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This thread on the AVS Forum should be helpful. And sorry if this is not allowed or is rude to post a link to another forum. Posts #19 and #20 are from Microsoft employees. Basically, H.264 is a lot slower than WMV-HD at decode.

The only reason Macs can play the 1080P H.264 material smoothly is because they use ATI and Nvidia graphics cards that have hardware H.264 decode acceleration. A PC with a 7k series Nvidia graphics card might be able to play the 1080P clips smoothly without any dropped frames. WMV HD clips...

Craig, that is sad news. I hope that nobody forced you into this decision, whether directly or indirectly. Good luck in all your future ventures. I am actually glad that we get to read more of your reviews, though. I'm sure there are a lot of people who aren't even registered to this forum...

Here's another way of looking at it: The "HD-DVD" term is TOO similar to "DVD", and consumers will be complaining that the "HD-DVD" disc is not playing on their DVD player. Most of my family and friends already think DVD is "HD-DVD". Maybe they'll equate "Blu-Ray" with even better quality...

Those are not the final specs, and formats and codecs can still be added before the official specifications are set in stone.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Blu-Ray probably going to use the 1080PsF format?......instead of pure 1080P (almost the same thing)? Kyle

Sounds good to me. :) Kyle

This has been a very informative thread for me. Thanks to all for participating and sharing knowledge etc. But now I have a big question as it might invariably affect the future of my life: Which one would be more popular with the ladies, a "geeker" or a "tweaker"? Kyle

Yeah, AVS is great for that type of information. Remember, it's not just Sony running the show. It is 12 or 13 other companies that are also making the decisions about this. In fact, I've read that HP and Dell actually hold nearly all of the patents for the Blu-Ray technology. The BDA...

So does Blu-Ray......6 channels of 24/192 using LPCM with a maximum bitrate of 27.648 Mbps. (Also 8 channels of 24/96 LPCM) Actually, it is up to the Hollywood Studios as to which audio format is used on each movie release.....not the BDA or the HD-DVD group. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD both have the...

You're right, Tony. Most of the demos involving Blu-Ray and the 004 Qualia projector have been 1080i because (I believe) those demos were using the commercial Japan Blu-Ray Recorder.....which only outputs at 1080i from what I understand. It does sound like the BDA has approved 1080p24...

My apologies. I don't believe they have nailed down the exact specs of the copy-protection, yet, but the presentation does give you an idea of what they are hoping to achieve. Kyle

That's a very good point about watching just one scene in a movie, Ernest. I definitely don't like the idea of VOD, either. I like owning the stuff that I buy....not "renting" it. Think of all the customer service calls they would have for such a distribution method. Look at the problems...

Very cool, Craig. Many thanks for posting your thoughts. When you wrote that "dialog is clear even at 55 dB", were you still referring to the Matrix: Revolutions movie? I ALWAYS have to turn the volume way up on that disc to hear what they're saying (seems like they're whispering all the...

A lot of the smokers I know go out to the bars to smoke because they aren't allowed to smoke in their own houses......go figure. How does all of this talk about a smoking ban relate to the Rocket 750s? I believe Frank is the owner of this thread and has the right to get it back on track...

Gary, that may indeed be the case that they will have a non-HD version on the same disc, but then you have to wonder what the point of owning a BD-ROM or HD-DVD player would be. DVD player sales are expected to peak this year and start dropping in 2005. They will not stop making regular DVDs...

Yes, Blu-Ray will support standard definition, also.....in the form of 59.94i. Blu-Ray will have SUSTAINED transfer rates of 36 Mbps, and it will have peaks that go higher than that (variable bit rate). I believe BD-ROM drives will spin at 1.5x, which yields the ability for a theoretical max...

David, they are keeping DTS around for the same reason they are keeping MPEG-2.....backwards compatibility. I can guarantee you that not all movies released on Blu-Ray will have lossless or uncompressed soundtracks.

I strongly suggest that everyone participating in this thread read the following .pdf file: Blu-Ray Presentation It gives a very good description of what Blu-Ray will probably be.....especially towards the end. And yes, DTS will be included in the BD-ROM spec. Kyle

Ahhhh......gotchya. And I'm sorry for sounding critical with the tests you've done. I really do enjoy reading this review. I'm looking for a good pair of floorstanders in the $1000 range. The best system I've ever owned is a 10-year-old JVC shelf system bought at Best Buy. To sum it up....I...

LOL....I think you meant "insightful", Craig. However, maybe Kevin's comments could be riot-inducing, too. That would be great if you could still do the Swan review, Craig. Your efforts are much appreciated.

Craig.....my apologies if I sounded a little harsh. I actually read the thread you posted before I made my original post. That poster's question was "Do I need a sub?" It had nothing to do with "If I have a sub already, should I still run the speakers at full-range?" Do you see my point...

If the point of a review or shootout is to provide viewers with a sense of real-world performance for the speakers, then the test should be conducted in a "real-world" situation. I don't know anyone who would even suggest running bookshelves full-range....especially when a sub is available...

After reading this thread, I would assume that HDTV sales are really hurting because most people can't tell the difference from an SDTV. Let's face it, if people couldn't tell the difference between SD and HD, HDTV's wouldn't be selling like they are. Also, why would they still be releasing...

Thanks, Craig. BTW, great job on the review! I'm sure that a lot of people, like me, are looking for a great 2-channel system in that price range. $1000 seems to be the sweet spot. It's nice to see that Ascend's bookshelf does quite well against a floorstander.....especially for those who...

Very smart, Curtis. Kyle

I've got a question, Craig. Did you do any listening with the grills on? I wonder if that would change any of your impressions of the speakers. Some people have pets and kids in the house, so leaving the grills off is not always possible. Kyle

It's "VC-9", not "WC9". I believe WM9 refers to the whole Windows Media 9 platform. I believe the original MPEG-4 codec was inferior to VC-9. However, now they have tweaked it and formed a new version called MPEG-4 High Profile (FRExt). And this new version did beat out VC-9 in picture...

Actually, Tony, HD-DVD uses a blue laser, too.

I have to disagree. Real world items displayed through the use of CGI will be much more noticeable than something that we as humans never seen before. Case in point…..those dragon-like creatures can seem much more realistic because we have nothing to compare them to. We can’t say, “Hey, those...