I recently purchased a used PS3......mostly cause I got it(US 60 gig) for $200 and did not try a Blu Ray disk untl the other day. Now I've never been a supporter of the Blu ray format (or HD DVD) as from experience with first gen Blu players/titles while working in retail have been very unimpressive. I will admit the Dreamworks/Pixar digiral cartoons look amazing, but I feel that most movies look like they do on DVD. I for one feel that CGI in most movies looks blatently fake(its the stop motion technology of the now:) and it looks even more fake.

I have never seen the movie Batman Begins(yeah....Im a bit slow) so I figured Id rent it with a couple(5) friends and I was gunning for the Blu version as I wanted to see if any improvments, and why not as its a rental. I told everyone that I was with that we were going to watch the Blu version and most seemed excited as it all of our first experiences seeing a full movie in the format. For the record I ahve a 1080i 42" Plasma. Everyone I was with was immediately let down with the quality, with most agreeing that is was like watching a DVD. The best compliment that came out of my group was "Everything looks more digital" and Im not even sure if that was a compliment. I for one appreciated the excellent black levels.....other than that it was just like a DVD.

From this experiment I really think Blu has some tough times ahead as Blu versions of films will have to be at least as cheap as the DVD version and Blu player market penetration will have to be extremely deep as people will not want to have to lug around their players to watch movies with friends and the sort. I dont see the format becoming the industry standard and I see the format being for a sizeable (%10 maybe)but never majority of the market share. After this experience I dont ever see myself speinding money on a Blu ray movie, but rentals are not out of the question. Ill leave my PS3 for doing what it does best.....play games.

/rant

Batman Begins is not a very good choice for seeing a Blu-Ray movie for the first time. It is like a Tier 3 movie which is mid-grade.

I recommend:

• Transformers
• Kingdom of Heaven
• Beowulf: The Director's Cut
• V for Vendetta
• Hitman
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith
• Ratatouille (Tier 0 movie meaning highest quality)
• Casino Royale

Ill get Casino Royale next as none of those other movies interest me. Thanks for the reccomendations.

i bought transfomers on blu ray awesome experience on dvd =)

You have a 1080i TV...what did you expect...the signal is barely better than 480p.

Batman Begins is a mid-tier transfer too. It looks alright, but by no means great, but its not bad. No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood are two non-animated movies that look phenomenal.

I always assumed that Blu Ray would look much better no matter what. I was always told that 1080p and i were the same for movies as they are displayed at 24fps as said in the article here:

http://www.hometheatermag.com/gearworks/1106gear/

Theres many other articles that agree......either way I need to see those 2 movies as well.

 That's exactly why I haven't purchased a BR yet.

Is your TV Full HD natively (1920x1080) or does it just show a 1080i signal?

The only way you'll get the best out of blu-ray is with a full HD TV, other wise it'll look barely better than a DVD, as your probably watching the SD version on the disc upscaled.

*Most Blu-rays have 2 copies of the movie a HD and a SD version.*

No, that's a lie.  Its just a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo.  Occasionally a TV doesn't deinterlace properly, but very few new sets have that problem.  Go to Best Buy and watch a 1080p tv and watch a 1080i tv and tell me that they look the same.  I mean I have read countless arguments as to why they look the same, but if you go to the store, it is pretty much impossible to say that they do look the same.  Obviously if the TV is hooked up to a Blu-Ray player this is easier.

I have yet to watch any movies in my home at 1080p, but I can guarantee you that every movie I have watched in 720p looked a lot better than movies in 1080i, and I even watched those 1080i movies on a larger screen (which brings out the detail even better).  I remember watching Ratatouille in 1080i on a 52" inch screen being a worse experience than watching it on a full-screen 30" TV (so it had black bars...what a pain...) in 720p.  That is because I am very well trained at discerning when a picture is better or worse.

The motion was so fluid and everything on the screen just seemed to pop out at me.  It was so gorgeous...It looked good on the 1080i set, but I noticed an instant difference when I watched it on a SMALLER 720p set.

This is how the lines are drawn:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution

SDTV: 480i (NTSC, 720×480 split into two 240-line fields)
SDTV: 576i (PAL, 720×576 split into two 288-line fields)
EDTV: 480p (NTSC, 720×480)
HDTV: 720p (1280×720)
HDTV: 1080i (1280×1080, 1440×1080, or 1920×1080 split into two 540-line fields)
HDTV: 1080p (1920*1080 progressive scan)

1080i draws the images in sets of twos, so technically you only see 540 lines at one time. 720p draws 720 lines at all times, thus eliminating the jerkiness of having two sets giving you the advantage during motion. 1080p draws 1080 lines at all times, thus giving you the higher resolution and the elimination of jerkiness.

Your eyes won't lie to you if you just compare the picture difference on TV sets. 1080p does make a huge difference. 1080i just has a flatter picture, no if and or buts about it. 1080p can actually do the true 24 fps motion you were talking about earlier while 1080i cannot.

Ideally you want a 120hz tv. A 1080p signal on a 120hz tv is just breathtaking.