You are correct in that many blu-rays do not take advantage of the possibilities the format offers. I did not say it was a standard, only that when used with good source recordings it is the closest re-creation of the original source available. I own a lot of fairly crappy blu-ray transfers.
This reminds me of the early days of CD's when some companies would transfer an LP to CD without considering the huge equalization that went into an LP to make it sound decent on a turntable. The result was harsh, horrible sounding CD's that turned many off the format. I believe this happens with some companies and blu-rays too.
A friend came over with their new blu-ray of Jaws and was very disappointed in that the blu-ray version seems to be no different than the dvd version.
An example is the beach scenes, a perfect opportunity for good use of multi channel surround sound....and there is practically none. I think there was only 1 point in the movie when some useful surround kicked in and it was immediately noticeable because of it's previous absence!
But this does not negate the potential for the best re-creation of the original source, which IMHO should be the goal of audiophiles...I think stereofool and other high-end publications have retarded that progress which is one reason i no longer buy them. I do miss Sound & Vision and kept all my copies...a great Canadian magazine
cheers
gord
