Posted by matt on 09/19/06 21:47

scowart@mail.arc.nasa.gov wrote:
> You're entitled to enjoy your viewing however you choose. And I wish
> you well.

er, then why is this thread still alive?


> But, I can't go along with a "5.1" equaling "crap."

but it is. more gear is 100%, unadulterated, crap. *to me*. and because
all that matters in one's own home's is what one thinks, then what i
say goes. its crap, and to be avoided. this is indesputable, and any
attempts to do so are illogical. however, for your home, you may
disagree, and i certainly wouldnt take issue or argue that! what you
say goes.


> I also can't go along with the notion that the video or visual sensory is so
> predominant over the audio or aural sense.

when it comes to film, this is also indesputably the case (tho for
different reasons than my above statement being indesputable). its a
simple test, going back to the roots of film (originally there was no
electronic "video", so for this discussion "video" simply means
"visual").

what is film? a series of streamed images.

what is a stream of images w/o any sound? a silent film.

what is a stream of sound? audio.

now, what is audio, w/o any video? a film? of any kind? no. it is
simply audio.

therefore -- the *defining* attribute of a film is video, not audio.
visual, not aural. remember "movie" is short for *moving images*. films
require images, but they do not require audio.

put another way: the defining attribute of music is audio (sound waves
to the ear), while the defining attribute of film is video (light to
the eye). w/o video, there is no film.

therefore, visual is the sense of primary concern when it comes to
"watching movies" (note that even the english language emphasizes this
w/ the verb of "watching"). while it is true that more often than not
one is both watching & listening to a film, a film is still a "visual
medium". it is also taught as such: telling a story with pictures. and
being a visual medium, excessive non-imagery is often frowned on, like
excessive expository dialogue.

so if i could pick only one component to be superior to the other, id
pick the video component (thus this thread). what would you pick? your
audio, i take it?


> whatever gear you choose and however you choose to enjoy it. But not
> to the point that the audio side of things gets disrespected.

well, i guess if not wanting surround sound is disrepecting audio, then
im one disrespecting mofo.


matt

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