When will the New HD DVD and Blue Ray DVD players roll out.

[drew spelts]

I was wondering when the new HD DVD players and Blue Ray DVD players will roll out because I have a few questions for those on the "know".

1) When will they roll out?

2) Is there going to be a company that creates a player that will play both formats like what happened with SACD and DVD-A?

3) Will these new players decrease the price of the other players like the Denon 2910?

4) Would the picture from one of these new players look that much better on a 32 inch CRT HD Sony TV or would I be better off getting a really good Denon like the 2910 for my TV once the price comes down, Hopefully before summer.
Thanks in advance

[danger boy]

if they are competing formats.. then your answer is no... right away there will not be a universial player that will play both formats. we learned that with SACD and DVD-A.

First generation players are usually expensive.. and sometimes have bugs in them. I'll wait till the 2nd or 3rd generation of those to comes out. Less $$ that way.

[polksda]

Crutchfield has been touting "preorders" for an HD-DVD player for a while now. What I don't get is why would anyone buy one before there are any titles available. Since it is a player and not a recorder, until commercial titles are available it's just another DVD player...

[louhamilton]

1.) Best Buy and Crutchfield are both taking pre-orders on the Toshiba HD-DVD. Other will follow shortly there after.

2.) I think Samsung said they were planning a dual player. Haven't been able to find the original article, however.

3.) Never can tell if they will have substantial affects. Since the HD-DVD and BluRay players do not have plans to support DVD-A and SACD, then prices may not be affected. Also, I haven't heard what kind of audio processors will be in these. The high-end redbook DVD players may have the better ones, thus justifying a higher price. Actually, I do not even think that they have audio out, so they may just rely on the receiver for audio and not have any processors inside. Haven't researched enough because I never thought to.

4.)Considering the HD players will be in 1080i or 1080p and the Denon as well as every other redbook DVD player is only 480i or 480p, then yes, the new players will look better. Let me put it another way, Does your HD channels look better than your analog channels? The industry has fooled us with upconverting players thinking we are getting better resloution. Fact is that the media being played is still 480i. Upconverters guess and fill in the gaps when it upconverts. This creates a smoother looking picture. Bottom line is that it is still not HD format.

Hope this helps clear up some confusion.

-Lou

[louhamilton]

Crutchfield has been touting "preorders" for an HD-DVD player for a while now. What I don't get is why would anyone buy one before there are any titles available. Since it is a player and not a recorder, until commercial titles are available it's just another DVD player...

These titles should be available at or around the time of the release of the players. Maybe slightly before even.

HD-DVD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD-DVD#...aunch_releases
http://www.dvdtown.com/article/hd-dv...oftitles/1582/

BluRay Releases:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray...aunch_Releases

Also, you can go to the individual movie company web sites for further information.

-Lou

[SKsolutions]

Not to be a buzzkill, but you know we will still be talking about this in two years.

[SKsolutions]

I'm post-ordering Beta VHS.

[speakergeek]

Trying to keep up with this technology is nearly futile. It will be "obsolete" in two years. Heck stuff is obsolete in six months nowadays. Why waste money on the big ticket stuff?

[heiney9]

Anybody remember S-VHS? Certainly an upgrade picture-wise from regular VHS...but there was never very much software available. New formats catching on to the main stream buyer should/are all about what software is avail.

It's a damn catch-22. The software makers want to see how the new hardware sells and the hardware makers want to sell so more software can become avail. No doubt HD-DVD and Blu-ray have a place, but look how long it's taken HD-TV to finally get a foothold in the mainstream, and there are still issues with it.

So don't hold you breath....or you won't be around when these new formats finally take hold.

H9

[Frank Z]

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...=&pagenumber=3

[bknauss]

2 - currently there are rules in place saying you can't have both formats in one (like you can't buy a piece of satellite equipment with XM and Sirius both inside... you have to buy additional equipment even if the hardware is XM and Sirius ready).

[LuSh]

Actually Danger Boy...there will be a universal player...made by LG...and it will be under $1k. I saw at CES this year. Samsung will have a combo player as well. Although I didn't get spec's, retail or release date from them.

[Loud & Clear]

If you have a dvd player that outputs in 1080i already, will it see the new hd disks?

[lanion]

If you have a dvd player that outputs in 1080i already, will it see the new hd disks?

No, you will need a new player.

[Ron-P]

Why waste money on the big ticket stuff?

Not a waste of money if you enjoy it. I plan to have a blu-ray player in the house by summer. I want to give these machines a few months on the street just to make sure there are no major bugs with'em. If there bug free for the most part I'll be upgrading.

My Z3 has an HDMI input so I am ready.

[goingganzo]

i have dvi on my benq 8700+ you can get a converter do dvi and also the hd dvd disks should cost less to make sence they can just retro fit the machines to make the dvd but blue ray needs all new machines to make the blue ray disks.

[okiepolkie]

Actually Danger Boy...there will be a universal player...made by LG...and it will be under $1k. I saw at CES this year. Samsung will have a combo player as well. Although I didn't get spec's, retail or release date from them

This makes me happy as a Samsung and LG dealer :)

And as Toshiba dealer, I'll be able to get the HD-DVD player when it comes out.

[Danny Tse]

Sony announcing launch of Blu-ray on May 23

Read this

[unc2701]

Supposedly the Toshiba units are supposed to start shipping in a bout a month. Personally, I'd bet that the used prices on upscaling DVD players are going to take a big dive and new units will dry up in a year- You'll just see HD players that upscale the old DVD's. I'm sitting on the sidelines for awhile on this one. I want to see HDMI banged out and see a winner on the bluray vs HD-DVD before I go with one. PS3 is going to give Bluray a big boost, but it looks like the studios are leaning a little more on the side of HD-DVD.

[bknauss]

Hard for PS3 to give BR a boost when there is so much uncertainty with PS3. I think it was Forbes that just did a cost breakdown and estimated to make it now, it would be nearly $800 cost to Sony... I don't think they'd take a $400 hit on each system.

[mantis]

I think I will wait to see what happens. I want a new DVD player but I'm not sure I'm gonna wait for all this to pan out.

The New Pioneer Elite players are looking great as well as the Better Denons.
My player is still really good but it would be nice to have a higher quality HDMI unit like the Denon 3910 or 5910. Maybe the Elite Dv79avi. Who knows but HD DVD is what I have been waiting to see hit the streets

Dan

[Pablo]

I'm going to wait a couple of years on the "HD" players. One, for the price to come down, two, for the titles to me more available and come down in price, three, wait untill they can play my existing disks as well as my current player, and four, my TV doesn't have an HDMI input :( . (And I love me set).

Also, I don't think your going to see that much of a difference on a 32" set (not worth the expense of the player and dvds). I would upgrade to a larger set before I upgrade the DVD player.

(as far as beta, a bunch of years back when the beatles came out with an aniversery set [with a new song, I believe about 10yrs ago], there was a camercial on for a live beatles tape available on both VHS & Beta! Some one must have had a stockpile of these things in a warehouse somewhere).

[mldennison]

the thing that i see as really hindering the acceptance of any new dvd format is the fact that the mainstream public has relatively recently shifted from VHS to DVD. if you look back, new formats for audio and video; like LP, Cassette, CD and VHS all had long periods of inactivity prior to their acceptance. what it really takes for a format to succeed is not just the tech savvy people to get on board but your average family to buy into the format. i just think that the "average family" is not going to accept a new DVD format this quick. while it seems like a long time ago to us that DVD's came out, to the average joe they are a new thing and it is really going to take a while before the new formats see any mainstream acceptance.

[schwarcw]

the thing that i see as really hindering the acceptance of any new dvd format is the fact that the mainstream public has relatively recently shifted from VHS to DVD. if you look back, new formats for audio and video; like LP, Cassette, CD and VHS all had long periods of inactivity prior to their acceptance. what it really takes for a format to succeed is not just the tech savvy people to get on board but your average family to buy into the format. i just think that the "average family" is not going to accept a new DVD format this quick. while it seems like a long time ago to us that DVD's came out, to the average joe they are a new thing and it is really going to take a while before the new formats see any mainstream acceptance.

Amen! I give it about three to five years. Too many Disney films out there and parents won't go for it immediately. A lot of DVDs are sold to parents who are buying players for their children. Also, big screen TVs are just starting to get real hot with a lot of people still waiting for the price to go down and the format wars to settle out a clear front runner. While this won't hinder the videophile, I still think the videophile will take a wait and see attitude for a while (about two years). All of this will allow the competition to jump start their product. Remeber the Philips product is said to be less expensive and the disks cost half as much. A lot going on here for a while. I'm going to sit back and listen to some tunes.

[Frank Z]

Wait?!? Where's the courage to be on the leading edge? You guy's have gone soft...Sign me up!!

[bknauss]

I'll probably just get a HD-DVD player since its not TOO much more than a good upconverting DVD player, but it gives me the ability to play HD-DVD if it hangs around. And oh yea, I have Netflix and they'll be doing HD-DVD.