Community weekly poll: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player?
- 5/23/07 2:23 PM
Downloads will never take hd=dvd or blue ray's place
by WMJZ - 6/19/07 9:03 PM In reply to: I'm not talking about broadcast I'm talking about downloads by zgreenwellRemember a lot of people arent even interested in downloading from their computers , and as of now the downloads are sub par performance , poor video quality poor audio etc downloads are for Techies not the average movie watcher who would rather go to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video, talk to your everyday casual computer user not the younger generstion who download from I tunes etc, and they don't even take the time to download songs, much less movies. my neighbors are lucky if they can even surf properly on the computer, much less download anything
voice broadcasting
by sara1122 - 1/26/09 6:55 AM In reply to: 1080p isn't even broadcast by WMJZIf you are looking Quaity and Economical solution for your Voice Broadcasting needs.
Contact me. I offer the LOWEST Rate in market with guarantee!
Remember you can get Pay As you Go as well as One time solution too.
You can contact me by email on: vb@gittl.co.uk
This reminds me of the VCR formats back in the early 80s
by ScottJG24 - 5/24/07 7:58 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
This reminds me of the battle between the VCR cassette units & VCR tapes of the early 80s (Betamax vs. VHS) where VHS became the standard. My father purchased the Betamax VCR which very quickly became obsolete. I am going to wait till the next generation of DVD technology becomes standard & when the prices have been lowered (like the DVD recorders & players).
I bought a Sony XBR 2 40 "
by Norden1199 - 5/24/07 8:04 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
This HDTV is beautiful in appearance and in picture quality. I bought it last December and got it a a good price because the KDL40 V2500 model I had, had a problem and the had none in stock so I asked to have this one at a discounted price and they agreed.
I bought a PS3 for the Blu Ray, (I own no games, only the demos) so I could get a 1080P true HD picture. The whole deal (with tax) cost over $3000.00 and I like the picture, but that's a lot of money for a really great picture.
There are certain things in life that I am really interested in and this is one of them. While spending all this money isn't the best use I could make of it, I am ok with it.
You are "spot on" (as they say)
by Cadillac84 - 5/24/07 10:57 AM In reply to: I bought a Sony XBR 2 40 " by Norden1199I spent a whole bunch of money on a 57 inch Mitsubishi DLP last month and I do love it. I don't have a HD player as yet and will likely wait a while to see if something compelling presents itself.
Meanwhile, I really enjoy the enhanced appearance of regular DVDs from my upconverting DVD player and there is a fair amount of HD content from my cable provider without subscribing to premium channels.
As you said, "There are certain things in life . . ." and I concur! Me too!
C
Nice picture but the programming still sucks
by badadams - 5/24/07 8:33 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I recently bought a hdtv (since the old one died), & I wanted a flat piece of equipment. I have watched a few hd programs at my brother's house, and the pictures are really nice. But, for the most part, the programming still sucks. The programming I am interested in is not likely to go hd any time soon. I won't be putting any money into getting hd. Poisoning my mind just to see a pretty picture doesn't work for me.
ba
HD DVD is the better choice because
by vinesva - 5/24/07 8:33 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I selected "HD DVD", even though the poll should have had separate options for "Already have HD DVD" or "Already have Bluray".
HD DVD is the better choice.
On just PICTURE QUALITY alone, HD DVD releases are almost all encoded with the next generation VC1 codec, the best codec supported by both formats, while Bluray uses the old "DVD-era" Mpeg compression for 70% of movies in the Bluray format. This makes a huge difference in PQ. If you visit AVS forums and look for the threads by Xylon, there are many comparison screen captures where the VC1 PQ completely trounces the Mpeg photos.
70% of Bluray releases are encoded with old-style Mpeg, and 70% of Bluray releases are on Single Layer discs which are smaller than almost all HD DVD releases. Bluray talks a lot about superiority, but HD DVD has delivered MUCH better PQ.
ALSO - Bluray players are not REQUIRED to support the next-gen audio codecs, only DD at 640 K and DTS (or space-hogging uncompressed audio), again, just like old-tyme DVD. However, HD DVD players must all be able to decode DD Plus, the next gen Dolby version with bitrates up to 3 Megabits, and Dolby TruHD, a true "lossless" compression format. The only optional format for HD DVD is DTS Master Audio, DTS' version of TruHD.
All HD DVD players are also required to support Network ports, dual video stream decoding, for PiP, etc., and a complete next gen interactive language called HDi. HOWEVER, Bluray players are not required to have any of this, so most Bluray player models do not have an Ethernet port, and NONE of the standalone Bluray players can do dual video stream decoding and PiP.
Worse yet, Bluray launched before the format was fully ready, and used an "interim" version (1.0) of their BDJ language (heir alternative to HDi) which cannot do MANY of the same functions of HDi. They were supposed to have enforced a newer version (1.1) of this language which added a few things, as mandatory in May 2007 - but they DIDN'T, and have now claimed they will make it mandatory for all new players that go on sale November 1st onwards. However, ALL existing Bluray players before that can be sold without this fixed standard, and it has been confirmed on AVS Forum that NONE of the standalone bluray players currently available will EVER be able to run 1.1, do network functions, nor true PiP.
Bluray has all been about "hype", but has delivered far less than HD DVD.
HD DVD players generally can be had for HALF the cost of Bluray players, offer better PQ on almost most movie titles, have FAR more features, and are the best choice.
Spend some time on AVSforum.com to get the truth! 
Most informative! I'm not surprised.
by Cadillac84 - 5/24/07 11:11 AM In reply to: HD DVD is the better choice because by vinesvaI spent a lot of time at AVS before buying my TV and I think that will be a good plan now for HD players.
I would like to know more about the "dual video stream decoding for PiP" -- could you explain that more or point to a thread on AVS for me. (I can probably find it, but I'll probably find ten threads and you may know the "best one" off the top of your head.)
Thanks very much for the excellent comparison of features.
C
I OWN BOTH ALREADY
by HDEnthusiast - 5/24/07 8:40 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
As a gaming enthusiast, on the PC as well as consoles, I currently own both players. The PS3 has the BluRay and the XBox 360 has the HD/DVD as an add-on upgrade.
I think the HD/DVD will develop a bigger following, since HD-DVD will be able to have HD on one side and standard DVD on the other side, the movies will play in your regular dvd player and will play HD when they buy a HD/DVD player in the future.
Hopefully the winner will be the format that meets the most need, and not the one that can throw the most influence into the fight, unless they are one and the same. It will be an interesting evolution.
Blu-ray
by jshpttrsn - 5/24/07 8:55 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Blu-ray is going to win out simply because of the clout that Sony can put behind it. The commercials, the hype, maybe just the fact that blue's a cool color, all of these things are going to add up to pull Sony to the top. Is there an HD-DVD burner/drive for PCs? I don't think there is, and that would be another reason Blu-ray will win.
Yes, there are computer drives (burners) for both.
by Cadillac84 - 5/24/07 11:23 AM In reply to: Blu-ray by jshpttrsnBut, they're too expensive and not necessarily available at retail in the U.S. But, they'll both be coming soon. I think the new "3 series" chipset from Intel will have a big impact on that.
Watch for the computer drives to play a major role in this competition. Sony spends lots of money on advertising, but they don't always win. They could spend less on advertising and use the savings to reduce prices and maybe get a steamroller going.
As it is, I think it is going to be a while before a winner emerges. It could be that, as someone here has posited, a newer technology will take hold before the competition is settled on this and thus, in effect, both formats will lose.
Fun, though, isn't it!
C
Clout isn't always enough.
by someoldguy - 6/1/07 2:23 AM In reply to: Blu-ray by jshpttrsnSony doesn't always win. Remember BetaMax? That was better tech, BluRay doesn't even have that going for it. As noted in another post, there are going to be a lot of pissed off BluRay owners come November First and that can't be good for business, clout or no.
You could wait...and miss the experience
by csmarkham - 5/24/07 10:14 AM In reply to: Are you planning to buy a high definition DVD player? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have a good friend who is about to jump into HD. Amazingly, he doesn't have any DVDs! Why? Because he heard about this coming "HD thing" a few years ago and decided it would be a waste of money to buy DVDs only to have to replace them all with "HD" versions. I guess he got stung with a big record collection...then 8-tracks...then cassettes...then CDs.
But he hasn't watched a DVD movie at home for...forever! The only movies he's seen are in the theater or when they come out on cable, in NTSC format. In our economic class/culture, that's pretty amazing, especially since we both work in software in Silicon Valley and you'd think we're the demographic who goes for all this bleeding edge stuff.
My point is that while you could sit on the fence and wait for a shakeout in the HD disc wars, or wait longer until all content is available over your networks (cable/disk/internet), you'll be missing out on experiences available now. And, as the kids say, "It's all good!"
For the folk who are weighing the cost/benefit of specific choices, I get that, but also consider the "opportunity cost". If your current equipment (NTSC/DVD) serves you well there's no _need_ to upgrade, but if you're on the fence about HD-DVD or Blue-Ray, or sitting it out because there will be something better coming soon, then you owe it another think. How long are you willing to wait? How much will you defer and for how long? 5 years? 10 years?
I see people claiming $100 HD disc players coming in the fall and current formats being obsolete in "2-3 years". That's not real. The prices fell to 1/2 their start as the wealthy, "gotta have it" early adopters were all saturated. But as the volume goes up, there's no pressure to drop the prices. Look at HD displays. By the $100 player logic we should have $600 42" plasma displays by now. And while there are displays that will play "2XHD" (2160p), they're just technology showcases, suited for computer displays only. They're the "show cars" of the industry. No need to rush them to production, there's plenty of product in the pipeline and a market that isn't close to being saturated. So it will be more like 7-10 years before the next major format upgrade that will require you to replace your content again. I'll go out on a limb and say that at that time the main thing you'll get back in the Next Big Revolution is shelf space, because all your movies will be inside the box...somewhere on the network.
What we will see is incremental improvement in features and size and speed. All the usual technology stuff. And that's always changing. How long did you defer a computer upgrade because the next Intel chip was going to be XX percent faster? Or a bigger hard disk was due out next year? And when do you think they'll settle this Mac/PC format thing so I can buy just one computer?
Will you be able to sell your used player on the market to help offset the cost of the new one because you just have to have HDMI 1.3 and your old player "only" does 1.2? Of course. Will there be someone to buy your 1080i set when you want to signal match to your 1080p player? Certainly, just look at craigslist. To put it another way, did you buy a Dolby 2.1 receiver then a 5.1? Then a 6.1, 7.1? With component, then optical, then HDMI (I skipped one format in there...)? You probably didn't.
I went from a used 20" tube TV to a new 27" after six years. The 27" lasted 13 years. Did I feel compelled to upgrade again and again to 32", 37", 46" along the way? Of course not. But I'm not watching black and white TV either, and I'm not watching VHS tapes any more. The jump to HD discs--along with a proportionally larger screen for the viewing distance--is just as great a change in the experience of viewing as was a 20" TV with VHS going to 27" TV and a DVD player and 2.1 sound.
Sure I'm used to it now but would I go back? Hmm.. let me go into the kid's room. Power up the 27". Pop in a Barney tape... Nope. Ain't going back.
Look at the forums. Has anyone said, "After upgrading to an HD disc player and HD screen I regret I spent the money, because it just isn't any better than my DVDs and NTSC tube TV"? I don't think there are.
There are some who predict they won't like it any better, but that's not the same criticism. You have to take that, "I know it isn't better than what I have now" attitude with the same grain of salt of someone who just spent a big chunk of cash and _everything_ is better. Their broadcast TV and DVDs look better on the new HD screen and HD player. And their dishes are cleaner and laundry is whiter! It may seem that way to them, but they're also re-enforcing to themselves that they made a good choice. But that's another thread.
As one last analogy, I have never come away from the optometrist's office with a new prescription and said, "Eh. Looks about the same." I've always come away with a palm print on my forehead thinking, "Sheesh! It looks better! Why didn't I go in earlier?"
So, in summary, I say this: Jump on the technology merry-go-round, and enjoy the ride. Look at all the fun the other folk are having! You can always trade horses once you're on board. Why miss out if you have the means to get a ticket?
Not missing out on a thing.
by zgreenwell - 5/24/07 10:46 AM In reply to: You could wait...and miss the experience by csmarkhamI like HD. In fact I love HD! I would like all the movies I see look as good as the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray versions that come out. The thing is I don't buy many DVDs because I'm pretty much a one-time -watch kinda person and only buy certain movies I know I will watch over and over again. A lot of the movie I do really like are not available in a High Def Format anyway. Maybe if I had one and subscribed to netflix I would be enthusiastic but I'm not. I'm personally waiting until digital downloads until them I'm not really interested.
And you forgot...
by damase - 5/24/07 11:11 AM In reply to: You could wait...and miss the experience by csmarkhamYou forget about those who stay on the trail end of techno curves because of the money issue. The cost of HD will have to come down if it's going to include the maximum number of people to maximize profit. My wife and I bought a large screen TV because the old one finally "gave up the ghost". The new TV is 51" and only has 1080i capability. Later on I bought a combo vhs/dvd player/recorder that up-converts to 1080i. I am happy with it and will probably not bother with upgrading to full HD until the TV dies completely. Total cost was around $1300. Thank God for tax returns and clearance/open box items. The experience of full HD isn't going to be significantly greater enough compared to what we have now to go thru the financial strain it would put on us right now to upgrade.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
