Pornography has long helped drive the adoption of new technology, from the printing press to the videocassette. Now pornographic movie studios are staying ahead of the curve by releasing high-definition DVDs.
They have discovered that the technology is sometimes not so sexy. The high-definition format is accentuating imperfections in the actors — from a little extra cellulite on a leg to wrinkles around the eyes.
This is apparently also a looming problem in the mainstream movie biz. I recall watching an episode of. . .Dynasty* I think it was, and a very annoying aspect of it was that every time Linda Evans was on-screen they'd switch to a real soft-fuzzy lens. I don't know whether it was just to make the character appear softer, or if they were trying to make her appear younger or what have you. That was my first thought for this HD problem, but that seems to defeat the purpose. Perhaps this will create a similar problem as the first talking movies.
* Two footnotes, one of them archaeological: First, confession: My old roomie in college and I were kind of addicted to Dallas and Falcon Crest. Well, mostly in the sense that on Fridays we would buy a bunch of beer and a box of those big, thick crunchy pretzels and watch the two of them while getting semi-plastered. Er, then we'd head out to drink. I often wonder how I even made it to grad school.
Second, Paul Freeman, who played Belloq in Raiders of the Lost Ark had a recurring role on Falcon Crest for a season. Played a bad guy. I actually didn't recognize him until another person came over and just screamed "That's BELLOQ! From Raiders of the Lost Ark!" Interestingly, perusing IMDB he also seems to have been in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles for a few eps as well. Don't remember that either. I watched that little series for a bit, but it was kind of lame. A bunch of us grad students had a party one night to watch one 2-hour episode that had the return of Harrison Ford as Indy. This was in 1993, after The Last Crusade had already been out. Very annoying since they just had him on for a couple of minutes in the beginning and a couple at the end, sandwiching a long bit of boring viewing.