Yes, HD-DVD discs are outselling Blu-Ray, but I don't think that's currently a good indication of the relative health of the formats. Remember that there has been a reasonably priced (~$500) and excellent-looking (video performance-wise) HD-DVD player on the market for several months (the HD-A1), while that hasn't been true for Blu-Ray until now (the PS3). Let's wait about six months; then the relative disc sales will mean something, and we'll be able to draw a more informed conclusion from them.
Also, let me offer a radical idea: that the format war (if it is resolved, which it certainly will be -- by dual-format players or discs, if nothing else) will turn out to be a good thing in the long run, for the simple reason that it provided competition. And competition improves quality and price. The presence of HD-DVD has forced Blu-Ray to significantly improve the video quality of its discs and the price of its players. And the presence of Blu-Ray is probably what motivated HD-DVD to ensure that its discs were of high video quality and that its players were reasonably priced to start with.
So does the extra bandwidth needed for these additional HD channels mean that DirectTV's HD is going to get even more compressed -- or are they going to make more extensive use of MPEG4 to avoid this problem?
Richard: In this post you say that "As far as joining LG with a hybrid player like the one it had announced and then denied last year, the company currently has "no plans" to do so" yet, in the post you made 13 hours before this one ("Surprise! LG to debut dual format Blu-ray & HD DVD player at CES.) you say they've announced that they do have such plans. Which information is correct?
Jay: Thanks for the info. But what about when you are just watching the movie, without the extra features. In this case, the players that output 1080p/24 should be doing it "straight," right? And likewise, hopefully the new players that output 1080p/60 will not go through the unncessary interlacing/deinterlacing step.
...and my local Magnolia now has, on display, demo versions of both the Panasonic and Pioneer Blu-ray players. Supposedly they perform about the same, and are both noticeably better than the Samsung player.
"I have a MacBook Pro and an Xbox 360 and I would like to get a 20- to 24-inch display that will support both devices. The speakers should be inbuilt, or there should be an aux out on the display to hook up external speakers. Help! Please!"
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