DVD Questions

I was wondering if someone could explain something to me about DVD
video quality. Last night I was watching a DVD of an independent film
from Australia (from Film Movement.com). The quality of the video
looked very good, but every once in a while I could see what looked
like distortion (almost like a slight screen of waves of water were
put in front of certain objects). I am using a Sony DVD recorder,
sitting about 7 feet away from a 32" Sony CRT television. Hooked up
with S-Video connection.

I also stood about another 3 feet from the tv to see if I was too
close, but I could still see the moir effect. Is this from a bad DVD
transfer? Does anyone else know what I am talking about? The movie was
shot in 35mm. It was just very annoying seeing this on the screen
every few minutes. I had rented The Apartment with Jack Lemon a few
weeks ago and had noticed a similar thing on a few scenes, mainly when
the camera was panning a long ceiling with bright overhead lights. I
had noticed that the straight lines of the pattern of the ceiling
started to squiggle.

It's amazing to me how far we have come in the last 15 years in terms
of video quality. Five years ago a rental VHS tape would like fine to
me. Now, they are almost unwatchable. I think that I am getting more
sensitive to the imperfections in the DVD's as we move into the HD
realm. I am planning on picking up a 50" Panasonic plasma at the end
of the year, and hopefully a Blu-Ray player if the prices drop down to
the $200-$300 mark.

Do any of you with Blu-Ray players still have these moir effects on
any Blu-Ray movies you have seen? I had watched the latest Bond movie
at a friends house on Blu-Ray with a 42" Sanyo and was completely and
utterly blown away by the quality of the picture.

Steven