« DVD Upconvert on the PC | Main | DVD Upconversion: Oppo Deals on Ebay »
DVD Upconvert: Upconversion Winning the Current HD Format Battle
By willbry | May 4, 2008
DVD Upconvert: Upconversion Winning the Current HD Format Battle
Despite no competition from Toshia’s HD-DVD format, Sony’s Blu-Ray sales are on the decline.
Analysts say that in the face of high prices for the Blu-Ray players and the high-def discs, lots of consumers are perfectly content with the less expensive decks that upconvert the resolution of standard DVDs, not to high-def standards, but apparently good enough for many.
Analysts are calling Sony’s Blu-Ray victory a hollow one; recent reports show that Blu-Ray sales are actually decreasing following the end of their previous HD-DVD competition.
Digital distribution remains a huge threat to mass acceptance of Blu-Ray. Downloading movies from online vendors like iTunes or Netflix elimiates huge distribution costs. For many people, DVD quality video is simply “good enough”.
It is possible that both Toshia and Sony wasted millions of dollars on a high definition war that may ultimately have little to no victory, if high definition video is not accepted and embraced by the masses.
DVD Upconversion remains a viable alternative to Blu-Ray.
Blu-Ray: The Next Generation
When good enough isn’t quite good enough, consider Blu-Ray. Amazon’s current top selling Blu-Ray player is the Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-ray player (Amazon also has up to 47% off Blu-Ray movies). In anticipation of the release of the Samsung BD-P1500, many retailers are dropping the price on the Samsung BD-P1400, including Best Buy and Circuit City. The BDP-1500 will include an HDMI 1.3 port, BD Profile 1.1, and a built-in ethernet port to upgrade hardware to the latest firmware release. As you’d expect, the BDP-1500 provides full 1080p HD resolution and can upconvert standard DVDs to 720p, 1080i, and 1080p.
DVD Upconvert: PS3 Features
If you own a PS3, make sure you’re running at least firmware update 2.3. Beginning with this update, the PS3 will be capable of decoding both DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio.
Of course, you will still need a receiver with HDMI inputs capable of handling high-resolution PCM to hear these formats. If you have the necessary hardware, this is a wonderful (and free!) upgrade for the PS3.
Until next time, enjoy a higher quality viewing experience.
Topics: dvd upconvert |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.