Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"The DVD playback picture just got much clearer with the introduction of WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray. Video lovers can stop worrying about formats thanks to the newest release of the world's number one DVD and video playback software. With the inclusion of All2HD -- the most advanced upscaling technology available -- standard-definition videos and DVDs play back at near-HD quality. For users who desire the ultimate experience, WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray can play back HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc movies with the latest features and tools including BonusView (picture-in-picture), Advanced Navigation and HD audio from Dolby and DTS, as well as support for AVCHD and H.264 formats. Either way, WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray provides a superior video playback experience."



WinDVD has added the ability to playback Blu-ray and HD DVD video on your PC (as long as you have the required hardware/software components). Conveniently, Corel offers a useful downloadable tool that examines your system and will tell you if any components aren't up to par for Blu-ray/HD DVD playback. WinDVD also includes a proprietary technology called "All2HD" which claims to upscale standard and DVD video to near HD quality (I'll have to see it to believe it!). I just have a plain old DVD drive in my PC, but how many of you have a Blu-ray/HD DVD player in your PC?

Yesterday I talked about the fire sale on HD DVD...and here's a sweet deal. It appeared that Discovery had sold out of all of their HD DVDs, but now the remaining stock is on sale at blowout prices. The Planet Earth four disc set will run you just $29.99. Enter code "EML2008" for $5 off a $25 order, bringing it to just $24.99. Hell of a deal for what is arguably the best high-def video available. They also have "Sunrise Earth: Greatest American Sunrises" and two episodes of Discovery Atlas for $9.99 each. To sweeten the deal, shipping is free. Act fast though, the Sunrise Earth box set is already sold out.

Well, the format war's over. To the victor goes the spoils. Or rather, to the consumer goes the spoils! As in cheap HD DVD discs and players. Deals abound lately, and I've been taking advantage of a number of them myself. Frys.com is selling a number of HD DVD movies for $9.99, and DeepDiscount.com has movies starting at $9.11, though when I checked most of them seem to be on backorder. I picked up 7 HD DVDs from Frys.com for less than $11 each, shipped; and they came just a few days later. I also managed to snag a copy of Planet Earth on HD DVD at the Discovery Channel store for $29.99, although they now appear to be sold out. Hollywood Video also appears to be liquidating stock of HD DVDs, blowing them out for 2 for $20 or 2 for $14.99, depending on which coupons you find and use instore. Amazon.com is lowering prices on HD DVDs daily, with movies starting at $8.95. There's a few good deals to be had, including the Blade Runner 5-Disc Collector's Edition for $23.95, and the Matrix HD DVD Collection for $41.95.
On the player side, Tiger Direct has the 720p HD-A3 for $79.99, and the HD-A30 can be found at a variety of stores for $160. Microsoft's Xbox 360 HD DVD player has dropped to an MSRP of $49.99, and works great with Windows PCs. The next few weeks are sure to see prices drop even further, so keep an eye out for any movies you may want to snag on HD DVD. No, they won't work in a Blu-Ray player, but they'll look just as good as Blu-Ray does, and for alot less money. I plan to stock up, how about you?

Over on EngadgetHD I've been having a discussion about bit rates with George Ou of ZDNet. George argues that unless the content you are watching is at least 28 mbps 1080p, it's "fake HD". Nevermind that the HD spec. includes resolutions from 1024x768 up to 3840x2160, and that it doesn't specify a bit rate (or rates). He goes on to say that Xbox Live Video Marketplace downloads in HD are "slightly better than DVD but nowhere near 1080i over-the-air HD broadcast quality."

Unfortunately George's argument is so narrow that he is ignoring several other factors that are for more significant. The real world considerations go far beyond bit rate and resolution. The per pixel bit rate for 720p XBLVM downloads is nearly identical to a 1080i OTA broadcast, and even identical to real world HD DVD bit rates. Granted, the resolution is lower, but the you won't see any added compression artifacts over 1080p HD discs. As it turns out, resolution is a non-issue for most people:

Almost every HDTV in homes today is 720p, not 1080p. The extra resolution available on HD DVD and Blu-Ray is wasted on most people. What's more, to take advantage of that extra resolution, you'd need:

• 1080p native source (many lower end HD players can only to 1080i or 720p)
• A 1080p HDTV that can display full resolution with 1:1 pixel mapping
• Screen size larger than 50"
• To be sitting closer than 10 feet

So who can tell the difference given these conditions? Maybe a tenth of a percent of all HDTV owners? A hundredth? Less? Yes, HD DVD and Blu-Ray are better than XBLVM downloads under theoretically ideal circumstances, but the vast majority of people will never notice the difference.

Then there's the issue of compression algorithms. DVD is encoded in MPEG-2, whereas most HD content is encoded in h.264 or VC-1. To hear George tell it, you'd think they were equals. Fact is the newer codecs result in smaller file sizes, fewer artifacts, and better picture quality. Next thing you know George will be arguing that JPEG should be abolished and all cameras should shoot in RAW.

It really irks me when people focus on minutiae, rather than taking the big picture into account. Full 1080p video downloads aren't yet practical. There isn't enough bandwidth to make it work. Most of the HDTV sets out there are 720p. In the real world, Xbox Live downloads are just as good as HD discs. Better yet, you don't have to make a trip to the store to pick one up.

The past week sure has been interesting. Before CES even opened, Warner Home Video fired a shot across the bow of HD DVD by declaring that they would be going Blu-Ray Exclusive in mid-2008. New Line Cinema followed suit shortly thereafter, along with HBO. Even adult film studio Digital Playground went Blu this week. Meanwhile some are saying that Universal's HD DVD exclusivity contract has expired, and they may be soon going Blu-Ray exclusive, which they have categorically denied. Further speculation says that Paramount may be looking to use an out-clause to leave HD DVD for Blu-Ray as well, which they have also denied. CEOs from the major big box retailers see the format coming to an end soon, but still plan to support and sell both formats for the near future.

So where does this leave us, the consumers? Well, no better off really. The stalemate continues. Two major studios are still supporting HD DVD, as well as countless porn studios (for whatever that's worth). Michael Bay is still shooting his mouth off about things he doesn't understand. Ironically enough, BOTH formats are still losing to Xbox Live Video Marketplace, which this week signed ABC and MGM to its roster of over 35 studios and networks. This already includes Disney and Warner, which are Blu-Ray exclusive. So either way, HD DVD or Blu-Ray, Microsoft still wins. Me, I'm hoping HD DVD pulls out the win in the end. Lowest cost, most stable spec, and just as good technically as Blu-Ray. Though even I gotta admit, that's looking less and less likely. What do you think?