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Toshiba Introduces U.S. First HD DVD Players
Roy R writes "Toshiba America Consumer Products unveiled today the market launch details for its line-up of the first High Definition DVD players for the U.S. market. The new HD DVD players, models HD-XA1 and HD-A1, will take advantage of the superior capabilities of the HD DVD format.
The players will output copy-protected HD content through the HDMI interface in the native format of the HD DVD disc content of either 720p or 1080i."
I don't care about being able to play a media there is nothing to play, it would have made more sense to release recorders first so there would actually be some media for the players to play, plus I want to use them for backups. :)
Begun, the HDMI massacre has.
Global warming is a cube.
Most PC-internal DVD players allow you to change regions 5 times by default.
External ones, as in for a TV... well, there are ways.
Try searching for "region free" and your model number.
Oh, and if a Mr. Valenti or Mr. Cheney call, you don't know me.
By NL do you mean The Netherlands? Just get either a step-down adaptor so you can still use your old DVD player, or if that isn't an option, get a Region Free player from somewhere. They start at less than £20 on Amazon UK, so you should be able to find a reasonable one easily enough.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
Well, why would you want to watch DVDs when you can smoke all the pot you want?
Oh, wait...
Thanks Toshiba, glad to hear it will only work with HDMI seeing as how my Toshiba HD-Ready TV only has component connections!
I find laziness to be an excellent motivator.
Does anyone else think that picture looks like it is from 1985? Compare it with the first Sony CD player in 1985 - http://history.acusd.edu/gen/recording/images/PDRM 1542a.jpg
It is huge and expensive...I'll wait for it to come down in price and when it can record.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
Back in '97 the cheapest DVD player was over $1000. This isn't like consoles where they sell the hardware at a loss.
But by all means wait until they hit a price you're prepared to pay. Here in the UK my first DVD player was £500. My supermarket now sells players with more functionality for £20.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
There are a lot of generic DVD players that will play DVDs of any region, or have firmware upgrades for any region. The Philips DVP642 is cheap, players PAL, NTSC, and I think region free DVDs as well. It also players XviD and DivX movies as well as a few other popular video formats. I bought my friend one for $70, and it was well worth the money.
I want to view my movies directly from my harddrive, when will the movie/media/music industry get it?
I have a bad feeling, that like DVD, one of the first titles we see will be James Taylor live in concert...
I saw James Taylor live this past summer and it kicked ass. And, believe it or not, he was actually playing an instrument and singing in tune, imagine that!
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
During the keynotes, Peter Moore announced an external HD-DVD player for the XBox 360 as well.
No word if the player would be manufactured by Toshiba, though.
Keynote is here in text form.
Video Game News, FAQs, etc
... that you are supposed to buy DVDs, not watch them !
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
I hope neither will become dominant; I hope both will turn out to be big flops that the general public will avoid for all the DRM shit and the possibility of owning yet another betamax or V2000 system.
People do not want too bloody restrictive DRM, they do not want to make choices like "Shall I buy a player that plays movies from A, B and C or one that plays movies from X, Y and Z?". I hope a big, big flop for both Blue and HD camps will make that pretty clear for both hardware and content producers.
Wenn ist das Nunstueck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput.
Why tell us that bad info is being posted without telling us what the bad info is?
I thought the same thing. I think some people enjoy knowing more then others, and enjoy pointing that fact out. These people don't like to share that information with others, because hey, why bring everyone up to her level?
The Internet is generally stupid
...for one that plays both formats
0 6/01/05/broadcom-unveils-chip-that-plays-blu-ray-h d-dvd/
http://www.aviransplace.com/index.php/archives/20
(apologies if this is already linked)
The players will output copy-protected HD content through the HDMI interface in the native format of the HD DVD disc content of either 720p or 1080i."
Cue the surge in sales of HDMI to non encumbered output dongles.
A buddy of mine was showing me the unit he bought to hook his older HD plasma to his new DVD player with HDMI... how long until these older units start going for high $$$ or a company like lite-on or APEX starts creating units that bypass this stupid DRM?
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
HDMI to component or unprotected DVI boxes are not uncommon any more.. it's been standard in Europe for a while (indeed in the UK it's illegal to call a TV 'HD Ready' unless it has HDMI (leading to the non-HDMI ones being sold as 'HDTV Ready' instead. Sigh.)).
They're still relatively expensive, but once the korean production lines start up that price will drop quite fast.
If both fail I can assure you it won't be because of DRM. The average Joe doesn't care about DRM. If they hook up their new-fangled HD-DVD player to some old TV that doesn't support the right HDMI copy-protection scheme, and it doesn't work, they will just scratch their heads, blame the generic "technology", and return the player perhaps.
If both fail, it will simply be because the average Joe will only see a slight incremental improvement over current DVDs. Remember, average Joe thinks that watching a DVD on his new HDTV is "high-definition". I'm serious. There have been polls done, and most people think it's HD. Given that current DVDs are good enough, there is not a significant reason to buy the new HD-DVD. The improvement from VHS to DVD was a huge leap; form factor, no rewinding, no degrading, better detail in the image, better sound. From DVD to HD-DVD I'm afraid the improvement is just not noticeable to the "consumer". Just look at the new CD and audio DVD formats; sure, they have superior sound quality, but they are just a niche market for the few audiophiles that can appreciate that improvement.
--- witty signature
What I am really looking forward is 1080p output capable HD-DVD players. 2006 year is going to be the year of 1080p HD Displays. Unfortunately, HDMI (as I understand) as a format does not have 1080p output well-defined (or defined at all for that matter). However, 1080p HD displays offer significantly better picture quality than 1080i/720p displays. Costco is offering a 37" flat screen 1080p for $1600. Other ~60 inches 1080p displays are pulling in under 5k at this time - which means they will "soon" come to under $2.5k budget. Once it reaches at that point, many of early HDTV adopters (about 1 million in US) will be itching to upgrade their gear to 1080p capable display. It would be a shame if HD-DVD players (without any valid technical reason) will limit its output to 1080i.
When DVD players first arrived on the market, I paid $600 for a basic featured player. Now, for under $80 you can get one with progressive scan and can play any digital file format on the market today.
I won't be fooled again into paying a premium for HD-DVD players.
First, they are essentially the same technology, simply tweaked to squeeze out more storage space and using a different wavelength of laser. This is hardly technology that required billions or even millions of R&D costs. Like the original DVD player and is close ties to CD technology, HD-DVD is just an extension, not an evolution of DVD technology. Thus, we shouldn't have to pay a huge premium for it.
When you consider that the chassis and most of the components in an HD-DVD player are going to be identical to a regular DVD player (especially the current up-conversion ones), your talking about probably $20 of unique technology that goes into every unit, this doesn't justtify a 400% - 800% markup over regular DVD players.
Second, I won't pay more for HD-DVD titles. I don't care if they required new expensive technology to be mastered, Hollywood is making huge profits on the markup for regular DVD's, some of those initial HD-DVD costs can be absorbed in their current pricing scheme. Your talking about digital data formats, HD-DVD is simply film mastered with a higher bit-rate, again hardly revolutionary or required millions in research to get accomplished. If you start to consider that many movies are filmed digitally these days, conversion from one digital format to another is a brainless activity.
Lastely, what is the difference in quality? I mean, when I compared my first DVD movie to a VHS version, the difference was astonishing. Crystal clear video and digital surround sound sold me on the DVD format. I haven't been entirely blown away by the HD revolution. HDTV quality is good, but I find I can still live with standard def digital cable on a good quality television with a good cable signal. Most HDTV sets I am seeing also are not doing HDTV justice, especially the cheap LCD panels that can't display a good color gamut regardless of their resolution quality. I'll have to wait until I actually see HD-DVD on a good quality HDTV, but I am sure it won't be as ground breaking as the original DVD format.
My reasoning for holding off on adopting HD-DVD is based on past experiences, if I wait a few years, HD-DVD players will be in the $100 range, most movies will be masterd in HD-DVD for the same price, and if Blu-Ray does make an impact, I won't feel like I lost out in another Betamax-VHS or LaserDisc-DVD war.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
But if Joe returns the player because it will not connect to his TV, then it will fail because of DRM.
I do agree with your point that the difference in quality will probably be lost on Joe; except maybe for bragging rights, there is no difference for him.
Wenn ist das Nunstueck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput.
So now I gotta buy all new DVDs? ;-(
Also one word: porn.
If their player only outputs HDMI and not component video, then a great deal of first and second gen HDTVs won't be able to use this. I have a first-gen Panasonic Plasma TV that has component only (although they sold an add-on card to do DVI). So I can't use this.
Reason, free market capitalism, and individualism
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
"..to me it just doesn't matter that much, but I am in no way representative of the public at large..."
You are probably more representative than you know. This is not a VHS vs BETA type BATTLE.
This is DVD-A vs SACD vs CD type battle. Tell me who one that one DVD-A or SACD? CD of course.
Same formula, improve quality, add more DRM (Deny Rights Management) and they will beat a path to your door.
The Philips DVP642 is cheap, players PAL, NTSC, and I think region free DVDs as well. It also players XviD and DivX movies as well as a few other popular video formats.
:P
Philips DVP642 is not region-free out of the box but you need to press certain buttons on the remote (with the DVD tray out for some reason) to make it region free. Let me google to find the button combo.
Ok here are the instructions:
1. Turn on the player.
2. Open the tray.
3. Press the following sequence on the remote:
7 8 9 OK 0
4. The number 0 will appear on the lower left side of your screen.
5. It is now region free.
PS: you paid $12 more than I did
According to a company working on this nanotechnology. . Atomic Holographic Optical Storage Nanotechnology will dramatically improve applications like 6,840 raw uncompressed high quality Video/TV hours, or 2,100,000 chest x-rays, or nearly 10,000,000 high-resolution images, or 30,000 four-drawer filing cabinets of documents, or 20,000 DVD'S Worm's , or 4,000 BLU-Ray Worm disk's, or 100 - 100 gigabyte disk drives or 50 Inphase Holographic Disks on ONE 10 Terabyte 3.5 in. removable disc.
All I'm waiting for is someone to produce a device that intercepts the HDMI signal and strips it of any copy protection bits.
You mean like this?
--NgRemember, average Joe thinks that watching a DVD on his new HDTV is "high-definition". I'm serious. There have been polls done, and most people think it's HD.
Before you get too snarky about the issue it is worth noting that a DVD played on an HD set using its DVI (or HDMI) interface really is higher resolution than consumers have had available before. It provides 720 x 480 interlaced and in many cases (ie if the source is not a TV program) that can be deinterlaced quite well. If you use an NTSC interface like S-Video or composite video then the resolution is reduced to NTSC standard but the resolution of material on a DVD is already higher resolution than NTSC provides. So average Joe isn't a chump, DVD does have the ability to provide higher resolution than was available from cable, broadcast, laserdisc, whatever. (For reference although it is an analog standard which makes it difficult to quantify, you would often get about the equivalent of 320 x 240 resolution from an NTSC source like laserdisc. You also have issues of chroma noise and other distractions).
My suspicion is that DVD could prevail over HD-DVD and Bluray just like audio CD has prevailed over SACD and DVD-Audio. Part of the equation is that it is good enough. The other part is that the price of hard drive storage will continue to plummet. At current prices it still seems like an odd suggestion to keep all your DVDs on a hard drive for convenience and avoid wearing out your original disc. But that same sort of suggestion about music from CDs would have seemed outlandish a few years ago. You can easily rip CD's to your hard drive and the same is true about DVDs. That will not be the case for HD-DVD and Bluray (or at least it won't be true initially). If you want to watch a movie on your video iPod or PSP then a DVD will be a useful source but HD-DVD will not. Same issue for viewing it anywhere on your home network. DVD useful, HD-DVD not. Of course you could always keep track of and carry around your original disc until it stops playing properly. At that point you have the option of replacing the defective media with a full price new copy.