Quoting kd5:

Quote:
I don't have a smartphone, tablet only, can't conceive of trying to watch a movie on the tablet (let alone a smartphone) after watching everything on a 53" WS HDTV.

Don't forget that it's not just screen size that is important.  Screen distance is also part of the equation.  Sure, my 10.5" iPad can't compare to the 55" on the main TV.  But when it's 12" from my face compared to about 8'-10', that actually makes a gigantic difference.  I've never felt that I was watching on a "small" screen.  Relatively speaking, I wouldn't be surprised if it was "bigger" actually.  And to be honest, it's just a better screen period (in comparison to MY television).  I get my noise-cancelling blue tooth headphones and for me, it's a far better experience.  It might fall short in a couple technical areas.  But it brings it's own advantages as well.

It's still fun to fire up a movie for the whole family.  We did that just last night and had a great time.  But not everyone is interested in the same shows / movies I am.  That's where my iPad really shines.  I can watch whatever I please.

Just finished our latest movie night. I decided to try streaming as the primary source. I own (the rights to view) content on Amazon, VUDU and Netflix, a subset of which I also have on physical disc.

So, during the pre-movie repast, we clicked through a bunch of movies, watching trailers and comparing notes on what to see. It was fun, and we finally chose two which I had purchased on VUDU without having the disc. We did all that on the TV, which everyone could see from the dinner table.

While people were clearing the table, I cranked up the Xbox and projector, closed my room darkening shades, lowered the screen and arranged the chairs (I have rolling office chairs that do triple duty as lounge chairs, dining chairs and movie chairs - works a treat and cheap!!!).

I loved being able to start the movie instantly from the streaming menu. If we changed our minds - two mouse clicks later and we could be watching something else or watching a trailer. It was great until - you guessed it - the inevitable VERIZON NETWORK GLITCH. Ok, so VUDU restarts instantly, in place, so no biggie, except after 5 times, I elected to downscale from UHD to UHX. The 1080P was still upscaled to 4K by the time it hit the projector, which also has its own upscaling. Biiggest difference was in the inferior color balance. UHD was really gorgeous. UHX lower resolution was not as noticeable as the degraded color balance.

All in all, I would rate the experience a big plus. The audience enjoyed being able to sample a movie within seconds of asking, and my friends even offered to chip in and purchase a movie for my VUDU library if we decided on something that I did not own. Now that was a real bonus. It didn't happen, but it gave us a sense of empowerment.