Comparison: HD 'Avatar' on Blu-ray vs. Vudu HDX, PS3 download, and Samsung 2D-to-3D

Ah, Earth Day. Known for bicycling, recycling, and celebrating cycles of life. On Earth Day 2010, the cycle of the year's most anticipated home video release began with the availability of "Avatar" on Blu-ray and DVD, in addition to the major pay-per-view video services. Vudu and Sony's PlayStation Network are the only major streaming/download services to carry the HD version at launch (sorry Amazon VOD and Qriocity), so if you want to watch "Avatar in HD at home, you'll have to buy one of those two futuristic files or risk being branded a luddite and actually get the physical Blu-ray.

We scoped all three HD versions of the film in our test lab with an eye toward picture quality. Better yet, since the Blu-ray won't be available in 3D until next year, we thought this would be a good chance to give the 2D-to-3D conversion system on Samsung's 3DTV another shot. Short of creating our own version post-production, it's the closest we'll come for now to seeing Neytiri leap off the screen and onto our laps.