ArkiStan

I can't afford anything right now, and I'm definitely not an early-adapter, so I won't be jumping on anything for at least a couple years until the technology has been validated, prices have dropped, and plenty of software is available. However, I'm excited to see the beginning of a new chapter in A/V history. Let's all see where this goes.

Toshiba HD-A1
AVS Forum End-user impressions
C|Net Overview

raimin

i am glad i still can use this over component, since thats all i have on my 4 year old rptv...hopefuly the movie industry doesnt turn on the switch to prevent it.

redcolours

a $500 player.... give it 2 years, and youll have it down to maybe $75, with walmart having it on black friday sale at $35. one that will play not only HD-DVD discs but blu-ray discs also.

this has quite a few implications in the future:

1) DVDs are now officially on the clock for extinction. i feel sorry for those with HUGE collections and have to start over again...he he...
oh, wait. that would include ME!
im glad i stopped my insane DVD purchases last year. I know with my obsession with PQ, this would just fuel my desire to build a better HTPC.

2) speaking of which, this would mean waiting for an internal HD-DVD player for my HTPC. Then an HD-DVD burner will come soon. Blank HD-DVD discs will cost $30 each (ha ha!).

3) someone will have to figure out how to rip those upcoming HD-DVDs to hard drives. Its not gonna be easy - anti-piracy engineers have learned from easy DVD ripping in the past (but im sure someone will figure out how to decrypt it...)

4) One will need bigger drives to store them, if one fancies to create a personalized on-demand server (like me). Just in time - production of 500GB drives will have been ramped up, and prices would have gone down in 2 years' time. Maybe then, we'll have single drives measured in TERABYTES.

5) Since HD content needs a powerful machine to be played back, faster and powerful processors/computers will be the norm, not just the realm of power users and geek freaks. or will it?

but first, i need to get a new HDTV (PQ withdrawals! ). 42" plasma, you will be mine....

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InfiniteNothing

From the AVS forums it sounds as if it can't do SD-DVD over compnent at HD resolutions (unless it's uncopywritted). It also looks like the HDDVDs are coded at HDTV bitrates. That's kind of a let down.

zippyjuan

Best Buy has it in their ad for this week. Their website also lists a "coming soon" blu ray player for $999 as well as some movie titles for each. Link:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....t845 00050009

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InfiniteNothing

Sweet! It will take some will power to hold off and wait for the price to go down and for the dual format players to come out. I may not make it.

ArkiStan

I'm glad to see the films aren't overly expensive.

johnnymk

I briefly read some of the posts in the AV Forum which Arkistan noted. It appears that dual layer DVDs discs can be played with this player and upconverted to a higher quality resolution. It also appears that the type of cable is critical to obtain high resolution.

So maybe $2 DL discs instead of $20 or $30 dollar discs may make these players a viable alternative until the price of media drops.

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InfiniteNothing

Dual layer DVD disks can be upconverted by any upconverting DVD player. Why pay for the additional functionality if you aren't going to use it. Also, the ROM HDDVD disks are much much much cheaper than $20-30. They should almost be on par with the cost of DVD roms.

InfiniteNothing

My understanding is that the HDDVD burners will come out at pretty much the same time. I wouldn't be suprised if there were no "play only" drives.

One of the advantages of HDDVD is it allows for legal back up archiving (at least one copy)

Perpendicular storage drives will help but it'll be a while before terabyte drives are out.

The HDDVD players have a 2.5 ghz mobile P4. It takes a while to boot but plays okay.

zero2dash

I'm still happy enough with DVD quality through S-Video on my 7 year old 27" Sony tv set. I don't have HD, no component...nothing. (Time to upgrade, I know I know...maybe next year. I'm eyeing the LCoS/SXRD sets.)

I don't think DVDs will go away anytime soon; I'm sure newer upconverters will be released that upscale regular dvd to 1080p for a good 1/2 the price of an HD/BluRay player.

HD/BluRay might eventually take off, but it's going to take some time. Remember when LaserDisc offered so much more over VHS and it never took off due to price? I can foresee similarities here with HD/BluRay...

InfiniteNothing

Hey, I liked laser disk.

DVD is 480P. There's a good amount of lossy to it too. An upscaler can only do so much with info that isn't there. The camera equivalent is comparing a 0.5 mega pixel camera enlarged to a 2 megapixel picture.

Devhux

Do note the other drawback to laserdiscs was the sheer size of them. This size-limitation won't be an issue with HD-DVD/Blu-Ray as they are the same physical size as CD's and regular DVD's.

ArkiStan

New technology never really seems necessary.....until you actually see it in person. Then you end up buying it cause you're sick of seeing it in your sleep.

ribitch

i havent been impressed with the pictures people have posted on the avs forums. I almost ran out to buy one yesterday, but the available films suck in my opinion.

The bluray player is way overpriced, which is going to hurt that format. HD DVD made it to the shelves quicker, so i think the HD DVD format will come out on top. I would love to buy a player, but the specs on both the hd-a1 and hd-xa1 dont really say what the difference bewteen the 2 are.

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ArkiStan

screenshots, no matter how they are shot, will never ever do justice to the real image.

InfiniteNothing

I'm not so sure. I believe the only people who are going to buy the next generation systems during the transition are the videophiles who are sensitive enough to see the difference. Not everyone has high def TVs. Given that, the videophiles will not be held back by a silly thing as a price tag. If they did, they'd never get either in the first place. Therefore I think bluray will come out on top. Also, don't forget that being released later and more expensive will make it seem like the superior technology in the eyes of the consumer. But who knows, maybe they'll both go the way of SACD vs DVD audio, which are still around, but not dominating.

Houdini

Same here. I'm happy with DVDs on my 27" Panny. But I use RGB component inputs, and at the time I purchased it, it had the most lines/screen compared to any other TV. Of course, another excuse to buy a nice HDTV - plasma, lcd, dlp, even tube, whatever would be nice.

H <---sitll has and uses 2 beta decks...

ArkiStan

As I like to believe, older setups should look absolutely fine, as long as you don't get a taste of the higher quality stuff. Then it's like a drug. Just stick with what you have and be happy with it.