Although I've been enjoying our Blu-Ray player for a couple years (thanks to a generous Christmas gift from my mother-in-law), I haven't actually been getting the full benefits of the technology since I was still viewing the discs on a standard-definition monitor. But about two weeks ago, that 15 year-old TV finally gasped its last breath. It lived a full life, but after years of heavy use, it just couldn't go on any longer.
Fortunately, the timing was pretty good for a change. Some automotive repairs we'd been saving for for a while turned out to be much less expensive than we expected (how often does that happen?), and we found a remarkably good deal on a high-end 55" Phillips LCD set. (It's even Netflix Instant-ready.)
Needless to say, I've been spending a lot of time (too much, actually) over the last week or so, looking at my Blu-Rays and DVDs on the big screen. I've watched Star Trek - The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan all the way through on Blu-Ray, as well as Flash Gordon, Starcrash, and various episodes of Space: 1999 and Star Trek (TOS) in HD. I've also been checking out many of my standard-def DVDs to see which ones still look good, blown-up on the big screen. Some look better than others, obviously, but overall, I'm thrilled with my new set.
• ADDENDUM: As it turns out, I actually managed to get my hands on inexpensive copies of four of the five Planet of the Apes Blu-Rays tonight. Not only do they look & sound incredible, but I was pleased to see that Fox included the alternate cuts of Conquest and Battle along with the original theatrical versions (something Paramount didn't see fit to do - or was too greedy to do - with the Trek Blu-Rays).
I also was amused to see that Eric Greene, who played "Loki" on Filmation's Space Academy, was featured in the documentaries. Apparently, he's a sci-fi geek himself, and has written a book on the Apes films. Cool.
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