It is worthwhile noting that while this certainly is a step forward for both Sony and RealD, it will not necessarily provide a 3D experience beyond what currently exists in the digital cinema market. In fact, some may argue the experience may be worse given the SXRD technology has yet to match DLP in brightness, contrast ratio, and color accuracy.

My favorite scene in this brilliant film is actually the opening sequence detailing the upbringing of young Spartan soldiers. While maintaining the same desaturated coloring as was consistent throughout the feature, it's feel is unmistakably different. The majority of the film focuses on warm hues: yellows of the sands, reds of carnage and the Spartan capes, etc while the opening sequence focuses on a maturing youth enveloped by white and blue snow-capped mountains. While the young boy has no dialogue in the sequence and his actions are described through a narrator, an effect that typically distances audience and character, we actually are further drawn to his story by the intermittent sound effects of the young boy's heartbeat, his breath, his constant effort at conquering his fear. The opening sequence is remarkably done and ended brilliantly as the young Spartan lunges forward skewering the wolf and showered in blood without a single muscle twitch. The scene perfectly sets up the rest of the film, which is much more so about the will and dedication of the soldier than it is about pure gore and violence.

And to the "piracy via telecine" guy, that would be something that is possible via digital intermediates, not for a native digital film that is shot and post-processed digitally.

2K will be here to stay, and while I've seen the benefits of 4K resolution myself it is hardly perceptible except when sitting close to the screen or on text. However, color accuracy, contrast ratio, etc are all far superior on the TI DLP projectors thus far, which is why they are being more heavily deployed.

There are well over 2000 digital screens in the US alone (not including EU or AS) so it is not as though this is a completely new technology.

Furthermore, the DCIP/Warner/Uni proposal is not for digital deployment, but rather trying to establish an efficient and practical method of distributing the content. Screen conversion is different from distribution...

Being in the digital cinema business I can attest that there are a great number of features that are kept digital all the way through the mastering, distribution, and projection process at 12-bit 4:4:4...the latest being Zodiac, which was shot on Thomson Viper cameras. It's not as though everything is "digitized" from a 35mm reel.

While this is certainly a great price, remember that 1080p isn't necessarily that big of a deal. At 42" you'd have to be sitting ~5ft away to really notice the difference between this set and a 720p/768p set. This is why the ISF and other calibrators weigh color accuracy, contrast ratio, color gamut, color depth, etc... much heavier than pure resolution.

As far as contrast ratios go there is a grain of salt to be taken with every contrast ratio you see published. You must know whether it is static or dynamic and what the technology is (Plasma vs. LCD vs. DLP etc). The latest Sharp D92U series advertised a 15,000:1 DYNAMIC contrast ratio, statically this is approximately 3,000:1. There is also often a difference between spec CR and the CR measured at the screen. Honestly, most new panels have excellent blacks and the best way to judge is to use your own eyes. There have been recent development that have given LCDs very deep black levels that often are as good if not better than previous generation plasmas. First decide which technology type and features are most important to you then read some reviews and see which panel looks best in your price range.

There is a real simple reason why the 40" doesn't have a 1080p+ native resolution, because it's designed to be used for TV applications and your eye will be incapable of discerning the different between 1080p and 720p unless you view less than 5 feet away. And yes it absolutely can display a true 1080i or 1080p image, just not natively. You will still see a dramatic difference in picture quality between a 1080i/p source and a 480i/p source despite it only having a 1366x768p resolution.

While the announcement of these modchips is great, does it really make any difference until there is a relatively expedient way to backup the actual Wii media?