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At a recent Toshiba road show in the US they demonstrated their upcoming HD-DVD specification and a few more details became available as to what we can expect from the format when it launches in the US late November.It will launch with 89 titles available in HD. The audience reaction was very positive to the comparable images shown in both standard DVD and HD-DVD.

The most interesting thing for people buying TVs at the moment is that Toshiba have stated that their HD-DVD Player will ONLY output high Def on the player's HDMI output ,the analogue output will be downrezed to 480 lines. The Toshiba player will also have a USB interface to allow connection to computers for enhanced content and interactive options direct off the disk. In addition mastering of the underlying DVD content will be based on 1080p - but there was no discussion on the resolution of the MPEG4 images.

The HD-DVD disk will come in 3 sizes when first launched. There will be 15Gb / 30Gb / 45Gb disks,and there will also be a fourth variety which will have a SD-DVD version on the reverse side of the disk, allowing retailers to have a single version of new films on the shelves and allow consumers to build a library before they have the equipment.

As you can see Toshiba will be trying to ensure that studios are confident in the security that they are offering with HD output only being available on the secure digital outputs (HDMI and IEEE1394). So once again if you are thinking about buying a HD capable screen make sure it has HDMI.

Isn't Toshiba the one whose "standard" probably won't be the standard?

I have a HDMI input, but Toshiba will have to get back to me when and if they win the format war. Good old regular DVD will do for the next couple of years.

Still an unknown.

My cable box (Scientific Atlanta) has an HDMI output. I also have a Toshiba HDTV (bought the TV before our cable even had HD, so that is really just a coincidence for this thread).

This actually caught my eye more that anything, though. Are we still talking about a console box type player?

Blu-ray + full res component = teh win. They should do it.

That's standard right now for upconverting players due to the silly rules the MPAA and others are imposing. Only a few are breaking the rules, and they are non-mainstream. This really isn't a shock.

my rptv only has a dvi input. i really hope a dvi to hdmi adapter will work with it. but i'd rather have the option of component at full res still though.

Any dvd player of any HD format will only output hi-def through the HDMI output/input. Old news. The dvi and USB will also work. People with analog tvs will have to stick to the composite hookups and really shouldn't even bother buying a HD dvd player. What I'm looking forward to is the fact that since the players will be backward compatible, we will be able to watch our standard dvds through the HDMI, which noticeably sharpens the picture. I've seen this demonstated with a Samsung "upscaler" player and was impressed. Even if I never buy a hi-def dvd I'll buy a player for this reason alone, that is when 5 disc changers are available at a reasonable price.

As I have said before, I think that this is a lawsuit in the making, not to mention a nice way to say "fuck you" to early adopters. My TV does not have an HDMI port, but tha does not mean it is an analog TV, it is digital.

Someone will release the component to HDMI adapter just like the RCA to RF adapter.

I have watched a lot of programming on the HDMI and Component cables and HDMI has never seemed that much better. There IMHO was no difference in my HD satelite using HDMI over component. I prefer my old ass DVD player over my brothers brand new upscaling HDMI using model as well. Because it is HDMI, if the title is non-anamorphic or the features are non-anamorphic you can not change the picture size and everything is stretched. Since I have a good deal of non enhanced titles and like special features that is a big deal to me. These are just my opinions and just used to illustrate how this whole subject is a matter of opinion. Oh, and one other thing, I am not looking foward to buying a new theater receiver. Mine is only a couple of years old, but it does not have HDMI switching so I will need a new one so that I can plug multiple HDMI sources into my sytem. Then what do I do with the $1500 system I am replacing. Needless to say I would much rather have my HD coming from component. If I have to buy a modified box to get it I will.

I don't think that's possible. That's taking digitial video and making it analog video through a cable.

If your TV has a DVI input, it will be fine. If it doesn't have either, then what's the sense of having a "digital" TV with only analog inputs?

Not only would the "adaptor" have to convert digital to analog (making it a transcoder, which is much more expensive than an adaptor), it would also have to decrypt the HDCP, which violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

It isn't going to happen, not from a legitimate source anyway. I'm sure some pirate or some kid with a home PC will find a way to hack HDCP eventually, but those of us who choose to stay on the right side of the law are screwed.

An adapter will work, DVI and HDMI are nearly interchangeable. IF your TV has HDCP.

yeah hdmi is basically dvi with audio also, correct? i just checked my manual and it calls my dvi a dvi/hdcp input, so that is good to know. i feel really bad for people who bought a $1000+ tv and have to replace it just because of an input port.

We knew about the component issue for a long time now.

The big news here is the confirmation of the dual sided discs being approved to use. As much as I hate 2 sided discs this is pretty good thinking by the Hd-dvd group. Even if you aren't buying into a new format, the cost of the Hd version is going to be built right into the new standard dvds coming out.

Not quite. Not all DVI is DVI/HDCP, i.e., DVI that supports the HDCP protocol. Some sets and projectors that first appeared with DVI inputs did not support HDCP. See this article at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...s-11-2004.html

What's the sense of having a "digital" TV with only analog inputs?

I think you're confused. A digital TV is one that can accept and display progressive scan input and high definition signals using the component analog inputs - the only kind of inputs that exist on thousands of HDTVs in homes today, including my 4 year old Pioneer Elite. The picture is tremendous. You don't need digital (DVI or HDMI) inputs for high definition. So this restriction is a big deal to earlier adopters like me who have perfectly good HDTVs but won't be allowed to participate in these new formats without upgrading to a new TV. It's all in the name of copy protection. People like me who have no interest in illegally copying HD content will suffer as a result. Thanks Hollywood.

http://www.dvdfile.com/news/viewpoin...005/04_06.html
http://www.dvdfile.com/news/viewpoin...005/05_18.html

Having the same set myself, I am interested in these developments.

However I use an HTPC as my primary DVD player and I find it hard to believe that I won't be able to pass an HD-DVD signal out my video card's VGA port right into the Pioneer. As long as there's a software player for HD-DVD that allows you to view on your monitor, that would have to work.

Most owners of HDTV have sets that only came with component inputs. By not offering HD-DVD/Blu-ray players that offer component outputs, the manufacturers are basically saying "FU" to the consumer. Most consumers will therefore not be upgrading to the HD-DVD/Blu-ray format. Translation: Unless these companies get their acts together and forget the greed, then we can expect HD-DVD/Blu-ray to become the "laserdisc" of the 21st century. Long live standard DVD!

"Most" is very much an exaggeration. The majority of the HD sets out there have been sold in the past few years, and virtually all of them have HDCP-capable digital inputs. Early adopters are getting screwed, and while I agree that that's not cool, saying that "most owners of HDTV" are component-only is incorrect.

How do you know it's incorrect? I have 2 HDTVs, one bought in 2002, the other just last year and neither have HDMI inputs. I believe most people who have bought an HDTV set to date probably own sets that don't have HDMI as well. For what you are saying to be true, it would mean almost no one bought an HDTV in the last 4 or 5 yrs, then suddenly in the last year mostly everyone bought one...stats will prove this to be wrong. I stand by what I said...most people own HDTVs that only have component inputs. That's not to say eventually HDMI sets won't outnumber component only sets (of course they will), but not now they don't. What this will say to those of us with component only is "we got screwed". That's fine...I'll do my part to get back at the greedy manufacturers...I don't plan on buying into the HD-DVD/Blu-ray format ever...Just like laserdisc, I can enjoy watching them fail. Yet another format doomed by greed.

Like I said -- HDCP-compliant digital inputs have been standard issue for the past few years, and the past few years have been when the majority of HDTVs were sold. Do a lot of people have HDTVs without HDMI/HDCP-capable DVI? Sure. Does that number encompass "most" (meaning "more than half") HDTV owners? No.

Edit -- first of all, your comment about Laserdisc is ridiculous, which makes me wonder if you're worth having this sort of common-sense argument with in the first place. (A failed format typically doesn't last a decade and a half.) Second, I'd be willing to bet that unless you bought a very outdated model, your newer TV has an HDCP-capable DVI input or iLink/Firewire, both of which will work with HD-DVD. I believe the number of component-only HDTVs is somewhere around 5 million, which is a hair over a quarter of the total number of HDTVs expected to be sold by year's end.

That's a good point X. If they don't allow Hd-dvd out the VGA port then Toshiba would be giving the computer market to Blu-Ray. Considering they are already losing the GB battle I can't see this happening as well. If you can't play movies on your computer why would they be planning on selling HD drives?

I believe that so far the VGA ports have all been capable of HD resolution on HT sources. Not component, but VGA. Also, if you are an HTPC user, this is a no-brainer. Get a card with DVI.

Wow! What are your models and brands? We have 3 now and all of them at least have DMI or HDMI. (and can dumb down to composite - amazed if you don't even have that.)

And your comment on LaserDisc, that's just laughable.

Neither HD-DVD nor Blu-Ray will allow analog HD output, not through component video, not through VGA. If you want to add a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive to your computer, you will need to add a DVI/HDMI output and a DVI/HDMI capable monitor.