O.K. I've read all the rants and raves of the Blu-ray/HD format wars. Enthusiasm abounds and most of the time the excitement of both camps is kept in check so that very little blood is spilled on the battlefield. And I'm a personal user of both Blu-ray and HD-DVD media (being careful to list them in alphabetical order to avoid being accused of showing any favoritism as a moderator here. 
) I've even followed some of the positions taken that a number of people don't see that much difference in the picture quality of an HD title (either format) when compared to a good SD movie when passed through a video processor for upscaling to 1080p, etc.
While I can understand why some people favor one format over the other for various reasons (player features, movies available, combo discs, etc.) and I can personally attest to the fact that some SD content, if properly processed, can actually get quite close in visual quality to some HD content with the right equipment there hasn't really been any reason for me to get overly passionate about HD discs...
....that is, until now.
The reason for my lack of enthusiasm for acquiring HD discs probably stemmed from the fact that I have plenty of high quality HD content already at my disposal. My dish network (and four dual tuner HD PVRs) are currently providing me with well over 30 channels of high quality HD content that looks as good as most HD discs. Yes, HD visuals can be quite stunning and for those with limited HD content elsewhere Blu-ray/HD provides a feast for the eyes. But there is one thing now out there that SD content (or even broadcast HD content) cannot provide at the moment and that something is "lossless" audio. Listen to TrueHD and similar audio codecs, compare them to "standard" 5.1 (compressed) sound and you'll immediately know what I mean.
Yes, you must have equipment that has the capability of accepting lossless content and passing it through to your sound system. But that doesn't mean anything too esoteric by today's standards. HDMI 1.1 works fine accepting LPCM (linear pulse coded modulation) as long as the player does the decoding. Both my Blu-ray PS3 and my HD-DVD Toshiba XA-1 provide this capability into my rather modest Denon 3806 used as a pre/pro. The first time you hear TrueHD (or similar) you will understand. Granted, there may be a title or two where the engineers may not "get it right" but that's definitely the exception to the rule. And the situation will only improve over time.
The bottom line: If the video aspects of HD media don't excite you, the audio aspects should. For me it was the straw that broke the camel's back. To me this is as significant a step forward, soundwise, as SACD was over Redbook CDs. I can hardly wait to see and hear some concert discs - especially when TrueHD 7.1 (and other advanced audio codecs) become the norm.
My lossless 2 cents.
) I've even followed some of the positions taken that a number of people don't see that much difference in the picture quality of an HD title (either format) when compared to a good SD movie when passed through a video processor for upscaling to 1080p, etc.While I can understand why some people favor one format over the other for various reasons (player features, movies available, combo discs, etc.) and I can personally attest to the fact that some SD content, if properly processed, can actually get quite close in visual quality to some HD content with the right equipment there hasn't really been any reason for me to get overly passionate about HD discs...
....that is, until now.
The reason for my lack of enthusiasm for acquiring HD discs probably stemmed from the fact that I have plenty of high quality HD content already at my disposal. My dish network (and four dual tuner HD PVRs) are currently providing me with well over 30 channels of high quality HD content that looks as good as most HD discs. Yes, HD visuals can be quite stunning and for those with limited HD content elsewhere Blu-ray/HD provides a feast for the eyes. But there is one thing now out there that SD content (or even broadcast HD content) cannot provide at the moment and that something is "lossless" audio. Listen to TrueHD and similar audio codecs, compare them to "standard" 5.1 (compressed) sound and you'll immediately know what I mean.
Yes, you must have equipment that has the capability of accepting lossless content and passing it through to your sound system. But that doesn't mean anything too esoteric by today's standards. HDMI 1.1 works fine accepting LPCM (linear pulse coded modulation) as long as the player does the decoding. Both my Blu-ray PS3 and my HD-DVD Toshiba XA-1 provide this capability into my rather modest Denon 3806 used as a pre/pro. The first time you hear TrueHD (or similar) you will understand. Granted, there may be a title or two where the engineers may not "get it right" but that's definitely the exception to the rule. And the situation will only improve over time.
The bottom line: If the video aspects of HD media don't excite you, the audio aspects should. For me it was the straw that broke the camel's back. To me this is as significant a step forward, soundwise, as SACD was over Redbook CDs. I can hardly wait to see and hear some concert discs - especially when TrueHD 7.1 (and other advanced audio codecs) become the norm.
My lossless 2 cents.
