My impressions of HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray

[j_garcia]

Well after trying a few movies in the A2, I have to say I don't see why people are saying it is a good upscaling player. The 970 and 980 are both better than it so far. Some of the errors were immediately noticeable. I am a bit disappointed in it actually as a result.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Well after trying a few movies in the A2, I have to say I don't see why people are saying it is a good upscaling player. The 970 and 980 are both better than it so far. Some of the errors were immediately noticeable. I am a bit disappointed in it actually as a result.

The review here
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/high-definition-dvd-players-hd-dvd-blu-ray/toshiba-hd-a2-hd-dvd-player

indicates a very good up-conversion. Plus, it does HD, for $99.

 

[mouettus]

Ditto! I watch movies all the way through and I don't fiddle around with things while doing so. I don't fast forward or change audio tracks in the middle. I imagine that a majority of people are the same way.

As for upconversion, I agree as well. Many people have DVD collections in the thousands and some movies will never be available on an HD medium.

Yeah but then, just use your good 'ol DVD player! The Oppo sounds so great; why not still use it and use the HD-DVD players for that only purpose and stop whining about the Reon chip?!

 

[Hi Ho]

Yeah but then, just use your good 'ol DVD player! The Oppo sounds so great; why not still use it and use the HD-DVD players for that only purpose and stop whining about the Reon chip?!

I don't care what chip is in the player. In my case I did not have an upconverting player of any kind and I had recently purchased an HD projector. I had a choice. I could spend around $200 on an upconverting standard DVD player (Oppo) or I could spend around $200 on an HD-DVD player (HD-A2) and get very good upconversion along with the ability to play true high definition content and receive five free HD-DVDs. I chose the latter.

HERE is a shot of LOTR upconverted on my A2. My camera doesn't seem to be capable of taking razor sharp images in the dark.

 

[mouettus]

I don't care what chip is in the player. In my case I did not have an upconverting player of any kind and I had recently purchased an HD projector. I had a choice. I could spend around $200 on an upconverting standard DVD player (Oppo) or I could spend around $200 on an HD-DVD player (HD-A2) and get very good upconversion along with the ability to play true high definition content and receive five free HD-DVDs. I chose the latter.

HERE is a shot of LOTR upconverted on my A2. My camera doesn't seem to be capable of taking razor sharp images in the dark.

That's pretty good though. How big is your screen? What's your projector?

Edit: Sorry, didn't see your signature at first

 

[j_garcia]

The review here
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/high-definition-dvd-players-hd-dvd-blu-ray/toshiba-hd-a2-hd-dvd-player

indicates a very good up-conversion. Plus, it does HD, for $99.

Yes the upscaling is good, but it is not as good as my 980. In particular, animated films gave the A2 problems; not every scene, but some scenes errors were very obvious and I haven't seen issues like that (one looked like CUE) in years. Film based material seems fine on it. I may need to look at the settings on the player as well, as this was with all default settings.

 

[Johnd]

All the reviews I've read of the A2 and A3 state excellent upscaling. Crush (BTB and WTW) was resolved on the A2 with extenstive updates. Hopefully, they will resolve crush, load times and DTS issues on the A3 with firmware updates over the upcoming months.

 

[darien87]

Could you guys really be any more pretentious? How many people don't have HD or BD and use an Oppo 981 on their HD monitors for image quality? How many thousands have titles that they wish to continue watching on their HDTV sets? If you want to complain about the functional particulars of firmware interface, I'll grant you that. But IMO the two things that are most important are the HD ability and upconversion capability, the other peccadillos are secondary. I put in a disc and I watch it, my system is set up fine and I don't fiddle around trying to trip it up whilst watching, I just watch. So a player that is an outstanding SD player and also an outstanding HD player is a great choice. And as it relates to this original thread I am saying that in relation to the low end HD player mentioned, there is an XA2 that is very good and is much cheaper than the higher end BD. How bout we agree to disagree.

Why are you getting so pissy? I started this thread simply to do a little comparison between BD and HD-DVD, based on the 2 players I have. I am only stating my personal opinion. Some people mentioned other players' superiority in the upconversion department. I merely said that upconversion means nothing to me. No big deal.

 

[darien87]

Yes the upscaling is good, but it is not as good as my 980. In particular, animated films gave the A2 problems; not every scene, but some scenes errors were very obvious and I haven't seen issues like that (one looked like CUE) in years. Film based material seems fine on it. I may need to look at the settings on the player as well, as this was with all default settings.

Hey John, do you remember WAY back when DVD players first came out, and there was that competing format where you kind of "rented" the discs and the player had to be hooked up to a phone line? What was that kind of player called, Divix or something like that?

 

[darien87]

I don't care what chip is in the player. In my case I did not have an upconverting player of any kind and I had recently purchased an HD projector. I had a choice. I could spend around $200 on an upconverting standard DVD player (Oppo) or I could spend around $200 on an HD-DVD player (HD-A2) and get very good upconversion along with the ability to play true high definition content and receive five free HD-DVDs. I chose the latter.

So, in your case, it seems like the A2 was just the ticket. In my case, it just seemed that the A3 was a step down from my PS 3.

 

[j_garcia]

All the reviews I've read of the A2 and A3 state excellent upscaling. Crush (BTB and WTW) was resolved on the A2 with extenstive updates. Hopefully, they will resolve crush, load times and DTS issues on the A3 with firmware updates over the upcoming months.

All I am saying is the A2 doesn't seem to be as good as many seem to be claiming in my book at this point. I will have to do some further comparison. I also haven't done a firmware update on it yet, so I have to see how it does after that as well.

Hey John, do you remember WAY back when DVD players first came out, and there was that competing format where you kind of "rented" the discs and the player had to be hooked up to a phone line? What was that kind of player called, Divix or something like that?

Yep, it was called DiVX. You could buy limited play "rights" for a few bucks or you could pay a premium price to own it. Well, then why not just rent it or own it? Duh.

 

[patnshan]

Yes the upscaling is good, but it is not as good as my 980. In particular, animated films gave the A2 problems; not every scene, but some scenes errors were very obvious and I haven't seen issues like that (one looked like CUE) in years. Film based material seems fine on it. I may need to look at the settings on the player as well, as this was with all default settings.

I personally would expect the 980 to be better than the A2. The 980 was specifically built to upscale DVD's, hence the reason why it does it so well. The A2 is an HD DVD player which seems to have added the DVD upscaling capalility possibly to satisfy reluctant potential customers (as did Blu Ray). "Hey, our player can do that too."

For me, I have four upscalers. The Samsung HD 860, the A2, a crappy toshiba, and the Phillips 5982. Except for the toshiba (a free refurb I got with my PJ), they all do a great job. I really cannot tell the difference. I have not seen an Oppo.

Pat

 

[mtrycrafts]

... I may need to look at the settings on the player as well, as this was with all default settings.

Interesting that only animated would act up
Perhaps it may be the TV settings?

 

[Thunder18]

I do have to agree though, the PS3 is a LOT more user friendly and gives you quite a bit more feedback than the A2.

If only someone would come out with a usb powered fluorescent display for the PS3 that displays time, track and chapter of the disc playing. Oh, and a multi-channel analog output adaptor.

 

[mouettus]

DivX is dead Good riddance. That was a dumb idea. I still use the free codec though. Works quite well on some movies I downloaded back in the days (talk about upscaling a 320x240 movie to 1080 and see how the A2 and Oppo perform! lol)

Hey btw, just saw ratatouille. GREAT movie! lol Had a good laugh on that one. Long live Pixar. One of the best animation movie ever. Good story and spectacular cartoonish graphics.

 

[dobyblue]

Do they have a Reon processor?

Thank you, come again.

Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know that DVD upscaling was your #1 priority.

If so, the Denon BD coming out in Q1/08 will have a Realta chip.

As for the Panny, it has P4HD which I think you'll find has better 1080p upconversion results than the Reon chip.

Would you like fries with that?

 

[j_garcia]

If only someone would come out with a usb powered fluorescent display for the PS3 that displays time, track and chapter of the disc playing. Oh, and a multi-channel analog output adaptor.

What do you need a display for? You can pop up all the movie information anyone would need to know on the screen at any time at the press of one button... I LIKE not having a display since I turn it off when I am watching the movie anyway. The A2 and A3 don't have multichannel out either, if you want that, you'll have to buy a more expensive player...aka one that costs as much as an entry level BD player or a PS3.

So playing with the A2 last night I tried some different settings and it looks much better than before. I set the mode from "film" to "auto" and it seems to do quite well now.

 

[patnshan]

So playing with the A2 last night I tried some different settings and it looks much better than before. I set the mode from "film" to "auto" and it seems to do quite well now.

Yeah, I tried both and liked auto better too. I am not sure what either mean??? I am glad it is looking better to you now. Check out transformers, it looks amazing in HD!

Pat

 

[j_garcia]

That is a progressive scan function. Film based (shot on film) material is handled differently vs video based material. Setting the player to Auto tells it to check which type of material is being played so that it is displayed properly.

I do still have some issues with the player though, it occasionally drops either the video or the sound. I'm sure it has to do with my HDMI switch box and the A2 because neither the 980 nor the PS3 have the issue. I did see someone else mention this before too, but my audio is being passed via optical...

 

[blacklab]

As far as upscaling goes, who has the upper hand? A3, PS3, or the Oppo-980?