By the time you're done making copies, you'll have spent so much on DL blanks that it would probably make more sense to get a new TV.

It looks to me that you can use 2 DVD-R discs and get an exact duplicate which would be much cheaper. I would only be doing this with certain titles that I have and am very attached to my 65" CRT rear projection Mits.

If you're going to be splitting the movie up, hell, you might as well just burn the HD version to 2 discs like others are doing.

Off topic: damn...it's been a very long time since I've seen this thread. Ha.

I'm not sure if this goes here, please feel free to move it if applicable...
Ok, I've got the HDa1 hooked up. HDMI to DVI for video [my tv is only DVI], stereo audio going into the tv, and analog 5.1 going into my reciever. I'm currently updating the FW which is taking a looooong time.
Anyway--I had a scare when I turned it on and couldn't see a damn thing.....but I remembered you had to hit video output or whatever in order to 'turn on' the HDMI. So I did. Then I started hitting the Resolution button, and at one time it went blank--that was at 720p, which my tv doesn't do. Ok, no biggie. Continued on with setup. Before updating the FW, I put in Toy Story to check out the upconversion--I couldn't see anything, the image was all interference, like when you use to try to turn to a cable channel you don't subscribe to. Is this the 'handshake' issue, and will the FW fix it, or do I need to do something to activate upconversion, or am I screwed? When I was just on the default setup screen for the player, it seemed to output at 480p, that's what my TV display said. Anyone else have this problem?

Are the movies playing ok not using HDMI? I would set up your machine using standard cables instead of HDMI and check to see if the laser and everything is functioning properly. If everything is working via regular cables I would then switch to HDMI. If your still not getting a picture with HDMI then you might have a problem.

Bythe way, if you have the new 2 disc edition of Toy Story it has the highest bitrate of any Disney release so far and the upconversion is stunning. Was by far the best picture for an upconversion that I have sen yet with my setup.

PS...

I do have the 2 disk anniversary Toy Story, I was going to try a dvd with a very good picture, and one with one not-so-good [maybe Xena S1] to compare.
If I put in a SDVD and play it over the HDMi->DVI and select 480p, it seems to be fine. ; I didn't actually start watching the disk, but I will in a little bit. So something seems to be amiss with either the player's output of 1080i, the transmission of 1080i through the adapter [easy] or the port [bad], or the TV's display of 1080i via DVI [very bad].
I don't want to open the one HDDVD I have until I am sure it works, so I can't test that; and of course I can't upconvert SDVD over component.

Well, shit! I thought I would be able to use Netflix HD-DVD collection to stave off buying a few discs but my second disc came today and it is freezing and skipping like crazy just like the first one. The odd thing is that the disk did not look that bad. Seems like my SD-DVD player would have had no problem. Another odd thing that happens is when the disc skips or freezes there is an instant audio sync problem. Once I pause and resume play, everything is fine. Anyone else experience this? Player is the HD-A1 made in August 06 with 2.0 firmware.

If I had hair, I would be pulling it out!!!

The player is extremely sensitive to fingerprints and scratches, even subtle ones. Unfortunately, those are par for the course with rental discs. Try cleaning the disc and see if it works any better.

I had this same issue when I hooked mine up this weekend. I have DVI and my tv doesnt do 720p as well. I have yet to try an SDVD on it since hooking it up that way (component worked fine) but the hd-dvd worked just fine after messing with it. To tell you the truth, I dont know what I did, but its working fine now. I will try it with an SDVD today when I get home to see how it looks and report back.

If you are having a handshake problem (because the HDTV isn't accepting input through the DVI port) the display on the A1 will say "HDMI Error" and the player should go to "Stop". Switching to the correct DVI input on the HDTV and hitting "Play" should regain the handshake and let the HDMI work normally again.

Doesn't sound like your issue, but I thought I'd mention it. In my experience, DVDs upscale automatically. I believe that you should have the resolution set to 1080i regardless of what kind of disc you are playing. Once it is set you should not have to change it. Same with turning on HDMI output.

I had heard about the "HDMI Error" display; mine hasn't shown that, it still showed the counter like normal, and I could 'tell' that stuff was happening in the background.
I haven't tried an HDDVD yet, because if I can't get it working, if I return it, I want to return the HDDVD as well.
Anyway, here are some pics of what it looked like when trying to use a SDVD through DVI, and a comparison shot of the HD cable box through component. The Toshiba guy asked me two or three times if I was sure my TV does 1080i...
AV5 is my DVI input, AV4 is component-and it's going through a receiver.
So if seeing it helps, here it is.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...CompCable2.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...iCompCable.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n.../1080iDVI2.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...n/1080iDVI.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...on/480pDVI.jpg

I spent 20 minutes with Tosh tech support last night, they're sending me a shipping label because 'sometimes HDMI to DVI is quirky'. If that doesn't work, then I guess I'll see if my tv service plan is any good; failing that, I'll have to use component and lose out on upconverting, or take a 60 buck hit on returning it, or try to sell it.

Well, I finally got home tonight and tested mine out and it looks fine with no problems with upconversion through HDMI-DVI. How old is yours? I just got mine this weekend so I dont know if it has to do with updated firmware or not...I tested Toy Story and EP. 3 and they look good and better than when I had my Oppo hooked up.

I bought the TV in Oct 03, so it's definitely not 'brand new', but both the manual and the call center said it supports HDCP-compliant DVI, which is what the HDA1 says it requires.
I did update the FW, but I guess I should have tried it without doing that first.

Interesting...My TV is from Dec. '03 (Damn, its almost 3-years old) and like I said, no issues here and it sounds like we have pretty similar set-ups. I wonder if its a cord issue? Either than that, I feel for ya. Hopefully you can get the issue solved.

Im about to pull the trigger on the new sammy 71in dlp. My A1 will love me after that.

I just hope it fits in my new apartment!

Based on your pictures, that is a weird problem. A faulty cable can be ruled out since 480p is being passed ok. That leaves two possibilities:

1) The A1 has a problem. (I am running firmware 1.4 and haven't received the update disc for 2.0. I have no trouble with HDMI/DVI. But your experience with 2.0 has me concerned.)

2) Your HDTV has an input setting that isn't correctly configured. Do you have any settings that specify "1080i" on your AV5 input?

I know Ive read it on here, but how do you check to see what firmware you are running? Im not sure what I have since I just bought the player, but it may not have the latest firmways and I would be concerned as well.

Go to "maintenance" and "update."

Yeah, I wish I had thought to try it out before updating the FW. At least then I could narrow it down and say 'Your FW upgrade broke it.' My understanding was that the 2.0 FW *helped* fix some HDMI/DVI issues, so I wasn't too worried. Or if I had another DVI device, I could test it for a control.
But since I just bought the thing, though it's a hassle, I guess they can fix/replace it when I send it back. Of course, if they're not producing them anymore, they might send me a refurb or an A2.....

nope...I've never used it before, but for AV4 which is 1080i, I just plugged in the component cables and set the output on the devices--the TV automagically displays 480p for DVD, and 1080i for my cable box since I've got it set to always output 1080i. I went through the setup menu on the remote and didn't see anything.
Looking through the manual again, it says for AV4 I might need to switch between colorspace settings or add H or V sync cables, whatever the hell those are. But AV5 says nothing special:

"Allows encrypted transmissions of uncompressed
HD content. HD INPUT-AV 5
This input accepts a digital video interface (DVI) plug, which uses digital data in the format data standard called transition minimized differential signaling
(TMDS). DVI supports High-definition Copy Protected digital video input for connection to compliant settop boxes."

Is that not compatible with the HDA1? but like you say, 480p works fine, so it's obviously getting *something*.

FvsDoom: thanks. What brand is your TV? I very rarely buy the 'top of the line' but I did a lot of research on it when buying it and it seemed to be a good choice for the price and the size [of course, hindsight--I should have gotten more component inputs, that would have saved me 100 bucks on a component switcher later on].

Oh, and I agree with an above poster, in that I have more resentment toward upconverting being blocked over component than I do sympathy for the industry. No offense, if I wanted to copy stuff, I already would have, and it wouldn't be burning from live playback. If I could upconvert through component, I'd be watching Serenity in HD and having everything all set up hunky dory, instead of going through this hassle and considering being a non-adopter instead of an early adopter, because buying another tv is not an option right now.

dt: Have you called Toshiba yet?

Yes...the guy was somewhat helpful, but he didn't really have me do anything other than reseat connections and reboot a couple of times....I'm waiting on a shipping label to ship it back to them to look at. of course, poor timing--I might get it tomorrow or the next day, then probably 2-3 days back to them, then he said it takes 2-5 days for them to work on it...and I leave for almost 2 weeks vacation next Saturday.

Well, I hope it works out for you.

The first allocation of HD-A2's is scheduled for the last week of October or the very beginning of November.

The XA2 will be available the last week of December or the first week of January.

I have a Panasonic...Looking at my firmware I dont know which one I have to be honest. It says:
1.4/1.09/2.0R

So I dont know if I have 1.4 or 2.0.

It is 1.4 The first digits is the the firmware.