Posted by Goro on 10/24/05 14:27

Jordan wrote:
> I sat down this week-end and watched Batman Begins and was struck,
> immediately, at how much clearer it looks on DVD at home than it did in
> the theater. I don't have a AAA home theater set-up, but I have a nice
> 51" rear projection 16:9 set and Dolby Digital/DTS 6.1 surround.
>
> I remember thinking when I saw it in the theater that it was a little
> blurry, a little grainy, kind of hard to follow the action. I said to
> myself back then "I wonder what it's going to look like on DVD?"
>
> Turns out it kicks ass on DVD. Has anyone else had this experence? I
> first noticed it back when the Brendan Frasier version of the Mummy
> came out. I used to blame it on the projectionist (or lack of a trained
> one), but now I'm not so sure.
>
> - Jordan

Am I the only one that thinks that DVDs looks "not so good"? I mean,
yes, they are very nice and certainly a huge step up from VHS and LD
and a viable alternative if (as has been mentioned) the theatrical
setup is poor; however, I am continually struck by how mediocre DVDs
look, especially now that I have a 50" DLP. Edge enhancement drives me
crazy. Macroblocking (granted, a problem of the Faroudja upconverting
chip) is at least mildly irritaitng. Chroma Errors (on my Sony) are
painful. Artifacts abound (with the setup properly calibrated, they
are somewhat minimized, but still noticeable).

I love DVDs, I surely do, but compared to a great presentation at the
Harkin Cine Capri (in Scottsdale, AZ) on the 70' screens (with no ads
once the lights dim, btw), it's not even remotely close (imo).

The limitations of DVD video is what makes me especially irritated that
BluRay and HD-DVD are going to be DRM'd like crazy and in a format war
for a while. I WANT to buy into the next gen Video Disc format; i'm
just not going to for a while.

-goro-

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