HD-DVD to be shown in NJ..... (1 Viewer)

[todd s]

I just heard on the radio. That the store..Electronics Expo in Paramus & Wayne NJ. Will be having reps from Toshiba showing the new HD-DVD player. They will be raffeling one off in each store. They will be in the Paramus store tomorrow (2/21) from 10-8pm. Then on Wednesday they will be in the Wayne store.

 

[DeathStar1]

Just came back from the demonstration...

As far as the picture goes, they showed a side by side comparison of a 1080I picture and a Standard Picture. To not make a bad pun here, the difference was very clear. As the Boat on the screen went by, you couldn't read the small lettering on the side in SD, but you could as soon as it crossed the HD line.

They said that a standard DVD disc will have it's picture improved on an HD DVD player, but it will NOT be a true HD DVD picture for obvious reasons. I didn't catch much of the technical side, but I beleive he said the transfer rate for HDDVD is 36MB/s. Someone next to me was taking notes, so if he posts here, maby he can give us all the facts .. The reps also said that depending on the software(probably meaning the disc), you CAN get a true HD signal through component outs, but it all depends on the software being used. Some will allow it, some won't.

I asked about HDDVD Recorders. Saying that if they come out a few months after the player, will they be able to record the HDTV signal? They said right now, there are no specs for the recorders, so anything can happen, but right now, they are planning to make them as consumer friendly as possible. I told him something he probalby knew already, but that I couldn't run the cablecard signal to the SD DVD Recorder, so hopefully that's something they are working on.

They said the remote was motion sensored, so when you pick it up, the buttons will automatically light up. The more expensive model they had on display had remote activated door levelers to get to the controls. They played previews of Dukes of Hazzard, and King Kong(2005), wich looked and sounded great.

I really hope I do win the raffle, as there where only about 5 people there when I showed up around 11AM. I'm guessing maby 5 new people would show up every hour... But as far as buying it on launch date....

I already have HDTV in the house, and HD HBO. I didn't really notice that much of a difference between the picture on the player, and the picture on the TV. So I think I'll wait till HDDVD/Blue Ray Recorders come on the market. I beleive the first is a Samsung Model sometime in April...

All in all a fun way to spend 30 minutes, and a good educational experience for the average consumer who may be wary about the upgrade..

 

[Jeremy Stockwell]

FYI -- for Indianapolis natives --

Through a series of phone calls and e-mails, I have determined that the 2/23 date for the Indianapolis store is incorrect.

The demo is scheduled for Thursday, March 9th (only) @ the same store (96th St. H.H. Gregg).

I wonder if the raffle is done by the individual stores or by Toshiba. I hope they do one at every demonstration!

JKS

 

[Eric F]

Someone ask them how it will stand up to D-Theater encoded DVHS recordings.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

DVDFile has a pretty good piece on the Toshiba Promotional Tour:

DVDFILE.com

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Here are all the dates and locations from the digital bits:

Toshiba HD DVD Tour Schedule

2/21 - Electronics Expo - Paramus, NJ
2/22 - PC Richards - New York City, NY
3/1 - Tweeter - Newton, MA (Boston area)
3/1 - ABT Electronics - Glenview, IL (Chicago area)
3/1 - Fry's Electronics - Sunnyvale, CA (San Francisco area)
3/7 - Best Buy - Bellevue, WA (Seattle area)
3/8 - Fry's Electronics - Renton, WA (Seattle area)
3/8 - Best Buy - Atlanta, GA
3/15 - Fry's Electronics - City of Industry, CA (L.A. area)
3/15 - Myer Emco - Fairfax, VA (Washington D.C. area)
3/22 - Fry's Electronics - Plano, TX (Dallas area)
TBA - Best Buy - Miami, FL



I'd like to go see the one on 3/15 at Myer Emco near Washington DC. Anyone else want to go?

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Good ol' Mike Fremer from Stereophile was at one of the demos. Here's his take:
Ultimate AV: Michael Fremer

 

[DaViD Boulet]

my favorite part (applies to both HD DVD and Blu-ray)

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I do. It's a Wednesday, but I'll make the trip. Need to educate myself, as I am purchasing a TV this year, and some form of HD player (probably Blu-Ray). I do have a 360, so I'll be happy to pay to upgrade that as an HD-DVD player.

We'll work something out, David

 

[derek]

I'll be there. Work 2 miles from the store...

 

[Jordan_E]

I'm going to try the Renton, WA Fry's stop and hope they have one of those contests going there as well...ya never know!

 

[Aaron Schmitt]

I'm hoping to make it to the Bellevue Best Buy showing on the 7th. What time do they normally do these demonstrations?

 

[Dan Hitchman]

What TV were they showing the demo on? Was it a 1080p "wobulating" DLP Toshiba rear projector (they only accept 1080i anyway)?

I've heard TI will be releasing a full 1920x1080p DLP panel soon without having to use wobulation to compete with true 1080p LCD and LCoS chips, and next year's 1080p TV's should accept native 1080p signals. That would probably make a fairer demo of both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD (once the latter format allows 1080p output).

Dan

 

[Ken_F]

The demos are supposed to run all day. If you go after work, I don't think you'll miss it.

 

[Jerome Grate]

Wish I knew about the PC Richards one, would have taken some time at lunch for it. I'll keep my eyes opened for maybe CT or upstate NY.

 

[AaronMK]

I was going to try to make a demonstration there myself. I just moved a few miles away from that store. So I guess an HTF event is going to be made out of this.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Toshiba gets a Booby Prize for doing their HD-DVD "microsite" entirely in Flash. Ugh.

I'll probably try to make one or both of the two Dallas-area demos at the end of March, just out of curiosity.

 

[Chris_T]

I went and checked out the demonstration today after work. The presentation was very basic. I think its purpose was to say "Hey look HD-DVD is here". I think HD-DVD knows it has an uphill battle against Blu-ray and is doing all it can to get the word out.

Back to the demonstration. The were using the $799 HD-DVD player and a Toshiba 1080p display. Sorry, I forgot to check out the model number. The Toshiba rep indicated that the tv had not been calibrated for the presentation. I found this a bid odd, but whatever. When I got there they were showing hi-def trailers on a loop. Included were Dukes of Hazzard, Batman Begins and King Kong. I must say the picture was fantastic. Clarity was sharp. From Kong to Boss Hogg holding up a hundred dollar bill, the color and detail was crisp.

The rep was a knowledgable person. I questioned him on a couple of things and he seemed to know his stuff. He said both players and dvds should be ready for sale in a month. If anyone has any questions about the presentaion, I'll do my best to answer them.

Oh, and if you go don't forget to get your free HD-DVD pen!

Chris

 

[JackKay]

I just came back from Video Only (Southcenter Mall, near Seattle) where they had the demo disk and player, no Toshiba rep. It was the more expensive model HD-DVD player of the two playing on a Toshiba DLP rear projector on 1080i (all those players put out I hear).
Of the 5 trailers I saw Dukes, 40 year old V, and the Interpreter all looked ok, but what really Wowed me was Corpse Bride and KING KONG. I wonder if this new HD format will inherit DVD's problem of transfers. The better the transfer the better it looks.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Of course, the transfer has to be good (hopefully from archival 2k or 4k masters with no filtering or edge "enhancement") and then the compression job has to be first rate with high enough bitrates, not just average or mediocre "bit starved" stuff and using the finest compression and authoring tools available.

Then the best digital audio masters need to be placed on the disc as ultra-high resolution lossless compressed or uncompressed LPCM. For instance, if the master was 24/96 then it should be encoded at 24/96 for maximum fidelity, and not downgraded.

Not all studios care about quality the same just as with DVD's. Some are outstanding, some are crap.

Dan