Cinema v TV

Been noticing lately, cinema doesn't seem quite as good as it should be, as if the cinema operators aren't putting the effort in to really please their customers.

There's things like blurriness on the screen, so for action films like Transformers it gets difficult to see what's going on. Compare that to dvd and things are much, much sharper. Except I'm not sure if it's the sharpness or the ability of the screen/projector to keep up with the image. A bit like when LCD screens were first coming in with computers, they needed a lot of development before they could show a moving image like the traditional Cathode Ray Tubes could.

It's not just that though, I used to be comprehensively addicted to Warner Village's (local cinema!) popcorn but since the cinema changed hands, it's changed to something that tastes just like cardboard would if you had a cardboard eating fetish. I still like their hotdogs but I'll only have one of those if I've not been able to grab something more healthy to keep my tummy happy. And that's from someone who normally runs from anything resembling healthfood.

So - cinema with its screens that are clapped out and not able to keep up or DVD shown on a half decent telly supported by surround sound speakers. Dvd lets you bring your own popcorn, drinks that don't cost 3 times the amount you'd pay for a coke bottle and you can keep other people's obnoxious kids out of the room. It also has a pause button too so you don't miss any of that 3 and a bit hour King Kong.

It needs decent speakers though. I'm a lot fussier about sound than vision and decent sound can make a difference with film. Surround sound gets you appreciating the atmosphere in a film, placing all those little noises in such a way that you feel in the scene instead of watching from afar. Not just bangs, whooshes and clangs, also things like birdsong and crowds.

Still, I like heading to the cinema as it's a chance to get out of the house with the Crazies.

Cinema's got it's advantages, just as dvd&telly also have their advantages. Time to get back to more catching up with Voyager (Star Trek) but before that ... my chair is creaking again so I'm gonna take a hammer to it :-)