Ray Morris @ Nov 27th 2005 7:04AM

Sound is definatly important. Feeling explosions, crashes and even the heavy-bass music does add more than the visuals. I merely have (for now) sound coming out of my stereo reciever with only two speakers (15" woofers, 8" midrange and tweeters) and that output shakes the house plenty. With the right projector (we have a Canon SX50) a standard DVD will generate a Movie Theatre quality image (a unanimous observation by all who stop in). You don't need high definition at all, though it adds slightly, I'm sure.

"Hitchcock is another great example as his movies were made when color was an after thought, but the effects of sound made his movies a masterpiece."

Excellent example; "Lifeboat". Nearly the whole movie, the actors are sitting in a lifeboat doing nothing but talking. But what your hearing them say is what is captivating and captivating it is! Black & White image, no computer effects, no scenic backdrop (most of the movie could have been, and I believe was, filmed merely in a large swimming pool). Another example, an original "Star Trek" episode "The Empath". Kirk, Spock, McCoy and a female actor (the Empath) in a totaly darkened studio. Four people, dialog, black backdrop, not much else, yet it is very memorable and entertaining.

Gliztly eye-candy is nice, but even the three recent "Star Wars" films don't measure up to the older three with Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo and Princess Lea. Their 'snappy' interactions add character, 'fun' and interest, the newer trilogy just does not have at all!

Do a 'search' on UMD sales. They are, surprisingly, selling extremely well. The 'low-rez' choice. People in general aren't after the high quality image, and UMD is the proof! HD-DVD or Blu-Ray will be merely another choice as Laserdiscs was years ago. I expect it will never dominate the standard DVD market, but rather be, like UMD, another incidental option.