Posted by Clem Dye on 06/14/06 16:43

Gunther Gloop wrote:
> Tricky Dicky wrote:
>> It seems to me that a lot of people are so distrustful of the consumer
>> electronics companies - and so confused as to what is considered the
>> best option - they are just sitting on their cash
>>
>> Anyone salivating at the prospect of hi-def disks? I remember the
>> early days of DVD and there was a frisson of excitement. As it stands
>> now hi-def has a whiff of quadraphonics.
>>
>> IMO, this new format war just stinks of marketing people hyping and
>> whipping things up now in order to sell as many Blu-Ray or HD-DVD
>> players now and at least recoup some of the R&D costs from the early
>> adopters before a unified format and Tescos start flogging them for
>> £29.99
>
> I saw a downloaded hi-def episode of Rome the other day and OOooooOOhH was
> it great looking.
> Not only did I love the series first time around, now I'm really looking
> forward to watching it again in hi-def (sometime)... it was like a whole new
> program -so much to see!
> I found myself checking the texture of the walls, what was on the tables,
> all the garments, etc.
> It might have been distracting watching it that way first time around, but
> boy was it great being able to see all that detail!
>
> I couldn't care less which format 'wins' to be honest, but the whole notion
> of 2 formats is killing it for everyone. I'm now more eager for hidef than
> ever, but there is no option when there are 2 options.
>
> -Kevin.
>
Not forgetting of course that the standard is still evolving. From what
I've read, panels will be supporting 1080p by 2007, because both HD and
BD players can/will deliver material in that format. That makes all of
today's "HD ready" panels not HD ready at all ready in my book. As a
consequence, I'll only go for a new panel now if my existing plasma
conks-out. The HDMI standard is changing too. HDMI 1.3 is the latest,
but this is supposed to be giving way to HDMI 2.0, because HDMI 1.x
can't carry the new audio streams from the likes of Dolby TruSound, DTS
HD and so forth. That doesn't worry me so much per se, because there are
ways around that issue, as I see it.

Ignoring for now the fact that there are two competing disc formats, the
players have issues too. The software isn't complete - AACS has only
just been ratified (I think) regional coding looks like it will be
enforced for hi-def media as well as SD (pleeeease!) and there's still
that big issue in that if a player finds a duff/suspect key on a piece
of media that you're trying to watch (legit. or otherwise) it can force
your player to stop playing any new material you care to buy.

I've seen HDTV and it's very impressive, but not so much that I've got
to rush out and get it now. Combine that with the dual formats out there
and I think that it makes sense to wait for a couple of years. My focus
will be on acquiring a decent SD-DVD player that can upscale the stuff
that I have. Sure, it's not high-def., but it makes a difference based
on what I've seen so far.

I think that this time, unlike the interest in DVD when it surfaced, the
manufacturers and studios are going to find the conversion a lot slower
and more difficult. Joe Punter is keen, but not at any price. We'll see,
I suppose .....



Clem

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