DVD Upconvert: The State of High Definition Video
(Were you looking for The State on DVD?)
So Sony Blu-Ray has won the high definition war and HD-DVD has fallen into the category of dinosaur hardware, much like 8 track tapes, cassette tapes, vinyl, and betamax. Weeks later, what is Sony’s response to this victory?
Sony continues to raise prices on Blu-Ray players. All the while, the prices of both HD-DVD players and HD-DVD movies are dropping like flies, if you can find them. HD-DVD Players and HD-DVD movies are selling like crazy on Ebay, with some bundles including a collection of a dozen or more movies along with the HD-DVD player for less than $100!
This is the time to upgrade to high definition if you have an HD television! Who cares if HD-DVD is dead? For less than $100, you can get an HD-DVD player that not only plays high definition DVDs, but also does an awesome job of upconverting standard definition DVDs (DVD upconversion) to the native resolution of your high definition LCD/Plasma television.
The other High Definition Video option? Well, Sony Blu-Ray is abusing their monopoly by continuing to raise the price on their Blu-Ray players, the current generation of Blu-Ray players will be obsolete in a year because of their inability to flash their own firmware, and their ability to upconvert DVDs pales in comparison to the good old Toshiba HD-A3 Player HD-DVD Player.
I admit I’m biased. I don’t like what Sony is doing; it is abuse. Perhaps in a year or so, when prices fall, I’ll respect Blu-Ray and may even consider getting a Blu-Ray player.
But in the mean time, I’ll enjoy my DVD Upconverting player – the Oppo DV981HD.