I don't know guys, out of principle we shouldn't buy it, but I am really starting to reconsider....

Then the Emperor has already won.

Can you make some screencaps?

Keep in mind you'd have to blow your screen caps up to 50" to make the same comparison that CO has done. Looking at screen caps on your 17" monitor isn't the same. It's also not a valid scientific test because CO can't control all the variables; telecine techniques, noise reduction, etc.

To me, non-anamorphic widescreen materials look pretty bad over fifty inches. (I'm looking at you, original release of Star Trek Generations.) But that's not the only issue at play here.

By asking for a new, anamorphic transfer, we're looking at a better payoff in the future. If Lucasfilm remasters the O-OT now -- and especially if it pays off for them -- there's a better chance we'll see it again in the HD age, either through video-on-demand or whichever HD disc format dominates. The digital master will be ready, they'll just have to dump it on a disc; it may not even be necessary for them to downrez or re-encode it. High definition is likely to remain a standard for decades, and a HD version of the O-OT will ensure that it remains available.

If, on the other hand, LFL does not create a HD master now, we will just have to fight this fight again in the HD age. Every excuse used by Lucasfilm now will have even more resonance in the future, as film elements continue to degrade and O-OT fans continue to be replaced by SE fans. If we fail then, the next generation of film viewers will have been acclimated to 1080p video, but the only O-OT available to them will be 480(i?). To put it simply, in 30 to 40 years, no one will watch the O-OT(1).

Tactical doctrine demands that we strike with our amassed forces where and when we have the initiative -- that's now, on this issue. Any wavering or doubt could have catastrophic consequences for years, if not decades, to come. So do not doubt. Do not waver. Remember what's at stake, and that you have allies in the film industry, in the press, and the new media. We owe it to them, and to our posterity, to see this thing through.

(1) Interesting side-note. If Lucas sticks to his comments about Star Wars (1977) being a workprint, it will enter the public domain in forty-one years.