Blu-Ray sales surging in Europe

[Comrade Tovya]

Kyros said:

The average consumer on the other hand really can't see that big of a difference at that viewing level.

Which is a weird statement, since the size of the screen has not much to do with the question if you can see a difference between BluRay or DVD.

Screensize / distance or viewing angle is the only relevant factor here. In other words the smaller your screen, the nearer you have to sit to it to see the difference. In many cases people cannot change the living room but if you can sit directly before it you can get cinematic feeling with a 32" TV, and up close EVERYBODY can see the difference although people will notice it less in some movies and more in others (Nature, animations, ... ) Besides 720p has advantages even at modest viewing angles. 1080p may be a bit overkill unless you have a huge television or sit very near to it. (there was a chart once)

Is it worth it? Depends on the price of the discs and the movie type. I would kill for a Lord of the Rings BluRay edition. But I wouldn't pay 30E for anything else.

 

When HD DVD and Blu-ray first came out, I bought the discs like crazy for both formats.  Since that time though, I have slowed down quite a bit, and generally only buy the movies on BD that are visually amazing to begin with... (i.e., I Am Legend, Underworld, Narnia, etc.)

If the visuals on a movie are lackluster to begin with, or simply not the high point of the movie, I have been settling for SD...