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Author
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Topic: Anyone consuming HD or Blu-ray?
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Cameron Glendinning
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 845
From: West Ryde, Sydney, NSW Australia
Registered: Dec 2005
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posted 07-27-2007 04:21 AM
Not sure Mark, didnt ask about 1080P, It was an example of the new compression codec for the hd camcorder home market, although it was next to and part of there broadcast display. I think he said 40min in high quality.
At another stand, I think it was final cut pros, they had a 50/50 split screen of this new codec compared to a broadcast hd version, on daylight footage of world war 2 fighters flying, both sides of the screens looked identical! one would asume that the fact that there was no night examples or difficult lighting conditions used in the demo, that it probably would look like crap in any non ideal conditions! call me a cynic!
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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 07-27-2007 06:27 PM
Mark,
Which Blu-ray player to buy is the tough question. My first answer would be "none until November" but if you're itching to get one, you'll have to try and find one that has the features that are important to you. Unlike HD DVD, not all Blu-ray players support all the features possible with the format.
The reason for my "none until November" answer is that there is a new requirement for Blu-ray players released after November 1st for storage and interactivity support. These requirements should make things like the "Liars Dice" game on the Pirates of the Caribbean disc play reliably on all players. If I could afford a Blu-ray player, I would not buy one that was not able to support this new requirement, but that's just me.
Do you want to enjoy lossless sound on discs with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio tracks? Then, you'll have to find which player supports that audio decoding. Sony's new one doesn't yet. Panasonic's does. Sony's PS3 does. Samsung's might not. Not very many players on either side of the format war play DTS HD Master Audio lossless audio, but that track is rare enough that it probably won't be an issue in the near term.
By all means, find out how easy it is to update the firmware of whatever player you choose. Since none of them have ethernet jacks on them, you'll need to be able to burn a disc from a download off the manufacturer's web site and update it manually. This isn't hard to do, but definitely harder than selecting "update" on the screen and letting the download install itself.
The PS3 would be my choice, except for the fact that it doesn't have a standard IR remote. It has a bluetooth wireless remote (that costs extra by the way), so it will not allow you to use a universal remote to control it. The PS3 has horsepower to spare, and it has internet connectivity, and it has the ability to play games (I have no idea if they're any good, as I am not that much into gaming).
Of all the Blu-ray players currently out, I think the PS3 has the best chance of being upgraded to support the Profile 1.1 requirements (the November requirements from above).
If you like Pioneer Elite equipment, there is a Blu-ray Elite player out. It's expensive, but I seem to remember it was well-equipped. Denon is also coming out with a high-end player in the near future at a bargain price of $2,000. Way too rich for my blood, especially this early in the game.
I don't think I would get a Samsung player at this point. Their first attempt was not very good, and I was not happy with the Samsung upsampling player I bought and returned a few years ago. I do have a Samsung DLP HDTV which is very nice, so who knows?
While doing some research yesterday on the new Panasonic DMP-BD10AK Blu-ray player, and I found in the manual that it can't even play writable Blu-ray discs! So, if you decide that you would like to create your own videos (from perhaps a high-def camcorder), or videos from others, you wouldn't be able to play them on that $600 player. I'll have to go digging to find out if that inability is present in the other Blu-ray players as well.
I'm not sure where you're reading that video quality on Blu-ray is better than HD DVD. Blu-ray titles had a very poor start last summer, to the point where Sony had to re-release The Fifth Element and offer trade-outs for everyone who bought the original release. From all the reading I've done, it would appear that the video quality of Blu-ray titles are now finally on par with the HD DVD releases (they often use the same VC-1 transfer).
1080i and 1080p on HD DVD and Blu-ray is the same thing. The difference is where the deinterlacing is done. The content is recorded as 1080p24 on the discs, but some 1080p players actually convert the 1080p to 1080i and then back to 1080p before outputting it! Unless you have a crappy TV (and I doubt that you do), you shouldn't see any picture quality difference between a player that puts out 1080p vs. 1080i. Read 1080p vs. 1080i for more information.
The price is what really gets me. The cheapest Blu-ray player (Sony BDP-S300) is $499. It doesn't have an ethernet jack, it doesn't support Profile 1.1, and it doesn't support Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless audio.
In contrast, I just bought two HD DVD players for my parents, both the Toshiba HD-A2, which is the least expensive model. The first one was from Amazon for $239, and the second was from Value Electronics as part of a special sale they were running for $199 (free shipping on both). For that price, I get ethernet updates, full interactivity capabilities, the same video quality, and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio.
The biggest thing that paying $499 gets me is access to watching the exclusive Blu-ray titles that don't exist on HD DVD. That's not going to really hurt until Disney starts putting out the Pixar movies (Cars was delayed, and now looks to be coming out in November). I would love to see the Pirates movies and Casino Royale in HD, but I recorded the latter off DirecTV PPV (which was OK, but not as good as my HD DVD player can do; DirecTV is no substitute for movies on disc).
Until Blu-ray comes down in price, or these studios come to their senses and stop punishing us consumers for their commercial and political decisions, I have the DVD's which my HD DVD player is very good at upsampling for me. There are so many movies on HD DVD that I want to rent from Netflix and watch, I can wait.
The whole Blu-ray vs. HD DVD is a very unfortunate quagmire that just should never have been allowed to happen. The studios shouldn't have allowed it. The dealers shouldn't have allowed it. Sony and Toshiba should have been locked in a room and not allowed to leave until a single standard was produced.
Lacking that, I wish that a decent Blu-ray player was available for a price that even approached that of the HD DVD players in both features and price. If I could pick up the Sony BDP-S300 (its replacement after November 1st, of course) for $250-$300, the format war would be a minor annoyance at best.
Except for title exclusivity, Blu-ray offers no advantages that HD DVD doesn't already offer for half the price. If the titles are important to you, that can be a big factor, so YMMV.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 07-27-2007 06:50 PM
I've been waiting for a couple technological problems with HDTV monitors to improve, as well as "universal" dual format HD-disc players to arrive.
Looks like at least a few universal players will hit store shelves sometime this fall. That's good news. LG has announced one, as have a few other manufacturers. Samsung has announced a universal player for release this fall.
Unfortunately, all those universal players are carrying some relatively hefty price tags.
Linky linky
quote: PC Magazine article
Samsung Introduces Advanced HD Players
07.25.07
Four fancy hi-def players from Samsung may replace SD home theaters everywhere, boasting the latest in hi-def audio and video.
By Brian Bennett
Samsung introduced four new high-definition disc players today, which boast the latest in hi-def audio and video.
Perhaps the most exciting model, the BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player, supports both Blu-ray and HD-DVD titles. Other great technologies include HQV (Hollywood Quality Video) processing. According to Samsung, it is designed to provide production studio caliber performance by enabling 1080i to 1080p HD deinterlacing, along with HDi and BD-Java-based interactive menus. The BD-UP5000 will start shipping in Q4 2007 for $1,049.
Two other Samsung players, the BD-P1400 and BD-P2400, center on the playback of Blu-ray discs only. Thanks to its HQV video processor technology, the BD-P2400 can upscale standard-definition DVDs up to HD resolutions of up to 1080p over HDMI. In addition, both devices support lossless, DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD. The BD-P2400 pumps out 7.1-channel audio, whereas the BD-P1400 relies on a 5.1-speaker arrangement. Expect the BD-P1400 to ship in September for $549 and the BD-P2400 in October for $649.
For consumers who want the ultimate home theater system, there's the HT-BD2 Home Theater Solution with Blu-ray. Scheduled to hit store shelves in Q4 of 2007 for $1,499, this model is a true home-theater-in-a-box solution built primarily for Blu-ray enjoyment. It sports a slick, piano black finish and blue LED accent lights, as well as an active subwoofer with five tower and two satellite rear speakers. Although it lacks the HQV processor, it does provide support for DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD.
All four of these new HD players are compatible with 24-frames-per-second playback, a speed at which most movies are shot. Samsung claims this will ensure an accurate theater-like viewing experience.
FYI, here's a couple of links for LG Electronics' BH100 "SuperBlu" dual format HD-disc player:
LG SuperBlu Home Page
LG BH100 Product Page
Hewlett Packard is reportedly offering a combo optical drive with both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD compatibility in some of its desktop computers.
In the parts department, NEC developed a single chip solution for decoding both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray content and expected to start shipping the chip in volume by Spring of 2007. Ricoh was at work on a dual format optical lens pick up.
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![[Confused]](confused.gif)
. Anyway, I downloaded the update... unzipped... and then burned it onto a CD... I figured if it was the same version the player would just not take it. Anyway, when I load the disk into the player I get a message on screen that "This is not a DVD" or something to that extent. Anyone have any idea whats up? The instructions DO SAY to burn the ISO file onto a CD, not DVD.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
. Thats why you haven't discovered that HD-DVD's dont cost 30 bucks... they can be had for about 20 bucks from Amazon. Local stores around here rent both HD-DVD and Blew-Ray so I Don't have to buy any that I don't want to...but last night I watched Blazing Saddles in full HD and listened to its original Stereo mix ![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
!!
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