HD DVD questions

Hagar

I want to start going down the HD route but there a few things I'm not sure about first maybe someone here can help.Thanks.

Do I need a special HD DVD player or can I start building up my collection now and play them on my current player?

If a special HD DVD player is required what sort of budget would get me a reasonable model? I'm presuming it could play my existing disks?

Will my standard TV show HD DVDs from any source in standard quality?

Homer

Hi Hagar,

Do you specifically want HD DVD? As opposed to Blueray DVD?
They are the two competing formats at the moment and it's still unsure who will win out in the end but I'd have my money on Blueray from what I've read in sone of the industry press recently.
Whichever you decide to go for will require a special player. In the case of Blueray if you are into gaming the Sony PS3 has built in Blueray drive?
You can buy a standalone blueray player also.
Xbox360 has and add on HD DVD drive or again you can buy a standalone HD DVD player to hook up to your TV.
Do you have a HD set already?
You don't HAVE to have one but obviously to see the benefit from either format you should really have a 1080P screen.
Yes both formats have some element of backwards compatability to play older dvds.
Sony have a standalone Blueray player now from about 449 euro.
You should pick up a HD DVD player for about the same money also.
Just to not in the states they are talking about a sub $200 HD DVD player for early next year so it gives you some idea of how quickly the price is changing as the war hots up between the two formats.
I went with a PS3 as a games console and have been very happy with the quality and selection of media available on Blueray but no doubt somebody else will chip in and defend HD DVD!

Hope that helps!

Let me know if you need more info!

daedalus2097

It's funny, but everywhere in Ireland seems to be going the Bluray direction, yet when I was in the States earlier this year you could hardly find them, but most shops had a large HD-DVD selection. It's hard to say which will win out, but rather than one going belly up I'd imagine there will just be hybrid units, like the way DVD+R and DVD-R became a non-issue for DVD burners quite quickly.

Homer

Yup LG and Samsung in the states have announced dual-format players so that may be worth holding out for?

On another note, here are a couple of reasons to skip the format war completely if you like!

1. Nothing has happened in the last year to really clear up the format war.
2. Content providers upping HD channels on satellite.
3. HD digital downloads are here via Xbox live and sony to follow suit soon i 'd say?
4. With broadband connection speeds getting better and FTTH (fibre to the home) HD downloads on your PC is becoming more possible.
5. Digital storage getting much cheaper.
6. Media centres becoming more popular for storage and playback.
7. DRM has been cracked and without it users will be able to use the content they own in any way they want.

johnnyflav

daedalus2097 wrote: »

It's funny, but everywhere in Ireland seems to be going the Bluray direction.

That is quite an important point for how you intend to get your movies. At the moment only Blu Rays are available to rent in Xtra Vision, and generally in the brick and mortar stores, there's a slightly larger Blu Ray section than HD DVD. On the other hand, if you intend to buy movies mostly on-line (which is IMO the cheapest option), I would recommend you go for HD DVD which is region free right now, as you can purchase them cheap from the States without having to worry about region coding.

Another point to mention is that the Xbox HD DVD player add-on has dropped it's price to $129 (~€100) in some American retailers. So if you have a friend over doing their Xmas shopping there's a very cheap way to pick one up. Xbox's here are less than €400 for a quite decent package. And they're offering HD movie downloads as of next week.

Hagar

Thanks for all the info guys, really helpful.

I haven't made any decision yet. As I live in France most of my purchases regardless of format will be over the web. I don't have cable but I can get HDTV via broadband where I live or TNT ( Digital Terrestial TV ) but all in French.

I have Sky but not HD when I figure out a way to get around the need for a phone line I may go that route.

I don't have either a PS3 or an Xbox 360, we have a Wii.

The dual format option sounds very interesting. May be worth waiting for. I remember choosing Betamax years ago. Don't want to do that again.

I'll probably hold off for a while and do some more reading up before I take the plunge.

Thanks again.

311

Hagar ,the cheapest standalone HD-dvd player is roughly 299

The playstation is 399 and it has at least another 250 euro hardware on top of that.
Plus the playstation can update the blu-ray player via wireless network and stream your media aswell.

johnnyflav

_Brian_ wrote: »

Hagar ,the cheapest standalone HD-dvd player is roughly 299

The playstation is 399 and it has at least another 250 euro hardware on top of that.
Plus the playstation can update the blu-ray player via wireless network and stream your media aswell.

I have to agree with Brian that the cheapest way to get into High Def movies is probably the PS3. I've gone both routes, with each of the consoles. The PS3 is great for rentals, but I've found the HD DVD's to be the cheaper option to buy. Add to this the fact that the video downloads(in Ireland and the UK at least) are starting on the 11th, and I would recommend the 360 ahead of the PS3 for movies at least.

Hagar

Doex the xbox 360 play standard xbox gamesas well ? I forgot the young lad has an xbox, that might help as there a small fortune's worth of games that we could possibly use.

daedalus2097

A certain amount will work, but a lot won't. I'm sure there are guides around that will list the compatibility of XBox games - can't think of any off hand.

The playstation is 399 and it has at least another 250 euro hardware on top of that.
Plus the playstation can update the blu-ray player via wireless network and stream your media aswell.

Well, €250 of hardware for €100 is great - if you're going to use it. Me personally I wouldn't buy a PS3 purely because I wouldn't use that hardware, and then it's just a waste (and not the nicest looking thing either - much prefer the standard DVD player look for the living room).

Media streaming and storage is a bonus, so if you were looking for all that then the PS3 would be the way to go. If you're not however, it's just an expensive and ugly DVD player. (IMHO of course )

johnnyflav

Hagar wrote: »

Doex the xbox 360 play standard xbox gamesas well ? I forgot the young lad has an xbox, that might help as there a small fortune's worth of games that we could possibly use.

Here's a pretty extensive list of the Xbox games you can play on the 360

Backwards compatible games

I would say that they're both very capable machines, both will upscale to 1080p through HDMI(some 360's don't come with HDMI, make sure if you get one it has). The initial few runs of the 360 were both noisy and problematic, but these problems have been ironed out. They're quite equally matches machines. Either way you'll have a means of playing High Def content, you could ask the young lad which he'd prefer and you have an Xmas present and new toy for yourself all in one

mathias

but these problems have been ironed out.

As a quick look on the xbox forum here will tell you , they most definitely have not been ironed out , with any model but the Elite still having a massive 33% failure rate ,

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=8919

Boards own poll show only 60% still using the original unit , all the rest having fallen to the red rings of death issue , and of those that have been repaired , some have had to be repaired more than once.

The Elite ,the only one you can guarantee has the new chip tech , ( your just guessing with the rest ) is still too new to know if the problem has been sorted.

http://loot-ninja.com/2007/04/29/xbox-360-elite-prone-to-same-problems-as-others/

hottstuff

I have gone Dual format.
Have a Toshiba HD-EP35 & PS3 for BD.

Using my Denon 2307 i can get upt to 7.1PCM from both players.
Together with my 52PFL9632 1080p 24hz diaplya and Monitor Audio RS6 , RSLCR, RSFX , RSW12 , it makes for a better experience than the theatre.

It must be mentioned though that in your average lounge at 6Ft distances , it can be hard to really notice a difference with a display less than 42".

I enjoy both formats and only buy whats exclusive to HD-DVD , and the rest is blu ray , due to better soundtracks on most titles.

johnnyflav

hottstuff wrote: »

I have gone Dual format.
Have a Toshiba HD-EP35 & PS3 for BD.

Using my Denon 2307 i can get upt to 7.1PCM from both players.
Together with my 52PFL9632 1080p 24hz diaplya and Monitor Audio RS6 , RSLCR, RSFX , RSW12 , it makes for a better experience than the theatre.

It must be mentioned though that in your average lounge at 6Ft distances , it can be hard to really notice a difference with a display less than 42".

I enjoy both formats and only buy whats exclusive to HD-DVD , and the rest is blu ray , due to better soundtracks on most titles.

7.1 surround, very nice. Couldn't afford to go down the route for specific players, if only money was no object... Shame that the 360 is restricted to 5.1, especially with all those nice 7.1 (and soon 13.1) soundtracks.

mathias wrote: »

As a quick look on the xbox forum here will tell you , they most definitely have not been ironed out , with any model but the Elite still having a massive 33% failure rate ,

I don't think this is an appropriate forum for a console rant, but to clear things up. Original consoles are still having some problems, I have no argument with that. If you ask for either an Elite or Premium with HDMI, you get the revised build of the 360, which so far have had no problems to speak of. I am the exception to the rule, with a a launch console that has never missed a beat.

mayordenis

one thing that somewhat swayed me is that HD is completely free from region coding, so amazon.com is your friend with the week dollar