# DVD versus Blu-Ray



## Northerner (Nov 4, 2016)

Is there really much difference, apart from the price differential? Worth me getting a blu-ray, or shall I just stick with DVDs (I know you can play DVDs on a Blu-Ray player). I've got an HD TV, but have to admit that I really can't see much difference when I watch HD channels as opposed to SD ones  Maybe my eyesight isn't good enough to appreciate the difference?


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## eggyg (Nov 4, 2016)

I was like you and at first couldn't see the difference but Mr Eggy insisted Blu-ray was the way forward and to be fair I now can tell straight away if something isn't in HD ( and my glimmers ain't great). Go for it Alan, you need to get with it man!


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 4, 2016)

How big is your telly, Allan?  We have a 50" one & Blu Ray us noticeably sharper than DVD.  Also, Blu Ray is higher definition than HD TV broadcasts.  And you're a bit behind the times, 4k TV is the future.


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## Northerner (Nov 4, 2016)

Mark Parrott said:


> How big is your telly, Allan?  We have a 50" one & Blu Ray us noticeably sharper than DVD.  Also, Blu Ray is higher definition than HD TV broadcasts.  And you're a bit behind the times, 4k TV is the future.


My TV is 32"  I've been bearing in mind that I might end up skipping a technology if 4k overtakes blu-ray/HD. Isn't there an even better resolution coming out? Can't keep up!  I do remember putting off DVD for ages and thinking it couldn't be that much better than VHS - now VHS looks terrible to me!


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## novorapidboi26 (Nov 4, 2016)

It is different and better, lol, and of course will usually come with a 7.1 lossless audio track with it too if you have the need for good audio as well as visual....

I cant actually watch films in SD now and haven't been able to for years....

The TV broadcasts are in 720p, which is a resolution of 1920 x 720, BluRay is 1080p, which is 1920 x 1080......4k is 4 times that of 1080p.........

I haven't ventured in to 4k yet, but there are films being released in that resolution so it wont be long...

I have a few 3D films on the go too...


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 4, 2016)

I'm a bit of an early adopter.  Bought my first DVD player in 1997 at a cost of £500!  Only 5 films were available in the UK at the time, so had to get it hacked to play US discs.  And DVD's cost around £25 each back then.


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## mikeyB (Nov 4, 2016)

Yes, Northerner if you buy a 4K TV, make sure it's got Ultra HD, which is better than HD and blu-ray. All Sky footie is in Ultra HD this season, and so is the new David Attenborough series on BBC 1.


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 4, 2016)

novorapidboi26 said:


> It is different and better, lol, and of course will usually come with a 7.1 lossless audio track with it too if you have the need for good audio as well as visual....
> 
> I cant actually watch films in SD now and haven't been able to for years....
> 
> ...


I'm a bit of a Surround sound nut, so the lossless 7.1 on Blu Ray is great.  Are we going a bit over Alan's head now?


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## novorapidboi26 (Nov 4, 2016)

Mark Parrott said:


> I'm a bit of a Surround sound nut, so the lossless 7.1 on Blu Ray is great.  Are we going a bit over Alan's head now?



No.....spread the word.....


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## Northerner (Nov 4, 2016)

Mark Parrott said:


> I'm a bit of a Surround sound nut, so the lossless 7.1 on Blu Ray is great.  Are we going a bit over Alan's head now?


<gibber>


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## Vicsetter (Nov 4, 2016)

It's possible that your TV is upscaling your DVDs to 1080p so unless you sit close to the tv you probably wont notice the difference.
I'm spoilt as I built a tv room so get 1080p and 3D on a 120" screen, there is no going back to a 32" job.  4K projectors are horrendously expensive and there will be problems for a lot of people with Internet films as you need 50Mbs to stream 4K.  
You may notice that a lot of adverts appear to be poor quality and that is because they are transmitted in SD quality (its usually the text that appears awful).


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## AlisonM (Nov 4, 2016)

LOL, I'm saving for a 4k atm, I currently have both DVD and blu-ray options, but prefer blu-ray, it's streets ahead. Really Alan, c'mon, get into the 21st century, you're in danger of losing your geek cred.


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 4, 2016)

Vicsetter said:


> It's possible that your TV is upscaling your DVDs to 1080p so unless you sit close to the tv you probably wont notice the difference.
> I'm spoilt as I built a tv room so get 1080p and 3D on a 120" screen, there is no going back to a 32" job.


Droooool!


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## Northerner (Nov 4, 2016)

AlisonM said:


> LOL, I'm saving for a 4k atm, I currently have both DVD and blu-ray options, but prefer blu-ray, it's streets ahead. Really Alan, c'mon, get into the 21st century, you're in danger of losing your geek cred.


Haha! I'm really not an 'early adopter' for some things. Until 2001 my TV was a 20" Ferguson that my sister gave me after she had bought it from the TV rental company she'd rented it from for 15 years. No remote, and finally had to get a new telly when I couldn't get some channels because the push buttons wouldn't stay in... 

Things move so quickly these days, it's hard to keep up!  Although, having said that I have just bought the latest Garmin Forerunner 35...


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 4, 2016)

We only bought a new HD telly 2 years ago, so won't be upgrading to 4k for a while yet.  Now, if I was still single, it would be a different story.


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## mikeyB (Nov 4, 2016)

I'll be getting a 4K Ultra HD TV before Christmas. My problem is I can't get a land based signal, so I'm dependent on Sky, Netflix or Amazon Prime. But then I have to get Sky Q to cope with the technology. And bloody Openreach who haven't yet got around to installing fibre broadband in the village yet.


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## Mark T (Nov 4, 2016)

I'd go the other way, unless you plan on buying lots of BlueRay's stick with the DVD.  Unless the BlueRay player is not significantly more expensive.

We are also on a 32" TV and there isn't much point getting anything bigger unless we get a bigger house (which is unlikely, given current house prices).


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## Vicsetter (Nov 4, 2016)

I don't use my blu-ray player, I prefer using my Xbox one which plays blu-ray perfectly (including 3D).  P.S. enjoyed the new Jungle Book film so bought the 3d version. The next Xbox slated for 2018 shold provide 4k as well, so I will wait for that.
BTW there are no phones or tablets that provide 4k resolution and precious little PC graphics cards.

I've just subscribed to 6 months NOW tv (courtesy of a 25 refund from Amazon) so I could watch season 7 Walking Dead. and the resolution which is supposed to be 720p at best is appalling at times (when Amazon prime video is fine).  Looking forward to getting BT fibre next week with 50meg download.


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## Rosiecarmel (Nov 5, 2016)

I literally have no idea what half of this thread means. 4k?????

My TV is a 42" normal tele. I have HD channels but I only actually get about 5 included with my Virgin media and I always forget to watch them anyway. Everyone talks about Smart TVs and such nowadays. I don't really know why I need one!! It's good enough for me and I've only had it three years so I deffo won't be upgrading just yet! Although I have been very tempted to save up for a TV in my bedroom.... I just worry I'll stay in bed all day on my days off!!!


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## grovesy (Nov 5, 2016)

Well my bedroom telly pre dates even the introduction to digital


Rosiecarmel said:


> I literally have no idea what half of this thread means. 4k?????
> 
> My TV is a 42" normal tele. I have HD channels but I only actually get about 5 included with my Virgin media and I always forget to watch them anyway. Everyone talks about Smart TVs and such nowadays. I don't really know why I need one!! It's good enough for me and I've only had it three years so I deffo won't be upgrading just yet! Although I have been very tempted to save up for a TV in my bedroom.... I just worry I'll stay in bed all day on my days off!!!


2 of ours are older than yours , one even is not digital, but is connected to sky box, the third one only got replaced because it broke.


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## Lindarose (Nov 5, 2016)

Have to admit I'm with you there Rosie. So long as I can see the picture and read the subtitles I'm happy 
Everything else is beyond me!


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## palmoff (Nov 10, 2016)

Its all about screen size 4k = 4000x2000; 1080p= 1920x1080; and 720p=1280×720
If you have a home cinema + hd ultra projector then you need blu-ray preferably at 4k, anything below 60" then 1080p bluray will suffice 4k at 50" is a waste of money, 32" should only need 1280×720

multiplying the resolution lengthwise by width  gives total pixels 4k has 8000000pixels cramming that in a small 32" screen is pointless as you would have to be a couple of inches away to tell the difference between that and 720p at 921600 pixels


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 10, 2016)

I think there is a conspiracy theory going on.  I had a 50" plasma & the difference between SD & HD was noticeable but not huge.  We bought a new 50" LCD 2 years ago & the difference between SD & HD is night & day.  I'm sure they've made SD look worse rather than HD look better.


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## Northerner (Nov 10, 2016)

palmoff said:


> Its all about screen size 4k = 4000x2000; 1080p= 1920x1080; and 720p=1280×720
> If you have a home cinema + hd ultra projector then you need blu-ray preferably at 4k, anything below 60" then 1080p bluray will suffice 4k at 50" is a waste of money, 32" should only need 1280×720
> 
> multiplying the resolution lengthwise by width  gives total pixels 4k has 8000000pixels cramming that in a small 32" screen is pointless as you would have to be a couple of inches away to tell the difference between that and 720p at 921600 pixels


Thanks @palmoff, that explains it very well  Hehe! Love the way you describe a 32" screen as 'small' - at one time it would have been immense!


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## palmoff (Nov 10, 2016)

Mark Parrott said:


> I think there is a conspiracy theory going on.  I had a 50" plasma & the difference between SD & HD was noticeable but not huge.  We bought a new 50" LCD 2 years ago & the difference between SD & HD is night & day.  I'm sure they've made SD look worse rather than HD look better.


No conspiracy really, you can only shove so much down a satellite link or over land or in a phoneline, so whats happened is that bandwidth has become more of an issue and sd broadcasters end up with far less bandwidth than their HD counterparts.
Result is the HD gets better and the SD gets worse.


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## robert@fm (Nov 11, 2016)

Actually, from what I've read on The Register, there are two competing "4K" standards; 3840x2160 (what would more correctly be called 2HD; this is the resolution to which my digital camera is set) and "true" 4K (4096x2304).


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## grovesy (Nov 11, 2016)

robert@fm said:


> Actually, from what I've read on The Register, there are two competing "4K" standards; 3840x2160 (what would more correctly be called 2HD; this is the resolution to which my digital camera is set) and "true" 4K (4096x2304).


Another reason not rush in with technology.


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 11, 2016)

robert@fm said:


> Actually, from what I've read on The Register, there are two competing "4K" standards; 3840x2160 (what would more correctly be called 2HD; this is the resolution to which my digital camera is set) and "true" 4K (4096x2304).


Similar to HD, really, with 720p & 1080p.  Oh, & not forgetting 1080i as well.


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## novorapidboi26 (Nov 11, 2016)

I think 1080i is just the way in which each frame is presented on the screen....

the 'i' means interlaced and that means that all the odd lines of pixels are presented, so line 1, 3, 5, 7 and then the even numbers are presented, so 2, 4 ,6,8.....
with 'p' which means progressive scan, each line of pixels is presented [drawn] one after the other.....

p is considered superior, but most folk would never notice it...


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## Redkite (Nov 11, 2016)

I don't understand a lot of this thread!!!  But I am worried that my vast collection of DVDs (100s) might be obsolete soon .  Can they be played on a blu-Ray machine?


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 11, 2016)

Yes they can.


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## Northerner (Nov 11, 2016)

Redkite said:


> I don't understand a lot of this thread!!!  But I am worried that my vast collection of DVDs (100s) might be obsolete soon .  Can they be played on a blu-Ray machine?


As Mark says, yes, but I'm having problems getting my VHS tapes to play on my DVD player!  

One thing I can't seem to find is a Blu-Ray recorder - one with a sizeable hard drive, but can also save to disc. Plenty with hard drives or download to memory stick, but built in disc recorders seem to be absent from the market  I'm one of those people that likes a permanent 'thing' of stuff I want to keep (even though I'll probably never watch it again, I'm a hoarder, OK?  )


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 11, 2016)

I'm the same.  Like my music & films physical.


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## novorapidboi26 (Nov 11, 2016)

I got rid of physical media years ago, about 5 years now......all my BluRays are on a 4TB network drive in the hall cupboard.....


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## Northerner (Nov 11, 2016)

novorapidboi26 said:


> I got rid of physical media years ago, about 5 years now......all my BluRays are on a 4TB network drive in the hall cupboard.....


It would definitely save me some shelf space!   I have about 500 pre-recorded videos and a couple of boxes of BASF tapes of long-forgotten shows  It's like books though - I've had a kindle for years now but still buy most of my books as physical ones


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 11, 2016)

I've got a box of Betamax tapes with 80's top of the tops on them.  I transferred them all to DVD.


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## Northerner (Nov 11, 2016)

Mark Parrott said:


> I've got a box of Betamax tapes with 80's top of the tops on them.  I transferred them all to DVD.


I transferred my Kate Bush videos to DVD, but the process was so slow and awkward haven't been bothered to do it with any others!  Just the most important


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 11, 2016)

Northerner said:


> As Mark says, yes, but I'm having problems getting my VHS tapes to play on my DVD player!
> 
> One thing I can't seem to find is a Blu-Ray recorder - one with a sizeable hard drive, but can also save to disc. Plenty with hard drives or download to memory stick, but built in disc recorders seem to be absent from the market  I'm one of those people that likes a permanent 'thing' of stuff I want to keep (even though I'll probably never watch it again, I'm a hoarder, OK?  )


Panasonic make one with a 1tb hard drive but it ain't cheap at around £450.


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## robert@fm (Nov 11, 2016)

Northerner said:


> One thing I can't seem to find is a Blu-Ray recorder - one with a sizeable hard drive, but can also save to disc. Plenty with hard drives or download to memory stick, but built in disc recorders seem to be absent from the market  I'm one of those people that likes a permanent 'thing' of stuff I want to keep (even though I'll probably never watch it again, I'm a hoarder, OK?  )





Mark Parrott said:


> Panasonic make one with a 1tb hard drive but it ain't cheap at around £450.


That's the one I bought, this time last year — got it for £350, courtesy of a £100 Amazon UK gift[*] voucher I got for joining Sky.  Quite a good one, I've recorded plenty of shows on it (some of which I haven't yet got around to watching), and watched quite a few Blu-Rays (most in glorious 3D), plus one DVD.  Not got around to burning any of my recorded shows to BD (or DVD) yet, so I can't say how well that works...

[*]At first I accidentally typed "git".  Think it's my subconscious revealing what I think of Sky, whose "customer service" consists of ringing high-pressure salesmen — sorry, "advisers" — and hence is nonexistent as far as I'm concerned.  It's long overdue that they brought their customer service department into at least the 20th century, by offering email support to those who want/need it; but to them email is for spam, not communications.


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## robert@fm (Nov 12, 2016)

Wow — I am blown away.  I just watched _Tron_ on Blu-Ray for the first time, and it has detail in many of the computer-world scenes which I had forgotten (after all, it's 34 years since I saw it at the cinema) because it is too fine for the DVD format to accommodate. (I can't quite remember what the resolution of DVD is, but PAL DVD is something like WSVGA (1024x600?) and NTSC DVD slightly less.)


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## Ralph-YK (Nov 13, 2016)

robert@fm said:


> (I can't quite remember what the resolution of DVD is, but PAL DVD is something like WSVGA (1024x600?) and NTSC DVD slightly less.)


720 x 576 and 720 x 480.
If it's a squared picture (4x3) it gets scaled to 768 and 640 width.
Widescreen (16:9 for TV) gets it scaled to 1024 x 576.
A lot of computer monitors used to be 1024 wide, so that worked quite well.
English broadcast analogue TV was 625 lines, however they were not all used for the picture.  Some were left blank. There were some other technical issues. I'm guessing that's why we got 576 lines on DVD.


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## KookyCat (Nov 13, 2016)

I have a 22 inch telly, an Amazon fire stick and a £15 bargain DVD player....I'm feeling deprived .


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## Vicsetter (Nov 13, 2016)

If you ignore the gaming component, the Xbox One makes a good Blu-Ray player and the one planned for 2018 is destined to be 4K.
On a legal point, it is a breach of copyright to copy your dvd/blu-ray to any other media, apart from that it takes a long time to do.
Forgot to say, the Xbox One also has apps for Now tv (sort of Sky, Walking Dead etc) and Amazon Prime and other video apps, and it plays your music.


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## mikeyB (Nov 13, 2016)

Buying an Xbox One is a an expensive way to get a Blu-Ray player. My telly has all the apps I want built in, and more keep arriving overnight.

There's only so much you can watch in one life. I'm sure there a people dying every day with Breaking Bad box sets downloaded and watched only up to halfway through season 2, or even not at all.

And all these upgrades to 4K and Ultra HD are in essence stupid. That's not how our eyes see the world, so it's completely unrealistic. And the bigger the screen, the stupider it is. That's why when you watch somebody watching one of these their eyes flicker all over the screen while the brain tries to make some sense of it. And that's why some people  get headaches watching Ultra HD or 3D.


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## Northerner (Nov 13, 2016)

mikeyB said:


> with Breaking Bad box sets downloaded and watched only up to halfway through season 2


<cough> Erm....


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## mikeyB (Nov 13, 2016)

You won't believe this, Northerner that I made that comment specially for you


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## robert@fm (Nov 13, 2016)

I think Now TV is owned by Sky and is a sort of Sky Lite.


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## Vicsetter (Nov 16, 2016)

mikeyB said:


> Buying an Xbox One is a an expensive way to get a Blu-Ray player. My telly has all the apps I want built in, and more keep arriving overnight.
> 
> There's only so much you can watch in one life. I'm sure there a people dying every day with Breaking Bad box sets downloaded and watched only up to halfway through season 2, or even not at all.
> 
> And all these upgrades to 4K and Ultra HD are in essence stupid. That's not how our eyes see the world, so it's completely unrealistic. And the bigger the screen, the stupider it is. That's why when you watch somebody watching one of these their eyes flicker all over the screen while the brain tries to make some sense of it. And that's why some people  get headaches watching Ultra HD or 3D.



Xbox One S(plays Blu-Ray at 4k) is £240 with a free game (irrelevant), cheapest 4k blu-ray is £329, you are also missing the point that the Xbox also plays your stored music.  It's not about apps, my telly has a load of apps, as does my Blu-Ray, but I don't use them as the interfaces are rubbish and slow.  TVs are built to a price point and usually have slow and cheap processors.  I have just bought a Now TV box with 6 month entertainment pack for <£30, mainly for watching The Walking Dead new series, interestingly Now TV is only 720p.
I've just received the Game of Thrones box set season 1-6 and notice that it is remastered to include Atmos sound (how many people even know what that is? and is it any good?).

Each size of screen has a proper viewing distance, its no good putting a 50 inch tv in a room where you are only 8 foot away! similarly you wouldn't go to a cinema and sit 3ft from the screen. 4K tv/blu-ray is intended to give a 'cinema' experience as it's the same resolution. There is no means of watching film/tv that is completely realistic, they all work by tricking our eyes/brains.


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 16, 2016)

Is Armos the surround syatem that has speakers all around the room?


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## Northerner (Nov 16, 2016)

I thought the (Oric) Atmos was a home computer from the early 1980s? I remember wanting one at the time - 6502 processor and a 'proper' keyboard (although not really!)


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## Vicsetter (Nov 16, 2016)

Atmos turns listeners into Radar (MASH), so the helicopters sound overhead (not sure what use that is for Game of Thrones (any dragons?).
I've got a 7.1 speaker system and you haven't lived until youve watched Master and Commander in 7.1.


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 16, 2016)

Unfortunately I have to stick to 5.1.  No where for the extra speakers in our little cottage.


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## robert@fm (Nov 17, 2016)

Mark Parrott said:


> Unfortunately I have to stick to 5.1.  No where for the extra speakers in our little cottage.


From what I've read on another site, 7.1 is pointless unless you have a large room; for a small room, 5.1 is just as good.


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