HD DVD on CRT

[Maki]

When HD DVD's are available, how will they look on a normal CRT. Will the be just as SD or will there be some improvement on this?

[Van300]

No improvement beyond SD possible with a normal CRT.

[williamtassone]

iF THE BLU-RAY/HD-DVD players will come with high bandwith component video out plugs you will see a spectacular difference. Haven't you seen how magnificent true HD broadcast looks on a High Def CRT (eg panny/Sony) when the signal is running in via component? Unfortunately for copyright/encryption purposes Toshiba and Sony will release their HD dvd players without analogue video out ports.Time will tell

[Van300]

Hidef material will be sent via HDMI(DVI) only for copyright protection. I very much doubt that they will allow component output at hidef.

[lambonl]

I noticed a huge difference watching sky's NFL broadcasts when they were showing FOX's Hi-Def coverage verus CBS SD broadcasts. Granted the difference between NTSC and Hi-Def is pretty big, maybe all I was seeing was the difference between NTSC and PAL, but it was crystal clear.

[Starburst]

There is little point in buying a High Def source (optical disk, broadcast HD) if you only have a PAL only spec display.
There may indeed be some improvments since the source material will be a higher standard but by the time it's been converted to a format that your TV can handle the difference will be very marginal and not even significant with compared to a DVD source.

The cost of HD hardware (HD-DVD, Blu-ray, SKY HD etc) will be hard to justify to anyone who intends to watch on a "normal" standard definition PAL television.

[NinjaShredder]

You'll get better sound with next gen DVD if you have a good sound system!

[David Mackenzie]

Originally Posted by lambonl

I noticed a huge difference watching sky's NFL broadcasts when they were showing FOX's Hi-Def coverage verus CBS SD broadcasts. Granted the difference between NTSC and Hi-Def is pretty big, maybe all I was seeing was the difference between NTSC and PAL, but it was crystal clear.

Yeah, if they take an NTSC source and blow it up to PAL, the standards converter has to pull 100 lines out of nowhere. Taking Hi-Def and scaling it down of course as you said will look much nicer.

[ahin4114]

Nobody has mentioned that HD DVD and Blu-ray will have lower compression ratios. Therefore I would expect that even on a SD CRT you would have a noticable improvement in picture quality due to less compression.

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by ahin4114

Nobody has mentioned that HD DVD and Blu-ray will have lower compression ratios. Therefore I would expect that even on a SD CRT you would have a noticable improvement in picture quality due to less compression.

There may indeed be some improvments since the source material will be a higher standard

High Def video is compressed far more than DVD and current broadcast digital sources are thanks to the various mpeg4 codecs that will be on offer compared to the older mpegII codec.
That higher qaulity source will then have to been converted to PAL spec which is why the benefits will be negligible.

The point I was making was the cost of the new technology will be so high compared to what we have now that any slight improvment would be a total waste if you don't invest in a suitable screen.
After all the vast majority of DVD's right now look good via RGB scart on a normal telly, connect via component with a TV capable of progressive scan then you bump up another notch.
Spending around £500 in the first year for SKY HD and only viewing on a normal telly is a waste, buying a HD optical based system just for pre-recorded movies and viewing on a normal TV is a waste.

Of course it's their money so they are free to spend it on what they want

[ahin4114]

Sorry Starburst, did notice your comment after I posted mine, but I thought I'd let the blood hit the water

The weakest link in the chain will be the conversion to PAL, as I think regardless of the compression used on the HD material (which although more intense is more efficient) the extra detail in the picture will still be apparent on an SD screen.

I agree however that anybody investing cash into HD source material whether it be satellite broadcast of HD media, would be well advised to upgrade their display to the standard first.

[Vince M]

The mandate for HD DVD is 720p & 1080i..You need a 1920 x 1080 display ideally.
Having regularly watched D-Theatre at 1080i on high res.crt projectors-IF HD DVD is as good as D-Theater it will be awesome!!
Huge step up from dvd-and the thing to remember is that dvd`s now are mastered at 480 lines to start with-even PAL.
If you do the maths,480 x 60Hz compared to 576 x 50Hz is the same..
There has never been a benefit with Region 2 over 1.
It will be the same scenario for HD DVD..

[Quickbeam]

Originally Posted by projectiondream

The mandate for HD DVD is 720p & 1080i..

Yes - it is a little disappointing that Toshiba isn't interested in promoting 1080p, given that there are already 37" 1080p LCDs available for $2000 in the USA, and that's before HD-DVD has even launched. Delivering a film in 1080i to a flat panel that can accept and display 1080p is not ideal because so few of the displays on sale today have 1080i film detection.

The HD-DVD camp's apparent decision to use 1080i is mentioned in this article (link):

For those hoping for 1080p from HD DVD, don't hold your breath—Toshiba confirmed that the data is recorded on HD DVD in 1080i, and there are no plans to change that. The players have already been designed for 1080i discs, and it would take a redesign to enable them to handle 1080p discs, even if there were plans to produce them.

Let's hope Blu-ray doesn't bottle it and offers 1080p native.

[Vince M]

I doubt BLU-RAY will offer 1080p,certainly with all the studios support for HD DVD and only Disney backing BLU-RAY-the format geared to win is HD DVD mainly because of the ease of turning a normal dvd manufacturing over to HD DVD is simple-and not expensive.
BLU-RAY is a whole different ballgame & looks more geared to become a recording format.
The resolution of 1080 lines interlaced-If put through a scaler can be outputted at 1080p...though bear in mind there are no more lines of TRUE resolution-just the image is projected progessive scanned as opposed to interlaced.

[Goose74]

I dont understand why HD-DVD and BlueRay wont go with 1080p - since they dont need to use mpeg2 but can use the more effecient mpeg4 there is no isue over storage space or bandwidth. My guess is that this will change and we will see 1080p.