Alright, I've fallen back in love with movies again, officially.
I recently bagged a Blu Ray player for pretty cheap on eBay. Coupling DVD resolutions to my high def projector often left me wanting more - better color, sharper picture, etc. Better sound was an added benefit, too.
I have seen Blu Ray at the big box stores before, but was never blown away. Mostly, this is due to the fact that, on TVs 50 inches or smaller, the difference between Blu Ray and DVD are negligible. Picture and encoding errors are often masked by good processors in high def TVs (of good quality, of course) or by viewing from far enough away that the errors show up as mere "softness" that is unoffending.
Well, let me say that the difference between Blu Ray and DVD on my 100 projector is the difference between VHS and DVD. Enough that my wife - not a videophile by any means - literally said "holy sh&t" when she saw it, admitting that she didn't think that she would be abel to tell the difference. She commented on how the whole screen looked brighter and the colors crisper. No more jaggies. No more video blocking or moire errors. Just unadulterated smoothness. It's like someone tookt he shackles off and I can finally just sit and watch the movie and not constantly notice how the picture could be better.
The jury is still out on whether I can tell the difference (or appreciate it, really) between the DVD DTS and Dolby Digital signals and the newer, high definition signals. I thought DVD sound was pretty damned good. I'll admit that the sound seems, I don't know, fuller, but that might be a psycho-acoustic factor.
Anyway - just thought I would share my experience with you all. With my wife out of town this weekend, it's gonna be me, a box of pizza, a case of beer and the volume turned up to -12! I hope the neighbors don't mind.
