Bill Hunt/The Digital Bits now PRO Hd Dvd!

Steve Blair · 08-25-2006, 05:44 PM

Wow, I must congratulate Bill Hunt on his turnaround per today's comments at the digital bits! He has now turned completely around to support hd dvd and I commend him as I know he'll get some "I told ya so's" from we hd dvd supporters. No "I told ya so" from me, just a great thanks for his great comments today and for supporting this format now!

With today's firmware upgrade to Dolby TrueHd the toshiba player has really come into its' own and the sound is spectacular even moreso than dolby digital plus. With each day I feel more and more confident in my decision to buy this player back on launch day. Thanks again to Bill and keep up the good job at the Bits!

Alon Goldberg · 08-25-2006, 05:49 PM

Here is Bill Hunt's posting:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

Quote:

Finally, here's that bit of great HD-DVD news... Toshiba has officially released version 2.0 of their firmware for the HD-A1 and HD-XA1 HD-DVD players. It's available now via Ethernet download (just follow your player's instructions, as listed in the manual). According to Toshiba: "This firmware update adds support for certain anticipated network delivered content in future HD DVD discs, improves certain video and audio processing capabilities, as well as addresses certain disc playback and HDMI/DVI related problems identified by Toshiba." So what exactly does that mean? Check THIS out: "Support for Dolby True HD is extended from two channels to 5.1, which will be available in full resolution on the HDMI and analog 5.1 outputs and down-mixed to a DTS bit stream on the SPDIF output." FULL 5.1 TrueHD support! Keep in mind, the player was shipped with 2.0 support only. A lot of people are already talking about the new firmware over at AVS Forum, and it sounds as if it's pretty great. Guess I know what I'll be doing tonight! You can find official details about the firmware update here at Toshiba's HD-DVD website. Click on "Support," then "Firmware Update V2.0" to read more specifics. Thanks to Bits reader Michael G. for the heads-up.

That's a very cool development, I'll tell you. I'm somewhat surprised to find myself saying this, but HD-DVD is quietly making Blu-ray Disc look pretty silly. Motivated as I've been by a desire to see this format war end quickly, I was quick to sing the potential praises of Blu-ray Disc early on, simply because it seemed to have the clear advantages of better technology and much broader studio support, plus the potential market-share dominance of the forthcoming PS3 game system. And to be honest, my very early experiences with HD-DVD were disappointing. Since that time, however, an interesting this has happened... the early Blu-ray experience has turned out to be pretty lackluster too. Discs have looked bad, the Samsung player is a disaster and Sony's over-priced the PS3 right out of the market (you'll be able to buy both an Xbox 360 AND a Nintendo Wii for the price of a PS3). Sony and their BD camp allies are just not delivering on the promise of their format - period. Meanwhile, HD-DVD software and Toshiba's hardware (via these firmware updates) just keeps getting better and better. And get this: Sony STILL can't get their 50GB dual-layered Blu-ray Discs to work right on the existing and prototype players. The current Samsung player, as shipped, will not play them. How do you like them apples? Ouch.

If the BD camp doesn't do something dramatic and fast... they will have lost the hearts and minds of the early adopters to HD-DVD. To my thinking at least, HD-DVD is looking better and better all the time... and it seems to me it's now the format to beat.

Bob_L · 08-25-2006, 06:42 PM

Props to Mr. Hunt for being able to reverse his opinion in public.

I had a similar epiphany in private. While I originally believed Blu-ray was The Answer, the reality of both systems has proven just the opposite, at least at the current time.

Hayes Preston · 08-25-2006, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Sony and their BD camp allies are just not delivering on the promise of their format - period. Meanwhile, HD-DVD software and Toshiba's hardware (via these firmware updates) just keeps getting better and better. And get this: Sony STILL can't get their 50GB dual-layered Blu-ray Discs to work right on the existing and prototype players. The current Samsung player, as shipped, will not play them. How do you like them apples? Ouch.

Ouch is right, that stings.

Is this true, the Samsung wont play dual layer discs????

Bob_L · 08-25-2006, 07:07 PM

I'm not sure that dual-layer issue has been authenticated for the Samsung player.

However, I do have it on very good authority (someone who authors Blu-ray disks for MAJOR clients) that there is a problem with the Java implementation on the Samsung machine. This might (MY speculation and MINE ALONE) create a problem for Samsung owners when trying to play advanced features in upcoming Blu-ray releases (or--again MY speculation--it could mean that Blu-ray developers can't execute certain features, or use certain programming strategies, because they aren't compatible with the Samsung).

**HTF Ads**

Tim Glover · 08-25-2006, 07:14 PM

Great assessment and one that Bill wouldn't write if he didn't believe it. He's not one for knee jerk type comments. Good stuff.

Ryan-G · 08-25-2006, 11:39 PM

I dunno,

At this point, I'm wavering as well. BR's showing isn't good so far, DL discs are questionable, price differences is significant, and studios are sending mixed signals. Plus, I fully expect PS3 to fail.

Bill's words echo my own thoughts.

Ken_F · 08-25-2006, 11:59 PM

Quote:

However, I do have it on very good authority (someone who authors Blu-ray disks for MAJOR clients) that there is a problem with the Java implementation on the Samsung machine. This might (MY speculation and MINE ALONE) create a problem for Samsung owners when trying to play advanced features in upcoming Blu-ray releases (or--again MY speculation--it could mean that Blu-ray developers can't execute certain features, or use certain programming strategies, because they aren't compatible with the Samsung).

Blu-ray insiders on the AVS Forum already confirmed that the Samsung Blu-ray player does not support BD-Live, which is the term used to describe all the advanced interactive features on Blu-ray. However, they also said this shouldn't cause any problems. On a disk authored with such content -- like picture-in-picture commentary -- the user is presented with a message saying the feature is not supported. But users should have no problem accessing the movie, trailers, etc.

Bob_L · 08-26-2006, 02:33 AM

Thanks for filling me in, Ken. I read AVS but failed to see that. I appreciate it.

Gee, I think I'd be kind of an irritable Samsung owner if I had paid $1000 for the player and it failed to provide ALL the advanced media features of the format.

And, besides, anytime I pay $1000 for something, I EXPECT to get a BJ-Live with it.