u/StevenPlaysGuitar

I've seen a lot of people here discussing what they keep their Blu-Ray rips at (mostly people keeping movies on drives), and the number usually seems substantially less than the 25GB number that you can fit on these discs.

So, how much compression will need to be done to fit what is on a standard retail Blu-Ray on one of these? Will it look pretty good?

Can it fit a 1:1 perfect rip without any compression? Probably not.

I made the mistake when backing up DVDs of buying single layer discs, then realizing most of my collection was double layer and pushing 8 GB, and realized I'd have to wildly compress the video to make it work (and DVD is already bad), so I'm just going to buy double layer discs or stick to keeping it on drives. Didn't want to make the same mistake for Blu-Ray. I ended up using the discs for single layer movies.

I'm not sure if 25 GB is adequate for a nice quality picture, or just "ehh". Then the answer becomes if I really want to keep a file bigger than that on a drive anyways and the point becomes moot I suppose and compression is inevitable

Losing quality drives me nuts from a preservation aspect and I like 1:1 copies but I understand there's a point where it is unreasonable to keep such humungous files especially if you are doing so in bulk

Most people who want a cheap option for an HDMI converter are finding cheap ones that use the wrong pins and convert the composite signal and it looks like crap. (Yellow/White/Red)

Then there are ones that use the component YPbPr signal (Red/Green/Blue/White/Red cords or converter). This is a signal that is combined to essentially two signals. Luminance (Y, brightness/black and white) and two Color Difference signals (Pb, blue minus luma; and Pr, red minus luma). Depending on how good the receiving device is (in this case your converter), your quality may vary during this decoding and these calculations. Some say there is no difference when the calculation is correct, but why bother relying on that when you can use the more pure RGB signal and not have to worry about calculation? Especially on a budget converter that may not be up to spec with how it processes these signals?

Many do not know the PS1 and PS2 outputs native RGB in all regions. This sends the red, green, and blue signals on separate signals and is the cleanest. (A pixel on a TV is produced by red, green, and blue light) This was almost never used back in the day (at least here in the US, we didn't have a lot of SCART) but is still supported on all PS1 and PS2 consoles nonetheless through dedicated pins on the A/V connector.

You hear about "RGB mods" for all consoles (NES, N64, etc.) because it is the most pure analog signal, and is the big fad about people running Sony Trinitron broadcast TVs that natively accept it. The PlayStation family are one of the few to output this with no mod required right from the connector and can be enabled in the setup menus.

Whether you are using a cheap HDMI converter or a Retrotink, it's best to use the best source signal from the get go, so the converter has to do less work. The result will always be better. You don't see artists re-releasing their work from a cassette tape and trying to clean it up; they use the master recording and clean that up. A better source will result in a better result no matter how expensive or cheap your solution is.

It hurts my brain to see people either buying crappy HDMI converters when you can get the good budget ones for the same price (search "PS2 RGB TO HDMI", they are even on Amazon for the cheap ones), or especially using their $500 Retrotink and feeding it terrible composite video when the better and best options are literally right there. Buying a $500 converter and feeding it composite video (VCR quality) when you have 2 better options natively supported is crazy. No matter how good your converter and upscaler is you'll always get a better result by giving it better native signal to work with.

You can get an HDMI converter that pulls from the RGB signal for roughly the same price as a normal one.

Some people prefer the look of YPbPr, but that's a CD vs. vinyl debate. RGB is objectively better, science wise. In a perfect world, it could have the same quality, but often does not. Why take a risk?

The result of using RGB to HDMI is extremely good for $20 or whatever it is, and provides an excellent picture if you don't want to get into upscaling. Retrotink is obviously great but I'm strictly speaking if you don't want to spend the money, you will be happier using the best native signal possible. Even comparing to upscaling it holds up very well for the cost difference.

You can even plug the same converter into your PS1 and PS2, and only need to buy one if you don't mind switching the cord over. Watching these consoles output RGB if you've only experience composite video will blow your mind.

It's just like back in the day except instead of waiting for the radio DJ to shut up you have to wait for Alexa to shut up

I tried to research this on the sub but it was just a bunch of comments from "dedicated collectors" assuming blu-rays worked just like DVDs, not even knowing this existed and mocking the OPs which made me sad.

Let me explain:

Sony's PS3 console still receives a yearly system update 20 years later (and is excepted in Winter of every year) solely to update the encryption keys for new Blu-Ray movies so they can be played. They have been doing this for years despite pushing out no other features in the updates for the ancient console. You can Google it and find countless stories of people freaking out about their PS3 updating in 2026 in the age of PS5, and getting a response about the Blu-Ray thing, happens every year and people freak out. Anyways...

There is clearly a reason for this and I'm curious how good the companies are at keeping older players up to date as well.

I heard some people had issues with Samsung players because they cut off releasing updates and now cannot play newer discs because the keys never got pushed into the firmware.

I have an old Sony player and I'm curious if it will work with brand new discs and if they're still pushing out keys to it, as long as I have it hooked to internet. I'm also wondering if this means I should leave it connected to the internet so these things can trickle in.

Back in the day everybody bought this game just for the multiplayer and I was no exception. I'm glad I'm grown up enough now to enjoy the campaign, a campaign which many people completely ignored to go spin in circles and use sniper rifles wrong.

They clearly put a ton more work into the campaign and it's effects & visuals than the multiplayer. I miss when that was the norm, now it's the opposite and the campaign is an afterthought. The campaign levels have a level of detail I did not realize existed in MW2. Some of the best visuals and levels were not even used in multiplayer (icy zone oil rig, gulag, White House, Burger Town and that cool orange sky) whatsoever. The multiplayer levels are rather plain in comparison.

There were a lot of times I stopped (as best as I could on Veteran) to just look around, particularly the shot off the cliff into the river before fighting Shadow Company. It looks damn good.

The theatrics are also great, and it plays like an action movie.

Even with the massive age gap, somehow the art style is more realistic on this game than some of the newest COD games despite less graphical capability. Very little known fact, it also works with a 5.1 surround sound system, outputting a different section of audio on all 5 speakers.

This game just oozes passion from the developers and I miss that about COD.

Like most CODs, Veteran mode is too difficult and it was absolutely ridiculous, but at the same time I couldn't put it down and the sense of accomplishment afterwards was great. It took a lot of strategy and truly turns it into a different type of game, like real war. I challenge anybody who thinks they are good at multiplayer to go for a Veteran campaign run. I had to completely change my play style and now I'm doing a lot better playing on Veteran on other COD games and feel much more capable. I have 42 of 50 achievements and one I finish up Spec Ops I'll be at 100% achievements. Got the Pit down to 27 seconds... That sucked!

I hooked up my trusty VCR I've had for a long time to my home theater system and I can't get any of the known remote codes to work. I've got through both my home theater system's remote code database, as well as random TVs/universal remote manuals from around 1999 I found, and I find a lot of ProScan codes (all different too which doesn't help me at all) but none of the codes work for this model.

I have no issues with the remote using a DVD player and other hardware from the era, which all programmed great and work with lots of features, so I think I'm simply just not finding the code.

I have the remote it came with, but it's the only piece in my entire setup I can't control with the home theater remote, so I'm destined to get it hooked up to the system fully.

My remote doesn't have a code search feature, so I can't just brute force it.

Does anybody here know it for a fact??