Buy now or wait? (1 Viewer)

[Miles_P]

I am planning on buying my first RP TV (either the Pioneer 533 or the Tosh 57hx) soon and with all the talk about DVI, it has me wondering if I should buy now or wait. With the new product lines are coming out soon and I can't decide if they are worth the wait. I don't want to spend on money on something that I might have to replace in a couple of years.

 

[Marc Rochkind]

What's coming is the ability to connect an HD-DVD ("high definition DVD") player to a TV digitally, via DVI along with some sort of encryption technology, but I don't think it's coming "soon." It will probably be at least two years before these sorts of discs are commercially released, and even longer before most of the movies you watch will be available in that format.

Any TV you buy today won't just stop working when these new discs, players, and TVs are released. It will play DVDs just as well in 2010 as it does today. (Except, of course, for wear-and-tear, old age, breakdowns, etc.)

Meanwhile, the advantages of playing a progressively-scanned DVD into a widescreen TV that can handle 480p input are, to me and a lot of people, overwhelming compared to the alternative.

 

[Ken Custodio]

I thought the issue was that if your HDTV did not have a DVI input that the highest HD signal you would be able to watch was a 480p signal.

Ken

 

[Marc Rochkind]

No, an HDTV can also handle 720p and 1080i, the two HD resolutions. DVD players aren't a source for these, but HDTV tuners and D-VHS players are.

DVI doesn't give any additional resolutions. It gives digital input of the existing resolutions, which can today come in only through analog connections.