HD-DVD
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From: Rockville
The difference a good upscaller can make is significant IMO. My Samsung uses the same chipset as the Oppo that Skip mentioned (Faroudja) and I have to say that while there is a quality difference between a SD DVD and BluRay on my setup, it's not a huge jump when comparing to a recenly made upscalled SD DVD (especially if the source material is good.
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Does the Xbox upconvert? It seems to my un-educated eye that it does. My now nearly decade old Sony DVD player (non progressive scan but near top of the line for the time otherwise) does not look anywhere near as good as my Xbox on the same TV.
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From: Leesburg, VA
Originally Posted by FF2Skip,Jan 8 2008, 08:37 PM
I've been viewing HD content at home for at least 6 years now. I'm spoiled. We've had two HDtv's since March '05. Jeff, there is some phenomenal tv programming available, don't get me wrong. I just know you do not watch sports. Channels like Discovery, HDNet, etc offer outstanding picture quality. Picture quality on all HD channels will outperform SD channels, but there are different levels of HD.
ESPN had a contract(and may still) with DirecTV stating that their HD programming had to have a minimum amount of bandwidth allocated just for them. This was a big deal. As I said earlier though, part of this problem has been addressed with many new satellites polluting space.
Which brings me full circle to my point: a stand-alone high definition player of either format will almost always render a better picture/sound quality than a broadcasted rendition of same.
Originally, Toshiba's cheapest HD-DVD players were better than Blu Ray's first offerings despite BD coming out nearly 6 months later and the oft-spoken-about slow startup time for the Toshibas. The PS3, available Nov '06, absolutely sucked as a player upon release. To make matters worse, the BD's released were crap. HD-DVD was the better format. BD had more potential, but in its infancy, it sucked. Now the two are near identical in quality(edge to BD because of capacity) save the price difference in hardware. BD releases have improved as have the players.
In one sense, the list of "reference" BD's on AVS is not misleading, but doesn't compare apples-to-apples wholly. Take a look and tell me how many "reference" BD's are animated films. Digitally animated films.
I have viewed Cars in SD on my A1 and own Cars on BD. Same tv; same display settings... I literally could barely tell the difference. Why? It's very easy to "HD" animated films. I would like to watch, back-to-back, Pirates- World's End in both SD and BD to see how they compare.
Pirates-WE is a reference picture-quality BD. I must say, it is stunning.
I'd like to do the same for The Matrix... HD-DVD and an SD copy. I have both. I could play both on the A3 and then play the SD on the PS3.
ESPN had a contract(and may still) with DirecTV stating that their HD programming had to have a minimum amount of bandwidth allocated just for them. This was a big deal. As I said earlier though, part of this problem has been addressed with many new satellites polluting space.
Which brings me full circle to my point: a stand-alone high definition player of either format will almost always render a better picture/sound quality than a broadcasted rendition of same.
Originally, Toshiba's cheapest HD-DVD players were better than Blu Ray's first offerings despite BD coming out nearly 6 months later and the oft-spoken-about slow startup time for the Toshibas. The PS3, available Nov '06, absolutely sucked as a player upon release. To make matters worse, the BD's released were crap. HD-DVD was the better format. BD had more potential, but in its infancy, it sucked. Now the two are near identical in quality(edge to BD because of capacity) save the price difference in hardware. BD releases have improved as have the players.
In one sense, the list of "reference" BD's on AVS is not misleading, but doesn't compare apples-to-apples wholly. Take a look and tell me how many "reference" BD's are animated films. Digitally animated films.
I have viewed Cars in SD on my A1 and own Cars on BD. Same tv; same display settings... I literally could barely tell the difference. Why? It's very easy to "HD" animated films. I would like to watch, back-to-back, Pirates- World's End in both SD and BD to see how they compare. Pirates-WE is a reference picture-quality BD. I must say, it is stunning.
I'd like to do the same for The Matrix... HD-DVD and an SD copy. I have both. I could play both on the A3 and then play the SD on the PS3.
Should be here in an hour or so. Ten bucks says he gets lost, though... I'll post up my first impressions and comments after I watch it for a while. You are right, though, Skip... I do not watch sports. It seems to me that this is where 90% of the HD content lies. I am skeptical but open and anxious to see the change.
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From: Rockville
Originally Posted by WhrDLMI,Jan 9 2008, 01:47 PM
Does the Xbox upconvert? It seems to my un-educated eye that it does. My now nearly decade old Sony DVD player (non progressive scan but near top of the line for the time otherwise) does not look anywhere near as good as my Xbox on the same TV.
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Originally Posted by WhrDLMI,Jan 9 2008, 08:47 AM
Does the Xbox upconvert? It seems to my un-educated eye that it does. My now nearly decade old Sony DVD player (non progressive scan but near top of the line for the time otherwise) does not look anywhere near as good as my Xbox on the same TV.
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Owings Mills, MD
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv...27579720080109
Interesting read. This quote only confirms my point...
Interesting read. This quote only confirms my point...
"I don't think we're in a position to go out and declare a winner," said Steve Eastman, Target Corp's (TGT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) vice president of consumer electronics, in an interview.
As long as there are two standards competing in public, consumers will stay away, he added.
"Until it settles completely I think we're going to continue to see consumers sitting on the sidelines," Eastman said.
As long as there are two standards competing in public, consumers will stay away, he added.
"Until it settles completely I think we're going to continue to see consumers sitting on the sidelines," Eastman said.