Technology continues to bring us wondrous advances in filmmaking to improve how we view movies.
While it's exciting to consider the possibilities stemming from this era of innovation -- which directors and futurists for decades have envisioned -- that allows us to watch a movie "anywhere, anytime," the more preoccupied we become with the technologies of how movies can reach us, the less we seem to ask the most important question: How do we really want to experience a film?
In my view, the only way to see a film remains the way the filmmaker intended: inside a large movie theater with great sound and pristine picture. Music and dialogue that doesn't fully reproduce the soundtrack of the original loses an essential element for its appreciation. Simply put, the film loses its power.
Short of that, the technically sophisticated Blu-ray disc, of which I've been a supporter since its inception, is the closest we've come to replicating the best theatrical viewing experience I've ever seen. It allows us to present in a person's living room films in their original form with proper colors, aspect ratio, sound quality, and, perhaps most importantly, startling clarity.
Which is why it has never made sense to me that those preoccupied with how movies are delivered have for years written off "physical media" (i.e., movies on discs) as "dead" even though the evidence shows it isn't happening and won't for years to come. Technology will need to make many more huge leaps before one can ever view films with the level of picture and sound quality many film lovers demand without having to slide a disc into a player, especially with the technical requirements of today's 3D movies.
Granted, the older DVD technology is phasing out. But it is yielding to the Blu-ray just as videocassettes once gave way to the technically superior DVD. This is evolution. Far from being dead, physical media has years of life left and must be preserved because there is no better alternative. Pundits aside, Blu-ray for the foreseeable future remains the finest technology to preserve the impact and enjoyment of watching movies at home.
We've come a long way from those flickering, silent screens which were accompanied only by a person playing a piano. What has remained constant is that people then and now have always sought out the magic one feels after watching a truly memorable film. For movie lovers it doesn't matter whether that magic comes at a theater or through a disc, an electronic stream, a satellite or a wireless device as long as it is delivered through the best possible experience.
Ridley Scott is a three-time Oscar nominated filmmaker, producer and director. His next film project, Prometheus, is scheduled to be released next year by 20th Century Fox.
They should try learn the same hard lesson that the music industry did some years ago.
Netflix is convenient, but even the so-called HD mode washes out the detail, softens up the image, and still has a lot of macroblocking and pixelation. Same thing goes for HD broadcasts and "1080p" downloads. Anyone who thinks that all 1080p sources are created equal needs to do some direct comparisons with Blu-ray, and see for themselves. Streaming and downloading sources have a long way to go before they can equal what Blu-ray already delivers.
Once you decide to pursue bluray quality, prepare yourself to shed some amount of money that could potentially hurt your pocket. Bluray in a mediocre system is not bluray at all. Maybe that's why people complain about it not having met their expectations.
For a bluray that costs $15, you should have at least:
1. A high end blu-ray player with excellent video graphics capability (PS3 is excellent but not top of the line)
2. A high end receiver (Onkyo, Yamaha, Pioneer, Marantz, Denon) to decode the formats, especially the audio sent by the player
3. A very good stereo system
4. An equally good center channel speaker
5. Excellent surround spreakers
6. Powerful and good subwoofer (SVS, Hsu Research, Epik, etc)
7. At least a 50-inch TV
8. High quality cables
A total of about $ 7,000.
Bluray is not bluray unless you have these gears. Until then, be content with DVD and its crappy quality.
The picture quality of Blu-ray, compared to DVD or with other more compressed 1080p/i/720p HD formats, is readily apparent on any HDTV of about 42" and above. No more pixelation, no more soft images ... doesn't take a fancy TV or a fancy Blu-ray player. Any Blu-ray player from a legitimate manufacturer will have excellent picture quality, and blow away any existing consumer-grade source.
As for the audio quality, Blu-ray delivers significant improvement by simply allowing for higher bitrates on standard Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. The higher bitrates are backwards compatible with any home theater receiver with a standard DD/DTS decoder. Going to 640k DD and 1.5k DTS is a noticeable step up in audio quality compared to the lower bitrates used in DVDs. And it can all be used with existing equipment.
Advising people to stick with DVD until they spend thousands of dollars and have all high end components for their video and audio chains is just plain idiotic. If someone already has a HDTV, simply adding a $100 Blu-ray will instantly give them the highest available picture quality for movie viewing. Other improvements can be had with simple incremental upgrades.
In actuality, the best thing that people can do to maximize their enjoyment of Blu-ray is to simply calibrate their TV, and properly setup their audio system.
A nice sound system does make it easier to notice the difference; however, that doesn't have to cost a fortune. Ever watch a DVD and think the sound is kinda muddy, even just a little? Yeah, because while its not horrible, its not great either. With blu-ray, those flaws don't typically exist as readily, because its that much closer to the original.
Good HDTVs are cheaper than they've ever been, and even a sub-$1000 TV can have amazing clarity; even the $500 TVs will see a benefit switching to Blu-Ray.
I'm not going to discount streaming HD, its come a LONG way, and it does look pretty amazing, particularly for shows, but for large HDTV's, blu-ray is much better.
I don't like theaters, because people are irritating, they talk/cough/sneeze/text/etc in theaters. Blu-ray is amazing because you can actually make a decent home theater system.
Ramirez lost any credibility when he said high-end cables; HDMI unless ran for long distances doesn't suffer degredation and doesn't need high-end cables (the $2 work just as well).
I say "potentially" because there are two points where the sound quality that can be lost. First is how the studio does the transfer to the Blu Ray disk. There are examples where it is obvious that the studio did not take advantage of 24/96 technology or simply blew the sound transfer. An example of bad sound is the J.J. Abrams Star Trek restart. The other point is the sound system you purchase. Don't expect quality sound from a $700 all-in-one solution. You have to invest the time to find a good 5.1 or 7.1 system. Start by reading a few home theater magazines. Then listen to a sound system they recommend in your price range. You can spend many times more money on the sound system than the TV. A half-way decent system will cost at least $2,000. That money will be a good investment towards a great home theater experience.
Popcorn and drinks are out of sight. It wouldn't take too many trips to pay for a Blue Ray player. You could buy the DVD and watch it as many times as you want without the distractions. The producers need to work on a way to keep the audience from ruining the movie. Stop the audience from taking away from the movie and reduce the costs. Then people will flock to the theater again.
I don't know how many times I've walked in on family or friends watching something on cable where either the network or their TV has the picture distorted in the wrong ratio. I can't stand it, but they don't care. Let alone watching a movie without any home theatre. Why would that type of person care about picture or sound quality when they've shown they don't?
No one can argue that blu ray with a proper set up is the best way to view movies at home, but it's falling on deaf ears. You can argue all you want about how great a specific steak dinner is at a fantastic restaurant, but if people are fine cramming Big Macs down their throat, it's almost a lost cause.
@ $20 a pop I would not replace movies I already own on DVD!
The picture on newer movies look a lot better on Blue-ray & I say if you want to get Avatar on DVD, Blue-Ray is a better option. If a movie was shot 70mm like Lawrence of Arabia maybe, but for 99% of what comes out of Hollywood the DVD picture is more than sufficient!
DTS & Dolby Surround Sound on older DVDs are not inferior to what Blue-ray offers!
but how about just staying at dvd-ish quality streaming and digital downloads? well...yes, there are a lot of people who don't care about quality and don't mind watching blockbuster movies as a shaky bootleg copy that they're streaming from their cell phone...but i don't think they're gonna be the ones who push the next evolution of film medium. some are fine with low quality streams/downloads, others will never be fine with low quality streams/downloads cuz they already love their HD picture and won't want to go backwards. so when the technology catches up to bluray and can provide same quality & convenience, then we can really have this discussion, but it'll be a long while.