Sweet... then bring on the HD Players

You will be able to hook the player up to a SD tv set, but the best you'll get is 480i (or 480P if your set supports it). You'l be able to watch the film, and access the extras, but won't be able to see the picture in HD.

As far as DVI, to Adam you listen. There can't be a loss in the signal over a converter since it is a pure digital signal with no decoding done in a converter. It is just a "repinning" of the connector.

Question:

I have an HDTV that is componant only, I read somewhere that due to some copyrighting technology in the new HD players that componant HD-TV won't be able to display at the higher res settings.

I know that this has been commented on before, but you seems to know your stuff so would you mind commenting on this issue please. Thank You

The answer is a little unclear at this point. Both technologies (at least I think both) have an ICT (image constraint token) tag that can be turned on (on a by disc basis) by the studios. When turned on, it will limit component output to 480p.

I believe Sony has said they will not use the ICT, but don't think any other studio has commented.

If I had a non-HDCP compliant TV and I really cared about these next-gen formats, I would be concerned (or buy a new set).

A close up of the front of the Toshiba HD-DVD player has the DVD logo beside the HD-DVD logo on the list of formats it supprts. So it looks to me like it will play regular DVD's

D

Both formats must support DVD playback. This is because both formats support a DVD version of their format (BD-9 and HD-DVD-9). These are simply DVDs with MPEG-4/VC-1 encoded movies on them. Its a way for studios to release HD movies without spending the money on a new format or including extras.

i have no hdmi on my tv but i do have dvi.

will the players have dvi out?

if not, will a hdmi --> dvi cord be just as good. (work the same minus the audio)

If you DVI port supports HDCP then an adapter cable will work, but only for the video portion. You'll need to run a seperate solution for audio.

To get 1080p, do I just need to have an HDMI connection on my HDTV, or is that only one part of the equation?

Thanks.

Just one part. Your TV has to be able to accept the 1080p signal that Blu-ray is putting out and most of the current 1080p TVs won't. They will only take in a 1080i signal and upconvert it.

I'm driving a 30" Sony HDTV. Sitting about 10-15 feet away from the screen, will I notice a difference between HD/BD and SD?

Thanks again!

How's your eyesight?

10-15 feet away from a 30" screen is really far. Rule of thumb is that you should be sitting 1.5x the width of your screen. A 30" widescreen set has a width of about 26" inches, so you should be sitting 39" (just over 3 feet) away for optimal results.

At 15 feet, I doubt you could tell the difference between HD and an EP-speed VHS tape.

Okay, I was a few feet off, actually - I only sit about 7 feet away. My living room would be a little too cramped if I sat any closer. Even still, I can easily tell the difference between TV shows in HD and TV shows in SD. That information known, returning to my original question, will I notice a difference between HD-DVD and SD-DVD? Thanks!

Yes. By all accounts HD-DVD has less artifacts than broadcast HD. I have not seen anyone say broadcast HD is better (or even equal) than HD-DVD.

HD supports 720p and BR supports 1080i/p, correct? If my tv only does 480p and 1080i, what would happen if I hooked up an HDDVD player and played an HDDVD disk? Would the picture be better than, equal to, or worse than HDTV?

Both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray DISCS will be mastered in 1080p. Current HD-DVD players only decode up to 1080i though future units ( and possibly current units via firmware upgrade) will support full 1080P decoding.

The current plan is for all BR players to decode 1080P from launch.

Your set, like most, will display HD-DVDs and (theoretically) BD-DVDs in 1080i.

So are they phasing out regular DVDs in favor of HD and Blu Ray?

No. That won't happen for a long, long time if at all.

How is the layer change on these discs? Is it noticable?

I haven't noticed a layer change yet. I've watched about 12 discs.

Just a quick question, have there been any extras on feature films so far, that are exclusive to HD or Blu-Ray?

Yes. This has been asked before. Bourne Supremacy was the first.

Not supposed to be noticable on HD DVDs. I have yet to see any pause on HD DVDs so that seems to hold true since all are dual layered so far.

It will happen when HD eventually becomes the broadcast standard. Also, the players will have to be had for $50 a pop at the low end before this happens.

Meanwhile, I have a question:

Will HD-DVD/BD players upconvert DVDs?

Which won't happen for a long time, if at all.

There is no mandate that the broadcast standard must move to HD. The mandate is that all broadcasting must be "digital", which can still be Standard Definition.