HD DVD Player?

[Steve325]

I just picked up a cheaper Olevia 26" HD and I'm out in the market for a new DVD player. I was talking to a best buy and he said the cheaper ones aren't "true" HD and are digitally converted. I'd like to get a real one for a decent price, does anyone have any recommendations? I own an XBOX 360, so I thought about going that route

I'd like to find one with no HD upconversion

 

[DaveSimmons]

Regular DVDs only contain 480i data no matter what you play them on. Either the player or the TV can upconvert but the player will only do a little better job than a good TV.

For "true" HD you need a blu-ray or HD-DVD player and blu-ray or HD-DVD discs. FYI, Netflix rents both, no extra charge over their regular DVD rates.

 

[InFeXiOn]

Get the HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 - it is clearly the best value for you right now. You're going to score a player for what? A measly $199, compared to the ~$500 prices on stand-alone players that do <b>exactly</b> the same thing. I read about some technical differences where the add-on for the 360 doesn't have certain audio/video codecs that those hardcore people use but Microsoft is constantly releasing firmware updates; so they will be there in the future no doubt. In fact, on Major Nelson's blog he addressed that and said a firmware update to include everything the add-on is lacking is well under production, and told everyone to sit tight.

It's your best option, and for $200 for high definition video - why not?

 

[Rage187]

I also recommend the HD DVD addon for the 360. HD DVD Movies are amazing. plus it comes with King Kong and a remote.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Rage187
I also recommend the HD DVD addon for the 360. HD DVD Movies are amazing. plus it comes with King Kong and a remote.

How do they fit him into the box? 🙂

 

[ForumMaster]

as every one else said, get the HD-DVD add on. the cheapest player out there plus it comes with the HD-DVD version of the movie King Kong to satisfy RebateMonger. great piece of hardware.

 

[Steve325]

can someone clear this up? if I was to buy this HD-DVD player, then all of my previous DVD's would only play in 480p?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Steve325
can someone clear this up? if I was to buy this HD-DVD player, then all of my previous DVD's would only play in 480p?

They can be "usampled" or "upscaled" by a player or a TV but the data on the disc is 480i.

There is no hidden data on the discs. When you upsample you add faked imaginary pixels to the pixels that are really on the discs. You then use tricks like "edge enhancement" to guess where to sharpen edges like when there is a major change in color (skin tone to a blue wall for example).

The xbox can do this, or your TV can do this with even a $20 DVD player that outputs 480i.

 

[Steve325]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: Steve325
can someone clear this up? if I was to buy this HD-DVD player, then all of my previous DVD's would only play in 480p?

They can be "usampled" or "upscaled" by a player or a TV but the data on the disc is 480i.

There is no hidden data on the discs. When you upsample you add faked imaginary pixels to the pixels that are really on the discs. You then use tricks like "edge enhancement" to guess where to sharpen edges like when there is a major change in color (skin tone to a blue wall for example).

The xbox can do this, or your TV can do this with even a $20 DVD player that outputs 480i.

thanks for the info. I'm debating on even wasting my money on this now. I'd like a nice picture, but it just doesn't seem worth it to upgrade to all HD movies when blu-ray seems like it's gonna be taking over soon anyways

 

[DaveSimmons]

If you have Netflix it might be worth it since they rent HD-DVD discs for no extra charge.

Your existing DVDs will look slightly better if the fake-pixel-adding is done by the xbox insead of by the TV, but only slightly.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: Steve325

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: Steve325
can someone clear this up? if I was to buy this HD-DVD player, then all of my previous DVD's would only play in 480p?

They can be "usampled" or "upscaled" by a player or a TV but the data on the disc is 480i.

There is no hidden data on the discs. When you upsample you add faked imaginary pixels to the pixels that are really on the discs. You then use tricks like "edge enhancement" to guess where to sharpen edges like when there is a major change in color (skin tone to a blue wall for example).

The xbox can do this, or your TV can do this with even a $20 DVD player that outputs 480i.

thanks for the info. I'm debating on even wasting my money on this now. I'd like a nice picture, but it just doesn't seem worth it to upgrade to all HD movies when blu-ray seems like it's gonna be taking over soon anyways

blu-ray is not going to be taking over anytime soon, if ever. HD-DVD is here to stay IMO.

 

[NaOH]

My gf got me a hd-drive for my 360 this xmas. I love the thing except for the fact that the movie selection is a bit slim. I don't get why they don't release The Matrix or something yet. The only movie i'd definitely get on blu-ray is the two spiderman movies. Damn sony owns them.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: Rage187
I also recommend the HD DVD addon for the 360. HD DVD Movies are amazing. plus it comes with King Kong and a remote.

How do they fit him into the box? 🙂

After falling off the Empire State Building, I hear he folds up easily. 😛


AMDually, yep... The title race has about 120 titles available in each format. Slim, but getting better. New releases seem to be including HD of whichever the studio supports.