The first HD-DVD player hits the market, and nobody cares!
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Toshiba began selling the first players using the next-generation HD DVD video format Friday, beating the rival Blu-ray disc format to market in a high-stakes competition to deliver theater-quality movies to living rooms.Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said its HD-XA1, priced at about 110,000 yen ($936) is the world’s first commercially available HD DVD player. The product, which has no recording function, is being promised for the United States in April at about $799.
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I don’t fully understand WHY people are getting into this whole next gen DVD thing. First of all the payers are MUY expensive. Secondly, not backwards compatible, meaning you have to rebuy your entire DVD collection. Thirdly, you can’t BACKUP these DVD’s – Translation you break it, your buying it again.
If you want high definition with your existing DVD’s may I recommend the Samsung DVD-HD960. That DVD player scales any DVD up to 720p or 1080i via HDMI or DVI giving you a near High Definition experience. (I know Samsung has a cheaper model – but the HD960 includes a HDMI and HDMI to DVI cable which can cost up to $70 if purchased separately. )
1.blu ray players are backwards compatible 2.the costs will quickly drop to ultimately match the pricing of current (SD)DVDplayers and discs 3. scaling up resolution is utter nonsense. Scaling up from MPEG-2 SD to mimic MPEG-2 HD is trying to simulate resolution that simply isn’t there, like stepping up PCM audio from 44.1k to 88.2k sample rate. 4. You can backup discs, albeit clumsily, with software such as Handbrake, choosing a codec and pixel count. Undoubtedly, there will be dramatic changes in coming years regarding DRM issues and optical disc-ripping software. 5. Today’s HD tvs are actually crap. Canon’s SED will likely usher the death of plasma within, perhaps 10 years, by which time the UHDV paradigm will be starting to come into use, beginning with filmakers embracing the format. Please, research subjects more in the future before promoting unfounded, negative viewpoints.