It does seem like SD transfer are getting worse - but I think it's just because of HD becoming more and more ubiquitous, with us getting more used to it, and SD looking not as good, even though it looks as good as it ever did.

Another thing might be that most people now have much better TVs than they did 5-7 years ago, plasma and LCD TVs that accentuate flaws, and therefore degrade SD transfers unlike tube televisions.

TV's are getting better, making SD look worse...

Those last two replies cannot explain my situation. I have the same TV I've had for several years, and the older movies still look just as good, whereas recent releases are lacking in picture quality.

and I am not just getting "used to" HD and judging SD accordingly, because I do not have HD discs nor an HDTV for broadcast HD channels.

Even though I'm used to Blu-Ray/HD content, I still appreciate a great SD transfer.

I buy a lot of horror/exploitation films and I find that the companies that put out "rarities" are still putting out amazing transfers.

I still find that Synapse, Dark Sky Films, Grindhouse Releasing, and companies putting out exploitation/horror nasties are still releasing quality transfers.

I agree completely! I'm into BD but I buy mostly SDs from the above companies and they are excelllent transfers!!! On my ISFed Mit 65711 CRT RPTV, it's like going to the movies!!!

I don't buy every BD that comes out and I only double dip on my favorites. With over 600 SDs, 25 HDs and 25 BDs, I'm not about to start my movie collection all over again! I almost did that once with LD and I still have them...some not even unwrapped.

This has definitely become the case. Comparing the first 3 Harry Potter dvds to the last two, it becomes obvious that standards have gone way down. The older dvds have a much more stable image (virtually no compression artifacts), while GoF & OotP look like YouTube videos.

I have to admit, I'm not sure I would have yet made the jump to Blu if studios (WB, in particular) were still working hard at making reference quality transfers for their new releases (strangely, their catalog titles look fantastic).

As it is, I still hold the old and new "reference" dvd titles in high regard and continue to enjoy them (won't upgrade most of them) and stick mainly to new releases and a few favorites when it comes to Blu-ray.

And they in effect raised prices by having single-disc and two-disc versions where special features which use to be included are now extra $5-6.