My impressions of HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray

[Gasman]

Can anyone answer my question?
(other than dobyblue, as I see all posts from him are clearly biased towards Blu-Ray, I would rather get someone that is neutral and not a fanboy)

I would like to know, before I buy a PS3.
Consdering my use is for a second BD player, and I have to get a 30.00 remote seperate, I may just get the BD-P1400 instead.

As well, I have suspect that the scores he is showing are not correct.
As I have heard even from biased people that the HD quality is the same (and he says, (once again) that the BD player in this instance is better. And I really find this suspect, because my BD-P1200 is no better at HD material than my A2 (or XA1 for that matter).
Granted it is a better standard upconverter, it incorrectly flags 4:3 content (and stretches everything) (which neither of the HD DVD player do that)

So sorry doby, I can not thank you for that post (as it is very suspect to me, from a clear individual that has issues with fanboyism)

For the other questions, on the PS3, I will just start a thread, so I can get the answers (considering it may be a purchase in 24 hours).

 

[Gasman]

So are these resulsts indicative of what standard dvd upscaling performance would be as well? Should I assume by those numbers that the PS3 is a better upscaling dvd player than the HD-A2? I own both and want to use the best one.

It is clear from his post. (you did not read it???) (what the??)

He has seperated the SD DVD score and the PS3 is the best upconverter, even better than players that are built to do 1 thing, upconvert?????

I will find out soon enough.

 

[toon12]

One comment, I don't think the PS3 is a great player for an enclosed space. It runs hot, and if my cupboard door is shut, all the fans on it go into overdrive and are quite noisy. As soon as I give it better ventilation, the fans calm down. Other then that, I have been very happy with it.
A very nice feature is that Sony is releasing updated firmware for it on a regular basis. Waiting now for an update so that all the latest hd sound systems to be outputed via bitstream instead of pcm via hdmi. Not a big deal.
Also heard it will soon support playing divx files, which it currently does not.

Gasman said:

"Granted it is a better standard upconverter, it incorrectly flags 4:3 content (and stretches everything) (which neither of the HD DVD player do that)"

I have no idea where you got this from. The PS3 lets you choose pan and scan or letterbox format like every other dvd player, have yet to have a problem with it stretching anything, whatever setting. I am very skeptical about this complaint.

 

[Gasman]

Gasman said:

"Granted it is a better standard upconverter, it incorrectly flags 4:3 content (and stretches everything) (which neither of the HD DVD player do that)"

I have no idea where you got this from. The PS3 lets you choose pan and scan or letterbox format like every other dvd player, have yet to have a problem with it stretching anything, whatever setting. I am very skeptical about this complaint.

You clearly did not read my "complaint." So be skeptical as much as you want, when you read the post correctly.

Please reread, I was talking about my BD-P1200, not the PS3.
Here are my EXACT words.

because my BD-P1200 is no better at HD material than my A2 (or XA1 for that matter).
Granted it is a better standard upconverter, it incorrectly flags 4:3 content (and stretches everything) (which neither of the HD DVD player do that)

 

[toon12]

You clearly did not read my "complaint." So be skeptical as much as you want, when you read the post correctly.

Please reread, I was talking about my BD-P1200, not the PS3.
Here are my EXACT words.

Yes, I read your post incorrectly.
Did some research on the point before you corrected me, and actually found that there may be an issue on the PS3 playing standard content from bd (ie the "extras"). There may be some stretching on that content. Haven't seen it myself.

 

[GlocksRock]

It is clear from his post. (you did not read it???) (what the??)

He has seperated the SD DVD score and the PS3 is the best upconverter, even better than players that are built to do 1 thing, upconvert?????

I will find out soon enough.

I DID read the post, but it was this line that threw me off: Remember these are the HD benchmark test discs. I don't know, maybe I just didn't get it because I am posting from work and am burnt out. But after seeing the same discs on both players, I really don't see too much difference. But one thing I did find odd is that when I was playing my DTS demo disc 9, the HD-A2 wasn't able to access the special features menu, but the PS3 had no problems doing it, and the disc isn't scratched up... makes no sense to me.

 

[Thaedium]

I neither own a BD or HD DVD. I'm not a fan of sony in particular, I have a few items from them out of convienence, not desire or fanboyism.

It seems to me though, that there is no excuse for any players, regardless of their price bracket at this point to have slow load times, and delayed input functions from their remotes. The mere fact that the PS3 does not have that issue is evidence of the fact.

For some, these issues may be at worse a mild irritation, but I would have to disagree. Its a way to give users a feeling and possible justification in higher priced players, ie: "Hey look, this one is $300 more, has a fancy chip that upconverts and theres no lag in its processes!" Frankly, I find it detestable.

Some here have argued you are paying significantly more for the PS3, and that its in a different price bracket. Though that is true, the PS3 was designed for gaming first, its secondary function is to play BD movies. The fact that it out performs many of either BD / HD DVD players is startling.

So, what this indicates to me is that there is absolutely no good reason for any dedicated player, BD or HD DVD to cost more then the PS3. And still no reason for any player thats in the $200 bracket to be missing features that have existed in the SD DVD world for some time now.

All of that said, I don't see a point yet in buying into the High Definition format war until its settled, with only 1 exception thus far. If your in the market for a new gaming console, and it happens to display movies in an HD format, then going with a PS3 is quite the deal. Failing that, I would wait until some up and comming technologies make their debut. Like that article here on the AH webpage suggests, BD and HD DVD are dying formats, they just don't know it yet.

 

[solomr2]

I was able to play a bit with a BD-P1400 at my local costco a couple of days ago. It is rather slow to load a disc (about 1 minute), and quite slow to boot-up and load a disc already in the tray (about 1.5 minutes).

Image quality was quite impressive with Spiderman-3, although not completely devoid of artifacts and noise. However, I really couldn't tell if that was coming from the TV it was playing on, or the DVD player.

I really want to be able to see HD DVD next to BD for comparison, but this is really difficult in most stores. I think for now I may just get an Oppo 980 for my immediate needs, and then see if the new multi-player due out in January is worth the money.

 

[Gasman]

But one thing I did find odd is that when I was playing my DTS demo disc 9, the HD-A2 wasn't able to access the special features menu, but the PS3 had no problems doing it, and the disc isn't scratched up... makes no sense to me.

Huh, I'll have to try that. I have Demo #9, so I will test tonight.

 

[GlocksRock]

Yeah, I found it to be really odd too, and it's an original disc, not a copy. I was going to listen to "The Run" since I just installed my new receiver, and haven't heard it lately, but I tried several times to access it, I even turned the player off and back on, but it still wouldn't access it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

...All of that said, I don't see a point yet in buying into the High Definition format war until its settled...

Patience is a virtue I wish I have.
Good things come to those who wait, right?

It would be smart to be more patient & wait another 6 months or more.

Okay, that's it. I'm going to wait another 6 months before buying the Samsung BD-UP5000.

That is unless GlocksRock or anybody else gets to listen to DTS-MA via PS3 before the 6 months period!

It would be impossible for me to wait when everyone is talking about DTS-MA and I can't say a word of it!

 

[GlocksRock]

Patience is a virtue I wish I have.
Good things come to those who wait, right?

It would be smart to be more patient & wait another 6 months or more.

Okay, that's it. I'm going to wait another 6 months before buying the Samsung BD-UP5000.

That is unless GlocksRock or anybody else gets to listen to DTS-MA via PS3 before the 6 months period!

It would be impossible for me to wait when everyone is talking about DTS-MA and I can't say a word of it!

I think this is the best place to stay up to date as to when the PS3 will have it's DTS related firmware update.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=24385

 

[Gasman]

Ok, just got back from Best Buy.
Picked up the PS3 and the freebies (Spiderman 3, Open Season, and a game which I will sell NBA 08)
They tried to give me the run-around saying "oh we ran out of the package deal"
So we will offer the PS3 for 40.00 less. Problem is, that the freebies totaled to 95.37 in value (when including tax)
So I found the LAST copy of Open Season (by chance, I did not have the movie = I had only rented the BD version)
So I got the full deal.

Off topic: The NBA 08 goes for 59.99 (plus tax) in store, anyone want it for 40.00 free shipping.
(free shipping only for CONUS)

Anyhow, I will check the PQ later tonight or more likely tomorrow morning.

 

[yettitheman]

Blu-Ray: Not much to say on it. Sony seems to have a slight edge on hardware and software specs.
HD-DVD: Overall price point is lower (expecially when the HD-A2 was $98, hell even I got one)

HD-A2 does a good job upconverting DVD's... won't go above 480p on Component so you'll definetly want an HDMI setup (TV, cables) if you want better upconversion (then again, if your tv is only 30" wide like mine is, you won't notice much difference, but if it's like the 57" DLP downstairs... then yes. HDMI matters a lot )

To give a rough idea.... here are some pictures of an A2 on a Mitsubishi WD-57732 57" DLP Television set.

^ HD-DVD of The Matrix Revolutions

^ Upconverted DVD of Anime


I would love to steal that DLP from my dad.... :drool:

 

[GlocksRock]

Huh, I'll have to try that. I have Demo #9, so I will test tonight.

Did you get a chance to test this out yet?

 

[Gasman]

Doh, sorry forgot.
Checking for you this minute. Will report back within 5 minutes....

 

[Gasman]

Nope, it does not work in the A2.
So I checked in the XA1, and yes it works fine in that player.
Strange it will not work in the A2.....

Anyhow, so you know I was not pulling your leg (on having that disc)
See screenshot of special features.
As well, you can slightly see the XA1 and the soon to be returned PS3.
This is all in the garage, the A2 is currently hooked up in bedroom, but no reason to take a pic of that (as it does not work in it...

 

[GlocksRock]

Why aren't you keeping the PS3? I find it odd that the A2 won't access that menu. Hopefully with the next A2 firmware update it will be able to access that menu. I guess I could let Toshiba know about this, but it's not really a big deal. Thanks for checking on that for me, I'm glad to know it's not just my player or disc having that issue.