Yes I still have VHS movies to watch
Why would someone want to buy a video player that accepts both the latest Blu-Ray format and the perhaps obsolete VHS formats? Well as someone who has their foot in both the past and the future let me tell you why I love this player.
Yes I can definitely appreciate the crispness and clarity of the high definition Blu-Ray format and I wish to experience that format. But Blu-Ray discs are pricey so I will likely choose to purchase only a few new select and favorite films in that format. I feel no need and don't have the wallet to replace my entire film library in a Blu-Ray format.
I also have a collection of nearly 500 VHS tapes most of them unwatched which I mostly purchased in thrift stores. (current standard price for VHS tape in a thrift - $1) I also have a fair number of films that have not yet been released on DVD yet.
It is nice to have a player that will accept both VHS and Blu-Ray along with standard DVD formats. No switching back and forth of cables etc.
The DMP-BD70V upconversion of the VHS to 1080p is really quite amazing. My current television is a 42" HDTV (one year ago it was a 19 inch color set) When I connected my previous standard VHS player to the HDTV the picture quality as expected was quite poor with much of the image being rather pixelated - it was quite painful and distracting to watch.
Then I hooked up the DMP-BD70V and lone behold the picture quality was much much better - and very watchable. At first I almost thought that the VHS tape had been replaced by a DVD - the improvement was that great. There was no pixelation at all and the colors were quite bright. The overall quality of the picture was much better than the picture obtained with my old 19" color TV and VHS player. The upscaling features of the DMP-BD70V is almost as if a magician had waved his wand over your entire library of VHS tapes and suddenly replaced them Cinderella-like with a much higher quality product.
There are some things you cannot do with a VHS tape. The picture size remains at the older 4:3 format - meaning there is considerable empty space at the left and right sides of the HDTV screen. You also won't get the added commentary tracks that appear on DVD and Blu-Ray discs but sometimes all one really wants to do is simply watch a movie with no other frills involved.
For a few years I will have several options for my home movie viewing. On one end the $1 VHS tapes (upgraded to 1080p) in the middle the standard DVD format and on the high side the Blu-Ray format. This DMP-BD70V allows me to watch all three formats and allows me to choose whether I want to pay $1 $15 or $30 for each movie format. That is what I call flexibility.
I did a comparison price check for the DMP-BD70V model versus a similar model without the VHS tape compatibility - the difference was about $50 more. For me it was well worth it.
Obviously those without VHS tapes do not need this DMP-BD70V model. But those who do have some older VHS tapes and wish to still view them will love this model.
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