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 August 1, 2007 Shopping for the Blue Laser So you’ve been on the fence, unsure that the new high-definition players, using blue instead of red lasers, are worth investing in. Your indecision is easy to understand. HD DVD has been out for over a year, and Blu-ray players that actually work have only just begun to appear. Neither format has many film titles to choose from, though Blu-ray seems to be beating HD DVD for shelf space at my local store. Still, $30 per disc, in either format, is hard to swallow, especially as DVD prices continue to drop like rocks. If you’re looking for a clear winner in the categories of fast load speeds or picture quality, you’ll be disappointed. Some say HD DVD looks better than Blu-ray, but picture quality still depends largely on the quality of the mastering, and both formats have had their share of poor-quality releases. The differences: HD DVD, an update of the standard DVD format, is capable of storing up to 30 gigabytes (GB) on a high-density, dual-layer disc. Blu-ray is an entirely different animal. Designed as a recordable medium, it offers up to 50GB of storage on a dual-layer disc. However, due to problems in manufacturing, early Blu-ray players and discs could support only 25GB media; 50GB discs are just beginning to appear. HD DVD players cost about $200 less than comparable Blu-ray machines. After releasing the 1080p-capable HD-A20 HD DVD player at $399 USD, Toshiba priced their next model, the HD-A2, at $299. Rumor has it that Samsung will release a low-cost Blu-ray player in time for Christmas. The war between HD DVD and Blu-ray hasn’t been pretty, and is eerily similar to format wars of the past. Remember Beta and VHS? Still, if you’re interested in making the leap, there are many players from both camps to choose from -- and one player that’s trying to have it both ways. HD DVD With the exception of Microsoft, whose latest version of their Xbox gaming console includes an HD DVD drive, Toshiba is the only maker of HD DVD players. Xbox HD DVD Drive ($199): Like Sony’s PlayStation 3 (which offers Blu-ray), Microsoft believes that offering HD DVD via game consoles is the quickest way to market success. According to SlashGear.com, Microsoft has sold more than 155,000 Xboxes, compared with 100,000 HD DVD players sold so far. Toshiba HD-A1 ($499, discontinued): This was the first Toshiba HD DVD player widely distributed to consumers. Toshiba has been very good about offering -- for all their HD DVD players -- periodic software updates that have enabled multichannel Dolby TrueHD audio as well as download capability. (The latest firmware version is v.2.2.) The discontinued HD-A1 can still be found on eBay for a fraction of its original $500 price. Its multichannel analog audio outputs let you experience the grandeur of Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD through your receiver’s 5.1-channel analog inputs. Toshiba HD-XA1 ($799, discontinued): This was Toshiba’s top-of-the-line HD DVD player. The only obvious difference between it and the HD-A1 is the HD-XA1’s beefier chassis and nifty, motorized aluminum front panel, though rumor had it that the HD-XA1 also had higher-quality parts and internal construction. Many audiophiles have commented that the HD-XA1 makes a great CD transport for feeding an outboard D/A converter.
Toshiba HD-A20 ($399): This player is essentially an HD-A2 with native 1080p video resolution. (All Toshiba players prior to the HD-A20 and HD-XA2 supported only 720p and 1080i.) If you buy an HD-A20, make sure your display supports native 1080p signals via HDMI. Many "1080p" displays actually downconvert 1080p signals via HDMI, then use an internal processor to reconvert it back to 1080p. These two extra processing steps add video noise to the image. If your TV doesn’t accept native 1080p via HDMI, save your money and buy an HD-A2 (or, if you need multichannel output, an older series) and let your display scale the image up to 1080p. Toshiba HD-XA2 ($799): Toshiba’s current flagship HD DVD player has all the bells and whistles, including multichannel output, native 1080p support via HDMI 1.3a, and a Silicon Optix HQV Reon video processor. This top-shelf video-processing engine upconverts the DVDs you’ve purchased over the last ten years to high-definition resolution. If you have $800 and believe that HD DVD is the wave of the future, go for this one. With its impressive build quality and Toshiba’s software-update program, the HD-XA2 should last you well into the future. And even if HD DVD loses the format war, the processing power in this box will make all your DVDs look fantastic. Blu-ray You’ll notice that many of the players listed on www.blu-ray.com are not yet available, or are photos of models that were never commercially produced. At this time, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, and Sony all offer Blu-ray players; the least expensive cost about $500. Sony BDP-S1 ($799): Sony took their time releasing their first Blu-ray player (Samsung was the first company to do so), but few other blue-laser players can match the BDP-S1’s build quality, which is reminiscent of what you see in Sony’s elite ES line of electronics. The BDP-S1 natively supports only multichannel uncompressed PCM formats, and none of the Dolby Digital Plus or TrueHD formats, which it downconverts to Dolby Digital. The biggest gripe I have with the Sony is its inability to play CDs. If you planned on consolidating all of your optical-media playback into this single device, think again.
Sony PlayStation 3 ($499 with 60GB internal hard drive): If you trust the sales numbers, Sony has done a better job than Microsoft of leveraging the gamer demographic by offering a Blu-ray drive as a standard feature of its PlayStation 3 game console. According to Tech Digest, the PS3 was responsible for a 1000% increase in Blu-ray sales. Although the PS3 is indeed a Blu-ray player, many reviewers have criticized its picture quality compared to stand-alone Blu-ray machines, and its clumsy user interface doesn’t help. Still, there’s something to be said for a console that lets you not only play games and watch hi-def movies, but also store music and photos on its internal hard drive. Samsung BD-P1000 ($999, discontinued): The BD-P1000 was the first stand-alone Blu-ray player to be released. Unfortunately, egregious bugs, a poor user interface, poor DVD upconversion, and a $999 price made it less appealing than Toshiba’s less expensive and more stable HD-XA1 HD DVD player. Features include interfacing with Compact Flash, Memory Stick, and other portable photo-storage media. Like the Sony BDP-S1, this first-generation Blu-ray machine won’t play the newer Dolby Digital CODECs. Updates are available via downloadable firmware, but you may want to consider the Sony BDP-S300 or Samsung’s BD-P1200 before picking up a used or leftover BD-P1000 at an attractive price. Samsung BD-P1200 ($599): The BD-P1200’s excellent user interface, shorter load times, better software stability, plus the same Silicon Optix HQV Reon processing used in the Toshiba HD-XA2, make one forget about the clunky BD-P1000. The BD-P1200’s soft blue display and power light are attractive against its flowing, piano-black casework. The remote control is equally impressive, with ergonomics that put to shame Sony’s and Toshiba’s overly busy and ugly remotes. The Samsung’s audio playback mirrors that of Sony’s BDP-S300 in lacking native support of the Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD CODECs (though it does downconvert them to multichannel PCM). Panasonic DMP-BD10 ($699): The DMP-BD10 began life as a $1300 player with stout build quality and very good Blu-ray and DVD playback, but now this first-generation player can be found at half its original price. A recent firmware update (v.2.0) supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD, which makes this one of the better values among Blu-ray players. Pioneer BDP-94HD ($899): The only advantage this well-built Blu-ray player has over its competition is Pioneer’s Home Media Gallery. While allowing users to connect to a home network and broadcast pictures and music from their PCs sounds cool, some surround receivers offer the same functions. Other than Home Media Gallery and TrueHD, the Pioneer’s feature set is similar to those of the less expensive Samsung BD-P1200 and Sony BDP-S300. Philips BDP-9000 ($899): While the BDP-9000 is attractive and has a well-thought-out user interface, its biggest downside is that it supports only standard Dolby Digital and DTS. The Panasonic DMP-BD10, which can convert the newer audio formats to PCM, would be a better choice for $200 less. Hybrid
Where to from here? I’m still asking myself that question. The good news is that waiting isn’t a bad thing -- especially as prices will continue to drop. The bad news is that waiting to pledge your allegiance to one or the other format will only extend this already protracted war. Or maybe you think that blue-laser DVDs just aren’t worth the scratch. If you’ve already invested in a library of hundreds of SD DVDs, the prospect of replacing them with their blue-laser versions seems wasteful, especially when the quality of upconverting players such as Oppo Digital’s DV-981HD arguably deliver images that approach the quality of HD discs. But most important, are the differences enough to vastly affect your enjoyment of your favorite films? ...Anthony Di Marco
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Toshiba HD-A2 ($299): The
follow-up to the HD-A1, the HD-A2 gave up the A1’s bulky, bright-silver-and-black
retro aesthetic for a low-profile, piano-black case with subtle silver highlights. Shorter
boot and load times make it a bit easier to live with, but the lack of 5.1 analog outputs
robs the user of Dolby Digital Plus and TrueHD -- unless you have a surround-sound
receiver capable of accepting and decoding via HDMI 1.3a. Recently, the A2’s retail
price has hovered at $299 and below. Still, it’s questionable whether a new HD-A2 is
any better value than a used HD-XA1, which does offer multichannel outputs.
Sony BDP-S300 ($499): This
cheaper version of the BDP-S1 in a smaller chassis does play CDs, and supports
Dolby Digital Plus as well. The BDP-S300 also supports 1080p, 24fps video signals. Make
sure your display device supports native 24fps; otherwise, it will convert 24fps signals
to its own native frame rate.
LG BH100 ($1099): The BH100 tries
to satisfy both HD camps, but its genetic code leans toward Blu-ray. Its elegant user
interface and short response time are positives, but be warned: licensing issues prevent
this player from supporting such HD DVD features as iHD Interactive Menus, and
reviewers have been less than glowing about its playback of SD DVDs. The way prices
of dedicated Blu-ray and HD DVD machines have been falling, the LG’s high price
and limitations make one wonder just how practical this all-in-one player really is.