Friday, January 18, 2008

Behold The Beauty of HD

Last weekend, I finally caved and invested in a Blu-Ray player.  And an HD-DVD player. 

Anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to computers and electronics, I’m usually a first adopter.  The growing pains don’t really bother me.  I’d waited this long on Blu-Ray/HD-DVD, though, because initially I wasn’t sure which format would win the format war.  Then, I decided to go with a combo player to get the benefits of both (and knowing me, preventing me from ending up getting both in separate players, eating up space and TV inputs).

I’d had my eye on the Samsung BD-UP5000, which I initially saw through Instapundit, and which received some good early reviews.  For the last month or so, my local Circuit City has had the empty space on their shelf, with a tag giving the specs, but no units.  Well, last weekend, I got lucky—they had a new shipment come in, and I got my hands on one.

image

So, I picked it up, along with my first Blu-Ray, 3:10 to Yuma, and brought it home.  I hooked it up, reprogrammed my universal remote, put in the movie, and…

Nothing.  mad

The movie hung at the “Loading” screen.  Crap.  Many of the early Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD players have been having problems with new releases.  The standards for the discs (and the players) are not set in stone, and some of the studios’ copy protection schemes and cute little interactive features still throw the players for a loop.  It’s a constant gave of catch-up for the manufacturers.  They keep releasing new firmware updates for the players to fix any bugs that pop-up as new movies are released.

Luckily, Samsung has made updating the firmware a breeze.  The UP5000 has an ethernet port, and it’s as simple as selecting “Update” on the player’s menu.  Yesterday evening, a new firmware update was released, and guess what—3:10 to Yuma!

I was a little skeptical of the difference I would see between a regular DVD upconverted to HD, and a true HD disc, but WOW!  I’m convinced.  Like night and day.  This weekend, I test with an HD-DVD.

UPDATE:

  It’s a shame HD-DVD is going to lose the format war.  I’ve been watching BSG Season 1 on HD-DVD, and the interactive features kick ass.  I’m loving the ability to access interviews, commentaries, and BSG encyclopedia entries in a PIP window, while still watching the show.

(13) Comments
Posted by Jed at 0633 hrs
Technology

  1. I really want to watch movies in HD, but I am going to opt out on purchasing any disk player.  If I want to watch a movie I rent it, I never purchase DVD’s.  I am holding out for the chance to download the HD content I want.  This will be available from Netflix and Itunes in the coming months.  I see AppleTV in my very near future.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2008 at 0921 hrs


  2. For me I’m just happy to have sports in HD.  The rest I can wait for.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2008 at 1020 hrs


  3. I still don’t understand the appeal of the Blu-Ray and at the price, fear it might be the next Beta VCR.  I mean really, how clear or crisp of a picture do I really need? 

    But congrats on taking the plunge.  I think I’ll just wait until the programs can be directly transmitted into my brain.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 18, 2008 at 1022 hrs


  4. Jed - make sure that you are using HDMI cables between the player and tv. If you use Composite cables they will not work with protected materials.

    Posted by Clint on January 18, 2008 at 1311 hrs


  5. Owen: Finally - I have waiting to figure out what to do - what to get. I will follow your lead.

    Posted by Mark Block on January 18, 2008 at 2129 hrs


  6. By the way, you can thank the HD DVD part of your Samsung for the Ethernet port - it is standard in the HD spec, but not in BD.

    I am looking forward to a BD 1.1 compliant and HD DVD compliant player to get to the $350 or so price mark.

    MEC2
    P.S. To #4, first, you mean component cables, and second, they will work with any materials, what WON’T work over component is upconverting standard DVDs to higher resolutions. Component will display BD and HD DVD perfectly.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 20, 2008 at 1506 hrs


  7. Jed—

    I’ve had HD DVD since late 2006, and now I’m migrating towards blu-ray.  I was going to wait, but the laser assembly in my Toshiba HD_A2 failed 3 days out of warranty….

    So I have the Samsung BD-UP5000 as well.  While nothing involving blu-ray is as straight-forward as HD DVD (which had a finished spec from day one), I do like it a lot.  I had the same problem with Yuma (as did everyone), and a few other discs have partial problems (can’t get to the menu from the movie on one).  But the ethernet updates are a breeze and beat the heck out of the normal blu-ray update (download and burn an ISO disc, or wait for the mailman).

    The crowning joy, though, is being able to tell family members: “If it’s a CD or DVD or anything that looks like one, this plays it. ”

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 20, 2008 at 1610 hrs


  8. By the way, for those folks who think that downloaded or cable channel “HD” matches what is available in blu-ray or HD DVD, think again.  I’ve got a lot of “HD” sources and the discs are consistently better than the rest.  It’s not just the claimed resolution, it’s how much compression is used and what type.  Online streaming HD is an oxymoron.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 20, 2008 at 1621 hrs


  9. I wonder how your player will react when the BD Profile 2.0 Spec comes out in October…..

    Posted by Pete Fanning on January 20, 2008 at 1727 hrs


  10. Wow Jed, your post is hitting the big time blogosphere…

    Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit linked to your review.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 20, 2008 at 1800 hrs


  11. It looks like Sony is finally going to win a format war for once.

    Posted by Aaron on January 20, 2008 at 1804 hrs


  12. Im not sure they will win just yet

    Posted by Toshiba HD-A35 on February 06, 2008 at 1809 hrs


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    Posted by cvafnsev on May 11, 2008 at 0204 hrs


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