Buy Microsoft Office Home & Student
Community weekly poll: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player?
- 5/23/07 2:23 PM
MY BLUE RAY IS NOW 6 MONTHS OLD
by stewart norrie - 7/6/07 9:37 AM In reply to: ROFLMAO! by Cadillac84For the first several months it was a door stopper Now Blockbuster and Hollywood Vidio have them all for rental and the rentel fee is the same as standard d.v.d.s As far as picture quality goes When I watch a good 1080I sourse like NOTHING BUT TRAILERS on h.d. net thru my h.d.m.i. cable direct to my Toahiba 72HM195 d.l.p. set which is 1080I the picture is awsome but when I switch over to the 1080P Sony player picture is beyond belief as good or better than any movie palace in town The only problem once you watch a blue ray movie you get spoiled and standart d.v.d. movies just dont cut it stewee
I didn't know Sony had implemented 1080p -- what BluRay?
by Cadillac84 - 7/6/07 10:26 AM In reply to: MY BLUE RAY IS NOW 6 MONTHS OLD by stewart norrieWhat Blu-Ray player do you have?
I thought 1080i was now and they were promising 1080p later -- or was that a firmware upgrade and you've made the upgrade?
Still waiting and confused.
Overhyped 1080i
by mlcgruhlke - 5/24/07 6:13 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I own a Panasonic professional series plasma display that is rated at 480p. However, my equipment has a much higher contrast ratio than most other so-called HD tv's and truthfully, has a much clearer picture even with the lower pixel rating. I am using a Yamaha progressive scan dvd player and the picture is great! When I go to Circuit City or Best Buy and compare my picture to so-called Blu-Ray or other HD dvd players and tv's, I won't be spending my hard-earned money on this new technology. Manufacturers are pushing hd dvd as a much better picture than regular dvd and upcoverting dvd players...this is not true. There isn't any noticeable difference to the eye on either so why spend the extra dollars? They'll be thinking up something else that's better next year, and the next, and the next.....it never ends eh.
I'll be sticking with my Panasonic and wow my friends when they look at the picture next to a Sony, Samsung, or Pioneer.
(NT) Doubt it.
by shaun roberts - 5/24/07 7:52 AM In reply to: Overhyped 1080i by mlcgruhlke480p doesn't compare to good HD
by hazydave - 6/1/07 6:58 AM In reply to: Overhyped 1080i by mlcgruhlke[quote=mlcgruhlke]
I own a Panasonic professional series plasma display that is rated at 480p. However, my equipment has a much higher contrast ratio than most other so-called HD tv's and truthfully, has a much clearer picture even with the lower pixel rating.
[/quote]
I know that series... though the current ones are all ED or HDTV (EDTV typically meaning a digital set that'll accept HD signals, but has something below 720p physical resolution). I have two professional CRT video displays here in my office, along with dual 1600x1200 CRTs for the computer... as nice as LCDs are on the eye for computer work, they don't cut it for video, IMHO. Plasma is certainly THE flat panel technology today for video, if you need a flat panel.
But you don't have "much higher contrast ratio than most other HDTVs" (in fact, Panasonic published their contract numbers, and they're all 10,000:1 in the current Professional series)... in fact, Plasma is good, but not perfect. It's based on phosphor excitation, just like good old CRT. Your 10,000:1 is about what you get from a CRT, a good LCoS implementation, or DLP. LCDs today are far behind, usually 1,000:1 without playing tricks (they're starting to modulate the backlight in order to improve dynamic range). CRTs suffer over the theoretical peak of a phosphor technology due to their scanning; Plasmas suffer because they have to maintain a bias to keep the plasma heated or the display wouldn't be fast enough to keep up.. that means your blackest black still isn't pure black. The likely best phosphor technology will be FED/SED, assuming they ever get it working.
As for sharpness, sure, you're going to look much better than a CRT, at least when displaying digital 480p/480i video, or something scaled down. But make no mistake, a decent HD plasma, LCoS or DLP is going to kick your display up the street and back down, sharpness-wise, on good HD content. HD is so much better than SD, I have a hard time watching anything important in SD, and I only shoot HD these days (I've been doing video since the 80s).
With that said, the perception of sharpness has much to do with the effective pixel size, as well as blurring or not of the individual pixels. On a smaller display, from enough distance, SD vs. HD is not necessarily so profound.. there's little reason to ever worry about true HD on a 9" display, for example (though it will be possible, at least with OLED displays, in time). On the other hand, when I'm viewing my 71" HDTV from my couch, I see every single pixel on SD material, while I see just the image on HD material.
YOU MUST NEED GLASSES
by WMJZ - 6/1/07 1:27 PM In reply to: Overhyped 1080i by mlcgruhlkeThe difference between 480p and 720P and 1080I is definite i've switched between all on my panasonic 50 inch plasma, and there is a remarkable difference. and HD-DVD in 1080I is stunning compared with 480p much more detail like looking through a window which cannot be viewed in 480P.
Digital Distribution
by Alan Carey - 5/24/07 6:19 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have the HDDVD add-on for the xbox but really only because evidently I "needed" a Christmas present and nothing else came to mind. (My father was asking my wife what he should get me.) I can't see either format winning. DVDs will continue to rule till Digital Distribution takes over from them. I can't imagine buying a full player at this point. If one happens to come with your game console so be it. Otherwise wait for a combo-player or get fios and download your movies, legally.
He Speaks The Truth!
by zgreenwell - 5/24/07 2:09 PM In reply to: Digital Distribution by Alan CareyLegal Digital Distribution is the Future. With the money I could spend on a play I could buy a LOT of storage for all my legally downloaded movies on. I would be better prepared.
High Definition Players
by maldelus - 5/24/07 6:53 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I may not upgrade. The key is which version wins out. I don't want to get in the beta-max video vs VHS video type of war again. I'll simply wait until the dus settles between bluray and HD. Regular DVDs won't die out for a bit yet. Heck my TV isn't HD capable.
HD good for some, not for others
by microbabydad - 5/24/07 7:36 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
HD is a great advancement - there's not arguing that. Just as it began back in the 1920's, if you have a need and can afford the equipment, you'll never look back at life before HD.
Now I must define what I call a "need". I'm not talking about comparing us to third world countries where they don't have running water and don't even know what a TV is. My "need" for a TV amounts to kids videos, PBS, and an OCCASIONAL show for us adults. With 4 kids, it ends up being 95% them and 5% us. Veggie Tales, Blue's Clues and the like are just fine in SD. So is the occasional Lenno, Letterman or 10pm news.
At this point, I certainly don't NEED HD. When prices get much better (will take a few years after Feb 19, 2009) and our SD TVs die, we'll replace them with HD. Until then, we'll stick with converter boxes, SD and VCRs.
Both formats will lose
by zgreenwell - 5/24/07 7:57 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
HDTV is excellent and being able to view your movies in 1080p is definitely exciting. The thing is that both HD-DVD and Blu-ray are not the future of movies. In the not to distant future we will be using direct digital downloads for all of our movies. People will store all their movies on their home server and be able to view them anywhere in their house or from wherever they can connect to the internet. There will be several movie download services offering a variety of pricing and/or features. We will all watch our movies on our TVs using some sort of Receiver, Media Center Extender, or Apple TV type device.
Currently HD-DVD and Blu-ray are great formats for viewing movies in HD, but if you can remember DVD-Audio and SACDs were great for hearing very high quality music. You don't see either of them anymore. The result of this current format war will be very similar. In 2-3 years no one will know what HD-DVD and Blu-ray are. The format war is over and they both have lost.
Interesting points.
by Cadillac84 - 5/24/07 10:51 AM In reply to: Both formats will lose by zgreenwellI don't know enough to agree or disagree with your conclusion, but I do own the odd mini-disc recorder. LOL
I'll probably cast a $$$ vote in this war before either side loses; but I'll remember your prediction. (I'm old enough that I may not see the final votes anyway!) 
C
1080p isn't even broadcast
by WMJZ - 5/30/07 10:08 PM In reply to: Both formats will lose by zgreenwellIf You have a 1080P HDTV You are not realy seeing 1080P You can't get a 1080P picture unless You have an HD-DVD or Blue Ray Player as their format is 1080P. Having Relatives in Broadcasting don't expect to see 1080P over the Air or on Cable or Sattelite for a long time if ever Right now the cost of changine Broadcasting to 1080P is out of reach Your set today is not producing a true 1080P signal through Your tuner. Most broadcasts are in 720P
Well, it's legal...
by hazydave - 6/1/07 3:00 PM In reply to: 1080p isn't even broadcast by WMJZThe ATSC standard (the official standard for digital broadcast here in the USA) allows 1080p (1920x1080) at 23.976, 24, 29.97, and 30 fps progressive... there's no requirement to broadcast at 1080/59.97i.
What you can't get over-the-air now (or anytime in the known future) is 1080/60p. But that's not encoded on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, either. Some of the players can upconvert to 1080/60p, but in fact, films are encoded at 1080/24p. Players will typically output either 1080/60i or 1080/60p (the newer ones).... that, primarily because many new-tech TVs, like DLP, have a native resolution of 1080/60p (and upconvert everything to that format if it's not sent over that way... digital TVs can't change modes like analog sets, which is why cheaper units may look horrible on SD material).
I'm not talking about broadcast I'm talking about downloads
by zgreenwell - 6/19/07 1:55 PM In reply to: 1080p isn't even broadcast by WMJZIt doesn't matter what TV is broadcast in. It is and will probably stay mostly 720p. 1080p movies at 60fps will be available eventually for download. When that happens there will be no purpose for either HD-DVD or BluRay
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
