I played around with the web features on the Heroes HD DVD. I am really excited about the possibilities with this. The Heroes HD DVD gives a first glimpse. As with all remote operated keyboarding, it was a little tedious getting all of the username and password information inputted, but once done, it stores the information on the HD DVD unit so you don’t have to re-enter the information the next time.

The Good: The special “abilities test” was fun on the Heroes HD DVD. Several trailers were also available for download.

The Bad: There is VERY limited storage room on the HD DVD standalones. I think it was around 130mb. To accommodate such low space, they decided to include only low-resolution letterboxed trailers. I downloaded Evan Almighty and Knocked Up. Both trailers together used up only about 20% of the 130mb space – or around 10 to 15 mb each. This, IMO, is very unacceptable. I don’t own an HD DVD player to watch low-resolution trailers.

What is Needed: They MUST find a way to extend storage space either via a USB flash drive or access to a computer hard drive. Secondly, they MUST have available 1080p versions of the trailers for download. I would like to see options on that: 480p 720p and 1080p and maybe even a lower resolution version for those that don’t have high speed (which is currently the only option).

Overall, I see a huge potential here, but I was quite disappointed in the poor quality downloads. I was SO looking forward to downloading 1080p trailers to play for guests. Maybe in the future.

Aren't HD trailers 80-150 MB by themselves (based on HD Quicktime Trailer downloads)? Hopefully they allow the USB ports to be used for extra storage via Flash Drive or External Hard Drive

Also, it would be very nice if (and this will be even more important if/once they start offering larger files for download) you didn't have to just sit watching the downloading screen while the file downloads, and instead go watch an extra from the disk for example. It's not a big deal, but I'd rather not sit in my theater room and use the bulb of my projector for a downloading screen. Though I wonder if such multitasking is possible with these players.

Yes, the 1080p trailers I download on my computer are usually in that 80-120mb range EACH. Since the HD DVD player only has 130mb of space and some of that is already used (about 8-10mb), it leaves only enough space for ONE HD trailer. I think that is why they chose to include only low-resolution versions of the trailers. I would estimate they are only 15mb each or so. Like I mentioned, the trailers are smaller letterboxed versions that are quite blurry -- certainly nothing to show off. In fact, the trailers that come on many SD DVDs are actually better quality than those you can download on the HD DVD player.

It would also be nice if those of us with HD DVD Xbox 360 add-ons could use our console HD's to store the content.

I am suprised they don't simply stream the content to the boxes instead of store them persistently.

Also, it would be very nice if (and this will be even more important if/once they start offering larger files for download) you didn't have to just sit watching the downloading screen while the file downloads, and instead go watch an extra from the disk for example. It's not a big deal, but I'd rather not sit in my theater room and use the bulb of my projector for a downloading screen. Though I wonder if such multitasking is possible with these players.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. It would be nice if those trailers could download in the background while other things are being played. I would also like to know the download speed and estimated time of completion as well as the total size of the file. Right now, the only thing they offer is a small bar at the bottom of the screen which gets shaded in when memory is used.

HD DVD web stuff always reminds me of the hype with ANGLE stuff from DVDs. When DVD was new there was tons of hype about how we would get alternate angles of scenes, seamless branching, etc. Seamless branching is still rare, and it took years for most players to work with it. The Alt angle stuff never really took off, and I am wondering if the web stuff will be similar - a selling point but not much for execution.

I doubt any of the players out now will be able to allow for background downloading, but with the 3rd gen players being run by the Windows CE-based OS, that's a real possibility. Of course, if they let us use an external USB 2.0 drive with our current HD DVD players, I think anything is possible(just drop the OS on that thing).

I doubt any of the players out now will be able to allow for background downloading, but with the 3rd gen players being run by the Windows CE-based OS, that's a real possibility. Of course, if they let us use an external USB 2.0 drive with our current HD DVD players, I think anything is possible(just drop the OS on that thing).

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. It would be nice if those trailers could download in the background while other things are being played. I would also like to know the download speed and estimated time of completion as well as the total size of the file. Right now, the only thing they offer is a small bar at the bottom of the screen which gets shaded in when memory is used.

Freedom Vol 1 has though things. It lists the size of each download on the selection list, and then when you select one file, while downloading it gives you a real time estimate of how long till completion. Doesn't tell you the download speed though.

Okay, let's look at it another.

What web-enabled features do you think they could create that people would really go for?

Steve W

every movie should have a link to the cast/crew on IMDB. I know I could run up to my computer and check, but sometimes I am watching a movie and I recognize someone but just can't place what I saw them in....drives me nuts.

I think another cool thing would be able to link to the director or writer or something so if you watch a movie say a few years after its release, you could find what the person has created afterwards.

I am suprised they don't simply stream the content to the boxes instead of store them persistently.

My thought exactly. Perhaps they'll implement this in the future.

It would also be nice if those of us with HD DVD Xbox 360 add-ons could use our console HD's to store the content.

Well, the addon does store _something_ on the HDD, I saw it when I was helping my nephews delete some game's savegames.. Do they limit it to just enough to fulfill the HDDVD specification though? No idea.


I am suprised they don't simply stream the content to the boxes instead of store them persistently.

Streaming 1080p? Maybe in South Korea or Finland...

What web-enabled features do you think they could create that people would really go for?


For me the biggest win would be additional commentary tracks, (ala Roger Ebert's recommendation http://web.archive.org/web/20020606081726/http://yil.com/columns/column.asp?columnist=ebert&date=020201 and this: http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2002/09/25/dvd_commentary/).

And who knows, a collaborative sort of participation element would be very fun, maybe those USB ports could take webcams? ;)

Presumably, fan clubs and contests and such could be organized thru web-enabling discs, particularly for concert or cult-director discs.. Imagine if, for example, buying _Blue Velvet_ on HDDVD would give you privileged access to David Lynch's digital video projects.. Or if buying a Lynch HDDVD funded those projects, and the disc became something of a gate token.. Or if a HDDVD becomes the "asset bank" which can be used by owners or directors to edit their own cuts of films.. Who knows?

The trailers thing should be player specific, not linked to the movie. Just let it download trailers when I'm not there, based on preferences I put in and whatever the studios are shilling at the moment. So I pop in "The Break-Up" for the wife but get "Bourne Ultimatum" and "Death Sentence" trailers because I listed my preferences as action/adventure. They downloaded the night before and are ready to go when I decided to watch the movie. I guess we are historically conditioned to expect trailers suited to the feature film, but I could care less.

The "buy it" option -sounds- neat, but I don't really see how they could make it practical. Well, I could see it being a GOLD MINE for kids toys, but I'd want to buy Bonds Omega or the M4 carbine from Transformers, not exactly stuff I would be able to get with a remote control click :) It might be nice for soundtracks though, hit a button and it records what song is playing so you could either buy the song, the album it came from, or the movie soundtrack if it included the song. They could get pretty crazy with stuff like the book the film is based on, tie-in comics or video games (the Collectors Edition of Stranglehold for the PS3 comes with "Hard Boiled", of which it is a sequal), and logo clothing, but I don't see it being very practical for actual products. Unless of course product placement goes CRAZY and every phone, computer, article of clothing, prop, and location is "for sale" in the real world.

What they really need to do is figure out how to link your phone, laptop, PC, etc to what the player is doing. So rather than have the main TV getting cluttered with pop-up stuff, it instead displays on your PSP, PDA, or whatever and let you browse it there. I don't really expect to rewatch many films just to see what pops up, and I don't want to mess up the initial viewing with constant remote control button presses. But if I had that stuff on a second screen, I might be more tempted to look at it from time to time.

I agree. I have always wondered why there is only 128 MB of storage. If a device small as an iPod can have an 80 GB drive in it, then why can't an HD DVD player at the least have 1 GB? This way we can download quite a few trailers and watch them in HD.

I agree. I have always wondered why there is only 128 MB of storage. If a device small as an iPod can have an 80 GB drive in it, then why can't an HD DVD player at the least have 1 GB?
That's an easy one to answer: Because when HD DVD was just getting started, they had no idea they were even going to attempt anything like this. They did sort of plan for the future though, with the USB ports. Let's hope they use them.

every movie should have a link to the cast/crew on IMDB. I know I could run up to my computer and check, but sometimes I am watching a movie and I recognize someone but just can't place what I saw them in....drives me nuts.

Exactly!! This is the NUMBER ONE FEATURE TO ASK!

I don't want to power on my computer anymore, waiting 10 minute to boot/search/browse, when I can just press a button at any time on the remote during the movie!

That's an easy one to answer: Because when HD DVD was just getting started, they had no idea they were even going to attempt anything like this. They did sort of plan for the future though, with the USB ports. Let's hope they use them.Yeah. I've been wondering when they're going to enable the USB ports on the Toshiba players.

Interesting article (http://www.hddvdheaven.com/news.php?item=3) on the Internet features of the Blood Diamond.

Yeah. I've been wondering when they're going to enable the USB ports on the Toshiba players.

Interesting article (http://www.hddvdheaven.com/news.php?item=3) on the Internet features of the Blood Diamond.

Another thing I'd like to see, and this will probably only be possible on the 3rd gen players, is possible USB mouse and keyboard support. This could really open up a lot of stuff for Universal's new HD DVD network thing.