King Eric

Anybody got an update on this? Uk that is..

My work computer only lets me visit some sites, most games ones are banned (grr)

AudiHater

Not sure when its out in the UK but I believe HD DVD is already dead in the water as is 720p.

Blue Ray is winning the war and as a result 1080p TV's will be the standard. 1080p TV's are already selling here now and I'm waiting for a while before jumping in.

MS still have not announced how they will get round HDMI protection as the 360 HD DVD player does not have one.

JackClark

Edited because I can't read

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

In the days before the 360 launched, Microsoft stated that HDMI wires for the Xbox 360 would be released "when the market called for them."

When 1080p sets become more commonplace expect to see a new cable. In the meantime it will work just fine over the existing connections.

AudiHater

Can HD DVD produce 1080p ?

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Destructoid mole: Microsoft announcements coming around Nov. 22?
>> From destructoid.com (rumor warning!):

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Engadget Xbox360 HD DVD hands-on

>> From Engadget:

Neanderthal

iTrader: (6)

Would people really go to the extra expense of a 1080p TV when the HD broadcasts are probably never going to be any better than 1080i?! certainly for this generation of TV/Consoles.

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

Yes. All HD DVD produced movies are encoded in 1080p format even though most currently available HD DVD players do not have a 1080p output option.

bob269

Game, Play & Amazon are taking pre-orders for 27th Nov UK release. £129.99

ScoobyJawa

LOL!! Considering that most reviews so far of films available on both formats have the HD DVD versions as better Unless Blue Ray becomes cheaper to mass produce and better than HD DVD, HD DVD will not be losing any wars

Blu-ray vs. HD DVD: First Head-to-Head Comparisons | High Def Digest

And the recent Xbox 360 update included 1080p support, and yes HD DVD does do 1080p.

Rumour also has it that the second gen 360's will have HDMI, though TBH its not like its needed by more than about 0.5% of all people with 360's.....

RB5-Black

for 1080P HD-DVD's you need to be using the VGA cable on the 360. All other connections (HD ones ) are max 1080i.

I get confused when reading reviews of LCD TV's/Projectors. Most of them say LCD is progressive by nature ? so the change from I to P on an LCD isn't all that big a jump ?

It's only a quote so don't shoot the messenger.

bob269

From what i read most devices are not actually ready for hdmi protection so it's not going to be implemented for some years to come.

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

Its such a minefield and general consumers can't be expected to understand and make informed decisions about what new TV to buy. Even if they think they're clued up and ask for a TV that supports 1080p, you still aren't guaranteed to get what you need. It gets worse . . .

For one, a TV that outputs in 1080p may not necessarily support 1080p input. many just upscale the image from 720p or worse.

Also, the framerates start to come into play. DVB is standardised at 1080p24, 1080p25, 1080p30 (the number afterwards being the frames per second - using MPEG-2 compression), later on no doubt that will be increased to 1080p50 and 1080p60 (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec). Does your new shiny set handle that ?

Such a nightmare

messiah

Main problem I can see is that due to HD DVD having less storage than blu-ray, to be able to get 1080p films onto the disc they're using crappy compression MPEG 2 just to say that the disc contains a 1080p film - they're also compressing the soundtrack. It's mainly happening with HD DVD's but its also happening with BLu-Ray discs - unsuprisingly, the only company going all out with top-notch transfers and uncompressed soundtracks is Sony with movies from their own catalogue - they're going with the AVC codec for video.

So it is a nightmare, not only are there 2 formats, but there's also 2 codecs going around.

I bit the bullet and bought a 720p set a couple of weeks back - but if I ever get my home cinema built it'll be getting a 1080p set put in - the 720p "half-way-house-HD" set will stay in the lounge.

HDMI protection on MS's 360 add-on is a bit of a non starter really - firstly, the drive is piggy-backed off the main console and not directly connected to your telly - hence no HDMI leads (for now). Secondly - HD DVD, initially will be region free. Thirdly, MS has the idea that you will rip all your films etc onto a media centre PC and stream it around your home - copy protection will knock that on the head, and its this that making all the film companies unsure about the format - most are favouring blu-ray as its more secure but most are sitting on the fence for the time being...

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

. . . thats another thing, triple layer HD-DVD (in development) will be 45Gb per side, so not that much smaller than Blu-Ray . . . then again who's to say that the first gen HD-DVD players will read TL HD-DVDs which/if they come out ? And who's to say Sony won't add another layer to take Blu-Ray up to 75Gb ? They also say that a disc can have 3 layers, one HD-DVD, one Blu-Ray and one DVD . . . all on one disc. Complicated enough yet ?

bob269

What was wrong with VHS anyways?

Jake

BlueRay winning the war? I think not....

ScoobyJawa

The **** industry have moved on to DVD

messiah

Already happened - Sony reckon they've got 4x layer discs working reliably and TDK think 8x is viable.

200gb per side per disc.

Storage capacity isnt the biggest headache though - getting it off the disc at a decent speed is.

720p - 1280x720 = 921,600 pixels.
1080p - 1980x1080 = 2,138,400 pixels.

now take frame rates into account and you end up with some rather large numbers...

Buster-WRX

There may be a solution to everyones problems coming.

A new disk has recently been developed that is hd one side blue ray the other.
This is one of the ways a format war may not break out

On the other side expect to see playes capable of reading both formats in the not to distant future....

messiah

The only technical difference between the 2 is that the pits on the discs are different depths - hardly sounds like a major obstable.

NEC supposedly have a prototype that does both now.

I still think 1 format will win out in the end, even if you have a player that does both you'll probably buy all your films on the same, and personally - I'm leaning towards blu-ray.

bob269

They are still having problems with single layer bluray discs warping

ScoobyDoo555

and this whole discussion isthe exact reason why I haven't even contemplated HD yet.

I work in the industry (and related audio industries), so would consider I have some informed background on the whole thing, but I've just got bored with the whole whole thing.

From my perspective, it's not so much a war, but a race. The rush being to throw all the current options at the consumer at the same time, then as more options become availabe, keep updating what's been thrown at the consumer.

The danger is that alot of people involved in "selling" this to the consumer, aren't being informed correctly informed by the manufacturers.... so nobody wins.

The other issue about Blu-ray vs HD DVD, is that it isn't about which format has the highest capacity: history has proven that's not the winning formula. Just look back at the Jaz Drive, most of Syquest's lacklustre efforts and the Orb drive. Then also think about memory stick or Minidisc (now been dug up to keep the PSP going)
It's going to be down to product placement - PS3 will obviously put a Blu-Ray in the home. As much as I hate to admit it, this could be a major factor.

The multi-format disc will be an option for a while, but it will end up costing too much to produce. It will come down to politics, me thinks

Give it another 4-5 years, but by then something new will be out, and (IMHO) the whole confusing issue about HD (TV) will be a distant memory.

Dan