Support NeoGAF

[Raistlin]

Just to clarify, I said that Walmart seems on HD DVD's side on this "one", meaning this deal, this situation, this circumstance. Did you see the commercial? It's hard to see how Walmart isn't with HD DVD on this deal. I'm hoping for ample supplies of A2's on Friday. Why would they create a whole TV commercial, and pay for ad space for one or two players per store?

Ahh ... just watched it.

Seeing how they haven't dropped BD, this commercial is rather ... interesting.

I have to wonder if this was part of the negotiated deal with Toshiba? By virtue of how prominently she states 'and its a Toshiba', I'm going to guess WalMart ain't the only one paying for this spot

 

[thaivo]

When people see "HD-DVD" and think "oh this converts DVDs into HD on my flat screen" (ie. upconverting DVD player) you know your format sucks donkey balls

I'm sure Toshiba has nightmares about the fact that they have to put the letters "DVD" on their players... :lol Thanks for the revelation.

 

[Raistlin]

When the ONLY practical way to get a player, is to buy a Video Game system, your FORMAT is in TROUBLE:lol

:lol




Irony.

PS2 was the only practical way for people to get a DVD player in Japan way back when.

 

[Raistlin]

I'm sure Toshiba has nightmares about the fact that they have to put the letters "DVD" on their players... :lol Thanks for the revelation.

Actually, it already has been known to cause confusion amongst customers. Go read the comments at Amazon for an example.




The fact that Walmart already botched their website advertisement for this Friday (they state its a Toshiba DVD player) just goes to show how it can be an issue.

I will be interesting to see if the same issue is in the print ad (assuming there is going to be one).

 

[mrklaw]

one problem with HDDVD IMO is that there isn't a high end player. Onix has been talking about this in the last couple of pages. The fact that its really only Toshiba manufacturing them limits the choice a consumer has. So while they may have the 'cheap' units sorted out, they run the risk of alienating the videophiles who will want proper 1080p, will want high end transports and audio DACs, but can't get them because you are forced to buy either a Toshiba branded player, or a Toshiba reference design, which amounts to the same thing.

 

[favouriteflavour]

I'd prefer not to have a 2nd DVD for 'extras'. I'd prefer to have everything fit on one disc as much as possible. And I'd rather have more TV episodes on one disc as well.

As for which format is better in terms of sound and picture, well obviously that's Blu-Ray since the bitrate is higher. Whether or not you can tell a difference is up to you, however I'd rather support the format with nearly double the storage capacity and a higher bit rate.

Theoretically better perhaps but until a release on both formats proves this then its irrelevant. Also you think that because studios can fit more content on the disc they will? They like multiple discs because it creates percieved value and they can charge more for it. Look at the amount of dvd releases which could have been done on fewer discs paticularly TV series. A prime example of this is anime series.

 

[JCBossman]

one problem with HDDVD IMO is that there isn't a high end player. Onix has been talking about this in the last couple of pages. The fact that its really only Toshiba manufacturing them limits the choice a consumer has. So while they may have the 'cheap' units sorted out, they run the risk of alienating the videophiles who will want proper 1080p, will want high end transports and audio DACs, but can't get them because you are forced to buy either a Toshiba branded player, or a Toshiba reference design, which amounts to the same thing.

There are A TON of Toshiba 1080P Models that run from $300-500

 

[thaivo]

Ahh ... just watched it.

Seeing how they haven't dropped BD, this commercial is rather ... interesting.

I have to wonder if this was part of the negotiated deal with Toshiba? By virtue of how prominently she states 'and its a Toshiba', I'm going to guess WalMart ain't the only one paying for this spot

It definitely sounds like something cooked up by both Toshiba and Walmart. That's a coupling that looks like it could make an impact. Even if it is a lark, it sure is a nice one. $98 AND 5 HD DVD movies... Crazy...

 

[Raistlin]

There are A TON of Toshiba 1080P Models that run from $300-500

Go over to AVS and read up on them. They all suck, other than the XA2. The gen 3 platform is pretty broken for 1080p.

 

[JCBossman]

K-Mart(Sears) just went HD-DVD ONLY(at least for the players)

 

[thaivo]

one problem with HDDVD IMO is that there isn't a high end player. Onix has been talking about this in the last couple of pages. The fact that its really only Toshiba manufacturing them limits the choice a consumer has. So while they may have the 'cheap' units sorted out, they run the risk of alienating the videophiles who will want proper 1080p, will want high end transports and audio DACs, but can't get them because you are forced to buy either a Toshiba branded player, or a Toshiba reference design, which amounts to the same thing.

I think you are really stretching here. 1) If one is considers themselves a "videophile" they should know that the A2 has a max output of 1080i, and 2) People buying HD DVD players at Walmart generally do not fall under the Videophile classification, in fact, most will be quite amazed at the clarity of 1080i.

I don't have a 1080p set, so I haven't seen the wonders of 1080p as compared to 1080i, but I've been told the difference isn't exactly earth shattering.

 

[thaivo]

Go over to AVS and read up on them. They all suck, other than the XA2. The gen 3 platform is pretty broken for 1080p.

Did you read what Mrklaw said though? There are no HD DVD high-end players... :lol The XA2 must be low-end in his view.

 

[Raistlin]

K-Mart(Sears) just went HD-DVD ONLY(at least for the players)

teh old


K-Mart does not sell anything but the entry HD-DVD model due to cost. They aren't exactly known for being a major electronics retailer.

Sears on the other hand, is well known for electronics ... and does carry BD. I'm not aware of them stopping.




That isn't meant to downplay K-Mart not stocking them, but it appears to simply be a cost consideration at this point.

 

[Raistlin]

Did you read what Mrklaw said though? There are no HD DVD high-end players... :lol The XA2 must be low-end in his view.

Well, I'm not sure it really should be considered high-end ... its mid-level.


The problem here is that it is the highest-end model, but doesn't offer some of the features many would look to see in a top-tier player. That the problem with Toshiba only making players.


At this point, Toshiba has not shown any plans to offer a Gen 3 model that would be equivalent. They are continuing to produce this model so they have a 'high-end' player (as far as the format goes), but that means we aren't getting those features since Toshiba isn't about to just hack them into a pre-existing model.

 

[Forsete]

Oh, JC noticed that he couldnt survive trolling PS3 threads so he went here instead. Cute.

 

[favouriteflavour]

:lol




Irony.

PS2 was the only practical way for people to get a DVD player in Japan way back when.

At least the PS3 has good playback. PS2 was atrocious.

 

[Raistlin]

At least the PS3 has good playback. PS2 was atrocious.

True.


Though iirc, the main issue with the PS2's DVD playback was its de-interlacing. Progressive output wasn't even on it originally (it wasn't on any player at the time), so it may not have been all that terrible at the time.

 

[JCBossman]

Well Toshiba isn't going to be the ONLY game in HD-DVD land for long. A Whole slew of CHEAP Chinese HD-DVD players are due to hit the Wal-Marts/Targets/Kmarts and they will sell a shitload. Meanwhile Denon(the BEST of the BEST) will see the sales of the cheapo players and come out with a "REFERENCE" Design for the High END, Toshiba and a few other Big name players, will take up the middle ground...than Profit

 

[Raistlin]

Well Toshiba isn't going to be the ONLY game in HD-DVD land for long. A Whole slew of CHEAP Chinese HD-DVD players are due to hit the Wal-Marts/Targets/Kmarts and they will sell a shitload. Meanwhile Denon(the BEST of the BEST) will see the sales of the cheapo players and come out with a "REFERENCE" Design for the High END, Toshiba and a few other Big name players, will take up the middle ground...than Profit

That would be the hope, but until it happens ... I wouldn't put money on it



BTW - Denon, best of the best? Errr ... meh.

 

[JCBossman]

That would be the hope, but until it happens ... I wouldn't put money on it



BTW - Denon, best of the best? Errr ... meh.

Well they CLAIM their DVD designs, produce PQ Exceeding BOTH HD Formats

 

[TerryLee81]

That would be the hope, but until it happens ... I wouldn't put money on it



BTW - Denon, best of the best? Errr ... meh.

I think the Denon 3930 (or the super-expensive DVD-A1XVA) is considered as one of the best (if not the best) DVD players.

 

[fortified_concept]

Well I am ONLY buying HD-DVD and you wanna Know why, because the Blu-Ray camp hasn't seen fit to offer a CHEAP player.And What is this "Stopgap Format" SHIT, HD-DVD IS the true successor to DVD. You can see this in the Hybrid discs that ONLY HD-DVD has.

No THIS, is just WOW:
Blu-Ray is deemed legitimate because it's packed into the PS3 as standard, and this is a public perception regardless of whether or not one owns a PS3.

Joe6Pack, Hey Martha, since we got one of those new fangled $500 LCD TV's maybe we should pick up a Hi-DEF player to play some of those movies on it?

Martha:Yeah lets get a Blu-Ray, because I've heard they are packed into the PS3, so I regrad it as a STANDARD!

Joe6Pack:What's a PS3?

Martha: It;s like our Wii at home but it's GOT teh CELL, many people also refer to it as a PsTriple!

When the ONLY practical way to get a player, is to buy a Video Game system, your FORMAT is in TROUBLE:lol

K-Mart(Sears) just went HD-DVD ONLY(at least for the players)

etc etc etc...

Oh look guys, it's JCBossman spreading FUD and bullshit with his completely immature and obnoxious posting style... I'm extremely shocked and awed by this development. There was only one way for this thread to get even more stupid and it happened.

 

[user friendly]

Kmart still carries bd movies and the ps3, just not standalone bd players.

Walmart is having a sale on black Friday:


HDA2 = $98

Get one while you can.

 

[JCBossman]

Kmart still carries bd movies and the ps3, just not standalone bd players.

Walmart is having a sale on black Friday:


HDA2 = $98

Get one while you can.

Not Black Friday THIS Friday!

 

[Tyrannical]

A sub $100 HD-DVD player could spell trouble for blu-ray.

 

[mrklaw]

I think you are really stretching here. 1) If one is considers themselves a "videophile" they should know that the A2 has a max output of 1080i, and 2) People buying HD DVD players at Walmart generally do not fall under the Videophile classification, in fact, most will be quite amazed at the clarity of 1080i.

I don't have a 1080p set, so I haven't seen the wonders of 1080p as compared to 1080i, but I've been told the difference isn't exactly earth shattering.

I know 'videophiles' aren't going to be shopping at k-mart. My point was that Toshiba are in danger of moving so fast towards the mainstream consumer that they don't address the higher end market. rebadged Toshiba electronics don't count.

bluray has a wider range of manufactuers so its more likely they'll cover the needs of the high end. they already seem to be IMO compared to the HDDVD players.

 

[Barnolde]

A sub $100 HD-DVD player could spell trouble for blu-ray.

If it's bundled with Transformers and Heroes, maybe.

 

[fortified_concept]

So what happened to that Warner announcement?

 

[Tyrannical]

Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player Review

http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages_b/toshiba_HD-A2.html

No 1080P is looks like though.
Does 720P which is good enough for me.

 

[TerryLee81]

So what happened to that Warner announcement?

Yeah, where is it?

And where's the PS3 firmware update? You guys got me hyped yesterday and once again nothing happened.

 

[Days like these...]

$98 is too good to pass up. I'm gonna swing by tommorrow and try and pick up 2nd one for the bedroom and one for my dad for christmas.

What is up with complaining about JC when Snah is just bad if not worse. HD DVD is a stop gap format? WTF? Seriously.

 

[Solo]

So what happened to that Warner announcement?

Thursdayton

 

[Wulfer]

WoW how the HD ride continues I'm so glad I stuck to my guns on this format ride! :lol

 

[Kintaro]

Well Toshiba isn't going to be the ONLY game in HD-DVD land for long. A Whole slew of CHEAP Chinese HD-DVD players are due to hit the Wal-Marts/Targets/Kmarts and they will sell a shitload. Meanwhile Denon(the BEST of the BEST) will see the sales of the cheapo players and come out with a "REFERENCE" Design for the High END, Toshiba and a few other Big name players, will take up the middle ground...than Profit

Name those other "big name" players for me? Toshiba has pretty much priced everyone else out of the game in terms of hardware. No point in making hardware you can't profit on.

 

[methos1975]

Here is my question, how does Sony drop the ball on its biggest release of the year? Even the diehard BD fans at AVS forums are complaining about how shoddy Spiderman looks compared to recent releases like POTC, Apoclyto, Meet the Robinsons, etc and no where near the quality of Transformers on HD-DVD, how the fuck did Sony drop the ball on these movies of all movies?

 

[Ponn]

Here is my question, how does Sony drop the ball on its biggest release of the year? Even the diehard BD fans at AVS forums are complaining about how shoddy Spiderman looks compared to recent releases like POTC, Apoclyto, Meet the Robinsons, etc and no where near the quality of Transformers on HD-DVD, how the fuck did Sony drop the ball on these movies of all movies?

That's funny. All the reviews I have been reading said Spider-man 1 was meh but the other two were fantastic looking.

 

[Forsete]

Here is my question, how does Sony drop the ball on its biggest release of the year? Even the diehard BD fans at AVS forums are complaining about how shoddy Spiderman looks compared to recent releases like POTC, Apoclyto, Meet the Robinsons, etc and no where near the quality of Transformers on HD-DVD, how the fuck did Sony drop the ball on these movies of all movies?

Eh... Spiderman 2 and 3 are easily up there with the best movies IQ-wise, IMO.
Spiderman 1 is worse off, very grainy picture, might be the source, I dont know.

 

[methos1975]

Some have stated SP2 was underwhelming also, and that SP3 had a lot of edge enhancement. I will get my copy in from Amazon today, and I'll see for myself if its as bad as some state.

 

[jjasper]

I never noticed any problems with SP2. SP1 was definitely a notch below 2 and 3 though but not anything worth starting a riot about.

 

[TerryLee81]

I know I asked this before, but did anyone get Starship Troopers?

 

[djkimothy]

Name those other "big name" players for me? Toshiba has pretty much priced everyone else out of the game in terms of hardware. No point in making hardware you can't profit on.

IIRC Onkyo is going to provide an HDDVD player. But that's a way off.

In the mean time Denon was supposed to provide a $2000 Blu-ray player with superior upscaling features. That won't come till 08 I think. Blu-ray still has the full spectrum covered.

 

[methos1975]

I think both have issues, BD has no low end low priced mass adoption level player, HD-DVD has no high end player. The strange thing is according to polls, most HD-DVD owners are older film lovers who would be the perfect target for a high end player, while BD owners usually skew younger, its like they are not even targetting their main user bases.

 

[Oni Jazar]

Here is my question, how does Sony drop the ball on its biggest release of the year? Even the diehard BD fans at AVS forums are complaining about how shoddy Spiderman looks compared to recent releases like POTC, Apoclyto, Meet the Robinsons, etc and no where near the quality of Transformers on HD-DVD, how the fuck did Sony drop the ball on these movies of all movies?

You are talking out of your ass man. Spider-man 3 has been getting excellent reviews on PQ and AQ. It even got on the coveted "Tier 0" list in AVS.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=858316

 

[TerryLee81]

You are talking out of your ass man. Spider-man 3 has been getting excellent reviews on PQ and AQ. It even got on the coveted "Tier 0" list in AVS.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=858316

Ah thanks for that link, I found Starship Troopers in Tier 1, so I can buy it now.

 

[methos1975]

I am not talking out my ass, many are stating it pales compared to other releases, I can post links if you like. It can still be a 0 tier transfer, but that doesn't mean its better than others. With the high quality of some recent releases, especially the Disney stuff, its quite possible that while still a 0 it pales next to other better transfers.

 

[Wulfer]

Name those other "big name" players for me? Toshiba has pretty much priced everyone else out of the game in terms of hardware. No point in making hardware you can't profit on.

1. They didn't it because they could.

2. They're about to make all the other CE companies that laughed at them look like fools!


If your for the underdog things could have turned out any better.


WoW first the PS3 was a sure fire hit because of Blu-ray prediction and Wii360 busted it's bubble and now Toshiba's about to make Sony cry again for underestimating them.


GAF predictions

1. PS3 will rule all: conclusion unknown (but outlook not so good.)

2. PS3 will succeed because of Blu-ray: conclusion unknown (but outlook is looking painful.)

3. Wii360 will never have a chance in this market place: conclusion False (Big time!)

 

[Oni Jazar]

I am not talking out my ass, many are stating it pales compared to other releases, I can post links if you like. It can still be a 0 tier transfer, but that doesn't mean its better than others.

Hey that's exactly what it means. Spider-man 3 has been rated higher then every Disney movie other then PoTC2. You can ignore links all you want but they unequivically state that Spider-man 3 has outstanding PQ & AQ.

 

[StoOgE]

So, this thread took a massive turn for the worse.

I blame Warner.

 

[Forsete]

Oh Wulfer. :lol

 

[DarienA]

Kmart still carries bd movies and the ps3, just not standalone bd players.

Walmart is having a sale on black Friday:


HDA2 = $98

Get one while you can.

I don't even have an HDTV yet but I'm seriously thinking about picking up this and the TV they have on sale tomorrow.