General HD DVD news and discussion PART 2
 

Post all HD DVD news/discussion here.

One thing I wonder about HD-DVD's attach rate, does it count the free discs it gives with the movies as part of it? If it does, one could argue that their attach rate is inflated because they have been giving 5 or more discs per player. Does anyone know if they count those discs as part of the attach rate?

Constructive discussion, please.

Does BD's count include all the free shit they've given away since the format's inception including the BOGO sales, and all those free copies of Talladega Nights? Both formats have given away plenty of free stuff. Let's not try to troll in the HD DVD thread with a comment also made in the nouveau-VS thread.

To answer your tro.. question, I would assume that HD DVD's count includes every free title shipped. I am also sure that BD's count includes all the free discs they've given away just liek their player count includes BD drives not connected to HDTVs.

Actually, several posters on AVS e-mailed the marketing company releasing Toshiba's figures - they posted e-mails saying specifically that the 5 free movies did NOT count toward the sales figures that were used to calculate the attach rate. I can't seem to find the posts at the moment to link them.

I have a PS3, but just recently bought the 360 add-on for a great price, and am really enjoying it. So far, I have the following HD DVDs:

Children of Men
V for Vendetta
Batman Begins
Planet Earth

I have Heroes Season 1 pre-ordered, and will also buy Battlestar Galactica when it's released.

Any other good HD DVD recommendations? Right now I'm mostly renting Blu-ray and HD DVD discs through Netflix, as I don't feel the need to spend own too many discs (a mistake I made with DVDs -- I have far too many that I haven't watched more than once). But I'd love to hear what people feel are some must-have exclusives, with great PQ and extras.

HD DVD exclusives:

King Kong (this is still my favorite HD DVD in terms of film, audio/video)
The Chronicles of Riddick
The Mummy Returns
Out of Sight
The Bourne Supremacy
The Thing
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Fast and the Furious

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News...x?NewsId=20778

Appeared on: Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Microsoft and Memory-Tech to Accelerate HD DVD Interactivity Features

Memory-Tech and Microsoft formed alliances for HD DVD commercial server technology development and services deployment, related to the HDi interactivity feature.

Memory-Tech and Microsoft have been collaborating for improvement and enhancement of HD DVD VC-1 CODEC and HDi interactivity.

The interactive functions of the HD DVD movie titles are included in the HDi technology. These functions require a network (internet) connecivity between the HD DVD player and specific internet servers, in order to allow viewers to watch extra features and receive information related to the HD DVD movie they watch on their TVs.

Microsoft and Memory-Tech said that they would cooperate in the development of a secure HDi server environment, while they will work with the movie providers (studios), in an effort to and accelerate the deployment of HDi.

"Web connectivity is one of the most important features for wide penetration of HD DVD products in the market. So far Microsoft has been working with Memory-Tech, who is leading HD DVD authoring and replication in the market, to improve and refine VC-1 CODEC. Collaboration for HD DVD server development between the two companies will contribute to acceleration and business growth of the HD DVD format in the world market" says Kazuo Sakai, Vice President, Digital Entertainment Partner Group of Microsoft.

"It is great honor for Memory-Tech to jointly develop HD DVD commercial server and make it available for studio partners with Microsoft. As HD DVD total service company, we would like to continue to support studio partners to develop very attractive HD DVD software for consumer benefits"says Shiroharu Kawasaki, President and CEO of Memory-Tech.

Bandai Visual USA will release this month the first high-definition anime titles in North America - Freedom Volume 1 - in the HD DVD format, which includes HDi network function.

Thanks Mr. Cinema and Adam for the recommendations! Maybe I'll pick up King Kong. That's the only exclusive that I don't already have the SD version of.

I was really disappointed to find out that this disc only has one 24 minute episode, and they're charging $39.99 MSRP (it's 30% off at amazon, but still too expensive, imho). Even in the early '90's when I was buying anime on VHS and Laserdisc, at least we'd get two episodes for that price. I'm not sure what Bandai is thinking with this one, but I doubt they're going to sell too many.

I bought 4 new release HD-DVD's today. Trying to do my part :)

Bandai needs to release some feature length anime titles.

I don't know if there are any plans for a domestic release, but...

(bangs head on wall) .....

ouch!

Okay, that's just freaking ridiculous.

Currency Converter puts 10,290 Yen at $83.46 US. Add shipping and you'll be spending about $100 per disc.

That's not the average price for an HD DVD disc in Japan, is it?

Well it's not that much of a stretch since they released standard dvd sets of each Patlabor movie for around $75. I think they were very limited in release and are already out of print.

Circuit City has finally listed the XA2 on its website. Too bad it's $799.99. But at least they are going to carry it.

Quick question (I'm an HD-DVD newbie): since there is no region coding for HD-DVDs (right?), does that mean an HD-DVD player will play SD DVDs from any region? (or is that too good to be true?)

Too good to be true. The HD DVDs are not region coded so the player will play them. The player won't decode other region SD DVDs.

Thanks.

I really should take the time to learn some stuff about hardware one of these days. :o

Home Theater Toshiba article
 

Reposted...thoughts??


"According to page 88 and 89 of the August 2007 Home Theater magazine the Toshiba HD-A20 HD DVD player does not have a real 1080P output and it also does not deinterlace 1080I correctly.

Home Theater Quote number 1 page 88 August 2007.
“With the deinterlace test from silicon Optix HQF HD DVD, the HD-A20 does not correctly deinterlace 1080I. Worse, it doesn’t detect the 3:2 sequence from film based 1080I material. At first glance, this shouldn’t matter. All HD DVDs are natively 1080p/24 on the disc. But nearly all (some accounts say all), next generation players convert the 1080p/24 on the disc to 1080I first, then back to progressive if desired. Done right, this isn’t a big deal; but, done wrong, it is. If that is what the HD-A20 is doing, then it seems that it’s not performing the last stage correctly. Unfortunately, there is no specific test available to verify this either way.”

Home Theater Quote number 2page 89 August 2007.

“If you want real 1080p, you’ll have to save up for the excellent HD-XA2, which has some of the best processing and scaling of any disc player on the market. Of course, it’s 63 percent more expensive.”

So when comparing second generation HD-DVD players to second generation BLU-RAY players there is only one model of HD-DVD player that has a true 1080P/60 output. The Toshiba HD-XA2 is the only true 1080P/60 HD-DVD player. Perhaps a firmware update this fall to the HD-A20 and the HD-XA2 will offer true 1080P/24 output. BLU-RAY standalone players have had true 1080P/24 output since December 2006. Currently 1080P/24 is not found on any HD-DVD player yet.

Pro-B

The more I read stuff like this the more I feel like a sucker for buying the A20. I should have just stuck with the A1.

Shrug.

I'll never feel like more of a sucker than buying the A2 at launch and having a price drop and 2 free HD-DVDs added within 3 months.

That sort of loyalty turned me from a hardcore HD supporter to the BD-leaner I am now.

It was historic, seeing new technology suddenly get cheaper just a few short months after it was announced. I know scholars and economists are still debating the cause of this rare and unique occurence.

;)

So what kind of "loyalty" has Sony shown you that trumped Toshiba's treacherous betrayal?