You really need to work on your run on sentences, bro. I could barely read that without getting a headache.

I really think they have dropped the ball with the launch titles... I mean, imagine if they had The Matrix, Indiana Jones, Terminator 2, Fight Club, the Godfather, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Lord of the Rings, etc etc, all for launch. Shit, I run the fuckbluray.com site (and all its derivatives), and those kind of titles would tempt even ME to go about and partake in this. Instead, we get crap. This is make or break and they're totally F'ing it up. What is the deal?

In Portland OR, via Comcast HD cable box, it was flawless. None of the problems you mentioned. Man, Florida owned! :o

Considering "Crash" is probably the worst movie I've ever seen in my life and I would probably happier watching Opera give birth in 480i than a cropped HD "Crash", I would say that's nothing to worry about, Matt!

Blu-ray's site specifically states that an internet connection will be absolutely required for MMC.

http://www.blu-ray.com/faq/#bluray_connection

This interview with an HD-DVD rep states a way other than internet access that they will be able to tell you actually own the movie:

http://dvd.consumerelectronicsnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=37429

:)

According to this article there are over 3 million HDTV's in the US that do not have HDMI or DVI.

http://gear.ign.com/articles/695/695919p1.html

Hi, I wrote the article, I'd like to chime in.

I have never heard of HDCP-compliant DVI before. That's seriously a new one, but that link is insightful. But here's a question. Just because a TV has DVI does not necessarily mean it's HDCP compliant right? HDCP was only "approved" by the FCC in Aug 2004, which is one and a half years ago. Surely no TV's before that time had HDCP capability? So my point still stands pretty well, I would think - if you bought an HDTV more than a year ago (or a year and a half ago), you're still screwed. Right?

HDMI cables ARE pricey, in retail stores, where most people will be making their purchase anyway. Someone else brought up this point in the comments on FBR and I said the same thing - I have zero interest in HDMI, so I have never looked that hard into it, but everytime I see the cables in retail stores, they're in the $50-$100 range.

DRM > Life: The Register article I linked to said these motions were filed by lawyers for both industries (MPAA/RIAA).

I didn't say connecting to the internet for extras was inherently a bad thing, but it's certainly open for abuse. Besides, what if your internet "hub" isn't anywhere near your home theater? What if you don't have broadband? It's certainly going to be an inconvenience for some.

HD is "very impressive" for sure, better than DVD's, but I'm just saying that DVD's still look great, most people don't need to upgrade yet. I have a 32" HDTV and the difference between a DVD and HDTV isnt too much.

Re: Price - Article states "Obviously these costs will drop over time ... you should wait". Also, Toshiba is only shipping 10,000 HD-DVD units for launch. When DVD's were first introduced, they either shipped and/or sold 200,000 units. I just read that yesterday, I dont have a link handy, but I'm pretty sure that's accurate, corrent me if I'm wrong.

Buying new DVD's - I know they're backwards compatible, I'm going to update the article to state this. Point being, you have a shiny new player, you want your movies to look as good as they can. There's a phrase, "Now I have to buy another copy of the white album...." same thing applies here. Sure you can keep your old copy but it's going to be hard to resist upgrading it a new shiny one.

I am planning on updating my article today to reflect a number of these points.