Sound & Vision HD-XA1 review

Ed St. Clair · 05-26-2006, 02:33 AM

Well the first magazine, that I've seen, to do a HD on disc player review;
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?secti
It's from the June issue (don't you just love magazines?!?!?!) and is for the XA1, which is cool cause most everyone on the web is posting on the A1.

Hope the ultra-multi's aren't far behind!

Randy Korstick · 05-26-2006, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed St. Clair

Well the first magazine, that I've seen, to do a HD on disc player review;
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?secti
It's from the June issue (don't you just love magazines?!?!?!) and is for the XA1, which is cool cause most everyone on the web is posting on the A1.

Hope the ultra-multi's aren't far behind!

What makes you think ultra multi's are coming. A multi player would just mean a Blu-Ray win. With more storage capacity on BD why would the studios want to increase their cost by having to release 2 disc sets of what they can release on one disc on BD.

Derek Ambrose · 05-27-2006, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Korstick

What makes you think ultra multi's are coming. A multi player would just mean a Blu-Ray win. With more storage capacity on BD why would the studios want to increase their cost by having to release 2 disc sets of what they can release on one disc on BD.

I, for one, have never seen the purpose for a multi player but I imagine that owners like to put different titles / formats in and not just discs from the same set.

Derek Ambrose

Paul_Scott · 05-27-2006, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Korstick

What makes you think ultra multi's are coming. A multi player would just mean a Blu-Ray win. With more storage capacity on BD why would the studios want to increase their cost by having to release 2 disc sets of what they can release on one disc on BD.

What if it costs twice as much to have something produced on a Bd as opposed to HD DVD? Not only is Sony charging a premium to master and replicate the single layer discs, but to take advantage of that format superior capacity means that even more material needs to be either found or produced and then mastered/authored/encoded etc.

there is no free lunch with this stuff. If the advantages to the Bd format are going to be realized on any given release, there is going to be a cost to the studio to take advantage of it. there is going to be an even fiercer bottom line mentality than there is now, given how many people are claiming this will be a niche format for the next 3-5 years at least.

to try to get back on track though, that's one of the first reviews I've seen to mirror my own experiences with the player. For me, as it seems for this reviewer, the positives well out trump the negatives. And even if firmware updates fail to iron out all the little bumps, this 1st gen player may still prove valuable as it will forever remain region free (although only for HD DVD, not dvd) should the forum choose to institute that for this format(boo hiss).

Rachael B · 05-28-2006, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Korstick

What makes you think ultra multi's are coming. A multi player would just mean a Blu-Ray win. With more storage capacity on BD why would the studios want to increase their cost by having to release 2 disc sets of what they can release on one disc on BD.

What makes you think we need 50 gigs for movies? Do they want those other gigs for video games and other interactive content. whatever that is, exactly. The 50 gig discs aren't a reality yet anyway, till they purfect the manufacturing process. There are bunches of Blu-ray movies announced for 25 gig discs. Does Blu-ray really need the other 25 gig for anything other than extra's, video games, Disney websites...?

Just to watch movies, does either format really need much more than the 30 g's and 25 g's, they respectively have at the moment? Tenatively, for Blu-way, of course. My impression is 30 is plenty for HD-DVD. I'm not so sure for Blu-way? If they went from mpeg2 to something more eficent, might 25 g's be enough anyway?

**HTF Ads**

ChristopherDAC · 05-28-2006, 05:07 PM

Depends on the length of the movie. Allow 20 Mbps for video and audio combined, although with lossless audio a little more might be nice : then a 30 GB HD DVD will fit a 200 minute movie, and a 50 GB BD 330. I know, not every movie is Lawrence of Arabia, or the Dances With Wolves extended cut — but the number of three-hour movies is a lot larger than the number of five-hour movies! Also, I'd lay odds on 1) TV season sets, and 2) PC data storage being important factors : for both, per-disc capacity is of major importance [especially HDTV programmes!].

Randy Korstick · 05-30-2006, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul_Scott

What if it costs twice as much to have something produced on a Bd as opposed to HD DVD? Not only is Sony charging a premium to master and replicate the single layer discs, but to take advantage of that format superior capacity means that even more material needs to be either found or produced and then mastered/authored/encoded etc.

there is no free lunch with this stuff. If the advantages to the Bd format are going to be realized on any given release, there is going to be a cost to the studio to take advantage of it. there is going to be an even fiercer bottom line mentality than there is now, given how many people are claiming this will be a niche format for the next 3-5 years at least.

to try to get back on track though, that's one of the first reviews I've seen to mirror my own experiences with the player. For me, as it seems for this reviewer, the positives well out trump the negatives. And even if firmware updates fail to iron out all the little bumps, this 1st gen player may still prove valuable as it will forever remain region free (although only for HD DVD, not dvd) should the forum choose to institute that for this format(boo hiss).

So you are saying that HD-DVD will release a movie with no extras while the BD gets extras. Not very likely, they will be identical releases which again will require 2 discs for HD if there are alot of extras, games and other things the formats promise or if it is a longer movie like Lord of the Rings and will be more expensive so if combo players came out and were the standard why make both discs? This is a good reason why format wars do not usually see a combo player. We did not see a Beta/VHS Combo or a DVD/DIVX Combo.

Hayes Preston · 05-30-2006, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Korstick

We did not see a Beta/VHS Combo or a DVD/DIVX Combo.

True there were no Beta/VHS players, but there were DIVX/DVD palyers. In fact all DIVX players were also DVD players, they were just "DIVX Enabled"

AlfredWaller · 06-20-2006, 09:42 PM

What are the problems that two format machines must
must overcome to come to market ?

Lew Crippen · 06-21-2006, 12:11 AM

Licensing

Cees Alons · 06-21-2006, 10:11 AM

That's a commercial answer, Lew.

I'd say: nausea.

Cees