question on HD DVDs ...

[Bingo]

you can play regular DVDs on a HD DVD player, but can you play HD DVDs on a regular player? Assume I can't, right?

[ken0042]

I think you can. I think they embedded a regular track onto the disc; which was my reasoning for them winning out on the DVD format war.

Edit- ignore me, looks like I'm pretty much wrong.

[Bertuzzied]

No you can't but you can buy hd dvds that are two sided. One side has the hd part and the other side the standard.

like this one. http://www.amazon.com/Breach-Combo-H...666351&sr=1-22

I've only had my hd dvd player for 2 weeks now but man does this thing take a LONGGG time for it to load a disc. The ps3 kicks it's ass.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by Kobatuzzied

No you can't but you can buy hd dvds that are two sided. One side has the hd part and the other side the standard.

like this one. http://www.amazon.com/Breach-Combo-H...666351&sr=1-22

I've only had my hd dvd player for 2 weeks now but man does this thing take a LONGGG time for it to load a disc. The ps3 kicks it's ass.

LOL I know!

I turn on the HDDVD player, go to the bathroom, grab a drink, make some popcorn, call a friend and talk to her for 10 mins, and then go back downstairs, and it should ALMOST be booted up! hehehe.

But I won't complain because of the price I paid for it, and all the stupid cheap HDDVDs I am picking up now.

[StrayBullet]

The great thing about HDVD players is that most of them will up-convert all of your old DVDs to at least 480p. HD DVD is not dead!!

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by StrayBullet

The great thing about HDVD players is that most of them will up-convert all of your old DVDs to at least 480p. HD DVD is not dead!!

IIRC all DVDs are already encoded at 480p.

HDDVD players will upconvert to 720p/1080i/1080p depending on the player.

Blu-Ray does the same.

I use my HDDVD player as my upconverter, and use my ps3 for my Blu ray movies.

Right now if they're smart, HDDVD should market their players as a better alternative to Up-converting DVD players, seeing as how they only cost ~ $30 more...

[StrayBullet]

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

IIRC all DVDs are already encoded at 480p.

HDDVD players will upconvert to 720p/1080i/1080p depending on the player.

I stand semi-corrected.

Even though production for HD-DVD is now finished, I don't think people should stop purchasing HD movies. In the end, IT'S STILL IN HD!! I was Blu-Ray from the start, but I still wanted to have an HD player. Regular DVDs don't look as good in a Blu-Ray player as they do in an HD-DVD player. It may just be me, but that's what I find.

I'll still buy HD movies because in the end, it's still gonna be in 1080p - I just won't be able to buy any newer ones a year from now.

[photon]

Until your HD-DVD player dies and you can't get a replacement and are left with a ton of coasters

[Russic]

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

I use my HDDVD player as my upconverter, and use my ps3 for my Blu ray movies.

The ps3 upconverts dvds too. Are you saying it does a poor job compared to your hddvd player?

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by Russic

The ps3 upconverts dvds too. Are you saying it does a poor job compared to your hddvd player?

I just don't want to use it up when I have a nice handy $50 machine that does the same job and I don't care if it burns out

And IMO, the Toshiba does do a better job of upconverting than the ps3, but that will probably change when Sony launches another update.

[TurnedTheCorner]

HD-DVD is also region free - just received my copy of T2 on HD-DVD from the UK last night.

[GoinAllTheWay]

I recently recieved an upcoverting DVD player and must say I'm a tad dissapointed with the results. I wasn't expecting it to be the same as a regurlar HD DVD but when I set the upconversion to 1080p, I get large bands across the top and bottom. Is that normal? I'm assuming a full HD DVD player would make use of the entire screen?

[photon]

Nope, lots of movies are shot in an aspect ratio way wider than 16:9, so most movies have those black bands regardless of format.

[Barnes]

Movies are typically shot at 2:1 so you'll get black bars on a 16:9 screen.

[Russic]

The black bar thing is a little jarring at first. I was working under the same assumption you were until I did some reading on it.

[GoinAllTheWay]

And just so I'm sure I'm understanding everyone, I can expect the same thing from HD DVD's or Blue Ray discs on HD DVD or Blue Ray players?

[photon]

Yup, it's a function of the original source material and the screen it's being displayed on, not the format.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/764

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

And just so I'm sure I'm understanding everyone, I can expect the same thing from HD DVD's or Blue Ray discs on HD DVD or Blue Ray players?

I'm curious to see comments like this somewhat frequently. Did you not see these black bars on your old regular dvd player? If you weren't, you were doing something wrong.

[ken0042]

^^ Keep in mind with a regular DVD player hooked up with S-video you had the option of using a stretch mode. So yes, people may have been doing things "wrong" because they don't like the black bars.

People- ignore the black bars. They really don't exist.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I'm curious to see comments like this somewhat frequently. Did you not see these black bars on your old regular dvd player? If you weren't, you were doing something wrong.

Yes I did but I figured that was becuase I was trying to fit a wide screen image into a square screen. Now that I have a widescreen, I figured that it would make full use of the viewable area. I honestly didn't mind having the bars on my old tv, I would go out of my way to get the wide screen format as I preffered it even though it produced the black bars. I am rather suprised to learn I will still get them even on a widescreen tv watching HD discs. Like I said, I figured the only reason I would get the bars on a square tv was because I was renting wide screen movies.

Solid link Photon, thanks for that. I hate not having all the info and looking like a nub. I'm willing to be a great many people had the same misconception as I.