It was John and my 13th wedding anniversary yesterday. A friend looked after the kids so we could go out to dinner. We thought about going to a movie but 1) it’s nice to be able to just talk away without kids around – and with a no work talk rule and 2) it’s almost cheaper to see the movie together at home on Blu-ray than it is to go the cinema. In fact in some ways it may even be better quality.

It costs $14 each for entry to see a movie. That’s $28. Most Blu-ray movies cost about $34. If you watch a movie at home after buying a Blu-ray copy:

• You can watch it again without paying again
• You can make your own popcorn – popcorn and a drink costs more than the ticket at most cinemas!
• You can cuddle up to someone
• You can pause it for a toilet break
• You can comment out loud
• You can cry (if it’s that type of movie) and not worry about looking like a tosser in the cinema foyer afterwards
• You can have a cat on your lap

Now that’s all the human comfort sort of niceties, but what about the technicalities? Cinema is currently being played at a resolution of 2485×2970 or 1420×3390. My 1080p Blu-ray playback is a mere 1920×1080 by comparison. But that’s a huge improvement on DVD which is just 720×480. The clarity of my LCD TV playing Blu-ray is, however, outstanding. I would say that I can see a slight graininess at the cinemas, compared with my setup at home. This is no doubt due to the screen size and because the screens at the cinema are not digital.

It is great to be immersed in the big screen at a movie theatre from time to time but with the cost and quality of Blu-ray, I do find myself opting for the in-house option more and more.