I was shopping today and was so close to buying a HD-DVD player.I decided to research it first.First i Have a 52" Sony HDTV and my Cable HDTV channels look great on it But my Sony DVD player also looks good.Is It worth buying a HD DVD player yet? Second hows the picture on the HD-DVD.Is it close to HDTV cable channels or better.Cause if it the same as it or better .I think im gonna get it. Anyone that owns a HD-Player can you tell my whats the difference?Or even a Blue Ray player.
the picture on hd dvd is better than hd cable channels because the cable companys compress the hd signal some hd dvds are better than others but they are better than hd cable
get a ps3 it plays bluray and i think it is the cheapest player out. bluray has more movies than hddvd and always will, if you wanna see spider man 3 in HD or pirates of the carribean they are only on bluray as is the case with most blockbuster movies.
Does the PS3 have 1080i?I heard its only 720p!!!I also heard Blue Ray does have more verity of movies than HD.If the PS3 does have 1080i,i think that might be the way to go.
Hey Cheezzz..Whizzz.. It's amazing how you can selectively read, look at the end of the Bobby's last sentence. "...Or even a Blue Ray player" Bobby728, you need to do some homework before you decide what's best for you. Noodle around on Google n Wikipedia to get yourself familiar. It's "Blu-ray" or "HD DVD", and both have websites of their own. It's not really a matter of whether it looks good, it's a matter or price, features, and Studio support. HD DVD has the cheapest price, but it may not support using an HDMI cable, or may not support deep color, etc. (but you still get excellent picture quality) Currently, out the 7 major studios. HD DVD has only 1 exclusive (Universal) and 2 neutral studios that support it. The others are exclusive to Blu-ray. Put another way, Blu-ray owners mainly miss out only on titles from Universal. Look at the Studios involved, browse titles at your local shops, and see which format has the titles you want. There is a possibility that whichever format you choose, will lose in this format war, and you will have to buy another player. It is possible that we will have hybrid players that will play both sometime soon, but they will lack some of the interactivity features on the disc. It is also possible that choosing Blu-ray is now unwise at this time, because they are upgrading their interactivity standard, and there's the possibility that newer titles may have compatibility issues in older players. That means that the new Blu-ray players with the new standard won't be available until sometime after October. There are risks to choosing either format, but if you need to make a choice now, you would lose less money going with HD DVD. Happy decision making!
Bobby, do read what I wrote to you above. Yes, both the PS3 and standalone Blu-ray players use HDMI 1.3 and supports 1080(p), which is the highest spec., but you probably can't visually tell the difference with the lower 1080i (interlaced) format. That's why Blu-ray costs more. The older Toshiba HD DVD's don't have HDMI output, and they only support 1080i. The second gen. Toshiba HD DVD, the XA-2 has HDMI 1.3 implemented like Blu-ray, and therefor costs about the same as Blu-ray.
I have a sammy 56" dlp monitor, with a pioneer thx reciever along with direct tv hd. I purchased the Toshiba xa2 from Amazon for $585.00. I find the picture is much better than Direct tv. The xa2 also does an outstanding job upconverting sd dvd's with pq and audio. I'm rolling the dice with HD-DVD Good luck with your decision and enjoy!!!
The issue of 720p on the PS3 results in trying to run a game on an older HDTV. The PS3 downscales to 720p if it can't communicate with the TV at at higher resolution. It has nothing to do with the PS3 not being capable of output to 1080i or 1080p, depending on your TV. Also, don't be mislead that HDMI 1.3 on HD DVD meaning that you get the full spec. Toshiba is releasing a mid-range player that has an HDMI 1.3 port, but does not support deep color. This keeps the price down. The only HD DVD model to date that supports deep color and 1080p, is the Toshiba XA-2. All the others only support 1080i. Unless you're a diehard videophile, you're not going to notice a difference in quality.
I feel it necessary to correct some of the errors in KitDoc's posts. The PS3 has HDMI 1.3 but the first gen models from Sony (BDP-S1), Pioneer Elite (BDP-HD1), Panasonic (DMP-BD10), and Samsung (BDP-1000) DO NOT have HDMI 1.3. The second gen Samsung BDP-1200 will have HDMI 1.3. The "older Toshibas" - namely the HD-A1 and HD-XA1 DO HAVE HDMI outputs. I think he's referring here to the HD-A20. However, this model does not have HDMI 1.3 but has HDMI 1.2. My sources are the spec sheets from the manufacturer's websites and discussion threads on the different models on avsforums.
I can tell you without a doubt that the HD-A2 is the best deal in retail. Its big bro the HD-A20 is also a steal at $500 (or lower!). I say this after testing out the HD-A20 today at my store. I was shocked to see such a difference in PQ between the A2 and A20 with DVD and HD-DVD content on the Samsung 61" DLP (1080p). I guess the A20 is better at de-interlacing than the Samsung is. The PQ of the DVD clips I watched was better than what I have seen on HBO-HD and Showtime-HD (on DirecTv). If the entry level models can wow me this much I have to assume that the now $800 flagship model (was $1000) is well worth the extra coin. The thing I like the most is that all the players incorporate the same awesome Sharc audio processor so at every level you get kick-ass audio. Thats my recommendation, Ced
I have the HD-A2 but you need to think about what is important to you. This article is absolutely great and really talks about a lot of the yahoos you hear from on forums. http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=595494 It is about gaming but touches on hd in general and blu-ray/hd-dvd. I would give it a read and see if a hd player is something you really need.
