HD DVD

[hedwig]

so here it is

Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD Player

click here for Amazon.com's HD DVD store

and the news...

Toshiba Debuts HD DVD Players
Thu Jan 5, 12:38 PM ET, source

Toshiba has taken the wraps off of its first HD DVD players for the U.S. market, in effect keeping pace with Sony and other backers of the rival Blu-Ray high-definition DVD format.

The Japanese electronics giant introduced two new players at the Consumer Electronics Show, models HD-XA1 and HD-A1, which promise to deliver superior visual quality supported by the latest video-compression technologies and featuring high-resolution audio capabilities.

Both units will hit the streets in March, the company said, priced at $800 for the HD-XA1 and $500 for the HD-A1.

PC Drive Introduced
The company initially had postponed the launch, originally set for the end of last year, because of issues related to copy-protection technology and the advanced access content system (AACS), a digital-rights-management technology that has yet to be finalized by the DVD Forum standards organization.

With backward compatibility, the new devices will let you play your current collection of DVDs and CDs. Both drives support the MPEG-4, VC-1, and MPEG-2 video-compression technologies and will feature the video decoder chip introduced earlier this week by Broadcom.

You will be able to connect the players to HDTV sets through a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), which can convert video content to a resolution of 720p or 1080i to complement the performance of HDTVs.

Also at this week's CES gathering, Toshiba introduced the Qosmio notebook PC, the first laptop to include an HD DVD drive that can read or write next-generation or current DVD formats. It supports optical discs that can contain up to 30 GB of data.

Ongoing Battle with Blu-Ray
Toshiba's announcement comes just as Pioneer introduced its first Blu-Ray next-generation DVD drive for PCs. The new drive will write and read single-layer BD-R and BD-RE discs and read single-layer and double-layer BD-ROM discs without cartridge. It is designed to ensure high reliability in high-density recording and playback with Blu-Ray discs as well as with DVDs.

The battle between the two next-generation, digital-video formats shows no signs of abating, a fact that could cause consumers to shy away from purchasing new equipment, analysts say. Most content providers have already chosen sides, further complicating the issue, although the Blu-Ray camp might have an edge currently, already boasting the release of several titles from major film studios, including Sony, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, and Lionsgate.

In addition to being pushed by Toshiba, HD DVD is backed by NEC, Sanyo, Intel, and Microsoft, among others. The Blu-Ray Disc Association has more than 140 members, including hardware-manufacturing heavyweights like Apple, Dell, HP, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, and Sony.

[md]

ill keep my old dvd player, and invest in movie tickets, dvds.   Really the hd hype makes no differance yet, considering i dont even own an hd tv.  I still watch vhs tapes.  That is one awfully large dvd player btw...and hd-dvd i believe will lose the battle against blu ray even with a 7 1/2 poiunt spread

[Ravi]

I don't know if there's any point in getting either an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player now, since it is likely that only one of them will be around.  Consumers aren't going to want two competing formats of similar quality, even though some studios back one and some back another.

[NEON MERCURY]

yeah, fuck that shit...i am happy w/my flatscreen, s-video cables, and my boom.....dont care about the overpriced new shit..

[killafilm]

PS3 will play Blu-Ray discs.

If I had a HD tv i'd switch over when that comes out.  Alas I do not.

[SHAFTR]

PS3 will play Blu-Ray discs.

If I had a HD tv i'd switch over when that comes out.  Alas I do not.

Microsoft just announced that they are releasing an HD-DVD external drive for the Xbox 360 soon.

[polkablues]

Put a fork in the format war... it's done before it even began.

from PS3updates:
Digital Playground, a US adult video maker, has announced that they will be backing the Blu-ray side in the fierce next generation DVD war on January 19.

The founder of the company "June" said "The Blu-ray is more of a future format in 2 ways." Digital Playground is now preparing for mass-producing next generation DVD.

Unless HD-DVD can get some big name porn companies behind it, things are looking pretty good for Blu-ray.

[Ravi]

Blow-Ray

Blu-lay

Do-ray

Blew-Ray

[Recce]

As stupid as it sounds, I think blu-ray will come up on top because it has a cooler name. HD-DVD doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Most people won't care which format is actually better. And it won't be long before all the distribution companies have a meeting and decide to back one format. Its in their best interest to all agree and have one format become popular so they can start selling blu-ray (oops, my bias shows) dvd's at ridiculously expensive prices. Can you imagine all the special features? 30gb. I would be excited, but I find DVD special features content is already getting pretty sad. What are they gonna try to fill it all in with?

[matt35mm]

What are they gonna try to fill it all in with?

The main benefit is its HD-ness.  That requires more space.  DVD-videos are all very compressed, which isn't as obvious on regular TVs.  They'd look fine on an HDTV, I'm sure, but it still wouldn't be in HD.  They can master it in HD, but they still have to compress it to DVD.  This is my understanding of it anyway.

Uncompressed video could easily take up all that space.  It'd actually still have to be compressed, but just not as much, and at a higher resolution.  I think normal DVDs are at something like 525 line resolution, and HDTV is capable of 1080, I think.  So there's that.

Or they could fit that 4-disc Lord of the Rings thing onto one disc.  Or well as a whole season of a TV show.  Actually that'd be pretty cool.

[picolas]

dvds don't look as good on hd tvs as they do on regulars. the pixels have to be stretched out a little to compensate for the quality difference a guy on the phone said. right now the only good looking thing on hd is an hd channel. regular tv is also weirdened.

[Reinhold]

there's probably a good deal of truth in what polka said about the porn industry being the deciding factor.

[killafilm]

My understanding is that both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will use the same compression that Apple uses for it's HD trailers.  Which is H.264 and also much much better than Mpeg2.

[MacGuffin]

dvds don't look as good on hd tvs as they do on regulars. the pixels have to be stretched out a little to compensate for the quality difference a guy on the phone said. right now the only good looking thing on hd is an hd channel. regular tv is also weirdened.

Right. That's why I got this:



It's a Sony HD Conversion DVD player. It simulates HD quality to 720p/1080i using the HDMI. And it works. I previously tried the LG HD-Up-conversion player and it sucked; showed the pixels and was worse than plugging in my regular player. Switched to this and the quality is much better; clear. You can see the difference.

[mutinyco]

My understanding is that both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will use the same compression that Apple uses for it's HD trailers.  Which is H.264 and also much much better than Mpeg2.

On the contrary, there's a minor controversy surrounding the fact that mpeg-2 will remain the standard...