Vudu Test Confirms HD Download Worries (Plus:What Needs to Be Done) (http://gizmodo.com/352392/vudu-test-confirms-hd-download-worries-plus-what-needs-to-be-done)

In the frames above, you see snapshots I took all at the same time depicting Vudu paused in standard-def and high-def playback, as well as more or less the same frame paused on the HD DVD as well. One could argue that the frames look funny because of the way Vudu pauses, so let me be clear: the difference in playback between the HD DVD and the HD download was huge. My wife laughed, saying "Even I can see the difference." The difference between the SD and HD Vudu downloads was not significant at all. In fact, it was not especially noticeable. Again, to Vudu's credit, the standard def version looks really nice, and both videos started playing the instant I rented them.

Are there people who really want this? What's the point of the hi-def evolution if what we get isn’t ...well ...hi-def? I just don't get it.

Fish

I am not surprised to hear what you have found. Just looking at the bit rates of these so called HD downloads indicates they are basically DVD quality.

Downloads are a bunch of crap and I for one will never partake in DLing movies unless they completely equal the quality I am getting now from HDDVD, plus come with all the extras I get. Downloading may replace movie rentals...but not physical media.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=988904

The Vudu HD version looks worse than the Vudu SD! :eek:

I think most people try to compare downloads against HD media and that really isn't its market. Certainly if you can rent a pretty HD disc it's going to look and sound much better.

Where downloads come in is in making available the thousands of movies that aren't available via HD media. In all of those cases the HD downloads are the best available. Now if you want to wait the months, years, or forever for them to show up on HD media feel free.

and then we have

http://www.jakeludington.com/hddvd/20061204_xbox_video_marketplace_and_hddvd_comparison.html

and

http://www.xyhd.tv/2006/12/reviews/why-xbox-live-video-marketplace-competes-well-visually-with-hd-dvd/

Downloads are a bunch of crap and I for one will never partake in DLing movies unless they completely equal the quality I am getting now from HDDVD, plus come with all the extras I get. Downloading may replace movie rentals...but not physical media.

+1

and then we have

http://www.jakeludington.com/hddvd/20061204_xbox_video_marketplace_and_hddvd_comparison.html

and

http://www.xyhd.tv/2006/12/reviews/why-xbox-live-video-marketplace-competes-well-visually-with-hd-dvd/

+1

and then we have

http://www.jakeludington.com/hddvd/20061204_xbox_video_marketplace_and_hddvd_comparison.html

and

http://www.xyhd.tv/2006/12/reviews/why-xbox-live-video-marketplace-competes-well-visually-with-hd-dvd/
Yep, 720p ought to be about 6 - 8 GB for good quality, 1080p about 9 - 13GB. The Vudu example was a poor encode and a poor example of what to expect.

I rented Troy DC from XBL and would have to agree with the point of one of your links. It wasn't nearly as bad as the Vudu caps but it was no substitute for the real thing.

Fish

and then we have

http://www.jakeludington.com/hddvd/20061204_xbox_video_marketplace_and_hddvd_comparison.html

and

http://www.xyhd.tv/2006/12/reviews/why-xbox-live-video-marketplace-competes-well-visually-with-hd-dvd/

Remember how long it took to get Star Wars on DVD? …or Spielberg's DVD holdout? Good things come to those who wait.

Fish


I think most people try to compare downloads against HD media and that really isn't its market. Certainly if you can rent a pretty HD disc it's going to look and sound much better.

Where downloads come in is in making available the thousands of movies that aren't available via HD media. In all of those cases the HD downloads are the best available. Now if you want to wait the months, years, or forever for them to show up on HD media feel free.

I have been really happy with the Xbox Live HD downloads. The SD, not as Much, but some of them like Terminator the series looks quite good at 16:9 480p

Southpark on the other hand, especially the World of Warcraft episodes looks like something that came out of Cartmans butt.

With any service, or even DVD, and HD-DVD how much effort is put in to encoding makes a huge difference. I used to fight with clients about encode times, because if I let the computer crunch a video 200% longer I can often make the video 30% smaller at the same quality, or look like it would if it had 30% higher bitrate.

but the extras??? doesn't anyone care about the extras??? funny how the are touted as a big advantage for HD DVD but now they don't matter???

but the extras??? doesn't anyone care about the extras??? funny how the are touted as a big advantage for HD DVD but now they don't matter???

Extras are nice to have especially if you are on BB, faster to access the media, but with dl's I could see people saying, well I really don't want them because if I am dl for a short period of time, I want to save time and money?

I love owning media that way, I can pop in my HD DVD's and have access all the time!

but the extras??? doesn't anyone care about the extras??? funny how the are touted as a big advantage for HD DVD but now they don't matter???

jus gimme da movy, da hole movy, and nuttin but da movy:eek:!

:D

Downloads are a bunch of crap and I for one will never partake in DLing movies unless they completely equal the quality I am getting now from HDDVD, plus come with all the extras I get. Downloading may replace movie rentals...but not physical media.

Ditto! Not to mention DRM issues and my computer is no wehre near my home theater.

The only downloading I'll do is for old junk on netflix that I'd never watch otherwise, and then only when I can't get it on Blu-ray.

Good example is Moscow on the Hudson. Watched that on netflix instant. Perfect for it.

Downloads are a bunch of crap and I for one will never partake in DLing movies unless they completely equal the quality I am getting now from HDDVD, plus come with all the extras I get. Downloading may replace movie rentals...but not physical media.

Google XstreamHD. It is a satellite service operational Q4, 2008. 80Mbps transfer rate and DTS-MA sound tracks. It is 150% the bandwidth of maximum blu-ray. It will blow away HD DVD + blu-ray maximum transfer rates.

This as well as others are going to compete with optical for content provider of the future.

but the extras??? doesn't anyone care about the extras??? funny how the are touted as a big advantage for HD DVD but now they don't matter???

You can rest assured, I'll sacrifice "extras" for 5 or 6 dollar HD movie rental as apposed to bowing to the blue overlords and paying 30 dollars for blue rays

Google XstreamHD. It is a satellite service operational Q4, 2008. 80Mbps transfer rate and DTS-MA sound tracks. It is 150% the bandwidth of maximum blu-ray. It will blow away HD DVD + blu-ray maximum transfer rates.

This as well as others are going to compete with optical for content provider of the future.

I want to see it in action before I say anything about this one.

Just traded in my Japanese ps3 for a new 40gb PS 3 here in Korea, where they have a movie/TV show download service you can sign up for. The service itself isn't bad, but my wife wasn't impressed because the cable TV company offers instant access, rather than waiting for a download.

Quality of the demo HD material was below that of regular HD on disc, and was heavily banded in many places. Not a whole lot better than upconverted DVD. Having a faster connection doesn't make a difference, other than in speed of download.

We're going to pass on it for now.

and then we have

http://www.jakeludington.com/hddvd/20061204_xbox_video_marketplace_and_hddvd_comparison.html

and

http://www.xyhd.tv/2006/12/reviews/why-xbox-live-video-marketplace-competes-well-visually-with-hd-dvd/

+1
I love XBL, especially the fact that it basically comes free with a game console I'd own anyway (vs AppleTV)

You can rest assured, I'll sacrifice "extras" for 5 or 6 dollar HD movie rental as apposed to bowing to the blue overlords and paying 30 dollars for blue rays

You can rent all the Blu-ray movies you want from Netflix or Blockbuster and many other local chains, you know you don't have to purchase every movie you watch right?