Mike Lowrey

WOW! Well actually, even though it was hi-def @ approx. 1080i or perhaps 720p, apart from being way better than standard DVDs on the computer, I really couldn't tell that much difference between that and watching a really good transfer of a standard disc on my anamorphically squeezed Flatscreen.

However, I got several long pauses between chapters through-out the film. One could have easily been a typical layer switch, but there were about 3 other times this happened. And in case anybody is wondering, I have the required, er um recommended specs, 3.0 GHz P4, 128MB GeForce FX 5200, and 512MB SDRAM.



But anyway, if this presentation is anywhere near what future HD DVD will be like then, HOT DAMN! Now, all I need is an HD TV and one of them new hot spanky Blu-Ray or HD-DVD players.

jco

I guess you dont get it, with HDTV, you dont need to buy the
HD-DVD, the broadcast is just as good, unlike the current situation where DVD is much better than the standard definition (regular 480i) broadcasts.

JCO

Mike Lowrey

I guess you don't get it. The broadcast is a "one-time event", DVDs or HD-DVDs are to own.

Dazed

And who wants lots of commercials spoiling the show your watching (even if they are in High def )

hondo21

The bitrate will also be higher on pre-recorded HD discs, which should lead to better picture quality with no annoying pixelization or other occasional broadcast "anomolies." No station bugs either.

HD broadcasts are great compared to SD, and they're all that for live sports. But in the long run, for movies you can give me the discs every time.

Tarantino

I love watching baseball on INHD.

Jah-Wren Ryel

Guys? With the right equipment, you can record HD-PPV, HD-HBO, HD-SHO, etc. No commercials, no logo bugs, nada. Burn the transport stream to a DVD-R and you've got yourself a disc you can play back on a PC anytime and I wouldn't be suprised to see a standalone DVD player that can also do hi-def transport streams show up within a year.

The only major downside, beyond the slight extra complexity compared to recording with a VCR is that some of the satellite providers seem to have forgotten that HDTV is about high-definition and have started to F with the bitrate to squeeze in more channels so that you'll get 12-15Mbps transport streams instead of the full-spec 19.2Mbps. This is the same junk they pulled with standard-def channels over the last decade.

Shroud

Only problem is that a HDTV broadcast can be upwards to 17 gigs (maybe even more) which rules out burning to DVD-R. Best to keep it as an IMG on your hard drive and use Daemon Tools or Alcohol 120% to mount.
This brings up another interesting issue, do we have the right to record and review HDTV programming like we do with standard TV and VCR/DVR. I can see regular tv shows but wonder how this works with movies that are shown on HD-HBO or HD-SHO.

Dusty Bottoms

Another problem with recording from HD-HBO is the aspect ratio. Unless things have changed recently, HD-HBO crops a lot of their 2.35:1 movies to 1.85:1.

Mike Lowrey

Interesting twist this thread has become.

abintra

Probably just me but can you clarify? I read that as wow, it looked terrific but you couldn't tell the difference between it and a regular dvd on your flatscreen.

steebo777

Good call, that's what it sounds like to me. There is no doubt that HD material is leaps and bounds better looking than DVD content. You will notice a difference.

As for the cropping, yes many companies will crop all material to a specific AR to fit in to their standard broadcast AR. Broadcast HD over the air is not as good looking as WM9-HD materials... hands-down. For any and all HD info jump over to AVS.

Mike Lowrey

Well, what I mean by that is that even though the T2 Hi-Def presentation was obviously HD material, and the clarity on the computer screen (a 19" Flatscreen) was great, I've seen just as good transfers on regular DVDs.

It may be just the fact that this HD transfer was done on 14 year old film. A new HD transfer of say like the Matrix Trilogy would be truely awesome.

Dammit

You're putting that in a very confusing way. I assume what you mean is, on your non-HD television you've seen equal quality out of DVDs (you wouldn't see the difference on a non high def set anyway) but on the computer monitor (higher resolution) you see a great improvement?

Qui Gon Jim

Just a small correction: Broadcasters are being required to change from standard to DTV NOT HDTV. The difference is that a DTV signal can carry a program encoded in HDTV OR several programs or languages etc encoded in standard def in the same "stream." So they are withing spect to carry programming in a lower resolution on a digital stream. Of course you are definitely more of an expert on this than me and we could be talking about two seperate topics.

That said, whenever I throw Discovery HD Theater for guests, they always gasp when they see how brilliant the picture is. I got my TV just before the SuperBowl this year and the parties were all planned, but this year, I will host the big game...