[The News Bot]

Toshiba says it will respond “within weeks” to the recent decision by Warner to support only Blu-ray going forward. “We will consult with our HD DVD partners and look at the business opportunities worldwide before going forward. We believe that Warner is wrong to say that the customer has already decided that it wants Blu-ray [...]
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[Badger0-0]

Consumers need to upgrade from standard def to high def

No, they flaming don't, IMO
You need us to upgrade so you can keep the revenue streams up.

This is what really irks me, the utter arrogance surrounding it all from the BD camp.

The "within weeks" comment tells me the HD camp are in complete and utter disarray, sadly

[sbowler]

This is very bad news for HD whichever format, it signals to future buyers to wait and see which format wins out.
I for one am sitting on the fence waiting, and thats not good for either format.

[jonstannes]

Same here in no rush to buy a HD player,got sky HD stick with that for the time being.While the HD war rages on,and at the end of the day they are the losers as Joe Blogs is not buying into HD players.But saying that if the price of a dual HD player drops below the £100 price mark then myself and a lot of other people would buy into it.

[Jonstone]

Originally Posted by sbowler

This is very bad news for HD whichever format, it signals to future buyers to wait and see which format wins out.
I for one am sitting on the fence waiting, and thats not good for either format.

Warners decision was calculated to end the format war and it probably will so the people who were 'waiting and seeing' will know that blu ray is the way to go.

Unless the hd-dvd backers can announce something substantial in the next couple of weeks then it is pretty much dead in the water.

I personally would have liked to see the format war ended by every studio announcing it would support both formats but I guess the industry doesn't want the headache of supplying multiple formats

[Cool-hand]

Ha ha ha these forums must have some impact on the hd production world... releasing empty statements to try and calm down the panic..

the hd-dvd camp is gonna have to move very very fast now.....

Ding..... ding... ding.... dong.... the death knell sounds...

[Badger0-0]

Well I'd guess that most of the people who have bought into the HD formats are nerdy types like us who read these forums
I agree, I can't see how they're going to come back from this.
It wouldn't surprise me if the statement in a few weeks is a total capitulation

Shame really, as I feel HD-DVD was much better implemented from the off.
Still, at least it would get the stupid format war out of the way.
I still wouldn't buy until the prices drop big time though.
I just don't see the value ATM.

[Mark_a]

Unless you've got a TV bigger than 50", or a projector, there is no benefit to HiDef. the perceived differences are just too small to warrant the expenditure.

Regards

Mark

[Cool-hand]

and sound?

[Cool-hand]

Originally Posted by Badger0-0

Well I'd guess that most of the people who have bought into the HD formats are nerdy types like us!

I resent that remark sir!!! Now wheres that Unix book for that Gawk command!?

[Kenny Glasgow]

Originally Posted by Mark_a

Unless you've got a TV bigger than 50", or a projector, there is no benefit to HiDef. the perceived differences are just too small to warrant the expenditure.

Regards

Mark

eh?

[Badger0-0]

I agree. I watch my 42" at 10-11 ft and can see a big difference between SD and HD on VM.
And my eyesight isn't brill these days.

[Jonstone]

Originally Posted by Badger0-0

I agree. I watch my 42" at 10-11 ft and can see a big difference between SD and HD on VM.
And my eyesight isn't brill these days.

Comparing poor sd on an hd screen with hd on the same screen is not a fair comparison and the differences would be huge irrespective of the resolution.

[Badger0-0]

I don't quite understand what you're saying there
What other comparison is there?
The consensus is that the VM upscaling, given a decent bitrate, is actually pretty good anyway. Even so, BBC HD is noticably better and I don't think the bitrate is even that good recently.

[Crabman32]

Originally Posted by Cool-hand

I resent that remark sir!!! Now wheres that Unix book for that Gawk command!?

I too resent that statement. May the force be with you.

[D65]

Originally Posted by Mark_a

Unless you've got a TV bigger than 50", or a projector, there is no benefit to HiDef. the perceived differences are just too small to warrant the expenditure.

Regards

Mark

Picture quality of my tosh e1 playing hd is in another league compared to sd material on my 42" pio.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by Mark_a

Unless you've got a TV bigger than 50", or a projector, there is no benefit to HiDef. the perceived differences are just too small to warrant the expenditure.

Regards

Mark

Eh? Have you watched a HD-DVD or Blu-ray?

If you have a decent DVD player with a good DVD transfer then there is very little difference to HD on smaller TVs.

[Shaun666]

Originally Posted by Mark_a

Unless you've got a TV bigger than 50", or a projector, there is no benefit to HiDef. the perceived differences are just too small to warrant the expenditure.

Regards

Mark

Couldn't disagree more. The differences between SD and HD are clearly visible at normal viewing distances. In fact the difference is as big as it was between VHS and DVD in my opinion and sport is a revelation in HD.

[Helicon]

If people are struggling to see the difference between SD and HD, they need only look at a long shot during a film. Anything close to the camera will look ok on SD, but once an object gets any further than 20 feet away from the camera, it just loses definition, and once it's in the distance, it's a blob.

By saying that they're going to announce a new strategy very shortly, Toshiba are just going to confuse things all over again and give HD-DVD owners false hope. Toshiba just need to pat each other on the backs, tell each other it was fun while it lasted, and give it up and accept defeat. They're not going to come back from this now. Once Universal see the error of their ways, everyone can relax and enjoy HD without any worries.

It's nice to see an end to this format war. It was no good for the public or the retailers. Get my PS3 this month, build up a nice little collection of films, then buy a nice player next year

[Badger0-0]

Originally Posted by Donkel

If you have a decent DVD player with a good DVD transfer then there is very little difference to HD on smaller TVs.

Smaller as in below 37", I'd probably agree

[Badger0-0]

Originally Posted by Helicon

If people are struggling to see the difference between SD and HD, they need only look at a long shot during a film. Anything close to the camera will look ok on SD, but once an object gets any further than 20 feet away from the camera, it just loses definition, and once it's in the distance, it's a blob.

By saying that they're going to announce a new strategy very shortly, Toshiba are just going to confuse things all over again and give HD-DVD owners false hope. Toshiba just need to pat each other on the backs, tell each other it was fun while it lasted, and give it up and accept defeat. They're not going to come back from this now. Once Universal see the error of their ways, everyone can relax and enjoy HD without any worries.

It's nice to see an end to this format war. It was no good for the public or the retailers. Get my PS3 this month, build up a nice little collection of films, then buy a nice player next year

I reluctantly somewhat agree with you.
Twice in one day? This can't be right

IF, and it's a big if, the war is over, I'm glad you approve mate, because this will mean prices will not fall to reasonable levels for consumers, IMO.
It was no good for the retailers? I agree. The price for the best format was falling way too fast. In all honesty, I hope BD goes tits up shortly too, the way I really think it will.
As I've been saying for well over 18 months, the future is in downloads.
And yes I've heard all the negative arguments (the net is too slow etc).
If it doesn't come via cable (and I accept it might not for a while), the thought of a £5 HD download is better than a £15 disc, IMO.
Where's your wedge gone then?
You should be worried too mate, IMO, as you're going to be taken out of the loop.
Although people thought I was mad when I first mentioned downloads, you'll find that a lot more people are saying similar now.
And you know how it works. What the public wants, the public gets

Sometimes.

[wombatman]

[QUOTE=Mark_a;6188103]Unless you've got a TV bigger than 50", or a projector, there is no benefit to HiDef. the perceived differences are just too small to warrant the expenditure.

Regards

Mark[/QUOTE

Wow your standards must be really high. I can certainly see a big difference on my 42"... perhaps you are using non-HD sources?

[Cool-hand]

Originally Posted by Helicon

Toshiba just need to pat each other on the backs, tell each other it was fun while it lasted, and give it up and accept defeat.

Mmmh but what if.... just what if.... they do have an ace up their sleave?

What an end that would be!! Hey, they could make a movie about it

CH

[Cool-hand]

And release it on BD?!

[Helicon]

Originally Posted by Cool-hand

Mmmh but what if.... just what if.... they do have an ace up their sleave?

I doubt it

What an end that would be!! Hey, they could make a movie about it

[youngsyp]

Originally Posted by Mark_a

Unless you've got a TV bigger than 50", or a projector, there is no benefit to HiDef. the perceived differences are just too small to warrant the expenditure.

Regards

Mark

Another well thought out comment.... Those who make sweeping judgements like that have clearly never seen a well set up HD source and display !

I sit 14' away from my 40" panel and I can clearly see a marked picture quality difference between SD and HD, across all sources. Heck, just changing the calibration settings by small amounts is noticable.
Just to back this up, I played a HD-DVD combo of Eastern Promise last night, both in HD-DVD and DVD and the difference was very noticable. I also regularly compare SD broadcasts with HD broadcasts and again, the difference is quite clear

It is certainly true though that you will notice a bigger difference with a bigger panel/display hence, why I'll be buying a 52" panel this year.

Of course, that's without even mentioning the higher quality HD sound formats....

Paul

[kevin_irl]

Originally Posted by Badger0-0

Smaller as in below 37", I'd probably agree

Ive got a 32" hd samsung and blurays look stunning on it. Much better than dvd.

[Mark_a]

Yes it can be seen that there are improvements especially on larger TVs between SD and HD. However, for the great majority of users they don't spend their time looking for marginal improvements, they watch the TV/Movie for its own sake. It's like folks hung up on music fidelity listen to their systems to check the fidelity. The vast majority don't, they listen to the music. And it is this reason why HD hasn't taken off, not the confusion over a formats war - though that hasn't helped. But if anyone thinks that now that BD has all but won there'll be a huge upswing in consumer purchasing of HD then they're in for a great disappointment. This is especially true now that there is even less incentive for Sony and its followers to lower prices. Until such time as Joe public can walk into Tescos and see a BD player for £100 or less, and movies for £10 or less, then DVD will still grab 90% (or more) of the market.

Regards

Mark

And for the record I own a 52" HD TV fed by a calibrated Lumagen and an HD projector feeding a 103" screen, both fed from a PS3 if I want to watch a movie that way, though I usually spend my PS3 time shooting Germans.

[alpine101]

Originally Posted by kevin_irl

Ive got a 32" hd samsung and blurays look stunning on it. Much better than dvd.

I agree, I 'only' have a 32inch Panasonic, but the difference between HD and the best SD, or upscaled SD from my Oppo, is still quite clear. But I did get new glasses last year!