Want to show off your new home theater system to friends and family? Choose one of the showcase DVDs recommended by home theater expert Michael Miller. Listed here are the best discs, in all kinds of categories, to show off your new system's picture and sound.

From the author of

If you have a new home theater system, you want to show it off to your
neighbors. But how best to do this?

What you need is a short list of the most impressive DVDs you can use to show
off your system. These showcase DVDs should demonstrate various aspects of home
theater performance—color fidelity, picture detail, surround sound, and
the like. You want those discs that put your system through its paces, while
impressing friends and families.

The following pages attempt to list the best of these showcase DVDs.
I've tried to choose the most appropriate showcase DVDS in the following
categories: color quality, black-and-white picture, picture detail, surround
sound, and music reproduction. I've also listed those discs that excel in
all these areas; those that make for the best all-around demos.

In some cases the DVDs I've selected are true reference discs, meaning
that they're the best of the best in terms of absolute picture and sound
quality; these discs meet with the unqualified approval of discerning
videophiles and audiophiles. In other cases the discs might be just this side of
perfect, but make for a fine demonstration experience nonetheless. In any case,
these are discs that are sure to impress.

Showcase DVDs for Color Quality

The first thing to show off about your home theater system is the capability
of your television set to display colors. For this you want a movie that's
sharp and colorful, with a wide range of brightness and contrast. And although
eye-popping visuals are good, there's also something to be said for subtle
color shadings. The best video displays can display vivid colors without blooming
or bleeding; you should also look for the ability to distinguish between similar
shades of color in the same scene.

Here are some of the best DVDs for showcasing the color performance of your
video display:

Finding Nemo. This is,to my
eyes, the best-looking DVD on the market today, period. Yeah, I know what
you're saying—it's for kids, or it's a cartoon, or it's
(more accurately) all computer-generated. So what? Finding Nemo is
a glorious celebration of color that looks its best on a high-quality, well-calibrated
widescreen display. The colors are simultaneously rich and subtle, and the
digital-to-digital transfer is as close to perfect as it gets; the picture
is so detailed it looks almost high definition. For a good demo, try the "first
day of school" scene, as Marlin and Nemo sweep through an amazingly
colorful coral reef. And, as an added bonus, the movie's surround sound
is equally impressive; it's almost like you're underwater with
the other fish. (For similarly impressive computer-animated films, check
out Ice Age and Shark Tales—the latter of which is
thought by some videophiles to be an even better showcase than Finding
Nemo.)

Amélie. This French film is a candy-colored
treat for the eyes. The film's color palette is wonderfully vibrant,
ranging from richly monochromatic to vividly rainbow-like. Especially impressive
are scenes that blend two equally dominant colors, such as bright green and
bright red, without a bit of compromise. Look also for odd bursts of contrasting
color within a scene, such as the vivid blue lamp in Amélie's
all-red apartment. It's a charming film that's a joy to watch.

Pleasantville. Yes, the first half of the movie
is in black and white, but when the color starts coming in, it's well
worth the wait. The genius of Pleasantville is the way color is
added in spots; when viewed on a quality display, you'll see these vivid
colors perfectly outlined against the monochrome background, with not a hint
of color bleeding. Plus, there's something about isolating the colors
like this that draws more attention to their brilliance. A real treat for
the eyes, and a good test of your system's color rendition.

Girl with a Pearl Earring. The colors on this
DVD are deliberately warm, to give the effect of a Vermeer painting come
to life. (The movie is about Vermeer, by the way.) The movie's photography
covers the entire range of colors, but with a soft, almost-ruddy glow. The
use of light and shadow is also masterful, especially on the candlelit indoor
scenes.

The Adventures of Robin Hood. This is an older
(1938) film with a simply gorgeous picture. The latest restoration of this
Technicolor film offers clean vibrant colors not typically seen in the films
of today. The definition and clarity are excellent, with particularly brilliant
greens throughout. On DVD, the film looks as if it were made just yesterday.

Singin' in the Rain. Here's another
superb restoration of a colorful Warner Brothers classic. The DVD was digitally
remastered using Warner's Ultra-Resolution process, which scans some
400,000 individual film frames from the original Technicolor three-strip
masters and then digitally recomposites them. The result is almost unbelievably
clean and clear, with vibrant, eye-popping colors. Especially impressive
is Gene Kelly's "The Broadway Melody" dream dance sequence,
although there's not a dull scene to be found.

Blue Crush. This movie is a kind of guilty pleasure,
but it is great eye candy. The ocean never looked this good on disc before;
skip all the girl talk and go right to the surfing scenes. You'll be
enveloped in the sparkling blue of the water, which contrasts nicely with
the lighter blue of the sky. (This is also a great disc for surround sound;
the underwater scenes are especially realistic.)