Movie looks the same in Blue Ray as it does without Blue Ray. Why?

[ZZ]

I recently bought a 32 inch Sonia Bravia (model ex301 - link below) with 720 resolution. I rented the same movie in both Blue Ray and also in regular DVD format, and the movie looked the same in both formats. I saw no additional quality in clarity, definition, detail or colors with the Blue Ray. Why would this be? Is it because it's 32 inch? Would there be a difference if it had higher resolution?

http://www.docs.sony.com/release/specs/KDL32EX301_mksp.pdf
I meant to write: Would it make a difference if the TV were higher resolution?

Also, the blue ray player is a Sony as well.
It is an HD TV... (see specs, in the link above)

 

[Bryce]

I don't buy this idea that you can't see a difference below a certain screen size -- with a discerning eye, you can. My TV's "only" a 34-inch Philips 1080 HDTV but I can see a definite difference between Blu-ray and standard DVD -- nearly as much as DVD vs VHS.

I think it has more to do with your personal visual acuity

 

[NicoleJohnson]

The previous answer is bogus - your TV is in fact HD at 720p. Sometimes the difference between hi-def and std-def "up-converted" is not that different. How are you connecting your blue-ray player to the TV (HDMI?), if so you are "up-converting" your std def dvd to your TV, which can really improve the quality. If you are using an HDMI cable try this: get a std def dvd player and hook it up to your TV by either composite video cords (original yellow, red and white wire), which is the lowest quality delivery, or even with a component video cord (blue, green and red wire that are ONLY picture, this would need the red and white audio wires as well to get sound), which is middle quality (pre HDMI it was the top dog for digital picture delivery) and check out the picture from the std def dvd. You should notice a difference....

 

[R4DS]

You're probably using a Non-HD TV.
Blu-ray discs are HD. Watching them on non-HD TV's wouldn't make much of a difference.

 

[bbt91945]

Keep in mind that you can not see the difference between 720P and 1080P in screen smaller than a 46". More than likely your tv is only a 720P and it will only display up to the 720P resolution. Your player can up scale the DVD movie to 720P or 1080P depending on the player. 1080P is only available in blu ray disc movies and some PS3 video games, while 720P is the HD tv program. If you get a larger tv with a 1080P you can tell the difference. Hope this will help you out.

 

[AVDADDY]

You're watching the movie on a screen that is too small, & too low a resolution to discern a difference.

 

[TVguy]

First

We assume that you actually use HDMI or component cables to connect the BD player to the TV.
If not, using composite video or s-video restricts the output to 480i (SD)

Even on a 32" you should be able to see difference between 480p and 720p - more detail. If not, make sure the BD actually outputs in 720p. If you still can't see it, then you need to train your eyes a bit more.