HD-DVD, lumagen, 720P DLP

[martintyler]

Has anyone got an HD-DVD player running on a 1280x720 DLP? How does it look?



What format is on the discs anyway? 1080i, 1080p? Does the lumagen HDP pro do a good job of converting this to 720p?

[SimonO]

I watched the HD-DVD Runco demo at CEDIA yesterday and they were outputing the player at 1080i and PJ was scaling to 720p... The CineWide lens looked awesome on a 10' curved screen :thumbup: ... Thinking about it, the guy said they had tried 720p from the player and it looked like SD so they switched to 1080i... From that I assumed it was a native 720p 3 chip PJ, but having just looked at the Runco website they do do a 3 chip 1080p unit and it was VERY big!!! I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong...



Shame the demo sounded so bad :roll: ...

[Gordon, Convergent-AV]

The Runco was not the 3 chhip 1080p unit. That is essentally a Digital Projection 2K unit and is MASSIVE...I suspect it's also not in a Runco style case......



Krobar has a 720P DLP and uses a Lumagen HDP to do 1080i to 1080P then downscale to 720. He is the man to ask as to how good it looks. Incidentally new firmware today allows you to select edid data to send to sources which allows 4:2:2 HDMI component video out of the Tosh, thereby by-passing it's rgb colourspace conversion and allowing Lumagen an even better signal to work with.



Gordon

[Krobar]

I use an XA1 with a 720P DLP Benq PE8700 and HDP. The picture is excellent and the discs I have compared look much better than SD-DVD through my Pioneer 868 SDI. The main improvement is purely "Sharpness" and the fact there is no blockiness at all. Since I upgraded to V1.2 I have had no lockup or synch problems on any of my discs and seeing what Blu has offered so far I'm very happy I got the Tosh.



Gordon,



Thanks for the heads up on the new firmware, I've been away for the last couple of weeks but will definitely give it a try.

[martintyler]

Thanks for the comments. When are HD-DVD players going to be available through normal channels in the UK?

[Krobar]

Before the end of the year I suspect.



Please remember there is no region coding as of yet on HD DVD and I doubt the region stuff will be hard to break thanks to updates providing it in file form (Although partially encrypted) and its likely you will be able to use Euro firmware on the American player. Also the UK is only due to get the more expensive XA1 AFAIK. MT currently have an A1 for £430, Next Day Delivery :)~:-)~:smile:

[martintyler]

MT currently have an A1 for £430, Next Day Delivery :)~:-)~:smile:




Thanks, thats tempting. Whats the feeling on software availability.. are new films coming out on HD-DVD or is it mainly recent-ish films that are already out on DVD?

[Krobar]

Try here for an idea of what is released and is scheduled for release:



http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/hdformats/highdefrele (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/hdformats/highdefreleases.html) ases.html



In Europe things are similar except Studio Canal (Dont really distribute in USA) are due to release a decent HD DVD selection. Blu-ray is pushing mostly newer titles but HD DVD is pushing a mixture with an increasing number of day and date releases too (Mainly from Warner). Rumours currently suggest Lionsgate may back HD DVD and Pixar is pushing Disney to HD DVD (I don't believe it though) and of course Universal may eventually support BR. Blue Underground and Image have hinted at HD DVD support but nothing solid. Toshiba titles in Japan and Studio Canal Titles in Europe will allow you to purchase quite a few titles that are BR only in the USA.



It all looks pretty even so far, HD DVD has more and better quality software and a lower price but BR a slightly better player and a bit more studio support. This is only round 1 but it doesn't look like either format will make an early exit.

[Matt Horne]

None of the current HD-DVD stuff is that exciting though which is therefore not making me rush out and rebuy it.. I want Paramount and New Line to start releasing discs asap..



Matt

[martintyler]

None of the current HD-DVD stuff is that exciting though which is therefore not making me rush out and rebuy it.. I want Paramount and New Line to start releasing discs asap..




Same here, I posted this thread since I was thinking of buying a player, but I dont see that much software I want to watch. I'm not a big re-watcher of films anyway.



I'm sure i'll dive in at some point though.

[Matt Horne]

I'm more excited about whats been broadcast on the US Sat Hidef channels.. there is some serious hidef around at the moment (Bond Movies/ 2001 etc etc)