I'm uncertain what the future holds. Lots of chatter about '2nd gen' and BD 'catching up'. Then there's probably going to be 2160p one day.
But if the public never embraces HDDVD because SDDVD is "good enough", what then? Could this pass for the accepted premium standard for the next 50 years?

Well, I could live with the present deficienies with little or no problem so long as the movie companies continue to support and produce high quality media for it.

Sam

So far it is the best video experience that I have seen (in the home), it beats OTA HD, Sat HD TV, but I have not seen cable HD TV so I can not be sure about that but from other folks on this site I would have to say yes.

Clarification, when I mentioned cable, some say it is better, others say it is not. Depends on your local cable provider.

HD on cable, in my area, does not compare to HD DVD. So yes, I would buy it all over again.

Sure, I still would buy it. I'm just entering the av world as I have been a computer nerd for some time. In computers, after 3 years, your computer is old and obsolete and needs to be replaced. The HD-DVD player is cheaper than a computer and provides me a great service of high quality audio and video. There is always something better and/or cheaper for those who wait.

If BD catches up and passes HD-DVD, then when it does and becomes successful, I will upgrade and I'll have a better product since the quality is as good and it would be a 2G+ machine.

Just because the old thing was good enough, doesn't mean the new technology will fail. Let's look at some examples. Dial up internet service is good enough for many users, but has that prevented me from enjoying 8mbit cable? Car manufactures make vechicles that go from 0-60 5 sec (I'm guessing), when in reality 0-60 in 15 sec is probably good enough for average people.

I highly doubt that this format would last 20 years much less 50 years and remain a premium product. 45gb in 20 years is going to be redicously small. I would estimate that thumbdrives will be that in less than 5 years. 20 years ago, computers had 20mb hard drives?

If you want to see if it is the time to buy, ask yourself this question. The enjoyment I will get from the pristine picture and audio over the next year is worth $10, $20, $50, $100, $200, $500? One way to estimate this value is to try to determine how much more are you willing to spend to rent/buy an HD-DVD over a DVD. Personally I would take $3 for renting. Then estimate how many movies you will watch in the next year, 2 per week or about 100 movies. Thus I would value it to be about $300. Once you know that, how much cheaper will HD-DVD players be in a year? $100, $200 dollars. If you value it more, then you should buy it, if not don't. Following this simple rule, you will get the optimal solution. I bought it. (For the record, I didn't go through much logic, it was more of a compulsive buy)

Hope this helps.

Adam

I'm uncertain what the future holds. Lots of chatter about '2nd gen' and BD 'catching up'. Then there's probably going to be 2160p one day.
But if the public never embraces HDDVD because SDDVD is "good enough", what then? Could this pass for the accepted premium standard for the next 50 years?

uncertain about the future:

This is true. There is likely to be combo players and both will co-exist at least for some time.


2nd Gen.

Eventually. There will always be something coming down the line. If you keep waiting for the next ""latest a greatest"" you never enjoy either.


BD catching up

Well it has yet to catch up, and even if it does you have to pay twice as much for it. Heck that's a no brainer. Half the price and great picture RIGHT NOW!


there's probably going to be 2160p one day

Maybe, not sure the human eye can tell the differance. Even so don't think that will happen anytime soon. My new 1080P set will do me fine for many years to come i'm sure. Also see "latest a greatest" above


if the public never embraces HDDVD because SDDVD is "good enough", what then? Could this pass for the accepted premium standard for the next 50 years?

Doubt it! HD set are selling more and more. How many STD TV do you see on the store floors compared to HD sets. People are going to want HD movies to go with those sets. I know I do. Watching STD tv and movies will soon be like watching B&W shows on a 25" TV.

I plan to have a HD-A1 in the very near future, and enjoy the future now. To be honest if a newer (2nd Gen.) player came out a few months down the road I'd consider picking that one up too and moving the older player to another room, it the new one was that much better. Just one man opinion.

Yes!

It is far better than any SD DVD and simply blows satellite away. This is the future for now. I'm prepared for BD to improve and then I can own one of those too. Until then I am loving HD DVD. :D

Stace

absolutely. the video quality of the HD-DVDs is such a quantum leap ahead of SD DVD that it's a slam-dunk right now.

50 years? no way. But yes I can live with the player for quite some time. It's software options I need to improve.

Well considering I am currently paying $50/mo for HD cable with only 3 HD movie channels (HDNet Movies, HBO HD, and Showtime HD)...

Paying $363 for an HD-DVD player than upconverts DVDs to amazing quality (plus only uses an HDMI port so I still have my cable and other dvd player available...and if I ditch cable I can plug in my XBox) and having only paid on avg $17.50/title ($19.99 @ Amazon - 10% - 1.57% and all those mTurk gift certificates I had (like $100)...

HELL YAH

The movies are so pristine it makes HBO HD look like barf (HDNet movies does on occasion have great PQ--2001, The Shining). Plus I'm guaranteed *AT LEAST* 500 movies (which is what...like 5x more than D-Theater ever got???) to pick from if it does lose the format war.


edit:

BTW, on D-Theater it looks like they had a TON of 'big hits' and yet it never sold well. (stuff like X-Men 2, Cast Away, Alien, Fight Club, I Robot, Independence Day, Passion of the Christ, Die Hard, Speed --these were just some of the FOX releases!).

There probably won't be a newer format (in terms of resolution) until there's a new television broadcast standard. It has taken 60 years to make the transition (still in progress) into the new standard.

I know technology is moving faster, but I think one or both of these formats will be with us for a while.

I with 100% confidence would purchase the XA1 again. I still have never had buyer's remorse. The HD DVD player plays my SD collection very well. So it is more than worth the investment. And considering you can get one for half the cost of a BD player makes it worth even more! HD DVD picture quality is absolutely stunning! ;)

Would you buy HD-DVD all over again if it NEVER got any better?
Yes, of course, certainly. Unless you mean "if no more movies are released than what is already out". If you mean "Knowing that the player is slow to start and load, the audio options are strange or hard to understand/use, the remote control is not easy to use" or something similar, or "The players cost US$500", well, none of those items are a problem to me now! So, I am not sure what is supposed to maybe "get better" that is not already just fine, at least to me. Expecting the format to last 50 years unchanged, or for there to not be a better format for the next 50 years... no, those ideas are not reasonable. Of course a newer, better format will come out, but I doubt it will be here sooner than 2015-2020.

The majority of the public is still running legacy analog TVs today and will not benefit from next-generation DVD (HD-DVD/Blu-ray) for several years.

Let us not kid ourselves. HD-DVD and Blu-ray will remain the domain of only the enthusiasts for the next couple years. Eventually when the format war is resolved and players hit $100-$150, J6P will consider buying one, but even then probably not until his existing DVD player dies.

Disk-based HD media is going to happen regardless of the details of how the format war plays out. Infrastructure for possible future alternatives such as streaming on-demand video will not be able to reach a plurality of users for quite some time. That said, the adoption rates for HD-DVD and Blu-ray will probably not be as fast as with DVD, and the format war will definitely cloud the water for consumers for the coming months/quarters/years.

I with 100% confidence would purchase the XA1 again. I still have never had buyer's remorse. The HD DVD player plays my SD collection very well. So it is more than worth the investment. And considering you can get one for half the cost of a BD player makes it worth even more! HD DVD picture quality is absolutely stunning! ;)

My sentiments exactly...HD-DVD brings me even closer to my ideal of the experience of "film" in the home environment. NO buyer's remorse whatsoever.

As an upconverting player alone the Toshiba has allowed me to ditch the Panny RP-91, Oppo and Bravo D1...one machine to rule them all!

With the rollout of titles moving along, it's just not worth considering going without HD-DVD.
I've seen four titles now and it's a great medium for delivery of thick, rich content.

Although some cable broadcasts can be really good, the quality of color, picture and sound is just way too much to be matched. I don't care about a minute to load a movie either since I need more than that to fire up the Optoma H78DC3 projector.

Toshiba really deserves a lot of credit for their execution and as important the firmware support.

I'm uncertain what the future holds. Lots of chatter about '2nd gen' and BD 'catching up'. Then there's probably going to be 2160p one day.
But if the public never embraces HDDVD because SDDVD is "good enough", what then? Could this pass for the accepted premium standard for the next 50 years?


Well, not only I would, I already have! I got my second HD DVD player, the RCA model from Walmart. I like HD DVD format so much that I had to get this PQ in my bedroom HDTV as well.

Definitely, without a doubt.

I with 100% confidence would purchase the XA1 again. I still have never had buyer's remorse. The HD DVD player plays my SD collection very well. So it is more than worth the investment. And considering you can get one for half the cost of a BD player makes it worth even more! HD DVD picture quality is absolutely stunning! ;)


Agreed, however, I will admit this: Everytime I have a glitch or a hiccup, I start feeling a twinge of some kind of buyer's guilt on the hardware side of things.

HD on cable, in my area, does not compare to HD DVD. So yes, I would buy it all over again.

I have Comcast which does not do HD-Lite, unlike DirecTV ( D*) and Dish (E*) which does, but HD DVD is still so much better, the video is more sharper and the sound, of course, is so much better on HD DVD since HD Channels like HBO are just Dolby Digital.

Yes, Yes, 1,000 times Yes :)

I wouldn't buy the 1G player again if I knew it would not get the skipping issue fixed or add 5.1. I do think both will be fixed, so I am holding on until then. There will be other HiDef standards in the future, but I think 1080 is here for at least 5 yrs. Unless there is a major mindset change, people don't buy new displays that often. Many are just now trading in there old CRT based displays for LCD or plasma, and expect to keep them for 5+ yrs.

there's probably going to be 2160p one day

Maybe, not sure the human eye can tell the differance. Even so don't think that will happen anytime soon. My new 1080P set will do me fine for many years to come i'm sure. Also see "latest a greatest" above




Film is much higher resolution than 1080p and I believe that consumers with projectors in the house would like higher resolutions than ATSC currently provides. I have to believe that next gen technologies like SED and OLED can provide great resolutions at 70"+ sizes that change Home Theater and CE products (plus consumer spending on tech like plasma).

The human eye can process more information than we can provide through anything other than direct feedback (such as virtual reality). I'm gonna buy HD-DVD and other great technology so long as its better to my eyes and gives me some tangible benefit.

Yes, in fact, I now have two of them.

YES. The best HD experience!

I would, no question asked! I'm building a very good collection of HD-DVD movies too!

...Angelo

The HDXA1 is on sale this weekend from o n e c a l l.com
$599 shipped.

:)

absolutely. the video quality of the HD-DVDs is such a quantum leap ahead of SD DVD that it's a slam-dunk right now.


It's a slam dunk with 20k people. That isn't gonna cut it. The average consumer is not going to be happy with the difference they see. It was too early for this.

Yes I would buy my HDDVD again,in fact I am going to buy another soon!!

It's a slam dunk with 20k people. That isn't gonna cut it. The average consumer is not going to be happy with the difference they see. It was too early for this.
He didn't ask about the average consumer...he asked about me! :p Yes I'm glad I purchased now!

It's a slam dunk with 20k people. That isn't gonna cut it. The average consumer is not going to be happy with the difference they see. It was too early for this.

Sid, do you feel this way because they don't have the display to support the "difference", or, because at $500 the player is too rich for their blood?
What do mean by "too early"?

I've been waiting for almost FOUR years for higher def DVD!

Absolutely!

Yes I would buy my HDDVD again,in fact I am going to buy another soon!!

I'm inclined to do the same. I have multiple displays/setups and toting to and fro is getting old. On the other hand, buying more titles has even more appeal.
Decisions, decisions...

Would definitely buy again. Will also deifnitely buy any player in future that offers me a high res PCM over I-Link output.

Overall the titles released so far have been good with better support that I would have expected back in April.

The HDXA1 is on sale this weekend from o n e c a l l.com
$599 shipped.

:)


That price does not include shipping. Just spoke to them.

Plus, be careful posting non retail prices. I do not believe it is allowed.

We have zero HD content providers here in Taiwan, so hell yes! I'm tired of missing out.

if movies keep coming I would certainly buy it again.

Can HD-DVD get any better?

The BD people seem to think not.

Without question. Once you get a taste of HD you don't want to go back. The same applies to my regular tv watching. I only watch the HD channels now if I can help it. I have no place for standard definition ugliness anymore.

Yes, and I haven't even seen HD yet. I bought it to upconvert my -Rs and +Rs and the results are spectacular.

it took what.....10 years for Star Wars to come out on DVD? DVD players were buggy when they came out but load times were quick. Now it is a mature tech and the load times are slow (multi disc capabilities). I assume the inverse for HD-DVD and BLu Ray. Both will be around for at least a few years...one wins or both win as long as I can watch HD movies on my HD set now.

Think about HD panel first adopters who had all of one show to watch in HD!

ABsolutely. It is superior to BD, 1/2 the price and will be supported for a longggggg time.

I purchased my A1 with just that mind set going in in all honesty.

That price does not include shipping. Just spoke to them.

Plus, be careful posting non retail prices. I do not believe it is allowed.

One call does have it as a special. It's below $599 and includes 3 day FedEx shipping. If you go to TechBargains website and search under One Call you'll find the link.

Considering that it is the best film based HD that has ever existed, unless I were to have a lobotomy ....yes, I'd buy again ! :D

Art

I didn't buy an HD DVD player to support the format really, I bought because what I was getting for my money was well worth it to me. Even if they stopped making movies for them today I would still be glad I bought an HD DVD player and have the movies I do to watch. To me this has been one of the best price/performance products for early adopters ever. Without the competition it probably would have been $1k or even more to get in. At $500 it is mostly a no brainer for people with a fairly high end theater setup who like getting the best images they can.

PS: I bought D-Theater and am glad I bought it when I did even though there won't be any more movies for it.

--Darin

Yep. I am thrilled by my A1, the HDDVDs AND the upconverting that this player provides. I was looking for an upconverting player anyway so the extra $150 to get into the REAL HD game was a no brainer. Even though I have a 720P projector and a 1080P LCD HD on cable/OTA was getting a bit old. There are only so many 30 second shots of flowers up close that I could take before I needed something a bit more. And the A1 fit the bill even greater than my wildest dream.

when it comes to gear im very very picky on what i get.

today i saw a demo of the hd-dvd toshiba a1 at best buy on a 37 samsung tv

i was so dissapointed in the pq


but you know what for the past 2 months ive been on this forum reading and everyone gives good reviews on the toshiba so i bought it 2 weeks ago and im so impresed very very impressed with it

hd-dvd>all

i would definatly buy it again

dunno what happened with the 37 but oh well

In a heartbeat. This is a great great unit and at $363 + airline miles, a steal!

No. Never.

I think many of the no never's for either format, will eventually own a player of each format. :)

In this modern age of multiple sources, I'm not so sure if this format war will really materialize. I just want more, true HD content, seems like owning players that will play both of these formats is the answer.

this has to be a joke. I'd buy this player just to have all the titles available by oct 10th and that's it. excellence=hd-dvd

this has to be a joke. I'd buy this player just to have all the titles available by oct 10th and that's it. excellence=hd-dvd

lol

it's the "available for preorder" ones that I want.

No question, I would but this player again!!

Just played Batman Begins last night and if that were the only HD DVD I had it would have paid for the A-1 in and of itself. Blows everything out of the water. Don't need to speculate about blu-ray, blah, blah. It played flawlessly with the best sound I've ever heard in a dvd. The A-1 is tops because it has delivered time and again. Home theatre is now not a poor substitute for the movies it IS the real deal with HD DVD. Hell yes I'd buy her again.

Yes, I would. I currently have two HD A1 players and greatly enjoy using them. I'm enjoying my SD DVD collection all over again, as the Toshiba's upconverting capability is outstanding to say the least. Watching HD DVDs is icing on an already delicious cake for me.

I didn't buy an HD DVD player to support the format really, I bought because what I was getting for my money was well worth it to me. Even if they stopped making movies for them today I would still be glad I bought an HD DVD player and have the movies I do to watch. To me this has been one of the best price/performance products for early adopters ever.
--Darin

I concur. Now, if only all transfers lived up to the full potential.

Yep I sure would, I have no intention of upgrading from my A1 until it will not play new HD-DVD's anymore. :)

A1 will always be A1 in my book.

I have no regrets in jumping on the HD DVD band wagon about two months ago. I was originally going to stay out of this format war but the $500 stand alone player was worth a gamble. There was no way I was going to spend $1000 for a stand alone player. Of the 28 HD DVD movies, about half of them are double dips.

I took a chance on LD when they came out & lost but I enjoyed watching those movies though. I bought two LD players back then. I took a chance on a DVD player probably during the second year the DVD was out. I enjoyed watching the DVD movies when J6P was still watching VHS. I was still using that Sony DVD player until a few months ago until I got another Sony DVD player.

Now I'm spoiled by HD DVD. No more SDVD movies. No BR movies (don't have one of those player). If the studios want my money right now, they will find me browsing at the HD DVD racks. No regrets!

Now I'm spoiled by HD DVD. No more SDVD movies. If the studios want my money right now, they will find me browsing at the HD DVD racks. No regrets!

Gotta say, this stuff grows on you. The better ones really shine.
I keep replaying KK over and over again. Not because it's a great movie, because you just can't get it this sharp and detailed at the cinema. There's chatter about the B quality CGI, but that monkey (and Naomi) look great. The ice dance borders on supreme.

My large collection of HD cable burns has made it more than worth it, and with the titles I see coming from the BDA, my BD player has a long way to go to catch up.

I'm uncertain what the future holds. Lots of chatter about '2nd gen' and BD 'catching up'. Then there's probably going to be 2160p one day.
But if the public never embraces HDDVD because SDDVD is "good enough", what then? Could this pass for the accepted premium standard for the next 50 years?

yes, for sure. i mean it looks way better than SD DVD. i also have blu-ray too though. as fro 50 years though. i think it would still be nice to have 2x res in each dimension and deeper color. so no, don'tthink it is quite good enough for the next 50 years, but another 4x of res and a bit deeper color and i think most people would be set (aside perhaps from going to lower compression or to even higher res and scaling down that might come cheaper than quad hdtv lossess).

No

I just bought Blu-ray and may add HD DVD, but I don't expect either format to ever amount to more than just a small fraction of DVD sales over the life of the products. As long as Netflix has new titles of interest in my queue, I am happy. The worst quality discs from these two formats beats anything I can get from satellite, cable or OTA now. I won't know for sometime whether I will regret getting into another format.

Chris

I just bought Blu-ray and may add HD DVD, but I don't expect either format to ever amount to more than just a small fraction of DVD sales over the life of the products. As long as Netflix has new titles of interest in my queue, I am happy. The worst quality discs from these two formats beats anything I can get from satellite, cable or OTA now. I won't know for sometime whether I will regret getting into another format.

Chris

The winds of change just may favor both formats more than you think. You can't turn on you TV without hearing about HD this and HD that. The public is being consistently bombarbed with HiDef sound bites from Cox, DirecTV, and even the "now available on DVD and HDDVD/BluRay" ads. Supposedly, by 2009 all US feeds will be HD and SD TVs without conversion appliances will face extinction.

By the time all this happens it's a pretty sure bet both players and discs will be dramatically lower priced than they are today. Cheap Chinese combo imports will probably be the order of the day.

Also, with more and more consumers opting for bigger and bigger displays, many will seek the 'better' solution.
It's like a planned out conspiracy...for the greater good.

I just bought an A2 from Robert at VE this weekend, so I can't comment yet on how this all plays out in my home theater set up. But, I can say that my wife and I bought a non-progressive scan JVC dvd player about 5 years ago that cost only $100 less than what we paid to join the world of hd dvd. And judging by all the demos and reviews I've seen on hd dvd, I have no doubt that I won't be disappointed in any way.

Definitely not!! :eek:

For me it is a big YES. My A-1 still provides what I was looking for when I bought it. For me those saying the content is not there are a bit spoiled. I have 40+ discs and still have many I would like to purchase. BD only have only now caught upto HD in discs available and it is only the really fanatical people that have all the discs they want in HD. I went throught the BD releases and there are many more buy options for me on the HD side. On BD maybe there are more I would rent.

Right now I am rewatching my discs for the extras and IME features. Aslo watching my SD for the first time with the great upconvert features of the A1. I would buy it again because the BD players where not an option at that time (price, features, and content) and even now that has not changed for me.

Hmmmmmmmm

Although I love the IQ/AQ, it seems the players STILL have plenty of bugs, my A1 will have to go back to Tops to get fixed AGAIN, because it says "NO DISC" when I try any HD DVDS.
It did this a lil over 2 months ago, and they fixed it, but it's doing it again today.

The 480P limitation bug on the A2(this is G2, G1 didn't even have this issue), is a bit worrysome as well.

Studio support is still fairly low, and Universal seems to be slowing a bit, maybe it IS because of new management over there, I dunno, but it's a bit disheartening IMO.

I'm not certain I would do it all over again, I HAVE enjoyed (immensely) the unit and movies when it works properly, but there seem to be alot of folks that are still having issues.....
We don't see EVERYONE that owns a player HERE, but it makes me wonder how many folks that don't even come to forums are faring as well.

If it was a $200 purchase, and the movies were $15 ( with NO surcharge for the FORCED cruddy combos), then ya, I would most likely do it again.......
But for $500, +, $20-35 HD DVDS ?
I'm not sure

The winds of change just may favor both formats more than you think. You can't turn on you TV without hearing about HD this and HD that. The public is being consistently bombarbed with HiDef sound bites from Cox, DirecTV, and even the "now available on DVD and HDDVD/BluRay" ads. Supposedly, by 2009 all US feeds will be HD and SD TVs without conversion appliances will face extinction.

By the time all this happens it's a pretty sure bet both players and discs will be dramatically lower priced than they are today. Cheap Chinese combo imports will probably be the order of the day.

Also, with more and more consumers opting for bigger and bigger displays, many will seek the 'better' solution.
It's like a planned out conspiracy...for the greater good.

All OTA will be digital, not HD by 2009 if things go as planned. I hope both formats gain acceptance, but by offering only better video and audio when compared to DVD and depending on the display, what might only be slightly better video, I can't imagine either or both formats will ever approach the level of acceptance DVD has. DVD-A and SACD offered better than CD audio, the average consumer didn't care, CD is very good and I see nothing different here, DVD is very good.

Chris

I can't imagine either or both formats will ever approach the level of acceptance DVD has.
I agree. With all the fighting that goes on here, HD vs BD, the real competition is SD DVD, which will be the winner for a long, long time.

A big yes, yes. yes.
Has been perfect for me since I bought it last May. Not a single glitch or issue. Even the startup time is okay with me. I just go get some refreshment as I load the disc, by the time I get seated the movie is starting. :)

Big YES here. I've enjoyed every second of owning and watching HD DVD on my bargain Xbox 360 add-on.

I can understand people who bought into one format and want to argue it's superior. I can understand people who can afford to invest in both for maximum selection.

I can't understand sitting on the edge of the pool and watching everyone else splashing around and having a good time. Come on in, the water's fine!

Come on in, the water's fine!
Did you get that quote from one of my favorite movies O Brother Where Art Thou?

The winds of change just may favor both formats more than you think. You can't turn on you TV without hearing about HD this and HD that. The public is being consistently bombarbed with HiDef sound bites from Cox, DirecTV, and even the "now available on DVD and HDDVD/BluRay" ads. Supposedly, by 2009 all US feeds will be HD and SD TVs without conversion appliances will face extinction.

By the time all this happens it's a pretty sure bet both players and discs will be dramatically lower priced than they are today. Cheap Chinese combo imports will probably be the order of the day.

Also, with more and more consumers opting for bigger and bigger displays, many will seek the 'better' solution.
It's like a planned out conspiracy...for the greater good.


The "public" thinks that DVD is HD already.

I agree. With all the fighting that goes on here, HD vs BD, the real competition is SD DVD, which will be the winner for a long, long time.

I'm afraid I have to agree. (for the present)

"The "public" thinks that DVD is HD already."

And, with this too.

At least I'm doing my part to educate them. I always ask: "Have you seen HDDVD?" prior to my show and tell. Always amazed, I ask "As good as the theater"? They almost always reply "Better".

Many have asked to borrow the disc afterwards only to to learn 'no player-no way'.

Oh,well.

Then there's probably going to be 2160p one day.

Never going to happen. you'd need a screen the size of a movie theater to take advantage of such resolution - assuming anyone would actually broadcast any content (which they won't) and there will be no players ever capable of displaying 2160 - talk about a niche market of a niche market.

1080P is about as good as it's going to get on resolution (other technologies will continue to make incremental improvements to picture). But by god - 1080P is penty good enough (an understatement). To introduce a new expensive product into a competitve market you'd have to give the consumer something they can see. On any TV less than 12' diag - 1080P will be resolution enough.

I would still own both formats since there are movies I enjoy on both formats.

Never going to happen. you'd need a screen the size of a movie theater to take advantage of such resolution - assuming anyone would actually broadcast any content (which they won't) and there will be no players ever capable of displaying 2160 - talk about a niche market of a niche market.

1080P is about as good as it's going to get on resolution (other technologies will continue to make incremental improvements to picture). But by god - 1080P is penty good enough (an understatement). To introduce a new expensive product into a competitve market you'd have to give the consumer something they can see. On any TV less than 12' diag - 1080P will be resolution enough.


Never say never, there was a time when 480p was the accepted standard and no one felt there was a need for anything more.

Never say never, there was a time when 480p was the accepted standard and no one felt there was a need for anything more.

I believe it's fair to say, it STILL is. Not for us on AVS but for the vast majority of viewers They embrace MP3 also.
I bet there are 100 SDDVDs sold for every BD/HDDVD sold.

I was very enthusiastic about HD DVD. I spent a little extra for the Xa1 and bought 28 movies for it since April (watched many more through Netflix). All these little glitches and bugs still existing almost a year later and the current slowdown of software support would definitely make make me reconsider if I had the chance to do it over.

Approaching my one year anniversary with HDDVD I have to admit titles vary alot. Some transfers look slightly better than their SD counterparts while others dramatically show off its potential. Fully 90% of my purchases are keepers.
BTW, I am convinced it will get even better as more and more movies will be captured with highly evolving and improving HD cameras and direct digital transfers.

HD-DVD is Déjà vu all over again. It is taking exactly the same path that DVD did when it first came out. Some titles look great and have no rival, some look like #$@*. Better audio. No anamorphic enhancement (just like the early DVD's), but if someone has a brain in the HD-DVD or BR camp they will add that as a way to get an advantage over the other camp (but - that would mean that a marketing ploy was actually beneficial to the consumer - grrrr... will that happen?) Here is irony - I bought my XA2 for SD-DVD - I already had an A1 that works great for HD.....

I like it so much, I just purchased my second player - replacing the 360 add-on with the XA2. I agree that only enthusiasts are searching out HD content, but each of us has friends - and everytime we "show off" our HD-DVD systems, some of those friends are gonna want one.

Yes, I would buy again, own A2 and XA2. The titles and picture quality are amazing! I own a PS3 and still perfer HD DVD!

I never had a problem with my HD DVD players, a few discs yes, but not the players.

I'm not sure I understand this question. I certainly would buy it all over again if I knew it wasn't going to change. I bought it, and I am taking a risk it will change, if, for instance BD wins the format war. So for me, the answer is "yes".

But for many others the answer is "no". My wife is not interested, for instance. I'll tell you a story. My son bought my wife the "BBC Planet Earth" disk set for Mother's day. When she opened it, she was very excited, since she was talking about it all the time, since Oprah featured it on her show. The son did good. Then she finds out it's in HD DVD. A pause... "Can I play this upstairs on the TV set?" "No," I answered, "It's HD, so we have to play it on the HD player in the home theater. Oh", she replied, "then I guess it's really yours."

You can see the lack of appreciation for the format, and maybe an explanation for why Toshiba still includes a composite video output on the HD DVD players. My wife is not interested in using the home theater. In another example, I rented "Dream Girls" in HD for her, and when I told her she couldn't play it on the analog 21 inch TV set with the 2x3 inch speakers, she said, "That sucks." In the future, I'll stick to SD for her.

Actually, I think I'll start a poll, and find out the predominant sex of HD enthusiasts. I'm predicting male 95%.

No anamorphic enhancement (just like the early DVD's), but if someone has a brain in the HD-DVD or BR camp they will add that as a way to get an advantage over the other camp (but - that would mean that a marketing ploy was actually beneficial to the consumer - grrrr... will that happen?)

I doubt we would ever see that. It would only benefit those with 1080p CIH front projection setups. It's a very small niche.

Never going to happen. you'd need a screen the size of a movie theater to take advantage of such resolution - assuming anyone would actually broadcast any content (which they won't) and there will be no players ever capable of displaying 2160 - talk about a niche market of a niche market.

1080P is about as good as it's going to get on resolution (other technologies will continue to make incremental improvements to picture). But by god - 1080P is penty good enough (an understatement). To introduce a new expensive product into a competitve market you'd have to give the consumer something they can see. On any TV less than 12' diag - 1080P will be resolution enough.
I've owned personal computers since the early '80's and I remember a time not too long ago when 33 megabytes was a really big hard drive.

Now, it's smaller than the worst video card.

The Cray 1 was a landmark in computers because it was the first machine in the gigaflop range, my desktop machine (which is humble by current standards) is faster than a Cray 1.

Whenever I see someone say something like "never see 2160" I remind myself how excited we were when computer disks dropped to $1/megabyte.

2160p is only four times the data contained in a 1080p image.

Actually, I think I'll start a poll, and find out the predominant sex of HD enthusiasts. I'm predicting male 95%.

You may be right, but there are a few of us HD "gals" out here. I laughed at your post, as I have a similar issue with my husband - he hates Tivo and anything other than straight TV, preferring to watch the old SD set. He is slowly warming to HD for movies and things like Planet Earth, as long as I am here to set everything up. I'm getting the stand alone HD DVD player (XA2), as one more step in trying to make it easy for him (currently using the 360 add on).

You may be right, but there are a few of us HD "gals" out here. I laughed at your post, as I have a similar issue with my husband - he hates Tivo and anything other than straight TV, preferring to watch the old SD set. He is slowly warming to HD for movies and things like Planet Earth, as long as I am here to set everything up. I'm getting the stand alone HD DVD player (XA2), as one more step in trying to make it easy for him (currently using the 360 add on).



I think I love you :eek:
The wife trying to persuade the husband into HD, not THAT is irony! :p

I've owned personal computers since the early '80's and I remember a time not too long ago when 33 megabytes was a really big hard drive.

Now, it's smaller than the worst video card.

The Cray 1 was a landmark in computers because it was the first machine in the gigaflop range, my desktop machine (which is humble by current standards) is faster than a Cray 1.

Whenever I see someone say something like "never see 2160" I remind myself how excited we were when computer disks dropped to $1/megabyte.

2160p is only four times the data contained in a 1080p image.

I agree completely, 1080p threshold will be broken (and so will 2160)...

If you think otherwise then you haven't lived long enough in the technological explosion that has occurred in the last 30 years..

I agree completely, 1080p threshold will be broken (and so will 2160)...

If you think otherwise then you haven't lived long enough in the technological explosion that has occurred in the last 30 years..

Look at what HDTV has done for regular DVDs up-converted. Imagine HD DVD up-converted on a 2180p display. :D

Current displays barley show-off all that 1080p resolution. IMO, higher res displays are needed to fully show the PQ of HD DVD.

...Angelo

I doubt we would ever see that. It would only benefit those with 1080p CIH front projection setups. It's a very small niche.

Higher res displays are in the pipeline - we might see them this year, and will for sure in 2008. Lack of anamorphic enhancement (along with about 6 other things) is a pathetic oversight on the part of both HD disk camps - they spent too much time on useless features and DRM rather than real technical issues - typical.

You may be right, but there are a few of us HD "gals" out here. I laughed at your post, as I have a similar issue with my husband - he hates Tivo and anything other than straight TV, preferring to watch the old SD set. He is slowly warming to HD for movies and things like Planet Earth, as long as I am here to set everything up. I'm getting the stand alone HD DVD player (XA2), as one more step in trying to make it easy for him (currently using the 360 add on).

Forget "Effe White", you're the "Dreamgirl" :p ! And to think your husband is blase' about being married to such a rare jewel. Now don't tell me you play Xbox 360 too... AV enthusiast and gamer all in one woman... I think you should be cloned.

Hugh Betcha! ;)

Forget "Effe White", you're the "Dreamgirl" :p ! And to think your husband is blase' about being married to such a rare jewel. Now don't tell me you play Xbox 360 too... AV enthusiast and gamer all in one woman... I think you should be cloned.


lol ... yep, that's me. XBox 360, PS3, and a PC Gamer - Nothing like gaming on a 71" screen. My husband is coming around ... (on the movie side, not the gaming side). He's actually much more of a techie than I am ... just not into A/V. He has agreed our next room remodelling effort will include a Home Theater with all the goodies.

Back on topic ... took the day off to await arrival of the XA2, the Matrix Ultimate Collection (and POTC 1&2). Everything arrived EXCEPT the XA2 - UPS just left the "Signature Required" card. Arranged to pick it up tonight ... waited 45 minutes, and they can't find it. Argggghhhh...