[Chongo]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh 

If Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan comes out on HD-DVD... I'll be tempted to buy a HD-DVD player or a combo player. Having just re-watched the movie, it's simply amazing.

I'm starting to list my "must have movies" and it's a good split. If I list all of my current DVDs, it's heavily leaning Blu-ray.

Short-short list
Godfather I and II (maybe III), most of the Star Trek movies, 'specialy II, Indiana Jones series, Animal House, Blues Brothers. (HD) Starwars 1-6, Planet of the Apes series, Patton (BD)

[*TL]

Unfortunately, I don't think that we're going to see many/any of the top-shelf motion picture franchises (except maybe Star Trek) until a single format is established. (Rick McCullum (sp?), the Star Wars producer, as already said as much about those films.)

[Railroader]

This is not about the BD v. HDDVD debate...

... but I was quite surprised to find a small chain in the Indianapolis area that rents both. It's called V H One Video Inc and there's a location on the East side of the city on Washington, cross street Mitthoeffer, across from Best Buy. Screw Blockbuster. And the other major chain here, Family Video, is waiting out the format war before committing to any format.

Does anyone know if there are any V H One Video Inc. stores outside of the Indianapolis area?

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by *TL 

Unfortunately, I don't think that we're going to see many/any of the top-shelf motion picture franchises (except maybe Star Trek) until a single format is established. (Rick McCullum (sp?), the Star Wars producer, as already said as much about those films.)

Only in the case of Star Wars and the Spielberg movies, yes. But no one else in Hollywood has the power of Lucas or Spielberg, and their movies will be released by their distributors as the distributors so choose.

[goMac]

I have a feeling that Lucas, in his quest for more money, will release Star Wars on both formats, whether at the same time or separately.

[mitchell_pgh]

Knowing Lucas... he's going to release the updates IV, V and VI... (probably not even letterboxed... or only in 720p), in both formats, wait four years, release the originals with a handful of changes... wait four years, and then release an "ultimate edition" where it's the version that everyone really wants, but it will be a box set and require you to buy I, II and III as well for $399.

Knowing him, I'm surprised he doesn't offer IV in HD-DVD only, V in Blu-ray and IV in Windows Media.

Lucas really knows how to leach a movie...

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

This is not about the BD v. HDDVD debate...

... but I was quite surprised to find a small chain in the Indianapolis area that rents both. It's called V H One Video Inc and there's a location on the East side of the city on Washington, cross street Mitthoeffer, across from Best Buy. Screw Blockbuster. And the other major chain here, Family Video, is waiting out the format war before committing to any format.

Does anyone know if there are any V H One Video Inc. stores outside of the Indianapolis area?

I'm no fan of Blockbuster, but they represent over 50% of all rentals.

[aristotles]

If you are tempted by the lower prices of the low end Toshiba player, let me tell you that the HD-A2 lacks the following features found in many Blu-ray players including the PS3:
- 1080p
- 1080p 24fps (film mode) through HDMI
- full range (colour) HDMI
- optical pass through for dolby digital (bitstream mode outputs everything as DTS on HD-A2).
- smooth 1.5X fast forward with sound
- smooth 10X fast forward/reverse.

The old adage applies: You get what you pay for.

I own an HD-A2 for some Universal Studios titles and a PS3 for Blu-ray movies and games.

Blu-ray gives you more hardware features on the low end, a choice of brands and they have more studio support.

I've also found that Blu-ray titles are usually lower cost than HD DVD titles especially compared to HD DVD/DVD combo discs. So while you might save a little by compromising hardware features, you end up paying more per title.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh 

I'm no fan of Blockbuster, but they represent over 50% of all rentals.

... and Wal-mart represents the largest retailer of music and Windows is on 90%+ of all computers, that doesn't mean they don't suck.

[mitchell_pgh]

How exactly do they suck? I'm not a fan (great mom and pop place just around the corner) but I've never had any issues with them.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh 

How exactly do they suck? I'm not a fan (great mom and pop place just around the corner) but I've never had any issues with them.

Here's 767,000 links.

I guess they don't suck though because you've never had an "issue" with them.

[Chongo]

From the AVS Forum (HD DVD FanBoy section)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...77&postcount=7

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Exclamation Here's the scoop on Toshiba CEDIA Press Conference
I just got back to my hotel after attending Toshiba's CEDIA press conference with Jon Spackman, AVS HD DVD/BD Moderator.

The theme was Star Trek and the presenters were dressed in Star Trek outfits and the stage was set with Star Trek decorations. The first presentation was all about their new LCD panels, however, I'll just discuss the HD DVD side of the presentation here.

Here's the list of the new news.

1. All Gen 3 players will be packed with Born Identity and 300. All ValueElectronics.com Gen 3 advance orders qualify for the two additional titles packed with the players.

2. Buy a HD DVD player and the Star Trek box set and their is a mail-in rebate for a Star Trek HD DVD phaser remote control unit, very cool looking and sound effects. All ValueElectronics.com pre-orders are eligible.

3. The 5 free HD DVD movies will be extended till 2/28/08 and new titles are added to the selection. xBox and notebook PC with HD DVD drives will qualify for the 5 free HD DVD movie offer.

4. Just considering Warner, Universal, Paramount, Dreamworks and Dreamworks Animation more than 125 new titles will be release by the end of '07.

5. Shinco, Ventura, Alpine, Onkyo and Integra and the 3 new Gen 3 HD DVD players will all ship by early Q4 '07.

6. Total HD DVD player unit sales are expected to reach more than 1 million stand alone units by the end of ‘07.

7. Amazon and ValueEletronics.com report the A2 is the #1 best seller.

8. According to NPD data, BD stand alone players have 16% market share, HD DVD enjoys a 33% market share, while SD DVD holds 51%.

9. All studios are going to expand the connectivity features, like on the Star Trek HD DVD you can connect to CBS's server and get a tour of the Star Ship Enterprise.

10. All Toshiba products are Earth friendly and will carry the "Earth Protection" logo on their packaging. There is a long list of things Toshiba has developed to ensure their Earth friendly compliance.

HD DVD boldly goes where no other format has gone before.

-Robert
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Last edited by DTV TiVo Dealer : Yesterday at 09:10 AM. Reason: to correct item #6

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by aristotles 

If you are tempted by the lower prices of the low end Toshiba player, let me tell you that the HD-A2 lacks the following features found in many Blu-ray players including the PS3:
- 1080p
- 1080p 24fps (film mode) through HDMI
- full range (colour) HDMI
- optical pass through for dolby digital (bitstream mode outputs everything as DTS on HD-A2).
- smooth 1.5X fast forward with sound
- smooth 10X fast forward/reverse.

The old adage applies: You get what you pay for.

I own an HD-A2 for some Universal Studios titles and a PS3 for Blu-ray movies and games.

Blu-ray gives you more hardware features on the low end, a choice of brands and they have more studio support.

I've also found that Blu-ray titles are usually lower cost than HD DVD titles especially compared to HD DVD/DVD combo discs. So while you might save a little by compromising hardware features, you end up paying more per title.

So for an extra $400 I can get features I don't need? Fantastic! Oh but buy saving $400, I have a player that actually works with my universal remote.

And if you do require those features, the HD-A20 is still cheaper than the PS3...

[Eug]

51 GB Triple-layer HD DVD has officially been approved by the DVD Forum

The DVD Forum, the international DVD standards authority, has approved a 51 GB single-sided triple-layer HD DVD disc for production. Extension to the HD DVD standard, which was submitted by Toshiba in April, received approval on 31 August 2007. Other recent developments include:

A single-sided triple-layer HD DVD/DVD hybrid (combi) disc, the DVD layer of which would be playable by legacy DVD players, is expected to be approved before the year end.

The Forum has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China's Optical Memory National Engineering Research Centre (OMNERC) regarding licensing of the HD DVD-ROM China (formerly HD DVD-ROM China-only) format, specification for which was approved earlier this year. The only difference between the latter and the standard HD DVD format is the modulation scheme: the optical pickup in HD DVD China player will be able to play standard HD DVD discs, although Chinese discs will not be playable in standard HD DVD drives. According to the Forum, the Chinese government is keen to introduce the format domestically before the Olympic Games in August 2008. Large-scale integrates (LSIs) are already under development by manufacturers and use of AACS for the format is currently under negotiation.

No official word yet if it's fully compatible with gen 1 players. My guess is maybe yes, and apparently a few at CEDIA are claiming this, but no verification. Even if that's true, that's just in theory. Insiders are saying that in-depth real-world testing is only occurring now.

My take is that is that if it is workable in the real world with gen 1, 2, 3 players, then that's fine. It offers an option for those super long movies - 250 minutes or longer, if you want to put lossless audio tracks and lots of extras on the same disc.

However, if it's not workable in the real world with gen 1, 2, 3 players, then it's fairly useless, except in the situation where you may put say data/software on the 3rd layer for computers or something.

[Montezuma58]

Originally Posted by aristotles 

If you are tempted by the lower prices of the low end Toshiba player, let me tell you that the HD-A2 lacks the following features found in many Blu-ray players including the PS3:
- 1080p
- 1080p 24fps (film mode) through HDMI
- full range (colour) HDMI
- optical pass through for dolby digital (bitstream mode outputs everything as DTS on HD-A2).
- smooth 1.5X fast forward with sound
- smooth 10X fast forward/reverse.

The old adage applies: You get what you pay for.

I own an HD-A2 for some Universal Studios titles and a PS3 for Blu-ray movies and games.

Blu-ray gives you more hardware features on the low end, a choice of brands and they have more studio support.

I've also found that Blu-ray titles are usually lower cost than HD DVD titles especially compared to HD DVD/DVD combo discs. So while you might save a little by compromising hardware features, you end up paying more per title.

Dude that's really out of left field. The specs for the A2 haven't exactly been hidden under the rug all of this time.

You may say "you get what you pay for". I say you don't pay for what you need. The only thing of real consequence in your list is the 1080P stuff. If you don't need it there's no need to pay for it. You can get the A2 for half the price of the low end of Blu-Ray. If you need the 1080P spend another $80 to a $100 for the next model up and you're still way under the low end price for BD.

The combo discs are usually only $4-$5 dollars more than their blu-ray counterparts. And those are only a portion of the movies. I'd have to buy around 40 or so combo discs to wipe out the price difference between my A2 and any blu-ray player. If the low end HD DVD players were priced the same as the low end Blu-Ray players you'd have a better argument.

Oceans 13 will have the same price for the Blu-Ray and HD DVD combo versions.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by Eug 

51 GB Triple-layer HD DVD has officially been approved by the DVD Forum

No official word yet if it's fully compatible with gen 1 players. My guess is maybe yes, and apparently a few at CEDIA are claiming this, but no verification. Even if that's true, that's just in theory. Insiders are saying that in-depth real-world testing is only occurring now.

My take is that is that if it is workable in the real world with gen 1, 2, 3 players, then that's fine. It offers an option for those super long movies - 250 minutes or longer, if you want to put lossless audio tracks and lots of extras on the same disc.

However, if it's not workable in the real world with gen 1, 2, 3 players, then it's fairly useless, except in the situation where you may put say data/software on the 3rd layer for computers or something.

I have to believe that if the DVD Forum approved it that it has to have passed at least minimal testing. I doubt we'll see any kind of release without confirming backwards compatibility.

Now if it were Sony I wouldn't be so sure.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by jokell82