Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Browning
one or both of the first two options may be the reason that you percieve a difference.

Hm, this sounds like I'm saying your perception is wrong: that's not what I meant. What I'm trying to say is not everyone perceives "soft" the same way. What I perceive as sharp, you might perceive as soft. And what you perceive is sharp, I might percieve as aliased. Both are valid.