High Definition

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    If any of you have bought the latest kind of High Definition television lately and read the various technical specifications, you may be proud to tell your friends and family that you are now able to display content in "1080P" whatever that means.  After all, the television looked fantastic at Best Buy or Circuit City showing that little nature film.    It means that your picture has 1,080 lines and they are displayed in one pass every time. (compared to ordinary television which displays a screen at 480 lines in two passes, giving it that characteristic television flicker, which was the best they could do when television was invented.)  But where can you find such a splendid 1080P picture other than at the Electronics store that sold you the television?   Ordinary cable is not high definition. Even the so called "High Definition" signal you get from satellite or cable is not 1080P. It is usually 720P, a compromise designed to save precious bandwith for the cable company.  Where can you get the absolute highest High Definition to meet the full capacity of your fancy new television? 

The answer is you can buy a high definition DVD player.  The problem has been that just like the good old days(Remember Betamax?), there has been a format war between two competing formats:  Blu-Ray (Sony consortium) and HD-DVD (Toshiba consortium).  Well it is now safe to buy a Blu-Ray as the Format War is over.  Unlike the last time, Sony won. 

As an early adaptor, I can assure you that if you like to watch movies on your home television, and if you have a High definition television, the Blu-Ray experience is a whole new world.  And aren't you tired of listening to young hoodlums talking on their cell phones during the middle of the movie, or making what they think are very amusing remarks in the middle of critical dialogue?  I certainly am.  I have even had young children throw coca cola on me, to the horror and embarrassment of their mother.  The quality of home entertainment is now equal to, or in many ways, superior to the local theatre, which is probably why Hollywood makes more money from DVDs than from film rentals.  Listen to techno geek director Dean Devlin (director of such classics as Godzilla and Independence Day) explain why he actually prefers the look of his movies on Blu-Ray over the appearance on film in a neighborhood theatre.  

Then save your money for your own Blu-Ray DVD player (and a 1080P television). 

bob cat

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