Hands On: Toshiba's HD-DVD Player

Cool. I'm not sure about it, though. Is it REALLY worth it. I personally don't even see a huge difference between a new VHS tape and a DVD. How much difference can an HD-DVD possibly make?

Trust me there's a huge difference between VHS and DVD standards. You may just need to switch to a higher definition TV to see the difference..i just hope that the next generation versions of the HD-DVD models have much better startup times..up to 60 seconds or more?..imagine waiting that long to access data stored on HD-DVD media using a computer with the new HD-DVD drive..in any case i really want to see the offerings of the other camp..I'm still leaning towards Blu-ray..

Blu-ray all the way. HD-DVD seems to be a trend that will pass in a year or two. Why upgrade your player a minimal amount just to have to do it again in 3 years when 15GB will not be enough and the era of the two disc sets will come back. Blu-Ray gives enough GB to allow for breathing room for years to come, and couldn't we all use more room!

"We need breathing room" - Hitler, 1936

....ok...I don't know why i'm comparing blu-ray discs to Hitler. :p

But really, what's up with that player though? Why so big?! Looks like something I tossed away in 1982.

"....ok...I don't know why i'm comparing blu-ray discs to Hitler. :p

But really, what's up with that player though? Why so big?! Looks like something I tossed away in 1982."
-Posted by Ladiesman on Firday, April 21, 2006

I KNOW! It's funny how HD and BR players are SO HUGE!! Yet a tiny little bluray player will be fully equipped into the much slimmer, much nicer Playstation3!

Why not wait until blu-ray comes out and compare them?
Why waste your money on either?

I don't think extra GB's will make a difference...do you really think te movie studios are going to give you more for the same price? Cost and availability will be a deciding factor. Neither group has a really strong list of initial titles. I can't believe that half of them are really titles people would buy again just to have them in HD.

Better quality is always better.
Like upgrading your presciption glasses from drugstore reading glasses.

Blue-ray all the way. like it was said before Blue ray is here to stay for years to come however HD-DVD wont survive past the age of 3 + i am a playstation fan so i really dont have a choice do i

I'm not sure, about who will win, it's a definate VHS vs BetaMax war all over again. And to the person who didn't see the difference between VHS and DVD , I think you have a good VHS deck (as I do) but you will be able to see a definate difference between VHS and HD-DVD (or bluray) if you're tooled up with a proper HD TV.

My money won't be spent till the war of Blu-Ray vs HDDVD is over and HD equipment has became common place. (And smaller).

Blu-ray has got 1080p resolutions versus hd-dvd's 1080i resolution formats. Plus TDK is already working on the 200gb blu-ray disc... More specials features for movies and less discs for high-def tv seasons. You gotta just wait to see when Blu-ray makes its presence known in June, and in november when Sony unleashes the Ps3 into millions of homes.

Fool! It says right in the article that the HD-DVD supports 1080p, but the tv doesn't. Most HDTVs don't support 1080p. Don't be dumb, wait for one to die, and by then prices will come way down.

i find this discussion quite pointless. for example: cd quality is actually less than tape or some people say vinyl...yet everyone seems to have gotten used to that. now most people listen to even worse quality mp3s. so i would imagine that average person would feel the same about video. convenience and content over quality. disks in general are getting old. and i think most people would rather watch an excellent movie with mediocre image quality than a mediocre movie with excellent quality.

its about the DRM-- the one that allows for some type of "fair use" will win and in three years it will be a moot point because content will be web based.

Who cares! Just a another marketing scam: spend money on some new just for the sake of new.

Anyone ever count the "format" changes since 1950.
Let's see: (just the ones I can remember paying for)
wire to tape, bigger reals of tape (requiring a new tape recorder), stereo sound, (requiring new tape recoder);
8 track (requiring a new tape recorder); casset (requiring a new tape recorder); bakalite records to vinyl; stereo records (requiring new player); record speed change from 78 rpm to 33 rpm; speed change to 45 rpm; change to cd requiring new player; change to doby sound requiring new player.

SCAM! Just wait 2 years for the next format change

Well, some formats at least last awhile. DVD, I hardly knew ye. CD's were around for a long time. DVD's came and went....leaving me with this DVD collection, and a touch pissed that DVD is going the way of the dodo.

Yes because of course your old dvd's won't play on the new...oh wait they will.

A standard DVD is "upconverted" to an uneven multiple format and -- guess what -- it's going to get alias error up one side and down the other, as any computer graphic artist can tell you... but I guess I wouldn't expect a "consumer tech" writer to figure that...

It would SURE be nice if you cyber-aces would let people know that entering one's email address in your form means it will be POSTED on your darn site. THANKS a whole heck of a lot.

....SCAM! Just wait 2 years for the next format change

You're right dude.. it's all a conspiracy!! Probably by the same government officials that blew up the World Trade Center!!

Well I guess since I have an xbox360 I will have to wait until e3 to find out what microsoft's hd dvd add on will cost. If its a hundred bucks like some claim. Sony wont have such a cake walk as some on this forum would have you believe.

No HD war will happen! Wait for the companies to come out with a player that plays both formats in one unit. There is not going to be a war between the two. You'll just have a player than can play whatever format you buy. There is already a demand for that. On a smaller scale, look what happened with DVD burners. they can burn CDs, DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs and some even also burn DVD-RAM too. Remember that all those discs including HD & BluRay discs are the same size. VHS & Beta were too different and too mechanically complex for companies to incorporate into one unit. Be patient for those drives that play ALL formats. It WILL happen.

I'm usually all for early adopting.....but in this case, I can't see it. The prices are far too high, and should drop like crazy soon enough. Plus, one format is destined not to survive.

Is it possible, for a change, we will see two survivors?
For no reason in particular, other than being recognizeable, HD DVD would win.
However, with PS3 on the horizon, it would make little sense for Blu to fail.
If one does indeed fail, I do believe as one said, it would be due to inability to copy.

Standard definition dvd has really been ok for small screen tv playback only - ask anyone with a large screen tv (say over 32 inch) or using a projector about how dissapointing it is. The 500 lines on SD just doesn't cut it when enlarged, even in progressive. So roll-on HD. 720p output (roughly equivalent to 1080i) is way more impressive compared to SD (I've seen it), and the improvement in fine detail will really be visible and appreciated by those operating BIG screens. HD players with 1080p output (NOT 1080i) will be the ones to go for and must become the minimum resolution offered. For those with video projectors, HD, whether on Blu-ray (my pick) or HD-DVD discs, will ultimately require a projector upgrade if the full benefits are to be displayed (at least 1200 pixels hor native). But after HD has come in (and yes to that!), I think the whole industry thing of "I'm going-one-better-tha-you" will level out as further improvements become less visible to the general public. But for now, come-on folks, lets get behind HD and support the new format, 'cos if we don't, the prices won't fall (look at digital cameras - 6mB now for the same price as 2mB two years ago).

The real question is: Which format will end up resulting in a Betamax " type" death, or a VHS "type" life. The next step, for those in a hurry, is to have a backwards compatable dvd player and take a gamble on the format they bet on. And right now, it will be only a bet. Meanwhile I'll sit on my archaic pile of dvd movies and wait for the winner.

I would hope the Blu-Ray is the one which comes out on top since it gives almost another 10 gig of space to write on That means instead of a 6 disk set you get a 2 disk set for a program like 24 hours or Star Gate SG-1 for 1 season as I crowd 5 on a dual layer DVD now and what comes out to 6 times the space is like WOW !

If Ladiesman doesn't see the difference between VHS and DVD, then he must have it hooked up composite. If you hook it up S-Video, or better yet component (preferably progressive scan), you should get a much better picture than VHS no matter what kind of television you hook it up to. The better the TV, the better the picture also.

How do I program my time warner remote control to control the Toshiba HD DVD player? None of the brand / setup codes noted in the published material I received with my new Sony XBR LCD TV seem to work.

The reality here is that Blue-Ray is better technology. But in the end it will not be commen place because as usual Sony is really big on copywrite issues. Major companies want a disc that is versital. That can be used to burn personal video etc too on your computer and then played in your Regular HD dvd player. HD DVD has already incorportated technology into there discs to allow recordability, so people with HD DVD Burners can burn there tv shows to dvd. So in the end two versions can not survive. Think about it ..is blockbuster video going to shelve two versions of each disc, HD DVD and Blue Ray. Because of sony stubbornness Blue Ray will fade away...its only advantage will be a super high quality video game formatt.

Well, good new technology. Now we can see better chickens' feet in "Chicken Run" show

Hoping for a little help

I am buying a 50" plasma but want to save a little money on the surround sound. I am looking at the pioneer DVD Surround sounds with the progressive scan DVD's. Do they do a good job of showing todays movies or should I research a little more this new technology and buy a blue-ray. My issue is that it does not sound like there are many movies out compatible with blue ray or hd-dvd yet. Please let me know asap. I just want to know if the progressive scans are worth it.

In the article above, the reviewer states that the "disc" supports 1080p, the "player" does not. Not the display, as a previous poster states. Although the display probably does not support 1080p. Does the HD-DVD format support 1080p? Are there players planned to support it? Why write a disc that way if it wasn't
planned to be displayed.

Just answered my own question. Here's a link to a nice site. This will answer your questions about the difference in standards. Copy and paste.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD-DVD

Just answered my own question. Here's a link to a nice site. This will answer your questions about the difference in standards. Copy and paste.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD-DVD

Should have kept DVD-9:
They could have just used the new MP4 compression format and kept the same discs. You would still need a new DVD player, but the computers would still be able to keep the existing drives and media!

A TRUE 1080p signal will exceed the 8GB available on DVD-9, but there's a point at which it's almost impossible to tell the difference. I encoded a movie to 3GB in an MP4 format for my Sony HDTV (Bravia XBR; 1360x768) and it looks incredible.

I do think that we need more space, but I think they should have stuck with DVD-9 and worked on a non-moving solution for the next upgrade.

Well seeing that my $4000s 0f dvds wil not play on the blu-ray...i only have 2 choices buy about 4 or 5 current dvd players, or but the hd dvd format. i refuse to scrap $4000.00 worth of dvds that i have now. so my choice is easy.

Current HD-DVD discs are dual layer 30GB discs

They are using new compression formats. HD DVDs are encoded with VC-1, which is Microsoft's version of MP4. Blu-ray is only using MPEG2 right now, therefore the increased capacity is cancelled out!

BTW, Gary, DVDs will play on HD DVD and Blu-ray players, but owners with both say they look better on HD DVD. I have the HD DVD player, and DVDs and CDs look and sound better than ever!

who cares hd for films blu ray for games easy peasy

I play all kinds of 720p DVDs on my Blu-Ray 1080p player. Whoever said that it wouldn't hasn't got a clue.

However, the output of the true 1080p signal to my 50' Samsung 1080p TV is so much better than any other signal, it does, in a way, make my old DVDs worth less to me.

And yes, it even destroyes the 1080i signal from the cable company.

My rig dominates.

For those concerned about the DVD-HD, Blu-Ray war, LG later this year will supposedly introduce a universal player (DVD-HD/Blu-Ray). Maybe that will address the concerns of some folks here.

Earlier on I was a Blu-Ray entheusiast, but it's a very expensive technology, and yes, it's revolutionary. HD-DVD on the other hand is less expensive to manufacture and is more evolutionary in concept.

From my perspective, I just want a REALLY good picture with REALLY good multi-channel sound. I don't care about interactive stuff that will be available in the future, so that extra 10 GB really doesn't seem important to me.

Technologically, both formats should provide both equally good video and audio. I should also point out, on viewing both in demonstration I couldn't see any difference in video quality (wouldn't expect to). Unfortunately, demonstrations rarely allow comparison of audio, but both technologies use basically the same lossless audio technologies.

Coming from a technical background, In every situation that comes to mind, evolutionary advanced products always turn out to be considerably less problematical than the revolutionary.

So, let's see here, equal quality video and audio; one format is cheaper by a factor of two, and the more expensive product is more likely to be problematical. Duh ...

By the way, unless one has audio equipment with HDMI inputs (very new), the only way to gain the advanced audio from either of these formats is to use the analog audio outputs, sending those multi-cable signals to the 5.1 analog inputs of one's audio system.

I've always been an early adapter and sometimes I call it wrong. But in the mean time I have a lot of fun and enjoy, now, the highest quality available. And even when the other format wins, I still, in future years, enjoy the results of my decision (I have, for instance, a large collection of multi-channel SACDs and a very good SACD player .. still the best audio available today). And by the way, with the rapidity in technology advances, we're all destined to purchase new technology every few years anyhow (unless we choose to live in the dark ages). If Blu-Ray wins, I'll just get one later.