Al (alweho)
Second Unit
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2004
- Messages
- 284
Thanks to DirecTV and the various HD movie channels (HBO, Showtime, HDNet Movies) I've watched more than a few movies in both HD broadcast and was able to compare them switching back and forth to their DVD editions.
Is there a $1000 difference (the cost of a new player) between the two? Simply, no. Even Shrek with all its CGI detail didn't look stunningly different in HD - the DVD does an outstanding job in 16x9 format on my line doubled 50" Toshiba.
Is there a $200 difference (the cost of the inevitable lower end combi Sony/Toshiba HD player) plus a thousand bucks (the cost of replacing some DVD titles I already own that might benefit from an upgrade)? Maybe... but if I do upgrade to an HD DVD player a lot of the DVDs I have now will probably not be repurchased (especially the older TV show collections).
I was going to wait anyway to see how things play out - the format war only will add to my biding my time. With SACD and DVD-A I benefited from waiting, I finally got an inexpensive combi player and the software prices dropped quite a bit. No matter what format the hi-rez audio title comes out in, I can play it back.
I've also learned to keep my hardware purchases inexpensive - buying top of the line Pioneer amps and DVD players, as opposed to Elite top of the line for example - which lets me upgrade equipment more often, at a pace set at my leisure as opposed to my budget.
Is there a $1000 difference (the cost of a new player) between the two? Simply, no. Even Shrek with all its CGI detail didn't look stunningly different in HD - the DVD does an outstanding job in 16x9 format on my line doubled 50" Toshiba.
Is there a $200 difference (the cost of the inevitable lower end combi Sony/Toshiba HD player) plus a thousand bucks (the cost of replacing some DVD titles I already own that might benefit from an upgrade)? Maybe... but if I do upgrade to an HD DVD player a lot of the DVDs I have now will probably not be repurchased (especially the older TV show collections).
I was going to wait anyway to see how things play out - the format war only will add to my biding my time. With SACD and DVD-A I benefited from waiting, I finally got an inexpensive combi player and the software prices dropped quite a bit. No matter what format the hi-rez audio title comes out in, I can play it back.
I've also learned to keep my hardware purchases inexpensive - buying top of the line Pioneer amps and DVD players, as opposed to Elite top of the line for example - which lets me upgrade equipment more often, at a pace set at my leisure as opposed to my budget.