Dvhs Festival Attendees Your Thoughts! (1 Viewer)

[Joe T]

Hi htf members who attended the dvhs festival your thoughts on the quality of the presentation audio, video ect....

 

[Rob Tomlin]

I was very impressed! We were shown a comparison of the DVD and D-VHS D-Theater tape of U-571. The color fidelity, clarity, and detail of the D-Theater tape could not be matched by the DVD. What was even more interesting, after noting how much better the D-Theater tape looked than the DVD, we were informed that Gary Reber was using a very high end ($20,000) scaler to upconvert the DVD to, I believe, 840p (or some other number in the 800's :b: ). If they disconnected the scaler, the difference would have been huge, I would imagine.
One thing that will remain the same on D-Theater tapes as DVD's: Transfer quality will vary! U-571 was incredible! We also watched part of Independence Day, and it was not as impressive as U-571!
We were also lucky enough to have Joe Kane talk to us, and give us a preview of his upcoming edition of Video Essentials, including a version to be released on D-Theater! WOW! The video based shots from a High Definition camera (Panasonic, I believe) were astonishing! Talk about detail and color fidelity!
We also watched a small portion of a D-Theater tape released from HD-Net (Bikini Getaway or something similar). Again, the video based High Definition was unbelievable in its clarity! Downright addicting!
In short, I was very impressed!
I would also like to thank Gary, Perry, Suzanne, and the rest of the staff for their hospitality, as well as the JVC reps who did a great job in answering our questions. WSR's facility is impressive, to say the least!

 

[Joe T]

Thanks Rob great review two questions What did you think of the dd soundtrack? and did you notice any jerkiness with the jvc players? Thanks again for your reply.

 

[Troy LaMont]

Joe,
You can probably find the best number and variation of responses here.
Troy

 

[Rob Tomlin]

The sound was absolutely incredible! Of course, this was being played on a true state of the art sound system, and it showed! I didn't really pay attention to the difference in sound between the DVD and D-Theater tapes, I was concentrating more on video quality. But, again, the sound was fantastic!

As far as the "dropout" question, I absolutely did not see or hear any dropouts whatsover in the more than 3 1/2 hours that I was there. This included watching several different tapes.

 

[AllenD]

The recording ability and quality of the 30k alone would convince anyone to buy into D-VHS/D-Theater.

D-Theater audio is UNFREAKINBELIEVABLE! I watched U-571 in the sweet spot and the realism was uncanny. It's as if I was in the sub sinking and swaying (thanks to the D-Box) with the sub's crew. Another selling point for D-Theater.

 

[Craig W]

I am excited about the possibilities for HD, but I still can't get excited over a tape format. If this was the next generation DVD product I would be ready to bolt out the door to get this, but as of now it is nothing more than a slight curiousity. This is coming from someone who was ready to dump all their LD hardware and software for DVD before I ever saw a demo.

The other thing that is going to hold this format back in the short term is the need for a firewire input on the TV. How many people out there even have this on their so called DTVs? I know more are coming down the pipe, but a lot of manufacturers are skipping it even on their next iteration in the product lines meaning it could still be a couple of years before we see the needed hardware. D-Theater is dead in the water and will become nothing more than an oddity in the history of consumer electronics.

New encoding algorithm + old technology = new way to beat dead horse

 

[Brian-W]

The other thing that is going to hold this format back in the short term is the need for a firewire input on the TV

Don't know what gave you that idea. Firewire is not needed to playback the D-Theater movies at all. Analog component video output is all.

As for D-Theater being dead in the water, it's a bit early to proclaim that. There are three major studios supporting it, so it's far from dead.

 

[Craig W]

It was my understanding that Firewire is being used instead of the component connections due to copy protection.

Sorry, if I have that wrong. But I still don't think there is going to be much of a market for a tape format when the hot technology is disk based (fixed or removable).

This is nothing more than an attempt by JVC to reclaim the licensing pie with another VHS format which has steadily declined since they really don't own much of a stake in the DVD game.

I am not disagreeing that this format can be breathtaking, but long term tape formats are not good for much more than short term timeshifting.

The tapes look pristine in a demo, but let them lay around for a several years in a varying climate and then see how the format performs in a demo.

 

[Craig W]

The format could become the next niche video product like LaserDisc, but I don't know how many former LD fanatics are going to go ga ga over a tape format. If this format was on a shiny 12" platter, I'd say it has a better shot.

 

[Bob Black]

Craig,

I agree with you 100%! Optical disc is definitely the only way to fly, and when HD-DVD finally arrives we will have a non-degradable format in pristine Hi-def! Until then, I am very happy with my anamorphic DVDs viwed through my line doubler and CRT projector. I would never waste my time with another tape format regardless of quality. As you say, let's see how these tapes perform after they've sat around for 2 years and been rewound and fast-forwarded a jillion times!

 

[Rob Tomlin]

let's see how these tapes perform after they've sat around for 2 years and been rewound and fast-forwarded a jillion times!

Do you really watch your movies a jillion times??? If so, I wouldn't buy a tape based HD format either!
Since this is Digital tape, it should be noted that wear will not be as much of an issue as with regular VHS tapes.
And, as someone else pointed out, you do NOT need a Firewire connection on the HDTV in order to view the D-Theater tapes.
However, you DO need a Firewire connection from your HDTV Tuner to the JVC 30000 in order to record HD television! That is definitely a drawback, and the JVC reps were specifically told this during my session at the WSR Festival. I don't believe there are any HD Tuners currently on the market that have a Firewire output. WSR used a "prototype" Samsung to record the Jay Leno OTA HD program. Let me say, it looked FANFRICKINTASTIC! Again, this was video based HD, which always looks better than the film based content.
But the Firewire issue is a fairly big one. I would have to replace my Dish HD Receiver, which I paid around $600.00 for if I want to record HDTV. Actually, I couldn't even replace it right now, since DishNetwork doesn't currently have an HD Tuner with a Firewire output, although I understand that one is in the works.

 

[Craig W]

At some point tape degradation will be an issue with this format. Granted, digital will work longer before you notice the loss, but every time a tape is played it will wear. Factor in climate, the shelf life is probably around 10 years.

 

[AllenD]

As stated by JVC reps, D-Theater/D-VHS tapes will not degrade like regular VHS. You either can or can not play it. I don't remember a single VHS tape that wouldn't play out of the hundreds I own and countless amount I've rented. My VHS copy of A Princess Bride which is over 12 years old still plays! The paranoia over tape media is blown out of proportion, IMO.

and when HD-DVD finally arrives we will have a non-degradable format in pristine Hi-def!

PUHLEASE! Ever heard of DVD rot?

 

[JohnJB]

It strikes me from some of the comments on this thread that the people that wan't to buy in to HD VHS should save their money and go to the cinema as they don't seem to play the films they own very often, I base this on their refusal to accept that tape degrades, even $500 (or whatever they cost) professional masters if the picture quality of some TV series DVD transfers are anything to go by, also the second reason for my 'cinema instead' suggestion is none of them seem to have had tapes chewed, eaten by the machine or problems with rental's, well a significant reason most of the people I know and certainly myself and I beleive most people period bought into DVD in the first place, was to avoid exactly these problems, on VHS I replayed the same films many many times and also rented a lot, and I'd guess at betwen 5-10% suffered from these issues, is there any reason to beleive that the damage and resulting problems that can happen (stretching & minor chewing of bottom part of tape within cassette) from playing normal VHS in different machines, will not happen to HD VHS.

Anyway I'm happy whatever as I beleive the format will ultimately pave the way (although having delayed it first by a few years, but I guess I can enjoy my moneys worth from my regular DVD's 1st) for HD DVD

 

[Troy LaMont]

Craig & Bob,
"Dvhs Festival Attendees Your Thoughts!"
...was the topic of conversation, NOT "I'm not buying tape because it degrades, and other BS".
Thanks for you input, but no thanks!

 

[Craig W]

Troy,

Sorry but misquoted me :p).

Ever hear of a word called marketing? You have to take what JVC says with a grain of salt since they are the company stands to benefit the most if this format succeeds which is highly doubtful.

Would you be so upset if I was praising the format here but did not attend?

Again I am excited about HD, but JVC can take their outdated technology and shove it up their @ss.

Craig

 

[Sean Bryan]

Come freaking ON!

This thread was specifically started for those who went to the D-VHS Festival to give their thoughts on the quality of the presentation they saw, and for the people who are curious about this new format to hear about that.

Does it have to become yet another "I don't like tape" bitchfest?! There are already plenty of threads where people can say how bad tape is over and over again.

I'm not a fan of tape either, by the way, but I AM interested in ANY potential for prerecorded HD movies, and I won't write this format off without even having seen it just because it's tape.