Ever since the PS3 has been in the house, I have been looking forward to finally getting a Blu Ray disc to test out the new technology. It had to be just the right one though. One that would have the special effects that would be properly accentuated by the high definition graphics. The recent release of "Iron Man" seemed to be the perfect candidate.
Hopes were high that the Blu Ray disc would meet all the expectations I had kept reading about. Apparently I had set them too high myself because it fell short it far too many areas. So much so that I was disappointed enough to take out the Blu Ray disc and put in a regular dvd. So where to start...
First and foremost, Blu Ray only offers one format for the screen which is widescreen. I cannot stand watching a movie in that format on a television. It shrinks the picture and doesn't maximize the full use of your big screen television. I don't care that it supposedly gives you an extra couple of inches on either side of the movie. The picture itself is so skinny that it still makes the movie harder to watch.
The other problem was the picture was entirely too dark. I know it couldn't have been my television because it had been just fine before and after I took the Blu Ray disc out. Plus, it was fine when I put in a regular dvd also. I shouldn't have to adjust the settings on the television just to watch one dvd no matter how much higher quality it was supposed to be.
Then there is the factor of the quality itself. Was it really that much more clearer than a regular dvd? I have to admit that I did not see a huge difference. It may have something to do with the fact that the PS3 wasn't connected by HD cables to the television. Or perhaps the fact that this big screen tv is now going on almost five years old so it's not of the same plasma technology that gets the most out of Blu Ray discs.
The biggest issue I had wasn't the Blu Ray disc's fault at all. Because I had to play the Blud Ray disc thru the PS3, I wasn't able to have the full surround sound come thru my stereo. That only works when the television is playing on Directv channels or a regular dvd is playing in the dvd player. I probably could have figured out how to wire the PS3 to the receiver so it could get the sound too; however, by that time, I was so frustrated with the other downsides that I didn't want to invest the time in it.
I couldn't even get all the way thru the movie because I was so dissatisfied with the aforementioned items. It's a good thing I had already seen it because I was tempted to try to take the movie back I was so upset. One of these days when can I can afford a more modern television, maybe it will be worth it, but for now, not so much.
