^ HD content over the satellite is watered down unless it's a major event- think sports, Jeff. Watching PPV HD movies sucks on my set.

 

Humm... This I did not know.

I guess I'll just have to see what the picture looks like with the dish. We already have the 1080p box but without the dish and the content it doesn't do much.

Thanks for the pointers, Skip... I continue to appreciate the advice.

 

You'll find that some channels come in better than others. It's because of two reasons: 1) source content is either good or great and 2) bandwidth by which the signal is sent. Fortunately, DTV has populated the heavens with a bunch more satellites. This has helped a little bit, however, not all channels are beamed "to the max."

Even still, some programming is stellar, while I've found PPV's lacking when compared to our different players.

 

That is my plan. I'll go ahead and get a couple PPV's to see how they look.

I might, though, go ahead and get the xbox add on. It is comparatively cheaper then any other BluRay or HD-DVD player and will do a good job of "holding me over" until corporate America sorts out which standard is king.

 

Couldn't agree more with regards to current offerings (not necessarily just sat) Skip.

My reference to BR/HDDVD being "temporary" was more to say that I don't think the format will have the longevity that even DVD has had. While there isn't a "stream to your box" technology on the market right now that satisfies the videophile and audiophile in me, I don't believe that it is too far off.

 

Does anybody else find it ironic that the industry has been pushing HD for a while now without giving us a real use for the technology except watching movies and that it is those movies that are now totally up in the air? I

t seems to me, from my own experience and from what I am hearing from you guys, that the the TV broadcasts are mediocre, at best and most definitely not the end all be all in HD.

I think it is almost laughable... I am going to go home and play my Xbox now.

 

I'm not stressing a collapse in HD-DVD at all. Big deal, I'll continue my plan to rip and encode my current collection for PC storage and then stream them to any TV in the house. I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

It is not as if my current collection turns to dust on announcement of the fall of HD-DVD. I will continue to enjoy the Hell out of the 16 sub $10 titles I just picked up in the last 3 weeks.

This does make my more motivated to buy a Blu-Ray player though unfortunately. I will be trying to decide between upgrading the HTPC to handle Blu-Ray or watch for a standalone deal.

I'll have to start doing my research on them for sure. I know there is a lot of difference in the Toshiba and LG line-ups for HD-DVD. I'm sure with standards revisions the same goes for Blu-Ray.

 

Aaron, when you do your ripping to digital storage are you able to retain the audio and video quality? Can you maintain 1080p resolution and multiple channel digital surround sound?

If so I'd be most interested in how all that works. If you could point me to the software / hardware that I'd need it would be fantastic.

I would love to build a HTPC capable of retaining the full quality of an HD movie and then arcive them in a huge data store using the original discs simply as backup media!

If I'd loose the surround sound or drop resolution though its a no-go for me I'm afraid.

 

 

[QUOTE=1AP12NV,Jan 8 2008, 05:10 PM] Aaron, when you do your ripping to digital storage are you able to retain the audio and video quality?