[YamahaClavinova]

Hello people.
I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question but i though i'd ask anyway. All these HD PJ's etc are all well and good but the question i have is:

When will HD dvd's be available?

I assume new HD dvd players will need to be brought out too. I assume all this will be expensive and a long-winded process with HD dvds slowly comming out and the new players being expensive.

I mean, do you think HD films will be widely available in, say, a years time?

I'm asking this because i'm still to buy a PJ and since i'm on a budget the price is important to me. Everybody goes on about HD (and having seen the demo's i can see why!) but if HD dvd's won't be widely available for a long time then i might as well get something like the Epson TW10H (i think thats the model!) for just over £400 instead of paying double for a HD ready PJ.

I don't have or ever intend getting Sky TV so i don't count that as a potential HD source either.

[Baron Von Doom]

i believe they will start to be released next year sometime. players will be very expensive at first. not sure how much the discs will be but probably not cheap.

[Save_Me]

surely the xbox360 or PS3 will do as a stopgap HD DVD player until the format wars have ended and a winner declared?

[Anim]

the higher res is also a bonus if you use windows/linux desktops.

[sainthalo]

Originally Posted by Save_Me

surely the xbox360 or PS3 will do as a stopgap HD DVD player until the format wars have ended and a winner declared?

i dont think there will be a big format victory this time round - it looks like we're just gonna have two formats and maybe some multiformat players.

to the OP - i watch HD everyday thanks to US HD shows which can be downloaded at or very close to 720p - other than that there are some WMVHD discs available too.

also hidef xbox is spectacular but not really my cup of tea.

[DEANO-B]

Here is a list of hidef films you can buy if you run your PC to your PJ

http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/v...php?t=29769511

translated http://babel.altavista.com/babelfish...3Ft%3D29769511

I found this link in the 'high def' section of these forums posted by DanielTS.

[sainthalo]

Originally Posted by DEANO-B

Here is a list of hidef films you can buy if you run your PC to your PJ

http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/v...php?t=29769511

translated http://babel.altavista.com/babelfish...3Ft%3D29769511

I found this link in the 'high def' section of these forums posted by DanielTS.

Awesome find dude!

[Malky1903]

I was reading a mag this afternoon and it looks like Toshiba will be one of the first to release a HD DVD player. Just mentioned early 2006 but I guess that can be anytime.

[sainthalo]

Should be out shortly in japan as they are advertising it a lot now. will be out for xmas im sure

[YamahaClavinova]

thanks for your replies. So basically it looks like there will be a bit of a wait before HD dvd's and players become both common place and readily affordable.

So from this i conclude that if i buy the Epson now and use it for say a year and a half or 2 years, by the time this much time has passed i should be able to get a nice HD set up for under a grand perhaps.

Since it will be my first PJ i wonder if i will be happy and impressed by the big screen experience even tho the Epson is, by current standards, a fairly basic machine?

[sainthalo]

sounds like a pretty good plan if you dont mind upgrading in a year or so

you might want to consider the 4805 from pixmania as well - a fair bit more but a better machine. if you can get it in usa its under £500.

otherwise the epson shd be okay as a first machine if you havent seen anything better (so dont go demoing better machines now!)

[Anim]

Originally Posted by Malabbey

I was reading a mag this afternoon and it looks like Toshiba will be one of the first to release a HD DVD player. Just mentioned early 2006 but I guess that can be anytime.

There are already a few affordable ones out
3 Hi Def DVD players

Unless ive missed the point?

[Gary Lightfoot]

Those are players that play DVDs (480 or 576 source material) and can output the signal as high definition ratios of 720 or 1080. The OP was asking about HD DVD or Blu-Ray which is a different disk format that contains source material that is 720 or 1080.

Neither format will play on the above 3 players you mention. Good link though and useful for those that want to up-scale their DVDs to a HD format pj.

Gary.

[PJTX100]

Originally Posted by Anim

Unless ive missed the point?

You are not alone, all this upscaling/HD DVD player stuff is largely hype and misleads many people, basically all they do is shift the upscaling work from the display to the player. That said the Oppo does produce amazing pics for the money...PJ

[PJTX100]

Originally Posted by The_Opposite

Since it will be my first PJ i wonder if i will be happy and impressed by the big screen experience even tho the Epson is, by current standards, a fairly basic machine?

I'm sure you will be impressed, it's a good machine by all accounts. Though it's true that high def material isn't mainstream yet, hence WXGA PJs could be viewed as premature by some, WVGA machines like the Epson TW10H (and the Infocus 4805 etc) downscale PAL DVDs to 480 lines (from 576). Though people say you can't tell, I like to get as much definition from DVDs as possible...PJ

[Gary Lightfoot]

Originally Posted by PJTX100

Though people say you can't tell, I like to get as much definition from DVDs as possible...PJ

If the display has less resolution than the source, you'll never make a silk purse out of a sows ear no matter how much resolution you feed it. You may see better colour reproduction and less compression from high def source material though (currently only from HTPC AFAIK), and that can be noticably better than DVD mpg2.

Gary.

I reckon within six months you'd wish you'd got a hi-def pj. I got one and even though I can't buy many hi-def films I've somehow managed to acquire loads of hi-def material, from films to most popular US shows.

As someone mentioned the US has been broadcasting hi-def for a while, people record the digital streams (so no loss of quality) and post them on a couple of newsgroups.

And it makes a big difference, makes the TV we get over here look like crap.

So hi-def material is available and within six months it'll be widely available (and legally).

[Knyght_byte]

tbh i wouldnt worry too much, you said you not worried about Sky, and appropriate HD players and discs wont be cheap or abundent till the end of 2006 by the way things are looking........possibly even longer than that.....so get a PJ that suits your budget now and plays what you do have source wise......

[Knyght_byte]

thought i'd add, if you adopt early it'll cost ya, disc releases for films wont be cheap, most likely as DVD's were priced originally (£25 for double discs, £20 for single discs, with a few cheapo releases of older films that wont be very good conversions for around £15...lol)
the good news of course is that hopefully it will drive DVD prices right down to a tenner at most for a brand new release.....altho i wouldnt bet on it....

unless they bring out the players around £200 mark or cheaper, most people will wonder if its worth it....only those with spare money and a HD TV will bother....lol

i ended up going for a HD projector, but for me it wasnt the films that swayed me as much as my computer...lol..i play games a fair bit, and having 1280x720 available to me on my PJ was the deciding factor...heh)

[Save_Me]

admitedly this article is from February, but it says that HDDVDs should be out now anyone else know anything about this?

[inzaman]

admitedly this article is from February, but it says that HDDVDs should be out now anyone else know anything about this?

According to this thread they have officially been released in japan.