So, you decided to plunk down the cash and become an early adopter of HDTV. You also dropped a bit more cash for a progressive scan DVD player. Well, in order to make your purchase seem like it was worth a 3rd mortage, your going to need some discs to show off what that TV can do. Rest assured that not all discs are created equal. These remain the best of the best and probably will stay that way until HD-DVD finally becomes a reality. Make sure to nab these 8 discs when you head out for that new HDTV. In no particular order....
1. A Bugs Life: All of Pixars discs feature digital-to-digital transfers (right from the computer to the disc..no time for film degradation), from Monsters Inc. to Toy Story. Still, none of them look as good as Bugs Life. The colors here are superb and city sequence about a half hour in is mesmerizing. There are little to no compression problems and the clarity of the picture is stunning. In fact, this is the best looking disc I've ever seen. This disc can be purchased as a single disc or a packed 2-disc set for an added price. Either way, your eyes will never be happier.
2. Star Wars, Episode 2: Regardless of how you feel about George Lucas at this point, you have to admit his DVD's rock. Again, a direct digital tranfser (the first and still the only time it's been done for a live-action movie) that is a pure showcase disc. The corny love sequences are made better by the flawless print which showcases every grain of grass in immaculate detail. The gorgeous CGI vistas look even better thanks to the video quality and your TV will get a major workout when this disc is in place.
3. Texas Chainsaw Massacare (2003): Where did this one come from? This is a very dark movie that has simply incredible contrasts. Up close, you can see every pore on the dimly lit actors faces. From a distance, the rock solid black levels hold together and the flesh tones have never looked better. The complete lack of any grain even when you set the brightness a bit higher on your set is an amazing achievement unlike any other disc on the market. Again, there are 2 seperate editions, a single and 2-disc set. Both feature the same print that must be seen to be fully appreciated.
Article comments
1 - Steven Rubio
Some great choices there, and I confess I used to trot out Lord of the Rings 1 or 2 to demo my system for friends. But once you have not only an HDTV but HD to watch on it ... well, I love my DVD collection, have almost 400 discs, but these movies look even better in HD. I never thought I'd see anything that looked as good as my LotR DVDs ... then I saw those movies in HD.
2 - Matt Paprocki
Yeah, I'm looking into HD now. The price just came down big time where I live and it's only a matter of time now. I can't fathom the NFL in hi-def...not to mention glorious widescreen!