HD-DVD (cont'd)...

[velvet396]

$459 (free 3day shipping) from Onecall.com -- was it worth it? Hell yeah! Seriously thought, it's really hard to go back to standard definition DVDs after watching and hearing HD DVD. I know once Blu-ray gets their act together it will probably become the dominant format, but right now, they're just having so many problems. They still haven't got the dual layer BD's to work right yet (the current Samsung BD player won't even play them) and the compression used in the current BD movies hasn't really wowed me in terms of picture detail and sound when compared to current HD DVD movies. It just seems to me HD DVD has done everything right, especially after releasing the firmware upgrades (which fixed alot of problems). Now if Toshiba can only get that boot-up time down a bit...

The audio improvements are really noticable? I realize that there is more space to allow for less compression, but standard dvd, while can be a mixed bag depending on the skill level of the bloke doing the audio, can be stellar. I'm a DTS-whore, admitted, but the first two things that come to mind are LOTR Extended dvd's in DTS-ES 6.1 (heaven), and Saving Ryan's Privates in regular DTS. There are DD examples of great sound but I don't want to think that hard right now.

[JFLY]

I'm not an audiophile but the increase resolution in the sound blows away anything I've heard in my dvd collection. I've heard new sounds in HD DVD version of Serenity (for example) that were covered up by explosions or music in the standard dvd. Btw, I'm using my HD DVD player's 5.1 analog output going to my recievers 5.1 analog input since my current reciever doesn't have a HDMI input (but my next one will, muwahahaha). My speaker setup and bass management options are also kinda limited (I have to use the players speaker setup) using this method but I do get the slightly better sound this way. The weird thing is that if I used my optical or coaxial output, the sound decodes to DTS on my reciever.

[Joe Redifer]

DTS on regular DVDs isn't always great, especially anything released by Disney companies. The Dolby Diigital track always sounds smoother and less harsh on those movies (like Pirates of the Carribean I think). But DTS done right can be very, very good.

[JFLY]

Good news -- looks as if Pioneer is planning a dual Blu-ray/HD DVD drive in the future.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/01/pioneer-planning-hd-dvd-blu-ray-combo-drive-the-bdr-103/