This post was inspired by a conversation that cropped up on the thread
Alternatives for physical media when it's no longer produced. I wanted to share a thought about watching video from LD and VHS on modern displays, but I didn't want to hijack the conversation from the original subject. So, I'm posting it here.
signofzeta wrote:
However if your smallest TV is four feet wide and 2” thick then VHS looks like crap on it. And yeah, I know who’s going to post that picture of Titanic again, I don’t want to see it. At least take another picture, it’s been years since you took the last ones.
I recently did a post of a topic related to this on my blog, commenting at how good I thought my ageing LaserDiscs looked while played through our relatively new QKK Mini Projector. Although the projector can display a much larger screen, our current indoor setup only allows the projector to produce a 70" screen (maximum). But, for watching movies on LaserDisc (and VHS), the picture at this size is quite good.
What helps a lot is picture controls that the QKK projector provides. I can present the image in 4:3 ration than use zoom to fill the screen, when an LD is in letterbox format. It also has some noise reduction and softening settings that help to improve the image.
Here's a photo I took of Beverly Hills Cop 2 being played on LaserDisc. There's some blurring, but that's due to my digital camera, taking a photo in a darken room (aka a slow shutter speed).
Anyways, this probably doesn't add much to the conversation, but I thought I'd share what I've experienced and how I enjoy our movies on LD and VHS in our home. Of course, they're going to look the best on CRT, but there are also ways to enjoy them on more modern technology, too; as long as your expectations are within reason.
When we're not using the QKK projector, we watch our movies on our 36" Toshiba LCD TV. It does a fine job of processing the composite signal from our LD player and VCR. But, it's from 2007, so it's well suited to these sorts of video sources.