HD DVD player
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Joined: May 2004
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From: Vienna, VA
HD-DVD has definitely picked up steam. With Paramount and Dreamworks on board they are pretty close to Blu-Ray's studio support.
One thing I love about HD-DVD is that they are all region free. There's nothing like watching a Sony movie not even available yet on Blu-Ray on HD-DVD! Different studios have distribution rights in different countries so this is not bootlegging. You can get imports on Amazon or many other places.
Counting region-free imports, the number of titles you can actually buy and play on a HD-DVD player outnumbers Blu-Ray. For US-released titles they are neck and neck really.
Then there's the HD-DVD/DVD combo format. While it is the bane of the HD-DVD owner due to the $5 extra cost, I would love it if it didn't cost more. You can play one side on your HD player and the other on your portable or in the car. The DVD forum also has the "nuclear option" of replacing DVD with HD-DVD/DVD combos. If they do that Blu-Ray is toast.
The Star Trek set coming out is a HD-DVD/DVD combo ONLY. Expect to see more like this with no DVD-only option. Blu-Ray can't do a combo disc as they are not a DVD forum member.
Now, I have Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. The ONLY way to see every movie you want to see in HD is to have both formats. Samsung will have a very good combo player out this month. LG is doing a second one and Denon is rumored to be, too. Or you can get 2 players.
Given that HD-DVD's entry price is $250 for a standalone or $170 if you have the Xbox360, it's definitely the way to go to "test the waters".
Blu-Ray is great, too, but its cost will hinder it. Right now it is basically all PS3s and they can't win a format war like that.
One thing I love about HD-DVD is that they are all region free. There's nothing like watching a Sony movie not even available yet on Blu-Ray on HD-DVD! Different studios have distribution rights in different countries so this is not bootlegging. You can get imports on Amazon or many other places.
Counting region-free imports, the number of titles you can actually buy and play on a HD-DVD player outnumbers Blu-Ray. For US-released titles they are neck and neck really.
Then there's the HD-DVD/DVD combo format. While it is the bane of the HD-DVD owner due to the $5 extra cost, I would love it if it didn't cost more. You can play one side on your HD player and the other on your portable or in the car. The DVD forum also has the "nuclear option" of replacing DVD with HD-DVD/DVD combos. If they do that Blu-Ray is toast.
The Star Trek set coming out is a HD-DVD/DVD combo ONLY. Expect to see more like this with no DVD-only option. Blu-Ray can't do a combo disc as they are not a DVD forum member.
Now, I have Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. The ONLY way to see every movie you want to see in HD is to have both formats. Samsung will have a very good combo player out this month. LG is doing a second one and Denon is rumored to be, too. Or you can get 2 players.
Given that HD-DVD's entry price is $250 for a standalone or $170 if you have the Xbox360, it's definitely the way to go to "test the waters".
Blu-Ray is great, too, but its cost will hinder it. Right now it is basically all PS3s and they can't win a format war like that.
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From: San Diego, CA
Originally Posted by steven975,Sep 25 2007, 09:35 PM
HD-DVD has definitely picked up steam. With Paramount and Dreamworks on board they are pretty close to Blu-Ray's studio support.
One thing I love about HD-DVD is that they are all region free. There's nothing like watching a Sony movie not even available yet on Blu-Ray on HD-DVD! Different studios have distribution rights in different countries so this is not bootlegging. You can get imports on Amazon or many other places.
Counting region-free imports, the number of titles you can actually buy and play on a HD-DVD player outnumbers Blu-Ray. For US-released titles they are neck and neck really.
Then there's the HD-DVD/DVD combo format. While it is the bane of the HD-DVD owner due to the $5 extra cost, I would love it if it didn't cost more. You can play one side on your HD player and the other on your portable or in the car. The DVD forum also has the "nuclear option" of replacing DVD with HD-DVD/DVD combos. If they do that Blu-Ray is toast.
The Star Trek set coming out is a HD-DVD/DVD combo ONLY. Expect to see more like this with no DVD-only option. Blu-Ray can't do a combo disc as they are not a DVD forum member.
Now, I have Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. The ONLY way to see every movie you want to see in HD is to have both formats. Samsung will have a very good combo player out this month. LG is doing a second one and Denon is rumored to be, too. Or you can get 2 players.
Given that HD-DVD's entry price is $250 for a standalone or $170 if you have the Xbox360, it's definitely the way to go to "test the waters".
Blu-Ray is great, too, but its cost will hinder it. Right now it is basically all PS3s and they can't win a format war like that.
One thing I love about HD-DVD is that they are all region free. There's nothing like watching a Sony movie not even available yet on Blu-Ray on HD-DVD! Different studios have distribution rights in different countries so this is not bootlegging. You can get imports on Amazon or many other places.
Counting region-free imports, the number of titles you can actually buy and play on a HD-DVD player outnumbers Blu-Ray. For US-released titles they are neck and neck really.
Then there's the HD-DVD/DVD combo format. While it is the bane of the HD-DVD owner due to the $5 extra cost, I would love it if it didn't cost more. You can play one side on your HD player and the other on your portable or in the car. The DVD forum also has the "nuclear option" of replacing DVD with HD-DVD/DVD combos. If they do that Blu-Ray is toast.
The Star Trek set coming out is a HD-DVD/DVD combo ONLY. Expect to see more like this with no DVD-only option. Blu-Ray can't do a combo disc as they are not a DVD forum member.
Now, I have Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. The ONLY way to see every movie you want to see in HD is to have both formats. Samsung will have a very good combo player out this month. LG is doing a second one and Denon is rumored to be, too. Or you can get 2 players.
Given that HD-DVD's entry price is $250 for a standalone or $170 if you have the Xbox360, it's definitely the way to go to "test the waters".
Blu-Ray is great, too, but its cost will hinder it. Right now it is basically all PS3s and they can't win a format war like that.
Good info. Are you sure HD is region free? I checked mine and it says region 1.
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From: Rochester, NY
Originally Posted by S2000bobster,Sep 26 2007, 07:13 AM
Are you sure HD is region free?
HD-DVD FTW. I won't buy regular dvds anymore. eBay is your friend if you want the latest titles for reasonable prices. I picked up 300 for $20 on HD-DVD the week it came out. Can't go wrong in my book.
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From: San Diego, CA
Originally Posted by hisownhero,Sep 26 2007, 07:16 AM
HD-DVD is region free.
HD-DVD FTW. I won't buy regular dvds anymore. eBay is your friend if you want the latest titles for reasonable prices. I picked up 300 for $20 on HD-DVD the week it came out. Can't go wrong in my book.
HD-DVD FTW. I won't buy regular dvds anymore. eBay is your friend if you want the latest titles for reasonable prices. I picked up 300 for $20 on HD-DVD the week it came out. Can't go wrong in my book.
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,106
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From: Connecticut
"Hi-Def" has become synonymous with 720p or "full Hi-def" 1080p resolution which is what HD-DVD and BluRay are encoded in. There are currently much higher resolution displays and video available. You can buy a 2560x1600 monitor, or a 2048 x 1536 projector right now. Here is a picture of standard resolutions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vector_..._Standards2.png but it is in no way all inclusive. For example, you could buy a 4096x2160 digital projector for your home, or if you go to a digital IMAX theater, you're watching a ~5616 x 4096 capable projector. The only thing stopping these technologies from becoming mainstream is the amount of data they include. For example, cable and satellite companies do not have enough bandwidth to even pipe through 1080p resolution. There is no hope for anything higher than that for a long time. 1080p video takes a lot of disk space to store.. In fact, some movies and video games won't even fit on their respective formats, so again, no hope for anything higher resolution in the main stream market for a very long time.
This of course is only applicable to digital video. film stock is a whole other story. Film stock run in original IMAX theaters is comparable to a digital resolution of about 10000 x 7000 pixels.
This of course is only applicable to digital video. film stock is a whole other story. Film stock run in original IMAX theaters is comparable to a digital resolution of about 10000 x 7000 pixels.
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Joined: May 2004
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From: Vienna, VA
Originally Posted by kumainu,Sep 26 2007, 07:50 PM
Just when I had thought it couldn't be clearer than DVD, they've gone and created hi-def DVD. 
In the future, can they come up with something that's even clearer than hi-def?
In the future, can they come up with something that's even clearer than hi-def?HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are (almost) all 1080p meaning they have 6x the detail of DVD. Honestly, after you watch a good hi-def movie, you can't even bear SD-DVD anymore. My player has the Silicon Optix Reon for upscaling DVDs and even with that they don't stack up.
Honestly the whole 1080p thing is over-hyped. 1080i and 1080p have the same detail for film-based content (as each film frame is displayed at least 2x on a 60fps signal). A 1080p DISPLAY is definitely worth it, though. Those extra million pixels really bring out the detail in 1080i HDTV.