Season’s Greetings, Wet Bandits!

Last week we were visited by the Ghic of Christmas Past, dropping some 8-bit knowledge on us while I was constantly looking at random folks who may or may not even exist (I’m looking at myself…in the mirror).

This week the Ghic of Christmas Present comes a-knockin’.  What modern-day geekery does this spirit wish to show us?  And will he be kind enough to keep his robe closed so we don’t have to see more than we need to?

Let’s find out, shall we?  All we need to do is take hold of his robe… and mind the creepy-looking children hiding inappropriately underneath.  Just don’t make eye contact and you should be fine.

It took me some time to decide what I thought would be the definitive face of geek for our current position in the space/time continuum.  It needed to be something that is currently a hot commodity, but has plenty of room for growth and not just some fad that would fade out in about a year’s time.  This was something that had to stay the course and would be a constant influence on geek life for years to come.  And although digital cow tipping was a serious contender, I ended up going in a different direction:

This is the time for Hi-Def, baby.

What was ushered in with a modern-day format war is quickly evolving into the way we watch movies and television.  Sure, we’re still a ways off from affordably priced hardware and media so that everyone can get on the Hi-Def train, but what’s important now is that everything we see and do in regards to how we view entertainment is crucial to what Hi-Def will become.

And this isn’t just a rehash of the galactic Betamax/VHS war (or the lesser-known laser-disc vs. DVD “I just shot you in the face” fiasco).  The visual media landscape is changing, to the point were even the lawmakers are getting in on it; as you all are already aware, the US government has mandated that the FCC require all TV stations switch from analog broadcasting to digital by mid-February of next year.  Now, this legislation is in no way forcing the consumer to upgrade to hi-definition.  What it is doing, however, is paving the landscape for what will eventually become the norm (at least until the next revolution in entertainment comes along).

I joined the Cult of Hi-Def earlier this year when my wife and I bought our first house.  It was so incredible to see some of my favorite TV shows in a much higher resolution with such clarity and detail (although I got my TV at the end of a viewing season, so I wasn’t able to catch much).  The biggest impression on me would have to wait for June.  It happened on a day I’m sure you all remember:

The day I got a PS3.

You all thought I was gonna mention something like the first petaflop computer (Roadrunner) breaking the processing speed barrier, didn’t you?  Yeah, you did.  That’s cute.

So, there I was with that new PS3.  My first experiences playing Grand Theft Auto 4 and watching my first Blu-Ray DVD (after spending hours upon days trying to get the PS3 to connect to the internet properly – thanks, Eric) were comparable to going through life with a slight tingle in the back of your head, then suddenly having the flood-gates opened to a bajillion crazy pixies zapping your synapses with multi-colored, psychedelic donuts dancing with pom-poms while blowing large, hurricane-sized chocolate kisses to your nervous system.

In short (too late), it was pretty damn cool.

What’s amusing is that once I started immersing myself in Hi-Def, it gradually became more and more difficult to go back to standard.  I notice the artifacting and other flaws more when I watch standard definition DVDs or TV channels on my Hi-Def TV.  I even thought, originally, that I would be content with just watching the up-converts on some of my standard definition DVDs instead of trying to upgrade my movie collection.  I mean, the up-converts were supposed to look pretty good.  I shouldn’t have to replace all of my movies on DVD with their Blu-Ray counterparts, should I?

Maybe I should.  Though some of my DVDs do look really good when up-converted on my PS3 (Bladerunner is a great example), I found that quite a few of my DVDs went in the opposite direction in terms of quality.  Even DVDs advertised as being “Digitally Remastered for Hi-Definition TVs” weren’t living up to the words printed on the cases.  Imagine my disappointment when Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind looked like crap (both movies happen to be Spielberg films.  Coincidence?).

So yeah – I think I’ve become officially spoiled by the Hi-Def movement currently underway.  I’m not alone, either.  Sales of Blu-Ray discs, Hi-Def televisions and Blu-Ray players are consistently going up while the prices of those same items are finally starting to come down.  We’re slowly making the transition.  I know that we’re still a couple of years away from the total embracement of Hi-Def, but after the digital broadcast switch-over happening next February, the rest of the locks and tumblers are going to start falling into place quicker.

And when those crazy pixies first come for you, heaven help you.

The Don thinks you’ll be alright with your Christmas of white, but he’ll have a Blu-Ray Christmas.

Stumble it!

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2008 at 5:43 pm and is filed under Donnie Sturges, Fandom, Holidays, Television, events, geek love, movies. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.