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Gadgets Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Player Released
Brandon Hill (Blog) - December 5, 2006 3:11 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 65 comment(s) - last by ElJefe69.. on Dec 7 at 2:06 AM

Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Player
Sony sends its BDP-S1 out into the real world

When DailyTech last covered news on Sony's BDP-S1 Blu-ray player, it was delayed until October 25. The late October release date would have given the player a three week head start on the headliner Blu-ray player for 2006: the PlayStation 3.

October 25 came and went as did November 14 (the PS3's launch date) with no sight of the BDP-S1. Well, we can now safely say that that Sony's BDP-S1 is finally out the door and should be available in significant quantities in retail stores in time for the holidays.

The BDP-S1 supports 1080p through its HDMI connector, MPEG2, MPEG4-AVC and VC1. For users without a 1080p capable television, the player can fall back to 1080i with component cables. And as expected from a player that rings in this price class, it also upscales regular DVDs to 1080p over the HDMI connector.

The player also supports BD-ROM, AVC-HD and DVD playback on DVD/DVD+R/+RW media. A firmware update will be available in 2007 which allow the BDP-S1 to play BD-R/RE media.

The BDP-S1 is available now from a number of retailers. Best Buy is currently showing the player in stock for $999.99 plus shipping.

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Ah yes
By creathir on 12/5/2006 3:33:18 PM , Rating: 4
Movies that cost twice as much as their SD counterparts...
Players that cost TWICE what the competing format costs...
Content that though has the potential of being greater, so far has not been...

Sounds like a winner to me...

- Creathir




RE: Ah yes
By AnnihilatorX on 12/5/2006 3:43:33 PM , Rating: 2
Who will buy this over PS3 which offers more function and being cheaper?


RE: Ah yes
By creathir on 12/5/2006 3:49:45 PM , Rating: 2
The fella that cannot find a PS3 I guesss...?
Got me...
I'd rather buy and HD-DVD player...
Or, a 360, and buy the HD-DVD add-on (since I already have a 360... thats the most logical solution)
I mean, a 360 with the add-on is the cost of a PS3... but is available...

- Creathir


RE: Ah yes
By deeznuts on 12/5/2006 3:53:46 PM , Rating: 2
Not really. Unless you mean if you get the 360 with rebate for $300AR, and add the HD-DVD drive on. That'll make it $500, same cost as the PS3 20GB version.

I have a PS3. And this is new tech, how many times has it been said and how many times does it have to be said, new tech is expensive how much did DVD players cost when they came out? And add to that inflation etc.


RE: Ah yes
By BladeVenom on 12/5/2006 4:01:49 PM , Rating: 2
The Xbox HD-DVD player will also work in a computer.


RE: Ah yes
By ani4ani on 12/6/2006 5:55:18 PM , Rating: 1
Yep, spend all that money and sit 2 ft from a 17" screen. Cant wait to plug mine into a PC..not.


RE: Ah yes
By bbomb on 12/6/2006 7:21:34 PM , Rating: 2
Well some of us have PC's connected to our big honkin tv's.


RE: Ah yes
By therealnickdanger on 12/5/2006 4:14:43 PM , Rating: 3
Or just buy the HD-DVD add-on for $160 after $30 MIR via Circuit City, then connect it to your HTPC and load PowerDVD HD Edition. Voila! No Xbox360 required, no $500 player...

Sheesh, $1,000 for a player is crazy ridiculous. I know people are buying it and early adopters and so forth, blah blah blah, but it's still extreme. What I would like to know is if this model still uses the Broadcom chip like the BD-P1000 does. Still seems so dumb that all these "1080p" players still convert internally 1080p24-->1080i60-->"1080p". I'm content with my HD-DVD add-on for now, but I think I'll avoid any future hardware purchases until I can get a HD/BD hybrid player that outputs 1080p24/48/72 natively without any internal processing.


RE: Ah yes
By hubajube on 12/5/2006 4:34:24 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Or just buy the HD-DVD add-on for $160 after $30 MIR via Circuit City, then connect it to your HTPC and load PowerDVD HD Edition. Voila! No Xbox360 required, no $500 player...
No friggin way dude!!!!


RE: Ah yes
By hubajube on 12/5/2006 4:38:48 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
PowerDVD HD Edition
Did you mean BD or HD Edition?


RE: Ah yes
By therealnickdanger on 12/5/2006 4:55:18 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Did you mean BD or HD Edition?

HD, as in High-Definition. It is labeled HD-DVD, but AFAIK, it doesn't care whether you use HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, they both use the same codecs, but I've been wrong before. One thing I'm pretty sure of, however is that the HD Edition is only available with the purchase of certain drives. *ahem* I'm sure it exists somewhere in Cyberspace, for those who *cough* are resourceful...

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=325&type=expe...


RE: Ah yes
By encryptkeeper on 12/5/2006 5:19:01 PM , Rating: 1
Ohh, very nice. I'd probably get one of these bad boys and start buying HD-DVDs, but the movies are still too expensive. Not that I'm going to replace any of my DVDs I have now, except maybe Lord of the Rings. The bottom line is if this is already this simple, then Blu Ray is in serious trouble.


RE: Ah yes
By boardstrapd on 12/5/2006 5:30:47 PM , Rating: 2
Do you need to have a video card that has HDCP for the 360 HD-DVD to work on a pc?


RE: Ah yes
By boardstrapd on 12/5/2006 5:38:20 PM , Rating: 2
Just re-read the article. Don't forget you need to add a HDCP video card to your pc, if you don't have one already. Not too many out HDCP cards out there, and the cheapest is over $150. Still a great option for HD on your PC, but I just wanted to point out your current video card might not be able to play HD-DVDs.

List of HDCP cards available:
http://www.htpcnews.com/forums/index.php?showtopic...


RE: Ah yes
By hubajube on 12/5/2006 5:57:47 PM , Rating: 2
Does PowerDVD HD Edition support 1080p? Thanks.


RE: Ah yes
By therealnickdanger on 12/6/2006 9:43:58 AM , Rating: 2
If your graphics card and display both do, then yes. Assuming you have an HDCP-enabled graphics card (sorry, forget to mention that earlier), you'll be able to scale the native 1080p24 source to any size you wish.


RE: Ah yes
By hubajube on 12/6/2006 11:10:10 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
If your graphics card and display both do, then yes. Assuming you have an HDCP-enabled graphics card (sorry, forget to mention that earlier), you'll be able to scale the native 1080p24 source to any size you wish.
Thanks much for the info!!!! Looks like I'm getting an HTPC afterall.


RE: Ah yes
By creathir on 12/5/2006 4:51:32 PM , Rating: 2
Well, I am saying, from a player standpoint, you could purchase the core system and the HD-DVD Player for $499.00. Sure that would not have a hard drive, but it is cheaper than the $1000 BluRay player.

As far as the new tech argument. Tell that to the owners of the HD DVD players. They paid $500 for their players... 8 months ago...

I guess the new tech is expensive... buy the Sony new tech is double the cost... funny how that works...

- Creathir


RE: Ah yes
By deeznuts on 12/6/2006 3:00:04 PM , Rating: 2
Umm, it is well known that HD-DVD is new tech but based largely off the DVD standard, with cheaper implementation and therefore cheaper costs. It is more evolutionary then new. BD is new.

It remains to be seen who will win. By the time someone wins, if either does, we can probably buy them cheap. So buy one now, and buy another later when a $100 player will outperform your few years old $1,000 player. Just the way tech is.

And regarding yoru player standpoint, yeah you can buy a core player and HD-DVD add on, and be $500, which will be cheaper then a $1,000 bluray player. But you can also buy the 20GB PS3 and get a player with a hard drive, and a bluray player which normally cost $1,000. It's hard to argue with the value of the PS3, notwithstanding any PS3/Xbox arguments. And the PS3 is a very very competent player:

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/hd-dvd-bluray/192...

This is coming from a non-gamer just a video/audio-phile. Good read.


RE: Ah yes
By Goty on 12/5/2006 5:02:10 PM , Rating: 2
I'd really like to see a quality comparison between standalone HD-DVD/ Blu-Ray players and their respective console counterparts. I always thought that DVDs looked like crap through either my PS2 or XBOX.


RE: Ah yes
By encryptkeeper on 12/5/2006 5:24:12 PM , Rating: 1
Alot of that could be if you're playing the DVDs through your standard A/V cables. Even S-Video would be better than those.


RE: Ah yes
By Teletran1 on 12/5/2006 8:35:01 PM , Rating: 2
Not this round. Both are fairly decent players and are only going to get better with firmware updates. Both the PS3 and 360 currently have their downfalls but it looks like most of these can be fixed with firmware. The 360 is a bit too loud when watching movies, hopefully this isn't the case once they do the die shrink.

Sony supposedly has a few cool updates in the pipeline for the PS3. DVD – Auto-calibration of the noise reduction filter on a per-title basis via ID lookup. Upscaling is being worked on, and better yet, the extrapolated color information will actually be passed as deep color via HDMI 1.3 instead of filtered out. BluRay @ 1080/24p. Most of these should be available Q1 2007.



RE: Ah yes
By therealnickdanger on 12/6/2006 1:17:34 PM , Rating: 2
LOL @ "Deep Color". "Deep Color" is just snake oil used to sell people on buying new TVs/cables for HDMI 1.3. There is no additional color value beyond the 4:2:0, 8-bit color space used in both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray specs. "Deep Color" would just be a technique implemented by the playback hardware to make up colors that aren't there, much like 24-bit oversampling of 16-bit audio. Whether or not the perceived image is better, one thing you can be sure of is that you are no longer viewing the original source color as it was intended.


RE: Ah yes
RE: Ah yes
By OxBow on 12/5/2006 5:44:38 PM , Rating: 3
I have a 360 and a PS3 and the Blu-Ray movie experience is a definite step up. The PS3 is quiet and I can run it fine in my cabinet with the doors closed without it overheating, something the 360 can't do even with an intercooler. That means that everything on the 360 has this whirring fan noise in the background. I'd hate to run movie that way.


RE: Ah yes
By cochy on 12/6/2006 4:24:00 AM , Rating: 2
Funny as I was reading this, the above post was rated at 1. A comparison of the two consoles HD movie playback from someone who owns both seems like something worth reading to me. It must be silly fanboys rating the post down cause he rated the PS3 over the Xbox. Wish that didn't happen.


RE: Ah yes
By cochy on 12/6/2006 9:49:13 PM , Rating: 2
Ah great he's at 3 rating now!


RE: Ah yes
By therealnickdanger on 12/6/2006 1:00:04 PM , Rating: 3
Have you tried running your 360 with the door closed? I do and nothing has locked up on me yet. I can't hear it and I can play several hours of GoW and watch an HD-DVD, which supposedly "uses 100% of the console's power". It gets warm in there, but nothing crashes or freezes...


RE: Ah yes
By ani4ani on 12/6/2006 5:59:14 PM , Rating: 2
Yea, but I think he was talking about an AV cabinet, not the front room door :)


RE: Ah yes
By Oregonian2 on 12/5/2006 5:01:56 PM , Rating: 2
Why buy it over a Toshiba HD player that goes for half the price which web reviews say provides equal or better video than the Blu-ray units seen to date ?

I think this Sony player's release was delayed waiting for the PS3 being released first because it's not something to buy, it's mostly a promotional item to promote PS3 sales (the cheaper alternative).



RE: Ah yes
By abhaxus on 12/5/2006 6:11:35 PM , Rating: 2
The PS3 does NOT offer more movie playback functionality. Of course it offers games, but for the person out there who could care less about gaming and wants a better movie experience the standalone HDDVD/BD players are far superior. The PS3 is a slightly more capable BD player than the 360 is at HD-DVD, but no replacement for something like this.

The main advantage of the standalone players is that they can take advantage of the "HD" audio formats. They have analog audio outs that can output DD+, DTS-HD, Master Audio, or TrueHD to receivers that do not support those formats yet. For the audio/videophile waiting on a receiver that supports those formats well, it is definitely a nice thing to have analog outs. Another advantage of the Toshiba HD-DVD players over the 360 is that for the high quality audio formats the HD-A1 and its brothers transcode the HD audio formats to DTS for those that don't want to use the analog outs. DTS has a 1500kbps maximum bitrate over SPDIF connections. The 360 transcodes to Dolby Digital, which has a 640kbps maximum bitrate. So even if you have an older receiver, the HD-A1 will provide an advantage.

So there is plenty of reason to own one of these over a player such as that. I can say nothing to video quality as I haven't seen an HD-A1 or BD player next to its gaming counterpart yet.


RE: Ah yes
By TheRequiem on 12/5/2006 8:54:46 PM , Rating: 3
Incorrect.

Microsoft is developing a Xbox Live Update that will add DTS and higher fidelity decoding p to 1.5mbs/sec. Microsoft has confirmed this on AVS Forums... look it up.


RE: Ah yes
By abhaxus on 12/5/2006 10:14:26 PM , Rating: 2
As owners of the PS3 and CRT HDTVs know, "Is developing" is far different from "is currently available." My statement is 100% true for the current market.

Good for them if they do get that update out soon.


RE: Ah yes
By Lakku on 12/6/2006 11:54:32 AM , Rating: 2
Unless I am missing something, I don't believe what you are saying about the 360 not doing DTS. Why? Last time I ran a DTS title and used DTS, the receiver picked the signal up as DTS and ran it as such. So is the receiver lying? If it was transcoding, the receiver would only run in AC-3, but it doesn't, it can run in DTS. Also, the HD-DVD drive has the DTS logo on it, meaning it has the license/capability to use DTS. I ran DTS titles before I had the HD-DVD drive however. Likewise, the HD-DVD installation disc enables AVIVO on the 360, which isn't too shabby of a play, and, it boots up and can run a disc in less then 2 minutes, unlike the Toshiba player. I happen to think you are just lying, or maybe I should just assume MS paid to use DTS, but decided to actually NOT use it, and that my receiver runs a DTS signal, but is somehow actually using AC-3 instead. /sarcasm However, that's nice that the stand alone player decodes the new audio formats on its own, or at least that is what I am assuming you mean by the benefit of having analog outs.


RE: Ah yes
By retrospooty on 12/5/2006 5:38:04 PM , Rating: 2
Movies that cost twice as much as their SD counterparts...
Players that cost TWICE what the competing format costs...
Content that though has the potential of being greater, so far has not been...

Sounds like a winner to me...

Sounds like standard operating procedure for Sony. I call BOYCOTT !!!


RE: Ah yes
By abhaxus on 12/5/2006 6:12:56 PM , Rating: 2
The movies aren't twice the price of DVDs... more like 40-50% more. Still more expensive but considering the video is a world of difference it would be worth it to buy HDDVDs or BD discs if you owned a compatible player.


RE: Ah yes
By GhandiInstinct on 12/5/06, Rating: -1
RE: Ah yes
By abhaxus on 12/5/2006 10:13:33 PM , Rating: 2
How is HDMI an advantage of BD?


RE: Ah yes
By Gatt on 12/5/2006 10:22:58 PM , Rating: 2
Psst.

HD-DVD has HDMI as well, and the read speed is completely unimportant. Either it can read the movie, or it can't, reading it faster is completely useless.

As far as PC based goes, odds are it'll scale up to nearly the same speed for both over time. Since I highly doubt we'll see software shipping in the 50 gigabyte range, or even the 10 gigabyte range, anytime soon it's still a minor benefit at very best. Maybe if you were talking write speeds it'd matter...

Capacity's the only major difference.

And for the record, I intend to buy BR just because of the capacity difference which IMO makes it a better solution over time.


RE: Ah yes
By creathir on 12/6/2006 12:02:19 AM , Rating: 1
I do not care for it because HD DVD was the format voted upon by the orig. DVD consortium. Instead of going along, Sony had to moan and groan, and act like a child. "FINE... I WILL DO IT HOW I WANT TO DO IT!"

They offered subsidized costs to several key companies... and whoola... a new format war is born...

Sony... never learns. I have NO problem with Blu-Ray (besides the fact that it is overpriced, but that is only because of my second problem) and that fact that it is a Sony endeavor. This company is the ultimate in arrogant technology companies. They always INSIST on doing things just their way. Blu-Ray was doomed from the start, due to the fact that Sony is the primary backer of it.

As far as your points:

Capacity: 50GB disks are about it for Blu-Ray, 35GB disk for HD-DVD. Yes there is a size advantage, but will it really matter? From a movie format point of view, not at all. Where does this aide? Episodes of TV shows? What movie is long enough for you to sit there, and watch, in 1080p, that takes up 50 GB. Are you really going to sit there for 5 hours straight? Not stand up ONCE?
Also, personally speaking, I like to receive something when I plop down $80 on a season of Seinfeld. One disk... and I would feel like I was being jipped.

HDMI: HDMI is an interface. HDDVD players can and will have them. In fact, it is a STANDARD that they DO have them. (Put in place by the lovely movie studios that DEMAND copy protection... it will be great when HDMI is cracked, just as every method before it has been...)

Faster read: Who cares? I am watching a movie! What is this going to do? Save me 3 seconds while the movie goes from "menu mode" to "play mode"??
Not to mention, reading of disks almost ALWAYS increases with disk formats. I remember that 2X CD-ROM for the PC we got... it cost $300... That was something else... 6 months to a year later... 4x was out... then 8x... then 12x... 20x... 36x... 48x... 52x...
You get the idea.

I do not like Blu-Ray due to the fact that it is a format, set to go against standards, that is doomed to fail. (BetaMax, Minidisk, MemoryDisk)

Had Blu-Ray been the format the consortium voted on, my argument more than likely would have been the other direction.

I know I know...
"So you would take LOWER features for the cost or spite?!?!"

My answer:

VHS

- Creathir


RE: Ah yes
By ArneBjarne on 12/6/2006 2:25:54 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Capacity: 50GB disks are about it for Blu-Ray, 35GB disk for HD-DVD. Yes there is a size advantage, but will it really matter? From a movie format point of view, not at all. Where does this aide? Episodes of TV shows? What movie is long enough for you to sit there, and watch, in 1080p, that takes up 50 GB. Are you really going to sit there for 5 hours straight? Not stand up ONCE?


1. It is 50GB vs 30GB, not 35.
2. Yes it will matter. Plenty of releases of standard length movies are well into the twenties, so obviously 3hour+ movies like LoTR cannot be fit into 30GB without lowering bitrates, doing flip-discs or using more than one disc.

quote:
Also, personally speaking, I like to receive something when I plop down $80 on a season of Seinfeld. One disk... and I would feel like I was being jipped.


Yeah right, that sounds really smart.

quote:
Faster read: Who cares? I am watching a movie! What is this going to do? Save me 3 seconds while the movie goes from "menu mode" to "play mode"??
Not to mention, reading of disks almost ALWAYS increases with disk formats. I remember that 2X CD-ROM for the PC we got... it cost $300... That was something else... 6 months to a year later... 4x was out... then 8x... then 12x... 20x... 36x... 48x... 52x...
You get the idea.


It obviously matters becuase the faster the read spead the the higher the bitrate that you can use to encode the movie.
As for faster drives, they obviously have absolutely no impact on the movie formats. Once the speed has been set you cannot make releases that use more than the maximum bitrate in the spec or people would not be able to play them on older players.

quote:
I do not like Blu-Ray due to the fact that it is a format, set to go against standards, that is doomed to fail. (BetaMax, Minidisk, MemoryDisk)

Had Blu-Ray been the format the consortium voted on, my argument more than likely would have been the other direction.


So what? The DVD Forum was created to handle the DVD format nothing else. This time around the same companies that formed the DVD Forum could not agree so they split into Blu-Ray Disc Association and HD DVD Promotion Group, with some companies being a member of both.

So again, what does the DVD Forum backing one over the other matter, apart from the fact that one group gets to use DVD in their name and the other does not?


RE: Ah yes
By masher2 (blog) on 12/6/2006 2:52:56 PM , Rating: 2
> "so obviously 3hour+ movies like LoTR cannot be fit into 30GB without lowering bitrates, doing flip-discs or using more than one disc..."

Or using a triple layer disk...which Toshiba demoed back in May. As for LoTR not fitting onto a dual-layer disk, I think you're being pessimistic. Many of the current HD-DVD releases fit onto a *single* layer disc. I think you're going to need to get into the 4+ hour range before needing three layers.


RE: Ah yes
By Chillin1248 (blog) on 12/6/2006 7:51:16 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
Refute this:

Greater potential capacity: FACT

HDMI: FACT

Faster read: FACT


Refute 1:

HD-DVD also has HDMI, but how is it a advantage when Component can also do 1080p?


Refute 2:

HD-DVD has a read speed of 36.55Mbps
Blu-Ray has a read spead of 36.00Mbps

So actually HD-DVD is faster.

-------
Chillin


RE: Ah yes
By ArneBjarne on 12/6/2006 1:43:23 PM , Rating: 2
The Blu-Ray movie format spec requires 1.5x speed drives which makes it 54Mbps.


RE: Ah yes
By ani4ani on 12/6/2006 6:04:55 PM , Rating: 2
1080P is fine over component, until the movie companies enforce HDCP, then your 1080P drops to 480P.


what?
By Randum on 12/5/2006 5:38:11 PM , Rating: 2
A grand??? For a player!? I thought DVD players were about $300 when they came out? Can someone correct me?
Whoever bought this player- you must really like Adam Sandler and the movie click, or Taldega nights in 1080p!! Definitely worth it just for those 2 movies....lol




RE: what?
By boardstrapd on 12/5/2006 5:45:38 PM , Rating: 2
From what I can remember, DVD players were near the $1000 mark when they came out... CD players were around $800. You gotta have deep pockets to be an early adopter.


RE: what?
By TheRequiem on 12/5/2006 8:51:31 PM , Rating: 2
I'm totally 110% for HD-DVD and I hope Sony fails at all costs. Simply, Sony needs to knock it off, they have done this before and basically, they are destroying consumer appeal for their "Blu-Ray", which is dumb to begin with. HD-DVD is a far more reliable, proven and stable design and to be quite frank, Blu-Ray has had nothing BUT problems... its safe to say Blu-Ray in my mind has lost this format war, before it has even begun. Word needs to get out that HD-DVD's are the way to go and I hope Sony fails simply so they will quit trying to set standards that have proven again and again to fail.


RE: what?
By michal1980 on 12/5/06, Rating: -1
RE: what?
By Teletran1 on 12/5/2006 9:57:27 PM , Rating: 2
PSST....Sony is not the only backer of Blu-Ray.

HD-DVD hasn't been perfect. Most of the problems Blu-Ray has had are behind them. Most if not all new Blu-Ray titles are on par with the same HD-DVD titles. These formats are basically a wash now.

With only Universal not backing Blu-Ray vs Fox and Sony not backing HD-DVD I will go with Blu-Ray.


RE: what?
By TomZ on 12/6/2006 9:33:16 AM , Rating: 2
What problems have HD-DVD had? I haven't heard of any - it seems to me that HD-DVD had a pretty smooth launch, which is clearly not the case with Blu-ray.


RE: what?
By goodstuff on 12/6/2006 1:32:22 PM , Rating: 2
Oh yeah a little company called Disney us also Blu-Ray only, as well as Lion's Gate.


RE: what?
By masher2 (blog) on 12/6/2006 1:55:21 PM , Rating: 2
Disney has already announced its considering releasing movies in HD-DVD. Like all companies, it will go with the winner. Even Sony will eventually release HD-DVD movies, should that format become the market standard.


RE: what?
By masher2 (blog) on 12/7/2006 12:10:13 AM , Rating: 1
As of today, Amazon.com is listing 274 HD-DVD releases, versus 208 Blu-Ray releases. So I don't think that the argument that "buying HD-DVD" will limit your movie choices holds water.


RE: what?
By ani4ani on 12/6/2006 6:09:19 PM , Rating: 2
So Sony is responsible for Blu ray? then may I ask what the other 169 [from 170] members of the Blu ray consortium are doing? And muppet, Toshiba the great supporter of HD DVD, less than two years ago was in the Blu ray consortium as one of the founder members! [along with Sony, Pioneer etc etc]


RE: what?
By masher2 (blog) on 12/6/2006 12:25:23 PM , Rating: 2
> "A grand??? For a player!? I thought DVD players were about $300 when they came out? Can someone correct me? "

I purchased my Sony DVD player for $1300...this included shipping costs from Japan, however, as they weren't yet available in the US. DVDs were very expensive when first released.


Holographic Media
By shabodah on 12/5/2006 4:55:15 PM , Rating: 2
Are still supposed to be released Q4 2007, last I checked. Far surpasses both HD-DVD and Blue-Ray and only a year or so out. I'll stick with regular DVD's till this is all sorted, thank you. Last I checked, the industry wanted to jump into bigger and better resolutions than 1080p by next Christmas, too.




RE: Holographic Media
By therealnickdanger on 12/5/2006 5:01:14 PM , Rating: 3
Last you checked? Better check again. This technology will not be available to consumers for a while and certainly not cost effect for MANY years to come. The HVD forum does not even have one Hollywood studio backing it, where did you hear different? HVD is awesome, I'm all for it, but until we move to the Ultra-HD era (probably several years after 1080p has the market penetration of current color SDTVs).


RE: Holographic Media
By Scalptrash on 12/5/2006 5:03:29 PM , Rating: 2
Exactly, the TV's would have to have significant market penetration before a new media is launched. 1080p is it for quite a few years to come.


RE: Holographic Media
By ani4ani on 12/6/2006 6:12:03 PM , Rating: 2
Go down to Best Buy / Circuit City - 40% of the flat panels on sale are already 1920 x 1080, i.e. 1080P enabled. This will be the stable flat panel format in less than 2 years.


I'll wait for a hybrid
By Kefner on 12/5/2006 11:18:24 PM , Rating: 2
I read awhile ago that a company had designed a mirror that will manipulate the blue laser to read both HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Once the hybrids come out, I'll look to upgrade. Hopefully prices will be much lower by then.




RE: I'll wait for a hybrid
By XtremeM3 on 12/6/2006 12:40:05 AM , Rating: 2
Don't hold your breath waiting for the hybrid. Yes the technology is available already(at least one company has accounced capabilities of this), however Sony and their licensing restrictions prevent such a player from existing. I'm not sure if HD-DVD has such restrictions or not. Until HD-DVD and Blu-Ray can sit at the same table and get along, such a hybrid will not be seen.

As far as the article, I don't understand what makes this player at $1,000 any better than the cheaper Samsung that is already on the market. Based on stats I've seen the Samsung is superior in formats playable as well as audio capabilities. Cosmetically, in my opinion, the Samsung looks about 100% better.

To address why someone would buy a Blu-Ray player. Some movies are only available on Blu-Ray. I have a friend that has purchased an HD-DVD player and a Blu-Ray player for that reason. I've got the HD-DVD add on for the 360 and absolutely love it. I also have a Toshiba HD-A2( for a seperate TV) on order and will probably get a Blu-Ray player as well shortly. Before anyone goes off with the "more money than brains" - ease up. I've worked hard to get where I am today, and I make enough money to buy things that I like. To me, a $500 (the HD-A2) purchase is something I can justify easily being as it's less than 1 day's (household) takehome salary. So before anyone judges me, do you have problems making a purchase that is less than 1 day's work? One thing I've noticed over the years is that money is relative. But that's not saying I wouldn't just rather a couple hybrid players instead.

I love the HD world but it is an expensive one to keep up with displays and audio. If it's not one thing it's another. Also trying to balance out crazy prices for brand new items vs waiting to spend less or the same on a second/third generation with much better functionality (why i waited for the A2). Anyway, happy viewing/listening.

Jeff


Hopefully this is better than the A1.
By Blackraven on 12/6/2006 6:28:48 AM , Rating: 2
The HD-A1 player from Toshiba was complete disgrace for the numerous amount of quality and technical problems it had (even after the firmware update).

A disgrace to the CE/Tech/AV industry.

I do hope that this new Sony gen 1 player performs better and won't have the problems that continue to plague the A1.

Also hoping to buy an HD-DVD addon but I need to find the right time to buy.




By masher2 (blog) on 12/6/2006 11:58:26 PM , Rating: 1
I have the HD-A1, and haven't had a single problem with it. What problems have you had?


Cost on item
By ElJefe69 on 12/7/2006 2:06:09 AM , Rating: 1
The markup for minimum advertised pricing is 240 dollars more than its cost. that includes shipping of it to a customer (without insurance).

so the thing really could cost you like 800 dollars if you had some buying leverage. which you dont probably as it is a luxary item with little stock quantities.

I sell appliances and electronics.




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