Catching a few “Rays”
We didn’t expect the last week of April to be wet, cold and rather miserable in Lauzerte. Neither did Mathieu whose 3-day music extravaganza on the square was literally washed out. So rather than enjoying warm rays of the sun, we had to look for our “rays” elsewhere.
I found mine indoors as I savored the joys of high definition film viewing via blu ray discs. I bought my HD tv first but soon realized that if I really wanted to experience the best my purchase could offer, I needed to upgrade my dvd viewing to Sony’s cinema quality blu ray. So I took a crash course by reading countless articles and reviews of the current state of the art. I understood that not all blu ray discs are equal with some being little better than standard DVDs. I, therefore, had to learn about PQ (picture quality) and AQ (audio quality) evaluation of discs in making my selections.
As a result, I have an eclectic collection on blu ray which features high quality picture and sound but may not be what one would call classic films. For example, such films as “Ironman” and “Wall-e” provide both excellent PQ and AQ and an overall qualitative movie experience.
Other films such as “Australia” and “Beowulf” may not be considered modern classics but they look fabulous on blu ray.
And the reissue of older films on blu ray such as Cinerama’s “How the West was Won”, “The Sand Pebbles” and BBC’s “Pride and Prejudice” offer an opportunity to rediscover films which we perhaps have only seen in inferior copies.
Is blu ray worth it? As the prices of HD tvs, blu ray players (which can also play your regular dvds), and discs continue to decline, affordability will no longer be a huge barrier. Some argue that it is only a transitional medium that will one day be replaced by the possibility of downloading HD content via the internet. But that requires a broadband infrastructure which is still years away. For now I am content with the amazing clarity of picture and sound that blu ray provides. Just watch an episode of “Planet Earth” blu ray if you want to be convinced -- I was.
Orr d’oeuvres
Friday, May 1, 2009
