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$99 HD-DVD Player Coming Soon?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the first-one's-free dept.

Frank writes "Rumors of the high definition holy grail persist. The latest is that Toshiba will be offering their basic HD-A2 player at $99 for one week only, beginning July 22. An added bonus is three free HD-DVD's."

5 of 257 comments (clear)

  1. To show attendees by the sounds of it by DrXym · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The blog makes it sound like only show attendees may be able to apply for this. I don't see how they could offer it to the general public unless Toshiba was prepared to lose hundreds of millions in a last gasp bid to win the format war.

  2. Optic storage is losing the format war by BlueParrot · · Score: 3, Interesting

    We know for sure that SONY cannot win a format war because then the universe would implode. We also know that Toshiba is not winning this format war. The logical conclusion is that the whole HD-DVD concept is about to fail miserably in favour of increased internet bandwidth and magnetic storage. Heck, the standard offers over where I am is already in excess of 5 mbit. By the time either HD DVD format has a chance to overtake DVD ( guessing 5-10 years at least ) it will be more than enough to doom the entire HD-DVD concept. Unless the MPAA can cripple broadband deployment in key markets ( read US ) sufficiently of course.

  3. Annoying intros,trailers by zymano · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I will be pissed still if we can't FF through those damn things.

    If i buy it I should be able to CONTROL MY DAMN MACHINE.

    Sue the manufacturers?

  4. Re:I wouldn't buy it by santakrooz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    1080p vs 1080i is a non-feature when it comes to HDDVD or BluRay that Sony has "invented" for marketing purposes. Here is why. Movies are filmed at 24 frames per second. They are displayed at 30frames or 60frames per second on high def DVD formats. All HDDVD and BluRay content is stored on disc in "1080p" meaning 1080x1920 full frame non-interlaced. Your 1080p display can take 1080i input from a 1080i source such as the A2 and will recombine fields to create full frame images. 1080p displays don't actually display anything interlaced. So when you're watching a 1080i source on a 1080p television you are actually effectively seeing 1080p 30frames per second instead of 1080p 60frames per second. You will not see a single bit of difference because the content is 24fps to begin with. Even 100% digitally filmed/produced movies such as CG cartoons (Nemo) or movies (Star Wars Prequels) are still mastered at 24fps...

    1080p is good for displaying 1080 content that is higher than 30 frames per second - such as video games. Basically with 1080i you're limited to 30 frames per second at 1080 vs 60 frames for 1080p. Playstation has 1080p because it's a game machine and 1080p provides potential for higher framerates at 1080 for gaming which is advantageous. But for movies? the difference betweek i and p is meaningless.

  5. Re:I wouldn't buy it by Shabbs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    1080p is marketing hype. Feeding a 1080i or a 1080p signal to a 1080p TV will be EXACTLY the same if the source is HD DVD or Blu-ray.

    Now, 1080p/24 is interesting. The HD-A20 and XA2 are going to be getting firmware updates to allow 1080p/24 output. The HD-A2 will not get this update. That is cool, if you have a 1080p/24 device you can watch HD film as it should be. But, how many people have a 1080p/24 display device? How many are even out there? Very few.

    Cheers.

    --
    Mark