I'm curious what people use to compare video quality, especially among different combinations of gear. E.g. I have the DVDO Edge with (obviously) varying quality of scalers/deinterlacers in the components as well as the display.

Does everyone just use test patterns to judge PQ, or do you only use that for calibration once you determine what the best settings are to send to the VP (and have it output)?

Do you exclusively use Bluray discs (any in particular) for this quality comparison? Fast moving action.. classic scenes that will reveal poor deinterlacing or scaling? Is there a list somewhere of these types of movies and their time frame (e.g. 32:20 into it)?

Test patterns will tell you things if you are measuring a specific parameter (ie. contrast). But really when it comes down to comparing images, you have to use sources you are familiar with. Most commonly Bluray (or other HiDef source), but which specific movies depends on again, what you are familiar with. So in a nutshell there is no standard.

Thanks, Jason. I've heard over the course of my time on the forums people refer to specific scenes (e.g. Dark Knight for black levels, certain other scenes for intraframe contrast, some scenes for "tearing" of the image, some for macroblocking, some for edge enhancement, etc..)

So I figured people have their favorites for certain things. I think video is a bit less subjective than audio, where bringing your favorite tracks to audition some speakers/amps is useful. But in the video world there have been some "classics" that show certain problems if a given component/VP doesn't handle some mode properly (3:2 pulldown, judder, frame interpolation, etc).

Yes that is true, but it only holds if one is familiar with that particular movie on various displays. In other words looking at Dark Knight for black levels on 1 display, doesn't give you any basis for comparison.