One question to ask about the receiver audio is if it's pass-through.  If the answer is yes, pass.

Quoting Telecine:

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I purchased a Sony STRDA3400ES ...

I'm drooling ... thanks for the info. Just read the specs 

If I get it this year, I'll have to settle for it's little brother - better fits my budget. My unit is 5 or more years old. It was amazing at the time, and still sounds great, but doesn't have the latest features, such as HDMI. What I would really love is a unit that has dual HDMI outputs - one for the TV and one for the projector.

Good observations mdnitoil

Quoting Ace_of_Sevens:

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Granted, the Blu-ray version of Dark City made me realize Jennifer Connelly doesn't always do a good job of waxing her upper lip.

Will have to bump this up to near the top of the unwatched pile now...

Quoting mdnitoil:

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Quoting Ace_of_Sevens:

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I should point out that film, unless the projector is out of focus or something, will have even higher detail than Blu-ray. If you are seeing things that weren't meant to be seen, so did audiences back in the day.

Granted, the Blu-ray version of Dark City made me realize Jennifer Connelly doesn't always do a good job of waxing her upper lip.

This is a common theme thrown out there by the lovers of hi-def, and they couldn't be more wrong.  The bottom line is that audiences "back in the day" never got to see these imperfections simply because of the masking qualities of film grain inherent to the analog process.  You have to remember that filmgoers never saw the original negative.  At best, they saw a second generation dupe of the negative, frequently a third generation dupe.  The filmmakers were intimately aware of this fact and took advantage of it.

OK, you have a point there. However, I'd like to make a distinction:

1. Newest films: these are generally made with HD in mind and as such filmmakers will apply the necessary attention to details. Some recent movies that spring to mind are The Dark Knight, Transformers, Iron-Man

2. Relatively new films: here, it seems to be very dependant on each individual film but many of those actually look better with the increased resolution. One striking example is the Blu-ray for I, Robot: that movie looks just as good on Blu-ray than a top-tier movie released in the past 2 years.

3. Older films: I think the key here is the word 'remastering'. Old movies and series can look awesome on Blu-ray provided a decent (and time-consuming) remastering process is applied. A few positive examples that spring to mind:

Star Trek the Original Series: I've seen the series in many iterations, even going back to the first rerun, but the way I see it on Blu-ray is like falling in love all over again with your first love. The remastered special effects blend in perfectly and all the vintage film stock has been manually and meticulously cleaned up and remastered. A prime example of how even a 60's TV series can benefit from Hi-def. Just have a look at the differences here:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/37039/star-trek-the-original-series-season-1/
Now, you can be in favor or against the new SFX integrated (the Blu-ray offers the choice between both through seamless branching), but the cleaned up vintage picture does have a lot more detail and punch than the original one.

Blade Runner: another sci-fi classic that has been thoroughly remastered and now offers clean and beautiful details I had never seen before, all the while staying true to the original. Just take a look at the screenshot comparisons (and the increase in quality is even more noticeable when you see the picture in motion)

Basically, I think it would be unfair to say that even old series and movies can't benefit from the hi-def treatment. If anything, they can rejuvinate them so we can enjoy them like never before. Two things I will agree on, though:
- older series and movies definitely need a decent remastering process to look good on hi-def
- not enough vintage movies and series are currently available on Blu-ray (most likely because of the intensive remastering needed and the success of newer releases)

Finally, some comparison screenshots for Blade Runner (top = DVD, bottom = Blu-ray)

I will be purchasing a Blu-Ray player some time this year. But will not replace my current DVDs with Blu-Ray to expensive and will only purchase movies when I feel the price is worth it.

@Taro, what an enjoyable post! You get my vote for one of the "Top Cool Posts of The Year" award. I want to read it again!

Quoting Taro:

Quote:
Blade Runner: another sci-fi classic that has been thoroughly remastered and now offers clean and beautiful details I had never seen before, all the while staying true to the original. Just take a look at the screenshot comparisons (and the increase in quality is even more noticeable when you see the picture in motion)

I have the HD DVD version. I wonder if equivalent. I'll try searching for those scenes (hints on where to look would be apreciated). Edit: Thanks bob9000 - yaaay! That's one of my much anticpated unwatched items. Can't wait.

For those of you who don't think Blu-ray helps old films or makes them look worse by exposing flaws:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare11/last-year-at-marienbad.htm
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews42/7th_voyage_of_sinbad_blu-ray.htm
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare6/2001.htm
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews40/adventures_of_robin_hood_blu-ray.htm
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews38/life_of_brian_blu-ray.htm
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews38/the-searchers_blu-ray.htm

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