this summer, and brought them with me.

Few Koreans bother, because the stupid LG and Samsung blu-ray and Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo players are still OVER $1,300 to $1,500 won to purchase here!!!! You can buy the exact same players in the USA for less than half of that!

http://www.enuri.com/view/List.jsp?cate=021507&from=search&islist=Y&skeyword=blu+ray&cate_keyword=Y

They don't even sell the Toshiba HD-DVD players here.

If you want to see some blu-ray and HD-DVD movies for sale from store, go to technomart and search the places that sell DVDs near the top floors. A few places have them. Some are priced OK, others are outrageous.

[FistFace]

Oh, I also have ordered 2 titles from Amazon US, and didn't have to pay any import fees. Basic international shipping takes 2 weeks or so, and costs an extra $8, approx.

I just got 300, and had purchased Nine Inch Nails: Beside You In Time, a while back.

My parents sent me 2 blu-rays in the mail with no tax issues, either.

[FistFace]

One last thing before bed...

Standard DVDs look great upscaled to a 32" HDTV. You really need at TV larger than 37" to make HD worthwhile, in my opinion. Maybe even 40".

I think they're going to have a hard sell getting people to buy into either HD format for a few years.

[Yaya]

So you can play any Blu Ray movie on the Korean PS3, whether from Korea, the U.S. or Japan?

By the way, I have a JVC 37" CRT with an HD converter. I'm waiting until the so-called transition period of big screen tech is more clear.

Watch out for poorly remastered movies on Blu Ray, Kiss of the Dragon being one of them and the first Blu Ray release of The Fifth Element being another.

[FistFace]

Yes, Korea, Japan, and North America are all in the same region. Blu-ray regions are different than regular DVD:

A/1 North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.
B/2 Europe, Greenland, French territories, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
C/3 India, Nepal, Mainland China, Pakistan, Russia, Central and South Asia.

[Yaya]

Any way to make the PS3 multi-region for all regular DVDs? I own FAR more region 1 DVDs (U.S.) than region 3 (Korea). Region 1 DVDs are also a lot easier to sell on Amazon Marketplace once I get sick of them.

[FistFace]

No, the PS3 has no current hack to make it region-free.