Home Theater/HDTV/et al...

Forgot to mention: those really really inexpensive HDMI cables that I bought from Amazon (~$5 each, including shipping) work just fine with my brother's HDTV and the Philips 1080p DVD player I bought him for Christmas... :victory:

Save your money and don't spend away your week's salary on HDMI cables... :sweat:

I got a HDMI cable with my recorder...



I've come across a hitch with the new recorder: It only has an analog tuner, which means I get crap reception unless I use the digital set-top box. This means I have to watch whatever is being taped, since it also doubles as a DVD player in my system. So I will have to buy another digital set-top box for the recorder :shamefulcry:

Anime Dad wrote:I've come across a hitch with the new recorder: It only has an analog tuner, which means I get crap reception unless I use the digital set-top box. This means I have to watch whatever is being taped, since it also doubles as a DVD player in my system. So I will have to buy another digital set-top box for the recorder :shamefulcry:

Drag.



I thought I saw that Philips had a DVD recorder with a HD tuner.....?

Probably.

I didn't have any say in what I got: I thought it was just a DVD player, since that's what we had before that died.

If it were me, I would have got a DVD recorder with twin HD tuners and a 250G hard drive ;)

Anime Dad wrote:If it were me, I would have got a DVD recorder with twin HD tuners and a 250G hard drive ;)

If something like that existed. ;)

bmwracer wrote:
If something like that existed. ;)

True. But it won't be long... I guess the next best thing would be a PVR with HD tuner...

Anime Dad wrote:True. But it won't be long...

Can't say that I've ever seen a recorder with two tuners... :sweat:

Though TiVo-type devices, er, DVRs, must have multiple tuners in order to allow you to record and watch two different shows through the same machine...

Wiki time. ;)

Wiki comes through again ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_video_recorder ) : :thumbsup:

Introduction of dual-tuners

In 2003 many Satellite and Cable providers introduced dual-tuner DVRs. These machines have two tuners within the same receiver to operate independently of one another. The main use for this feature is the capability to record a live program while watching another live program simultaneously or to record two programs at the same time while watching a previously recorded one. Some dual-tuner DVRs also have the ability to operate two separate television sets at the same time. The PVR manufactured by UEC (Durban, South Africa) and used by Multichoice has the ability to view two programs while recording a third using a triple tuner. With some machines, such as the Scientific Atlanta 8300DVB PVR, it is possible to view one program whilst recording two other programs according to the users preference.

Whoa.

Interesting. I have been looking at a few different things: The twin tuner units (PVR's) are quite expensive. But you can buy a SD PVR with single tuner & 160G hard drive for about $100.

Anime Dad wrote:Interesting. I have been looking at a few different things: The twin tuner units (PVR's) are quite expensive. But you can buy a SD PVR with single tuner & 160G hard drive for about $100.

Amazing how an extra tuner and slightly larger hard drive can jack up the price, when everyone knows it couldn't be that much more expensive. :sweat:

Tried out the USB port on my brother's Philips DVD player... Works like a charm: plugged in my flash drive with several DivX/xVid files and the player played them flawlessly with no hesitation or choppiness. :thumbsup:

A nice little feature. :victory:

bmwracer wrote:Tried out the USB port on my brother's Philips DVD player... Works like a charm: plugged in my flash drive with several DivX/xVid files and the player played them flawlessly with no hesitation or choppiness. :thumbsup:

A nice little feature. :victory:

Awesome.

My new unit plays avi files perfectly too: although I haven't tried softsubs yet.

From Yahoo! News:

Warner Bros. picks Blu-ray over HD-DVD

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business

Warner Bros. Entertainment said Friday it will release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format, becoming the latest studio to reject the rival HD DVD technology and further complicating the high-definition landscape for consumers.

Warner Bros., owned by Time Warner Inc., was the only remaining studio releasing high-definition DVDs in both formats.

It is the fifth studio to back Blu-ray, developed by Sony Corp. Only two support the HD DVD format, developed by Toshiba Corp.

Both formats deliver crisp, clear high-definition pictures and sound. But they are incompatible with each other, and neither plays on older DVD players, which means consumers seeking top-quality playback face a dilemma.

Warner said it decided to go with Blu-ray because consumers have shown a stronger preference for that format than HD DVD.

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger," Warner Bros. chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement.

"We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers and, most importantly, consumers," the statement said.

The company said sales of Blu-ray discs in the U.S. generated $169 million last year, while sales of discs in the HD DVD format totaled $103 million.

About 60 percent of Warner's sales of U.S. high-definition discs were Blu-ray titles and the other 40 percent were HD DVS, said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

Outside the U.S., the divide was far wider, with Warner's Blu-ray discs outselling titles in HD DVD in Britain and Japan, among other markets, Tsujihara said.

Sales of set-top high-definition disc players in the fourth quarter of 2007 also factored into Warner's decision.

The company saw an acceleration in sales of Blu-ray players at the end of the quarter, particularly in December, Tsujihara said.

"We always viewed set-tops as the most significant indicator" of consumers' format preference, he said.

Still, one alarming trend Warner keyed on was that consumers didn't appear motivated by price reductions on high-definition disc players.

"When we saw that was not impacting sales in the level that it should have, and the consumer research that we did indicated that the consumers were holding back from buying either one of the two formats ... we thought it was the right time to act," Tsujihara said, noting that even sales of standard DVDs were affected because consumers appeared unsure over which format to go with.

"That was kind of the worst of all worlds for us," he said.

There are some differences between the formats. Blu-ray discs can hold more data \ 50 gigabytes compared with HD DVD's 30 GB \ but the technology's new manufacturing techniques boosted initial costs.

HD DVDs, on the other hand, are essentially DVDs on steroids, meaning movie studios can turn to existing assembly lines to produce them in mass.

Warner Home Video will continue to release new titles in HD DVD until the end of May.

Pali Capital analyst Rich Greenfield said in a Web posting Friday that he expects the HD DVD format to "die a quick death, versus a prolonged format war."

"While we still expect overall consumer spending on DVDs to decline at least 3 percent in 2008, the risk of an even worse 2008 DVD environment has most likely been avoided by Warner's early 2008 decision," Greenfield wrote.

The North American HD DVD Promotional Group Inc., a trade association that promotes the HD DVD format, did not have an immediate comment Friday.

Calls to representatives for Toshiba, Sony and the Blu-ray Disc Association were not immediately returned.

Studios and retailers have been choosing sides in the high-def format war in recent months.

Blu-ray got a big boost in June when Blockbuster Inc. announced it would stock only Blu-ray titles as it expands its high-definition offerings.

Target Inc., the nation's second-largest retailer, decided in July to sell only Blu-ray DVD players.

Among the other major studios that have decided to go with Blu-ray: The Walt Disney Co., Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures, News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Viacom's Paramount Pictures, which also owns DreamWorks SKG, dropped its support for Blu-ray and said it would start distributing films exclusively in the HD DVD format.

Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric, also releases films only in HD DVD.

From Yahoo! Tech:

TV Innovations Rule CES 2008

Mon Jan 7, 2008 6:53PM EST

It's the elephant in the living room: Panasonic's 150-inch plasma has all but stolen the show here at CES 2008. When people ask you "What's the coolest thing you've seen at the show so far?" they invariably follow that up with "Except for the 150-inch TV."

And sure enough, the thing is a marvel to behold. It's so big, it's hard to take it in, really. With a viewing area that measures 11 feet by 6 1/4 feet and 8.84 million pixels of resolution, the TV (which has no model number and no date for being commercialized) is regularly thronged by crowds of slack-jawed onlookers, unable to comprehend the thing.

It's so big that all the other flat-panel companies have simply removed signage that might indicate how big (er, small) their sets are in comparison. There are obviously some big sets here from Pioneer, LG, and Sharp, but exactly how big their biggest sets are remains a mystery.

From Yahoo! Tech:

Samsung Debuts Slimmed-Down Combo HD Player

Sun Jan 6, 2008 5:02PM EST

Samsung has just announced its second-generation Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player, and it definitely has an edge on its predecessor in the style department. But here's a bigger question: How much will it cost?

The glossy, piano-black, and just 2.3 inch-high BD-UP5500 comes with most of the older UP-BD5000's features, including full support for Blu-ray and HD DVD interactive features, playback of Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD soundtracks, as well as the ability to upconvert standard DVDs to full-on 1080p. Also included is out-of-the-box support for Blu-ray profile 1.1 (which allows for picture-in-picture commentaries on newer Blu-ray discs), an Ethernet port for downloading new firmware and accessing online content, and HQV processing for enhancing HD and SD video.

Overall, not bad, but here's the spec we really want to know: how much? Unfortunately, Samsung isn't releasing pricing info just yet, but hopefully it'll be lower than the $799 sticker price for the BD-UP5000\especially given that the demand for combo HD decks may dwindle now that HD DVD appears to be on the ropes.

Look for the BD-UP5500 to arrive in stores in the second half of the year.

Update: Reports are coming in that the deck will retail for $599\still pricey, but a veritable bargain compared to the $799 BD-UP5000.

From Yahoo! Tech:

Paramount Set to Drop HD DVD for Blu-ray

Tue Jan 8, 2008 10:54AM EST

How many "death blows" will it take for Blu-ray to finally win the format war against HD DVD? I've been hearing that phrase (and writing about it) since July 2007. Well here comes another one. Following in the footsteps of Warner Brothers' abandonment of the HD DVD format, reports are surfacing that Paramount is headed to Blu-ray as well.

This is huge news not just because it would leave just one major studio (Universal, plus the mini-major DreamWorks) producing HD DVD content. It would mark the first time in the high-def war that a studio has abandoned one exclusive format and switched to another. Warner was producing both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs and merely dropped the HD DVD ones. Paramount will have to switch entirely to Blu-ray, which it has not been producing up to now.

According to the Financial Times, Paramount has a clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp allowing it to switch to Blu-ray in the event that Warner was to do so. And exercising that clause is what's about to happen. It's also theorized that DreamWorks will follow Paramount, since the studios are closely tied together.

Nothing's been announced yet, but this should be wrapped up in fairly short order. Stay tuned.

bmwracer wrote:From Yahoo! Tech:

Paramount Set to Drop HD DVD for Blu-ray

Tue Jan 8, 2008 10:54AM EST

How many "death blows" will it take for Blu-ray to finally win the format war against HD DVD? I've been hearing that phrase (and writing about it) since July 2007. Well here comes another one. Following in the footsteps of Warner Brothers' abandonment of the HD DVD format, reports are surfacing that Paramount is headed to Blu-ray as well.

This is huge news not just because it would leave just one major studio (Universal, plus the mini-major DreamWorks) producing HD DVD content. It would mark the first time in the high-def war that a studio has abandoned one exclusive format and switched to another. Warner was producing both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs and merely dropped the HD DVD ones. Paramount will have to switch entirely to Blu-ray, which it has not been producing up to now.

According to the Financial Times, Paramount has a clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp allowing it to switch to Blu-ray in the event that Warner was to do so. And exercising that clause is what's about to happen. It's also theorized that DreamWorks will follow Paramount, since the studios are closely tied together.

Nothing's been announced yet, but this should be wrapped up in fairly short order. Stay tuned.

hd dvd is getting bitchslapped at the moment....but the day need cometh where we can get rid of discs all together...i'm getting tired of discs, honestly.

Tu_triky wrote:hd dvd is getting bitchslapped at the moment....but the day need cometh where we can get rid of discs all together...i'm getting tired of discs, honestly.

Yeah, some people are saying why bother with discs, 'cause evetually everything will be available for download... Just like music is at the moment...

bmwracer wrote:
Yeah, some people are saying why bother with discs, 'cause evetually everything will be available for download... Just like music is at the moment...

discs, after a while when they start piling up, are a nuisance...with solid state memory getting cheaper and cheaper....i think that's the way to go....in any event...if in the near future bandwith speeds increase and wi-fi downloads become more prevalent.....just having the content beamed to whatever device will be really cool.

Can't wait for that day. I'm sick of buying blanks that seem to be good, only to find they are crap :(