It’s Over
It’s Over
Ok it might not be official yet but it looks like the HD format war is effectively over. Following my previous post on the Toshiba HD-EP30 and praising Toshiba for releasing a budget priced HD DVD player and making the next gen format available to the masses it seems they are admitting defeat and pulling the plug on the format.
The loss of the so called format war for HD DVD has been talked about since January when Warner Brothers, Hollywood’s largest distributor of DVDs switched their support from HD DVD to rival format Blu-ray. On Friday there was another nail in the coffin when the U.S giant Wal-Mart announced that they would stop selling HD DVD and exclusively support the Blu-ray format. The announcement by Wal-Mart came in a week when major electronics seller Best Buy and online video rental giant Netflix declared their allegiance to Blu-ray.
NHK, a Japanese broadcaster reports that although Toshiba is expected to continue selling HD DVD players at stores for the time being, it will cease production of all HD DVD-compatible equipment and will close its HD DVD factories in Northern Japan. Losses could reach tens of billions of yen (several hundred millions dollars) if the company decides on the pullout, it said. No comment was available from Toshiba on Saturday. The HD DVD camp also includes Microsoft, Intel, Universal Home Studios, and Paramount Home Entertainment.
The format war between the Toshiba-backed HD DVD and Sony Corp’s Blu-Ray, often compared to the Betamax-VHS battle in the 1980s, has slowed the development of what is expected to be a multibillion dollar high-definition DVD industry. The loser of the battle will become a mere footnote in consumer electronics history, much the way Betamax was forgotten after VHS became the technology of choice for home video players, according to industry analysts.
Toshiba HD-EP30
Toshiba HD-EP30
RRP £250
Buy the Toshiba HD-EP30 from Toshiba@HomeCinemaGear from just £119.99
Toshiba helped to bring DVD in to many homes in the formats early life by being one of the first to release cheap DVD players. They are now trying to do the same for HD DVD with the HD-EP30 at an RRP of £250. This is an incredibly low price for a Hi-Def disc player at this stage of their relatively short life.
Peformance doesn’t appear to suffer for being a budget model either. What HiFi magazine tested the product with the HD DVD version of Mission Impossible 3. They report that the opening scene which features a pan of a long flight of steps showed only the faintest of wobble whereas many other players allow this scene to break up completely. The HD-EP30 also coped well as the camera continued to pan across the room past many dinner jackets showing every crease and fold. Standard DVD playback is equally impressive and the HD-EP30 will also have a decent stab at CD audio playback.
It comes as no surprise that there had to be a downside on such a cheap player and with the HD-EP30 its the audio features. No HD audio formats can be output via the HDMI connection. Also missing from the spec are any 5.1 analogue connections. The HD-EP30 will convert any HD audio to PCM and output this via the HDMI or digital optical port.
All things considered at this price point I don’t think there can be any complaints and Toshiba should be praised for bringing HD viewing within reach of the masses.
Read the rest of this entry »
Toshiba 47Z3030
Toshiba 47Z3030
RRP £1,700
Buy the Toshiba 47Z3030 online from Toshiba@HomeCinemaGear from £1,207
One of the drawbacks with LCD TVs is the tendancy to suffer from motion blur. That is they loose clarity with fast moving images. One way to reduce if not eliminate this effect is doubling the standard 50Hz refresh rate to 100Hz. Toshiba was one of the first to use a refresh rate of 100Hz but has opted to only use this on it’s top end Z series screens.
As such the 47Z3030 features 100Hz image processing which seems to do a good job of reducing the aforementioned motion blur. Home Cinema Choice tested the 47Z3030’s full HD 1080p/24fps performance by hooking up the screen to a Sony BDP-S1E and giving Pirates Of The Caribbean on Blu-ray a spin. The magazine comments “…their movements certainly lose less resolution than they do on Toshiba’s own non-100Hz sets …” They go on to say that the very fastest action does leave a definate trace of blur but the result is at best quite natural and not overly distracting.
Other features on the picture quality side include Toshiba’s ActiveVision M100HD processing for improved colour, contrast and sharpness. Plus 10bit processing for a wider colour pallette and MPEG noise reduction. The 47Z3030’s 1080p/24fps performance is improved further by featuring a 5:5 pulldown facility that replicates the exact image frames in sets of 5 to reduce the juddering artefacts that some 1080p/24fps sets can suffer from.
The downsides are a poor black level performance with dark sides looking decidedly grey and a shallow viewing angle with brightness and contrast really suffering when viewing from a wide angle.
The sound however fares better probably due to the speaker technology being provided by Onkyo. The overall sound quality is good with power, clarity and believable mid bass.
Read the rest of this entry »
Philips DVDR5500
Philips DVDR5500
RRP - £199
Buy the Philips DVDR5500 online from Philips@HomeCinemaGear from £109.99
With hard disk recorders becoming more and more popular the lifespan of DVD recorders is under threat. Philips has released this and brought out a product to bridge the gap. The DVDR5500 combines both a hard disk recorder and a DVD recorder into one slim elegant looking device. It can record to both DVD- and DVD+ discs and with a hybrid TV tuner, recording both analog and digital TV is a breeze. The DVDR5500 also has the ability to upscale DVDs to 1080i resolution. This recorder also features USB Direct for quick and easy transfer of photos and music.
Packing all of these features into one unit and for an RRP of £199 Philips may have given the DVDR5500 a chance.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sony BDP-S500
Sony BDP-S500
RRP - £599
Buy the Sony BDP-S500 online from Sony@HomeCinemaGear from £486
Convenience – and style – of a different kind is evident in the design of the BDP-S500. This model features a motorised sliding panel at the front, which opens automatically when you load or eject a disc
Another reason this player will fit so comfortably at the centre of the digital living room is BRAVIA Theatre Sync technology. This uses HDMI to let you control a home theatre setup using a single button on a single remote instead of having to switch on and select inputs on several devices one after another. So all you need to do is press Play on the player’s remote and the TV switches on and selects it as the primary input. When you’re done, turning off the TV with its remote will automatically shut down the player as well and any other components of your setup connected to it by HDMI.
Film lovers will relish 24p True Cinema. Cine cameras actually film at 24 frames per second, but televisions operate at a higher frame rate, so conversion has traditionally been necessary. The result is a 4% discrepancy from the original – the film broadcast on TV or played on a VHS or DVD player actually runs 4% faster than the original, and some soundtrack rises by 4% in pitch. When the BDP-S300 or BDP-S500 is connected to a TV with 24p capability such as the new Bravia X-Series, the original 24 frames per second are played just as the camera first recorded them. You see – and hear – exactly what the director intended.
The BDP-S500 also supports the new x.v.Colour standard, an international standard defining a colour range for moving images approximately twice that of sRGB. This means the players can handle AVC-HD discs recorded by new-generation camcorders that use x.v.Colour and reproduce the more natural and lifelike colours in full.
Even your existing collection of DVDs can look better thanks to a 1080p upscaling feature that works with HDMI-equipped 1080p-capable HDTVs, enhancing and sharpening the picture as you watch.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sony XEL-1 OLED TV Launch
Sony XEL-1
Sony Launches World’s First *1 OLED TV
Realizes astonishing 3mm-thinness (at thinnest point) and unparalleled image quality
Sony today introduced the world’s first*1 OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TV, “XEL-1″. The 11-inch OLED TV “XEL-1″ proposes a ground-breaking new TV design, with its astonishing thinness measuring approximately 3mm (at its thinnest point). “XEL-1″ also incorporates Sony’s independently developed “Organic Panel*2″, which realizes advantages such as high contrast, high peak brightness, color reproduction, rapid response time, all of which combine to deliver unparalleled image quality.
*1 As of October 1, 2007. Based on Sony research.
*2 Name of Sony OLED panel
Sony’s design concept for the XEL-1 was a new TV Design which represents the sensation of floatation.
A simple design, in which the thin, light display is sustained by an aluminum side arm, represents the sensation of floating, and has delivers a revolutionary design befitting the world’s first OLED TV. Also, the rear panel combines black and mirror-like metal surfaces, which together with the balanced front and side design completes its sophisticated overall appearance. Matching this slim and advanced body design, “XEL-1″ comes with a slim and stylish remote control.
The launch date for the XEL-1 in Japan was set at 1st December 2007 with a retail price (inc. Tax) of ¥200,000 which equates to over £870. Whilst this may seem an extremly high price for an 11″ screen Sony released the product ahead of schedule and it was sold out at launch by pre-orders. Production is expected to be 2,000 units per month and there are currently no plans for a UK release however now the technology is out there it is inevitable that it will reach our shores sooner or later.
Main Features of the “XEL-1″
Read the rest of this entry »
