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.

Thanks for the report. Glad to hear you will both be enjoying movies more. Sounds like it was worth the investment.

Nice review. I'm still waiting for prices to drop on these players before jumping in. I had an HD-A2, so I know what the picture quality looks like.

My pioneer 588a dvd player does a fair job but there is nothing like seeing an HD movie. Waiting sucks.

I'll try to take some pics this weekend and post them...

I have to agree with Capn here. I have a 46" LCD, and recently upgraded to a 1080p projector with a 106" screen. I played bluray & DVDs with a PS3, and more or less notice the same thing. The difference between DVD and bluray on the LCD isn't huge, it is noticeable, but not huge. However, on the 106" screen the difference is amazing. Don't get me wrong, upscaled DVDs still look great, but the difference in crispness and brightness that Capn describes is very noticeable.

Do an A/B comparison on the audio and you WILL notice a difference. The dynamic range is amazing. The regular 'ol DD or DTS tracks may sound "louder" but that is because of the compression used, but they won't have the same dynamic range as the lossless tracks.

I'm pretty happy with my 50" HDTV, but if the wife ever gives me the go ahead, I would upgrade to a projector. I shouldn't complain as she gave me the go ahead on the M80s (in the very near future).

My wife was recently out of town and I indulged in the same activities with the same supplies as you....good times. Back in the day I would have hit the bars...upgrading to HDTV, 7.1 audio and blu-ray has really domesticated me.

Sounds dirty.

After I do some painting tonight, the plan is to sit down with the final cut of Blade Runner and a tall glass of Spaaten.