What I like about HD DVD
I've seen several post from member saying they come to the War Zone to get information about HD DVD and/pr Blu-ray, and they see more post about why one format is bad and gonna die.
So, I thought I'd try a thread about the reasons why I chose my format. Here's my setup:
Display: Sony KDP-57WS550 - 57" rear projection CRT, 1080i rez
AVR: Sony STR-DE845 - 5.1, 110 watts, Digital optical & coax and 5.1 analog inputs
Speakers: Home Theater Direct (HTD) Level II 5.1 speaker system
Player: Toshiba XA1 HD DVD
I chose HD DVD primarily because:
1- Compatibility with my other components. My display is 2 1/2 years old and I'm very happy with it. I can connect my XA1 to my display with either component or HDMI>DVI cable. I tried both, and prefer HDMI>DVI. My display only goes up to 1080i, so the 1080i output was a good match for my display. My receiver is 6 years old. It still works fine, and I don't plan on upgrading until HDMI 1.3 receivers are more common and less expensive. With the 5.1 analog outputs and internal player decoding of HD audio (TrueHD and DTS-MA), I can enjoy the latest high def audio on my perfectly good but aging receiver. NOTE: All first generation HD DVD players had analog outputs. On the current models (A2, A20 & XA2) only the XA2 has analog outputs. The A20 & XA2 output 1080p video; the A2 only 1080i.
2- Upconverting. I own 100+ DVD's, and have a 3 at a time membership with Netflix. Even if my entire collection of DVD's were suddenly all available in high-def, budget constraints would prevent me from replacing them. Also, I have a very wide range of tastes for movies including foreign and independent / "art house" releases that I rent and purchase, and they won't be out in high def for many years. So, getting the best quality display of standard DVD is very important to me. I had a Denon upconverting player before I bought my XA1 that I thought was excellent. The XA1 is the best upconverting player I've seen; I put my Denon out on eBay.
3- Price. Although I preferred the less expensive A1 model, when I bought my player just a few weeks after the initial format launch last year the A1's were almost impossible to find. With the deal I got on my XA1 - free shipping, no tax, free HD DVD's - the XA1 ended up costing me about $125 more than I would have paid for an A1 locally at the $499 MSRP plus sales tax. The announced MSRP of Blu-ray players then were at $999 or higher.
4- Available HD Titles. Because I kept reading claims of "overwhelming studio support" for Blu-ray, I looked carefully into this. I reviewed my DVD collection and list of "My Movies" on IMDB.com, which I use for a list of upcoming movies I'm interested in. For my tastes and preferences, the 4 Blu-ray exclusive studios - Fox, Sony, Disney & Lionsgate - by far had the least number of titles I wanted. I'm divorced and happily single, so few Disney PG films interest me. Fox I just plain out don't like, but that's just me. Sony DVD's I'm very leery of because I've experienced a mixed bag of poor quality encodes and their copy protections schemes making playback buggy. I do like their SuperBit releases, and own several. So, I was content with the Warner Brothers / Paramount / Universal / Magnolia / Weinstein support for HD DVD. NOTE: Only Universal & Weinstein are exclusive to HD DVD.
For the releases I do want from the BD exclusive studios, I rent the DVD or wait for them on an HD movie channel.
5- Reliability. I've owned Toshiba TV's and DVD players and have been very pleased with their quality and durability. I own 40 HD DVD's, and have had playback issues with only two. "Constantine" kept freezing up. When I finally ejected & inspected the disk, it had some adhesive gunk on it. (As it was a new purchase, I hadn't bothered) When I cleaned it off, it played fine. On "Happy Feet", I got the dreaded freeze at 28:50 into the movie. There was apparently a bad batch of pressings. I did watch the entire movie by fast-forwarding through that section, but I returned it to Amazon and am waiting for a replacement. I like the Ethernet internet connection - I'm able to upgrade to the newest Firmware as soon as it's released. And yes, to be honest, I had issues with the newest 2.1 FW - the new HDCP handshaking protocol created a lot of problems for my DVI connection. As I signed up for Toshiba's free mailing of firmware CD's by mail, I had a copy of FW 2.0 and was able to revert back. And Warner has announced the upcoming HD DVD release of "Blood Diamond" will use the players' internet connection to interactivity with content on the disc. Cool new stuff one should expect from the next generation high def players.
6- HD DVD movie quality. I've been very pleased with the video and audio quality of my HD DVD's. The animated "Happy Feet" is the best display I've ever seen on my HDTV. Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, A Scanner Darkly, Children of Men are all excellent. The TrueHD audio on Batman Begins and Superman Returns really gets the house shaking. I'm amazed at how good a 50 year old film like John Wayne's "The Searchers" looks, and another older releases such as "The Unforgiven" and Blazzing Saddles" are also impressive.
OK, so that's what I like about my HD DVD player, and why I chose it. What do you like about yours? I'd be especially interested in what owners of both formats like or prefer with their players. :up
I've seen several post from member saying they come to the War Zone to get information about HD DVD and/pr Blu-ray, and they see more post about why one format is bad and gonna die.
So, I thought I'd try a thread about the reasons why I chose my format. Here's my setup:
Display: Sony KDP-57WS550 - 57" rear projection CRT, 1080i rez
AVR: Sony STR-DE845 - 5.1, 110 watts, Digital optical & coax and 5.1 analog inputs
Speakers: Home Theater Direct (HTD) Level II 5.1 speaker system
Player: Toshiba XA1 HD DVD
I chose HD DVD primarily because:
1- Compatibility with my other components. My display is 2 1/2 years old and I'm very happy with it. I can connect my XA1 to my display with either component or HDMI>DVI cable. I tried both, and prefer HDMI>DVI. My display only goes up to 1080i, so the 1080i output was a good match for my display. My receiver is 6 years old. It still works fine, and I don't plan on upgrading until HDMI 1.3 receivers are more common and less expensive. With the 5.1 analog outputs and internal player decoding of HD audio (TrueHD and DTS-MA), I can enjoy the latest high def audio on my perfectly good but aging receiver. NOTE: All first generation HD DVD players had analog outputs. On the current models (A2, A20 & XA2) only the XA2 has analog outputs. The A20 & XA2 output 1080p video; the A2 only 1080i.
2- Upconverting. I own 100+ DVD's, and have a 3 at a time membership with Netflix. Even if my entire collection of DVD's were suddenly all available in high-def, budget constraints would prevent me from replacing them. Also, I have a very wide range of tastes for movies including foreign and independent / "art house" releases that I rent and purchase, and they won't be out in high def for many years. So, getting the best quality display of standard DVD is very important to me. I had a Denon upconverting player before I bought my XA1 that I thought was excellent. The XA1 is the best upconverting player I've seen; I put my Denon out on eBay.
3- Price. Although I preferred the less expensive A1 model, when I bought my player just a few weeks after the initial format launch last year the A1's were almost impossible to find. With the deal I got on my XA1 - free shipping, no tax, free HD DVD's - the XA1 ended up costing me about $125 more than I would have paid for an A1 locally at the $499 MSRP plus sales tax. The announced MSRP of Blu-ray players then were at $999 or higher.
4- Available HD Titles. Because I kept reading claims of "overwhelming studio support" for Blu-ray, I looked carefully into this. I reviewed my DVD collection and list of "My Movies" on IMDB.com, which I use for a list of upcoming movies I'm interested in. For my tastes and preferences, the 4 Blu-ray exclusive studios - Fox, Sony, Disney & Lionsgate - by far had the least number of titles I wanted. I'm divorced and happily single, so few Disney PG films interest me. Fox I just plain out don't like, but that's just me. Sony DVD's I'm very leery of because I've experienced a mixed bag of poor quality encodes and their copy protections schemes making playback buggy. I do like their SuperBit releases, and own several. So, I was content with the Warner Brothers / Paramount / Universal / Magnolia / Weinstein support for HD DVD. NOTE: Only Universal & Weinstein are exclusive to HD DVD.
For the releases I do want from the BD exclusive studios, I rent the DVD or wait for them on an HD movie channel.
5- Reliability. I've owned Toshiba TV's and DVD players and have been very pleased with their quality and durability. I own 40 HD DVD's, and have had playback issues with only two. "Constantine" kept freezing up. When I finally ejected & inspected the disk, it had some adhesive gunk on it. (As it was a new purchase, I hadn't bothered) When I cleaned it off, it played fine. On "Happy Feet", I got the dreaded freeze at 28:50 into the movie. There was apparently a bad batch of pressings. I did watch the entire movie by fast-forwarding through that section, but I returned it to Amazon and am waiting for a replacement. I like the Ethernet internet connection - I'm able to upgrade to the newest Firmware as soon as it's released. And yes, to be honest, I had issues with the newest 2.1 FW - the new HDCP handshaking protocol created a lot of problems for my DVI connection. As I signed up for Toshiba's free mailing of firmware CD's by mail, I had a copy of FW 2.0 and was able to revert back. And Warner has announced the upcoming HD DVD release of "Blood Diamond" will use the players' internet connection to interactivity with content on the disc. Cool new stuff one should expect from the next generation high def players.
6- HD DVD movie quality. I've been very pleased with the video and audio quality of my HD DVD's. The animated "Happy Feet" is the best display I've ever seen on my HDTV. Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, A Scanner Darkly, Children of Men are all excellent. The TrueHD audio on Batman Begins and Superman Returns really gets the house shaking. I'm amazed at how good a 50 year old film like John Wayne's "The Searchers" looks, and another older releases such as "The Unforgiven" and Blazzing Saddles" are also impressive.
OK, so that's what I like about my HD DVD player, and why I chose it. What do you like about yours? I'd be especially interested in what owners of both formats like or prefer with their players. :up
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