Are we truely after the "film like" experience with DVD?

Ron-P · December 2001

It had been well over a year before I set foot in a movie theater until about 3 weeks ago to see Monsters Inc. I had nearly forgotten what the experience was like, sitting there with a huge screen infront of me, lots of people around, the big sound stage. An experience well missed, I admit.

After watching DVDs on my 46" Mits 16:9 I came to love the very clean picture, sharp and vibrant colors that DVD has to offer. The minute Monsters started rolling, I was distracted. Distracted by the very dirty film with artifacts, lots of artifacts, a grainy and soft picture. The film was so soft, almost as if it was a bit out of focus. The colors were good, but not near as vibrant as at home. A dissapointment and distraction to say the least.

I cannot help but ask. Is this the true "film like" experience we strive for on DVD? Why are we after the perfect DVD that seems to go against the "film like" look as seen in a movie theater? A clean artifact free picture, a picture that is sharp with no edge enhancement, vibrant colors, a DVD that is so perfect, it almost does not look like film anymore.

I do take into acount the size of the screen, the equipment used and all else that goes with seeing a projected movie in a theater vr a DVD at home. With all that taken into account, I must say that my DVDs at home are nothing like a film seen in a theater...is this what we are after? A film maybe much more perfect right after it rolls off the production line, but by the time I see it in the theater, it is very well quite different.

Peace Out~:D

RuSsMaN · December 2001

...Kinda like the whole LP vs CD, Digital vs Analog.......

I LIKE the hiss and pops on my records sometimes.... There is something to it, dare I use the overused 'warmth' adjective?

Cheers,
Russ

Thats it, I haven't gone to a theater in a while, I'm f'n going this weekend. Get my Altec Lansing on, get my JBL horns on.... (even Klipsch don't sound half bad on such a grand scale)

Aaron · December 2001

Ron,
I hear you on the DVD vs. theater thing. DVD's are so analytic about the picture. Personally I prefer that. I stare a computer screen all the time so I'm pretty used to that type of image.

Russ,
So what movie are you going to see?

Aaron

RuSsMaN · December 2001

To tell the truth, I am not even sure whats out.....

R

TroyD · December 2001

There are just somethings about going to the theater that can't be duplicated.

I remember the first time that I saw Star Wars at the theater as a 7 year old kid.....as cool as the HT rig and DVD etc. etc. is, the WOW factor isn't the same. Personally, if I like a movie, I don't much care about how good, technically, it is. A movie that sucks, regardless of how good the video or the sound is, sucks.

Same thing with old LP's. Listening to "More Than a Feeling" on CD just ain't the same. Technically better? probably, but it just isn't the same. I've got on old crappy turntable hooked up to my old Marantz receiver hooked up to old Pioneer CS-88's, that is how old Boston is meant to be heard.

Troy

rskarvan · December 2001

Troy,

Listening to Boston via compact disc is just wrong - I agree.
This band went thru extraordinary efforts to avoid
digital sources in their recordings.

- Ron

Micah Cohen · December 2001

I think

A] DVD gets us a lot closer to what the directors intended in that directors do not want crappy projection and bad sound and the two pre-teens giggling a couple of rows behind you. Rarely if ever, except at The Senator Theater here in Baltimore, do I get a compatible theater/HT experience, and that's simply because the movie-going experience at The Senator is so good -- the art deco, the neon, the GIANT screen, the superb sound system and a relatively RELATIVELY civilized audience -- that it is the only place I'll see a movie besides my basement HT. I think a director wants you see the film in a way that makes the film, not the surroundings, the sticky floors, the loud people, the poor out of focus presentation overwhelm you into missing the art. DVD puts the art, for the first time in digital color and OAR, in your living room. That's what the director would have wanted.

and B] this thread should be in the MOVIES forum. But oh well. Like I'm going to expend the energy to actually move it...

Is this week over yet?

MC

juice21 · December 2001

i agree with all that's said about the dvd picture quality being far superior to that of 'most' theaters. in many HT's the sound quality is going to be superior as well. what i love about going TO the movies/orchestra/broadway play is the experience. the space, the public, the performers(well no performers in the movie theater), but it the experience for me that i grew up with that spurred my love for music and movies and what has been the driving force for me to blow all this $$$ into re-creating this in my own home. so, what if you surpass (in your own opinion) the quality of your local theater, it is still the experience of 'going' that reminds me of what started this awe with visual and audible art in my life, and i love revisting this 'experience' as often as possible...

just my .02

and yes micah, when the hell is this week over? i worked 12 hours today, and i have to be in the office a 6 am tommorow! and the worst part about it is, it that i''l be sooo damn busy i won't even be able to check out this forum...

i need i job being a professional web surfer or something, but i guess polk won't need one of those (at least until after you leave MC:D )

Are we truely after the "film like" experience with DVD?

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