Are you interested in the new generation of optical storage? If the answer is yes, Sony and Toshiba will both breathe a sigh of relief because statistically there aren’t enough of you. The next-gen disc-storage format war has been on in earnest since earlier this year when both formats had slim offerings in the way of players and very few movies.
A mere few months later, there are a few makes to choose from and a heck of a selection of movies on both sides of the disc divide.
Format War – What is it Good for?
Forget the numbers, compression software and all that lingo: The disc format war comes down to is HDTV. You know that new 60-inch LCD panel you’ve been eyeing at the big box store? For images as perfect as those HD Demo loops they keep on constant repeat at the store, you’ll need an HD source.
Watch me embarrass myself with a camera raving about Blu-ray and Sony.
HD cable TV is the source they usually use at the store. But what about watching movies stored on disc? Regular DVD is NOT an HD source. Forget about upscaling, upsampling or any other Jedi mind tricks they try to push on you at the big box stores. Upsampling is designed to minimize the damage to picture quality by not correctly matching source and display resolutions. Your HDTV upsamples on its own anyway, so unless you’re buying a specialty scaling device with high-end name brand processors, upsampling regular DVD is just an extra feature on a DVD player you don’t really need. DVD will not produce HD images that will make your HDTV display come alive.
Movie discs in HD are currently only available in either HD DVD or Blu-ray formats.
The First Gen
A year ago, the early disc players included Toshiba’s HD-A1 and XA1 for HD DVD and the only Blu-ray player was Samsung’s BD-P1000. All players of this generation had their share of issues, which is why it’s seldom a good idea to be first on your block with the latest toy. I had my crack at the HD-A1 and compared the display head to head against the Xbox 360’s add-on HD DVD player.
But things are different now that we’re a year into the format war. Today we have disc players that can provide full 1080P at 24/30 and 60Hz scan rates through HDMI. This wasn’t something you could assume in the early models. The best news of all is that at least one of the new players (the LG BH100) on the scene can play back both formats.
The Next Generation of New HD DVD and Blu-ray Players
Toshiba HD-A2 + XA2: One of HD DVD’s founding companies has been busy upgrading the HD-A1 and XA1 offerings with … you guessed it ... the HD-A2 and HD-XA2.
The A2 is the budget-friendly model designed to replace the A1 with a price tag of around $500. It’s thinner than the A1 by almost an inch and a half. Although it has an HDMI port, it still doesn’t do 1080P. No analogue 5.1 audio outputs either.
XA2 - Here’s where Toshiba is showing what the format can do. Full analog multi-channel outs. It has Silicon Optix Reon video processors which can pump out 1080P. With name-brand video processors, it should do an excellent job of scaling regular DVD content. At approximately $800, it ain’t no $50 DVD player, but if you’ve looked at the cost of some other next-gen players, it almost fits the description of “budget." If you’re looking for an HD DVD player, this is definitely the one to break your piggy bank for.
Panasonic BMP-BD10: Panny jumps on the Blu-ray bandwagon. It seems to have all the bases covered with an HDMI output capable of 1080P at a 60-cycle scan rate only. It also has 7.1 analog audio outputs and can output DVD Audio which is quite rare in a next-gen disc player. DVD Audio is a hi-fi multi-channel music format, in case you’re wondering. With a retail price of $1,300 this is a pricey unit for a dedicated Blu-ray player.
LG BH100: The Korean company LG may have ended the format war with this device. However, in terms of feature-rich combo players, the plan may need another trip to the drawing board. This isn’t so much a combo player as what Geoffrey Morrison from Home Theater Magazine calls “a Blu-ray player that happens to play HD DVD.” It doesn’t get the full blessing of the HD DVD format so it doesn’t have any of the logos. It does have the Blu-ray logo and its seal of approval.
As a stripped-down HD DVD player, though, it’ll play the discs but it doesn’t have the ability to use interactive content - no HDi. You don’t even get the proper HD DVD menus that pop up over the movie. To navigate your HD DVD, you have to use the player’s own menu system and start scrolling.
The BH100 will do 1080P/24 and 30Hz but will not do 60Hz which seems a bit odd. Make sure your 1080P HDTV can accept 24 or 30Hz scan rates or you may be out of luck. If your set can’t handle a scan rate at 1080P video will be downsampled to 1080i – which you don’t want because … hey, you own a 1080P HDTV!
For detailed reviews of the players I have just summarized, check out the full article at Home Theater Magazine’s website – "Blu-ray and HD DVD Face Off."
