Final Blow Struck in Hi-Def Format War?

Man, I hope they accelerate the release schedule a little bit. There's not a whole lot coming out between now and March!

On the plus side, Fox has re-announced 'Commando' and 'Predator' for April.

You know what they say, "Once you go Blu, HD is through."

OK. Maybe they don't say that.

Looks like Microsoft may be looking towards Blu-ray now.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/a83974/microsoft-may-consider-xbox-blu-ray.html

I was just about to post a question about what kind of Blu-ray player to buy, but if X-Box is gonna put out one for the 360, then I may as well get that, right?

As much as I like my PS3 as a Blu-Ray player (and that's the ONLY reason I bought it), it has some compromises. If you're a movie watcher mainly, I'd consider investing in a standalone unit. I'm going to at some point.

In any event, it will be some time before a Blu-Ray player is available for the XBox360. If the time comes and you want it, I'd read the reviews before going that direction.

So soon, it'll be with every Xbox Blu-Ray player sold, M$ has to give Sony some money? I love it!

The reason I love the PS3 so much is that it's a great media center with 60gb of photo/video/music storage available. The gaming is a big plus, if you're going to spend roughly the same amount you may as well have the option of playing PS3 games too, just in case you ever get the itch. The normal Blu-Ray players don't come with a large Hard Drive do they? The Hard Drive is a really kick ass feature that should be considered when buying a Blu-Ray player.

When we have people over we turn on the PS3 and put the music on shuffle, it has great visual effects to go along with the music. It's jgreat for parties. And I agree with Paladin, the MS Blu-Ray player is a way distant future feature. If you want a BD Player now or anytime soon you'll have to pick up something else.

For using a console, assuming the 360 adds a Blu-Ray player at some point, I'd just get a PS3. Well, unless you specifically want the 360 for the games, as well. I prefer the game selection of the 360, but it's awfully noisy. Most of that comes from the DVD drive, but the fans also make a bit of noise. The PS3 is near whisper quiet in comparison.

One advantage of having a PS3 as player may also be the ease of updating firmware. Blu-Ray is still an evolving spec somewhat. I believe the newest version is 2.0, and a lot of the players being sold now are still 1.0 and 1.1. You can update the firmware, but doing so on the PS3 is fairly easy through system setup. There's talk at Highdefdigest that some of the standalone players might not support some of the online functionality at some point. The PS3 may not be completely future proofed in that regard, but I feel a little safer using it as my player rather than purchasing an older specced Blu-Ray console.

Cool thing is, if you have a PSP, you can access your stuff from anywhere you have an internet connection then download it directly to your PSP.

I'm planning on getting a PSP Slim this month and turning my PS3 into a music/video server.

So you can access your PS3 from the road as long as there is a good high speed connection? Is there any way to put a good amount of memory in a PSP yet or is it still all mini SD/SD card based?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're running out of HD space on the PS3, can't just hook up an external HD to the console via USB?

You are correct Sir!

Ok, so second question:

A friend told me tonight my HD TV might only be 720p or whatever, not 1080i, and so it would be near-worthless to get a Blu-ray player for it.

Is he right? My TV is a Sony...Wega, I guess? That's what it says on the front. How can I tell what resolution it is for HD? And if it isn't 1080i, is it really a waste of time and money to get a Blu-Ray player?

Probably false.

720p is still hi-def (in fact, on smaller-sized sets, it's arguable that 720p is every bit as good as 1080i). If your set has the right hook-ups, it should still be a decent HD display.

Can you identify the model number? What kind is it: LCD, plasma, rear projection, CRT? Do you have the manual or anything like that? When did you buy it? Do you know if it has an HDMI port?

No. At least, not necessarily. Blu-Rays are mastered at 1080p and the vast majority of HD sets can't show this format, only ones that have come along in the past year or so.

If you hook a Blu-Ray player to your set, either the set or the player will scale the Blu-Ray image to your screen. 1080p to 720p should still look pretty good.

On the plus side, 720p is a considerable step up from DVD (which is mastered at 480p, but usually shown in just 480i). On the downside, you won't be able to get the full benefit. Again, it won't make much difference unless your set is large.

Find the serial number on your TV and google it. That should tell you what you've got. I don't know the difference in 720p and 1080i. I've seen 1080i and 1080p both, antenna HD broadcasts are in 1080i and they look so close to 1080p that I can't really even see the difference. I think I've seen 720p through satellite versions of HD broadcasts and they are noticeably lower quality than the antenna HD that is 1080i, but still good. I think if you have an HDTV you'll see the difference but I will differ judgment and let Paladin answer this one I suppose.

A little quick research produces some good news: ALL Blu-Ray players will produce 720p from their component video outputs. Get a player, some component video cables, and your 720p set is good to go.

1080p > 1080i > 720p > 480p > 480i

1. The difference between 1080p and 1080i is pretty modest. I watched Terminator 3 the other night--it was inadvertantly mastered in 1080i--and it looked about as good as anything I've seen in 1080p. For the same resolution (both 1080i and 1080p are 1920x1080), progressive scanning ('p') does a better job of rendering motion than interlaced scanning ('i'), but you'll be hard-pressed to tell the difference unless you're really looking for it.

2. The difference between 1080i and 720p shows up on bigger sets where the extra resolution in 1080i comes into play. However, 720p's progressive scanning renders motion more accurately, which is why one of the sports networks--I forget which, CBS?--chose it. The smaller the screen, the less the difference between these two.

3. 720p should nonetheless be a noticeable improvement over 480p and certainly over 480i (what your analog set shows and how most DVDs are viewed currently).

Yup. My friend has it set up this way.

It's still a fucking memory stick pro duo! The biggest you can get right now is an 8gb one for about $200CDN. You will probably be able to get it cheaper in the US, but it still sucks. Sony needs to address this.

If I could get a PSP with 30-60 gigs I would probably have one.

I don't really know when I would USE a PSP. Plane rides maybe? But for that I have my laptop and books. Just seems like a waste of money. What else can it do?

What I find it really useful for, is when you inevitably find yourself in a long ass lineup at the grocery store, ticket office, etc. I just pull out my PSP and play games on it, and I before I know it, it's my turn. You can turn off the PSP any time, and it save the state your game is in - for weeks even.

Besides that, I don't really use it to play videos or movies or MP3's, although I do have about 20 MAME games and a SNES emulator on it. But you'll have to hack your PSP to do that stuff. I also sometimes surf the internet, like in hotels and stuff. But here in Canada, it's harder to find an open signal.

Oh, and here is a great article on HDTV, and why it is important to go 1080p. Everyone who is interested in HD should give this a read.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_14_1/feature-article-1080p-3-2007-part-1.html

Basically, I think it is saying that if your TV has to reduce the image to 720p or lower, your TV starts to flicker and 'cloud out'.

Ah crap, I just GOT this TV like, 2 years ago. I'm not about to throw away a $700 investment so soon

I don't think it's going to be a problem.

In researching your situation, I found plenty of examples of people watching Blu-Ray on a 720p set, enjoying it, and remarking on its very noticeable superiority over standard DVD.

The new Sony BDP-S300 Blu-Ray player, for example, will output a 720p signal and I expect this will look terrific on your set. Still, if you have any doubts, go into your local Best Buy or Circuit City and ask them to show you Blu-Ray on a 720p set. MAKE SURE THE PLAYER IS OUTPUTING 720P AND THAT THE SET IS NOT DOING THE SCALING! Then you'll know for sure.

Remember: when Blu-Ray came out, there were NO (or very few) 1080p sets on the market, so there are LOTS of people watching Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD, too) on older 720p sets. If the existing base of HDTV owners couldn't take advantage of it, Blu-Ray could not have taken off.

Yes, 720p is inferior to 1080p. But it's still very superior to DVD's 480i (or even 480p). You should get many more years of life out of your set; there's no reason why you can't enjoy HD material on it immediately.

I have the Sony BDP S-300. Works great so far.

This is exactly the reason why I decided on a computer monitor instead of a TV this go round. They just did not offer a TV that was around 30" that offered 1080p. Some people say they are out there, but I have yet to see one.

In terms of having the 'wrong' TV, I wouldn't worry about that - especially if you've already enjoyed two years of it. Technology changes and improves, and when you do decide to switch, you'll probably be able to get a TV better than any on the market now for half the price you paid for your 720 TV.

Plus, 720 is close to double the resolution of regular DVD, so you'll already notice a difference right away. But going from 720 to 1080 isn't as big of a jump. 1080 is nice, but I would not kill myself to get it.

Also, I heard that some cable/satellite providers are having trouble delivering channels in full 1080p, because of some problems with having that much data go through the pipes. Is this true? Someone told me they actually broadcast in 720 then just upscale it. If that is true, then you don't really need a 1080 TV. Eventually things will get sorted out, but for now, all you can use 1080 for are Blu-Ray movies, and some games.

^(to scorp) i got a 37" LG LC55, its 1080p and a pretty decent price (cost me £480), so they're definitely out there.

What is that roughly in US dollars?

as for blu-ray players, stick with the PS3 - individual units being sold now aren't updateable. so if you've a standalone, you're fucked if you want any of the goodies coming up

linky

approx $950