HD enthusiasts crying foul over cable TV’s crunched signals

MORE reasons I have DirecTV- ocassionally my local FOX affiliate will have broadcasting issues and HD programming does not broadcast in HD but usually my paid cable stations like SCIFI HD and TNT HD and my fave HDNet all come through in bright shining HD without any problems. I have a 65 inch HD CRT TV so I notice when a signal is not HD.

Article from AP
MINNEAPOLIS - In Brent Swanson’s basement home theater, there should be nothing drab about “Battlestar Galactica.” He’s got a high-end projector that beams the picture onto a wall painted like a silver screen, and speakers loom in the corners, flanking two big subwoofers.

Yet when he tuned in to Sci Fi HD for a recent episode filmed in high definition, the image was soft and the darkest parts broke up into large blocks with no definition. Explosions, he said, were just dull.

“It kind of looked like they took the standard definition and just blew it up,” said Swanson, a 33-year-old graphic designer and videographer who subscribes to Comcast Corp.’s service. “I couldn’t really tell if what I was seeing was really better than what I saw on regular television.”
As cable TV companies pack ever more HD channels into limited bandwidth, some owners of pricey plasma, projector and LCD TVs are complaining that they’re not getting the high-def quality they paid for. They blame the increased signal compression being used to squeeze three digital HD signals into the bandwidth of one analog station.

End of the line for HD DVD

HD DVD software production continues to wind down.

The latest issue of the DVD Release Report shows just 18 HD DVD titles remain in the pipeline (as opposed to 70 for Blu-ray Disc). Assuming all those 18 titles come to market, HD DVD will end its two-year run with a library of 436 titles.

Source: HollywoodReporter

What does this mean if you own a HD-DVD player and have built up a library of disks? Well I have an HD-DVD player and a Blu-Ray so I will be buying my titles in BR HD format but at the same time I am picking up bargain HD disks online and putting them aside. Since my HD player is only used occasionally I will be able to view these disks on this player for years to come. I have read of folks who have HD players buying a spare at bargain basement prices to support their libraries. Not a bad idea. And not a lot of extra money.

Warner Decides to go Blu-Ray Exclusively: So What?

Supernatural66’s Take on this announcement and my pet HD-Peeves:

Warner announced today they will not be releasing new titles on HD-DVD format after May, 2008 and from that point on all new releases will be in the Blu-Ray high definition DVD format.  It will take some time to  sell down the existing HD titles so there will be plenty of titles for consumers for some time.

How will this affect Universal and Paramount who have been steadfast promoters of the HD-DVD format? We will have to wait and see.I have both a Toshiba HD-DVD player and a Sony Blu-Ray. My wish lists of new releases that I will be buying include a lot of Universal titles so I will not be abandoning my HD system any time soon. Personally I think we will see some super players coming out that can handle multiple formats. It is just a matter of software and getting a stable electronics platform for reading the disks. So far I have not been impressed with the FOX releases- have had several Blu-Rays that just would not play out of the box and encoding is an ongoing problem with Blu-Ray. Disney has done a great job with the format and Warner seems to have their act together on both formats.

Personally I am still waiting for FOX to announce they are releasing The X-Files on Blu-Ray in a special edition with tons and tons of interviews with the cast and crew. Why isn’t this ready this year in time to coincide with the release of the upcoming X-Files movie?

A distinct lack of TV shows on HD format is a bigger concern to me than which format wins the idiotic HD format war.  Super releases of desirable titles will do more for sales of this technology than anything. So far Warner has released Smallville seasons 5&6 in high definition with season 5 in HD and season 6 in both HD and Blu-Ray. I have the HD versions and they are great- picture is gorgeous and the transfer is stunning. Heroes Season 1 released by Universal and Battlestar Galactica Season 1 are awesome- tons of bonus features and mind blowing HD picture. I am happy to spend my money on the disks- release them already! Why are programs which are broadcast in HD not being released directly to HD/BR disk at the same time that they release regular sets?

Where is there a site to request title releases in HD format? Hint to Amazon.com- include an option for I would buy this in HD or BR if available somewhere on your sales page for every DVD not available in High Definition!

Final note for this week- DirecTV has been delivering on its promise of more HD programming than anyone on the time frame that they promised. With more and more people signing up everyday and enjoying the high-def experience, the demand for HD recordings will just continue to go up. It is silly to continue to play this waiting game- it is time for the studios to go for it and release more titles NOW not later when they feel things will be more certain.

Until next time!

Kate aka Supernatura66

 

Here is the official press release from Warner:
 Source

Warner Bros. Entertainment to Release its High-Definition DVD Titles Exclusively in the Blu-Ray Disc Format Beginning Later This Year
January 04, 2008

In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros. Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. and Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

“Warner Bros.’ move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want,” said Meyer. “The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. 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.”

Warner Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray. After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008.

“Warner Bros. has produced in both high-definition formats in an effort to provide consumer choice, foster mainstream adoption and drive down hardware prices,” said Jeff Bewkes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Time Warner Inc., the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment. “Today’s decision by Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner.”

“A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry,” said Tsujihara. “Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience. Warner Bros. has worked very closely with the Toshiba Corporation in promoting high definition media and we have enormous respect for their efforts. We look forward to working with them on other projects in the future.”

Contact Info:
Jim Noonan
Warner Bros. Home Ent. Group
(81 977-5489

Susan Fleishman
Warner Bros. Entertainment
(81 954-1919

Scott Rowe
Warner Bros. Entertainment
(81 954-5806

Successful Firmware Updates for HD-DVD Players

Alright- so I have spent the wee hours of the morning in trial and error and wanted to share with all of you some simple tips to save you time if you need to do a firmware update for your brand new (or not so new) HD DVD devices.

These rules work for both Toshiba HD DVD players and the Sony Blu-Ray DVD players.

Both systems utilize not only the standard dvd type technology but a series of sophisticated java tools to enhance your viewing and allow you to use all of the special features you are paying for on these disks.

Periodically you will need to upgrade the software on your player that controls how it treats disks. This software that is installed into the memory that controls your player is called “firmware”.

By going to your manufacturers support website you can download firmware updates. Follow all of the instructions to the letter and you should be ok.

Firmware update info/download sources:

Blu-Ray Support for the US from Sony: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/select-system.pl?PRODTYPE=78&NAVDISP=homeav

HD-DVD Support for the US from Toshiba: http://www.tacpservice.toshiba.com/ConsumerProductSupport/productupdatesandnotices.asp

My tips:
Do not bother burning the updates to a CD. This is more trouble than it is worth as both my Blu-Ray and HD are picky about what brands of CDs I feed them. Use a DVD-R format blank disk that is nice and clean and fresh from your spindle of new disks.

Use my trusty friend DVD-Decrypter to burn the update disk.
You will be downloading an ISO disk image file, most standard programs that Windows VISTA comes loaded with do not handle ISO files very well. Go into the menu on DVD-Decrypter, select MODE ISO WRITE

Pick your ISO file that you have downloaded and extracted as your source file in DVD-Decrypter, and then tell it to burn a disk. DO NOT NAME the disk- allow your program to assign the name based upon the file name.

Wait patiently for DVD-Decrypter to completely finish- takes 5-10 minutes and that is it.

Then follow your manufacturers instructions and any prompts for doing your upgrade. Once complete your system will be better than ever with the latest and greatest tools.

Hope this helps!

Trading Places Special Collector Edition HD-DVD review

 

Fantastic! BOnus features fun, July 14, 2007

Trading Places is one of my favorite movies of all time- I wore out 2 vhs tapes with it and a dvd….The HD DVD looked gorgeous on my 65 inch tv and the sound was great with my BOSE speakers. Bright clear image was better than I have seen since it premiered in the theater.
I loved the bonus features on the DVD- the interviews with John Landis and Dan Ackroyd talking about Jamie Lee Curtis were hysterical!
Am looking forward to more classic comedies from the 80s! Hopefully Paramount will be releasing their entire comedy library soon!

Heroes Season 1 HD-DVD Review

Fan- Freaking-Tastic!, September 10, 2007

By	Kathryn J. Blake “K.J. Blake 2″

I re-watched the entire series over Labor Day weekend and loved it! I didn’t have my HD dish until mid-season so I missed the premiere etc in high def- these disks definitely make for a great viewing experience. I liked the tons of deleted scenes and the easy to navigate menus. I am a big fan of disks with the option to either watch a single episode or to play through. Universal doesn’t have any long boring repetitive intros to HD disks like other studios who will remain nameless….
Heroes itself is one of my favorite new shows and this is a stellar presentation package in brilliant HD video with great sound! Watching on my 65 inch HD tv with my Bose home theater system it was great!