Should I worry that I may be collecting a dead format? (1 Viewer)

[Chris Dugger]

Ron,

Funny you mention those players...

I was just looking at them and I am seriously considering one....

Just how good is the up-conversion and the pal playback?

Dugger

P.S. - On another note and back on topic.... I just went to a brand new "BEST BUY" and was shocked that they had 4 HD titles and the entire catalog of Blue Ray titles....

One of the older BEST BUYs that I went to also no longer has the HD players (they have been out for over 4 weeks) yet they had a really nice Blue Ray set up.....

 

[JonZ]

Both Circuit Citys in my area have HDDVDs but not the players since they dont support Toshiba.

Best Buys have the Bluray and HDplayers in the back corner. HDDVDs are near the standard DVDs while Blurays are in the back with the players. A decent collection of both.

"Should I worry that I may be collecting a dead format?"

Absolutely not. I gotta say I have zero regrets investing in HDDVD. These looks great. Watched Goodfellas, Training Day and Full Metal Jacket today. Im overjoyed with FMJ after the transfers we've had in the past.

I briefly looked at Seabiscuit and Apollo13 and to me, theyre are the nicest looking ones Ive seen. Both look gorgeous. Ill get to them this weekend.

Also also put in Revenge Of The Sith to see the upscaling.

Player is running smoothly. I think my problem with FMJ last night was becuase of impatience. I didnt realize how slow this thing is.It does require a bit of patience.

I love the menu and scene slections option. Being able to skip through the chapters without having to turn off the movie.

 

[Tim Glover]

Well said Doug. Well said. The other factor is at least for me, these HD-DVDs I am buying are High Def. And so like Doug said, if HD-DVD fails, then i still have this great collection of High Def films. This to me, is WAY smarter than buying the SD version or no version at all.

It's a terrific format and one that I feel can prevail.

It's hard to go back to SD.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Chris,

Very odd that your Best Buy (and perhaps all) are showing
favoritism towards Blu-Ray -- especially at player pricepoints.

I am very happy with my Oppo 971. Through the remote it can
be easily converted to region-free playback. I did a good week
of comparing the 970 and 971 models. The 971 is (I think)
$50 more expensive, but it has a Faroujda chip, and through it,
picture quality was reported to rival the best players on the market.
Additionally, the 971 is supposed to handle (and this is
where I get technicaly lost) pulldown (cadence) better for PAL
playback. I get lost in all the techno-babble, but the bottom line
is that the 971 is better for PAL. I played my Laurel & Hardy R2
discs and they looked fine!

Was very happy with the upconversion on this player as well,
though I can't say if it absolutely upconverts as well as the Toshiba
HD-DVD player as I don't use my Oppo much other than watching
PAL material.

Though the lower priced 970 model adds a camera card slot to
view photos off your camera, it's my understanding that the
overall picture and functional quality of that feature is garbage.

I would investigate the Oppo players further on this and other
boards. I'll think you'll be surprised by the amount of positive
feedback these players receive.

Good Luck and let us know what you decide!

chip in it that produces

 

[dpippel]

Chris should be aware that because the 971 uses the Faroudja deinterlacer/scaler, it suffers from the macroblocking problem. Some people are more bothered by it than others and some displays show it more readily than others, but it's there and something to keep in mind when considering the Oppo 971 (or any other Faroudja FLI-23xx-based player).

 

[dpippel]

So true Tim, and what a curse! I find myself loath to make any significant SD DVD purchases now.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I had the 971, and macroblocking was never a big problem for me. However, I did experience judder that wasn't immediatedly noticable, but once I discovered it, it was hard to watch certain films(the Fox HELLO, DOLLY and STAR TREK V were really bad examples). It may have just been an incompatibility with my CRT rear projector, as I believe the Oppo is maximized for 720p and front projection systems. I also own the Zenith DVB318(another player that uses Faroudja), which has to have black levels set very low, or the picture becomes a macroblocking mess.

 

[Jordan_E]

Funny thing, I've found myself buying more and more SD discs because the A1 does such a nice job at upconverting!

 

[JonZ]

I put in about a dozen SD discs today. Some looked excellent.


While a few looked ok, for the most part its a decent improvement.


My brother was so impressed he went out and got one this morning.I just finished hooking him up.

 

[Pete T C]

I have heard lots of rumblings LionsGate is moving to support HD DVD.

Let's face it. The CE manufacturers and studios gambled big on Blu-Ray and lost big time. It is going to take time to recover from that move - hell, if forum goers are having problems grasping that HD DVD is the way to go, imagine an exec who steered his company in the wrong direction. Give it some time, HD DVD will prevail.

 

[GlennH]

Haven't adopted HD on disc yet, but I'm a very interested party, eagerly following all the news and debate.

I've been impressed with HD DVD's performance to date, after everyone had written the format off before launch. I think the lower price point is absolutely crucial in their success to date. When there is uncertainty due to a format war a relatively low price encourages many to accept the risk, as comments in this thread show. It has certainly tempted me, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. And yet now I hesitate buying SD DVDs unless I know it will be a long time before they appear in an HD format.

Toshiba will soon be my corporate master when the sale of my company to them is completed, so maybe a nice employee discount program will do the trick.

I think that HD DVD would maintain an advantage if the second generation HD-A2 player was coming with, say, a $300 price and the flagship HD-XA2 a sub-$600 price. That would likely spur additional new adopters at holiday time and further the case for HD DVD. As it is, they are keeping the same MSRP for the lower model while dropping features and raising the price on the higher end model (with significant improved features) to the same level as Blu-ray players. This, along with the broader CE manufacturer and studio support for Blu-ray, and improved Blu-ray discs (BD-50, advanced codecs) may turn the tide against HD DVD. I really think HD DVD needs to remain the clear price leader to survive and eventually flourish.

 

[Marko Berg]

Regarding future availability of HD DVD playback hardware: Even if Toshiba were to cease manufacturing of stand-alone players (which I don't see happening), there will be computer drives and the Xbox 360 add-on on the market shortly. You could always take advantage of the HTPC/gaming console approach; even though you may prefer a stand-alone player, I don't think you'll be completely without hardware support in the future.

 

[Cees Alons]

As usual, I believe it will be the porn industry who decides which format wins.
(It's tempting to add here: Bigger isn't always better.)


Cees

 

[Vader]

Cees, that was just..... wrong....... on so many levels......

 

[Alf S]

YES

 

[Dave H]

The 970 is a better fit for CRT RPTV based on my experience with both.

 

[RomanSohor]

Does anyone here think that if one format is declared "the winner" that the later players will support the other "dead" format?

I guess it is more likely to happen if a combo player comes out in the meantime, but seems like it would make sense to me that even if BD is the winner, it would be good for those who have HD-DVDs in their library, and stores that have HD-DVD's in their inventory, for those titles to not immediately become coasters.

 

[ppltd]

I Guess no matter what you buy, you are buying a dead 'product', as it will always be replaced by new technology. This war for dominance of the High Def video format will not end for many years, IMHO, as it will be spurred on by Computer sales. For delivery into the homes, both HD and BR may find that the real completion will not be from each other, but by IP based, on-demand systems.

Even at the end of the life of a technology, you can still get years of enjoyment out of it. As most gamers know, just because a new system comes out, you don't toss the old. I still pull out games that were built for a console that was retired over 22 years ago. Video formats are no different.

Thomas Eisenmann

 

[dpippel]

Now there's an opinion supported by clear and concise statements substantiating the claim.

 

[ppltd]

Couldn't of said it better...

Thomas Eisenmann