fernbyfilms.com will remain 3D-free: Here’s why!
People attending any multiplex over the last 12 months or so would no doubt have encountered, if not attended, a film presented in 3D. In the age of BluRay, streaming video online and P2P file sharing, film studios are looking desperately to reclaim some of the market share lost to the (increasingly inaccurately named) home video market. So they’ve come up with a new face for an old gimmick, 3D. And according to viewing figures (if they’re to be believed), 3D films make more money than regular 2D versions do. Of course, this is to be expected when the cinema chains charge an extra two or three bucks to rent some funky 3D glasses for an hour or so, per person per time. Avatar, currently the highest grossing film of all time, may not have been such a performer if it hadn’t had the filmic equivalent of a bottle of Viagra to help it out: 3D market share. Many pundits in the industry have said that Avatar wouldn’t have been as successful had it simply been another 2D film, and I have to say I agree with them.
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Having recently upgraded the fernbyfilms.com home cinema to BluRay, I thought I’d give you my impressions on it as a format, for those of you who haven’t decided to embrace the new technology yet. My highly successful article on BluRay discs and associated stuff can be found here, and it’s worth a quick read if you don’t know what all the fuss is about.
When DVD came along, the significant difference between the new format and VHS was profound. An improvement in picture and sound fidelity offered film lovers and home cinema addicts a new level of entertainment: sharper picture and multi-channel digital sound could only serve to enhance the viewing experience. It was a similar improvement for CD over cassette tape. The era of digital technology was upon us, and as we all now know, DVD became the fastest uptake of any technology on the planet, in the history of the world. It has since become the de facto standard for movie releases to the consumer market.
So what about BluRay, the newfangled technology advertised on TV alongside DVD? Most people either don’t understand it, or don’t care. Fair enough, because it’s only been 13 years or so since DVD was launched, which by most peoples standards is still a “new”technology. Has the advent of high definition disc technology (parallel with HD streaming downloads from the Internet and other entertainment platforms) given us just another excuse to update our movie collection yet again, or is it a case of too much too soon?
To continue reading my thoughts on BluRay, click here!!
