I've heard that
Planet Earth and
Baraka are supposed to have great PQ.
Not exactly. I found PE to be a disappointment, as I think such excellent content like that deserves the best PQ it can get. It definitely did not.
Baraka has raised some contention at other forums, whether due to ringing/halo, EE, and even touches of DNR.
What I will say regarding Baraka is that its a huge improvement from the DVD. Its not reference PQ though, I don't think.
Some more recent PQ viewings I've had recently include the Prestige, Kill Bill 1/2, Underworld 1/2, Man on Fire, Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds...
Older titles given amazing trasnfers: How The West Was Won, Blade Runner, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Cartoons: Ratatouille, Cars, Meet The Robinsons, Surf's Up (grain is intentional!).
Depending on the film, you can have varying levels of grain while still getting as much detail as possible. Once you remove grain, you take away detail, period.
Some displays may pronounce grain more than others. I have believed for the last several years that displays were ahead of the game in comparison to source media.
I now believe the software (bluray) is superior to most displays, including HDTVs, out there.
If you guys saw some of these pics on my light controlled 75 sq screen, you simply would not believe it.
BTW, nosferatu, without knowing anything about the Denon, make sure to buy Panasonic. (Unless you NEED to output 480i from DVD for outboard deinterlacing/scaling).