Toshiba: Strong start to HD DVD
 

http://www.videobusiness.com/index.a...leID=CA6325556

“We are filling the pipeline to retailers across the U.S.,” Sally
said.

Toshiba’s players should be stocked in about 800 Best Buy stores, 200
Wal-Mart stores, 600 Sears stores and other regional retailers for a
total reach of 3,000 stores, she said.

“We’ve heard very positive sales reports so far,” Sally said.

Toshiba hasn’t released how many players it is shipping, but
distributors and retailers said they’ve heard estimates of 10,000 to
15,000 in the initial shipment.






"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

Re: Toshiba: Strong start to HD DVD
 

X-No-archive: yes

"Allan" <Spamsuckhard@finallykantica22admitstobebrianlamb. org> wrote in
message news:ftmd42d9q7kl71cs849glbndjaeeej8f43@4ax.com...
> http://www.videobusiness.com/index.a...leID=CA6325556
>
> “We are filling the pipeline to retailers across the U.S.,” Sally
> said.
>
> Toshiba’s players should be stocked in about 800 Best Buy stores, 200
> Wal-Mart stores, 600 Sears stores and other regional retailers for a
> total reach of 3,000 stores, she said.
>
> “We’ve heard very positive sales reports so far,” Sally said.
>
> Toshiba hasn’t released how many players it is shipping, but
> distributors and retailers said they’ve heard estimates of 10,000 to
> 15,000 in the initial shipment.
>
=====================================
Which means only 3 to 5 per store.
Big deal!

Re: Toshiba: Strong start to HD DVD
 

On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 07:30:40 -0700, "Richard C."
<post-age@spamcop.net> wrote:


>Which means only 3 to 5 per store.
>Big deal!


Just the first weekend ........ the revolution is just starting!






"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

Re: Toshiba: Strong start to HD DVD
 

X-No-archive: yes

"Allan" <Spamsuckhard@finallykantica22admitstobebrianlamb. org> wrote in
message news:hdpf421pumam8cv2mva9khmd9drcf8etmg@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 07:30:40 -0700, "Richard C."
> <post-age@spamcop.net> wrote:
>
>
>>Which means only 3 to 5 per store.
>>Big deal!
>
>
> Just the first weekend ........ the revolution is just starting!
>

==========================
We shall see.......................
I am a usual "early adaptor", but not this time.

=========================

Re: Toshiba: Strong start to HD DVD
 

On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 17:56:06 -0700, "Richard C."
<post-age@spamcop.net> wrote:

>X-No-archive: yes
>
>"Allan" <Spamsuckhard@finallykantica22admitstobebrianlamb. org> wrote in
>message news:hdpf421pumam8cv2mva9khmd9drcf8etmg@4ax.com...
>> On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 07:30:40 -0700, "Richard C."
>> <post-age@spamcop.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Which means only 3 to 5 per store.
>>>Big deal!
>>
>>
>> Just the first weekend ........ the revolution is just starting!
>>
>
>==========================
>We shall see.......................
>I am a usual "early adaptor", but not this time.
>
>=========================

Me, all over it.... Like the "upconverting" of existing DVD's with
the new player.... But to be honest, certainly will not grow my
collection of HD DVD's like I did when DVD first came out.

Suspect I am not alone on that.








"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

Re: Toshiba: Strong start to HD DVD
 

Allan (Spamsuckhard@finallykantica22admitstobebrianlamb. org) wrote in alt.video.dvd:
> >We shall see.......................
> >I am a usual "early adaptor", but not this time.
>
> Me, all over it.... Like the "upconverting" of existing DVD's with
> the new player....

How is it any different from current upconverting DVD players? Since
I've got quite a few of those lying around, and you can buy one for
$150, the extra $350 for the HD-DVD player is an awful lot to pay if
all you care about is upconverting existing DVDs.

--
Jeff Rife |
| http://www.nabs.net/Cartoons/RhymesW...ge/BigDogs.gif

Re: Toshiba: Strong start to HD DVD
 

Jeff Rife wrote:
> Allan (Spamsuckhard@finallykantica22admitstobebrianlamb. org) wrote
> in
> alt.video.dvd:
>>> We shall see.......................
>>> I am a usual "early adaptor", but not this time.
>>
>> Me, all over it.... Like the "upconverting" of existing DVD's with
>> the new player....
>
> How is it any different from current upconverting DVD players?
> Since
> I've got quite a few of those lying around, and you can buy one for
> $150, the extra $350 for the HD-DVD player is an awful lot to pay if
> all you care about is upconverting existing DVDs.

I'm having a semantic attack regarding "upconvert."

I have installed here a 1920x1080(p) monitor, a cable HD-VR
(Motorola), and a Buffalo LT DVD player - both connected via component
input. The monitor uses all 1080 pixels from either source.

The Buffalo manual specifically states that it is enjoined from
"upconverting" DVDs by the DVD Consortium's and MPAA's legislative
powers. However, all 1080 vertical pixels are employed in displaying
a properly scaled picture from a DVD.

What is different about the player's behavior, when playing DVDs vs.
playing videos stored on a PC drive, is the ZOOM function. When
playing a DVD, the BLT zoom has 4 increments of unstated percentages.
When playing a PC file, zoom has 3 settings - "actual size," "fit to
screen," and "full screen." Wherein, "actual size" is presented in
the unscaled size (720x480, say), "fit to screen" is scaled sensibly
to the first edge which abuts a screen edge, and "full screen" scales
to the farther edge (while retaining aspect).

For all but 16:9 source materials, it's actually more visually
pleasing to play videos from the PC drives - as the scaling options
makes more sense than the monitor's single scaling option best
referred to as S-T-R-E-T-C-H and the Motorola's total lack of scaling
options.

As the BLT player does NOT play authored DVDs from the PC's hard or
optical drive, it's necessary to rip the DVD and remove any ancillary
audio to achieve this. According to the BLT manual the player is not
enjoined from upconverting these images. Yet, I see no difference
between the same DVD played from the PC or the original disc? Both of
which are excellent images, BTW.

Now, when I compare 640x480 analogue feeds over the cable, with
640x480 digital feeds, and HDTV of ????x???? feeds, there is a
significant difference in image quality. Are we suggesting that an
"upconverter" placed between the cable box and the monitor would
improve picture quality of the lower definition sources?

It seems to me that "upconverting" should mean something more than
merely scaling the image to the best fit on the screen, but damned if
I can tell what that is?

Can you tell me, Jeff, or anyone for that matter, what upconverting
does for you?

Re: Toshiba: Strong start to HD DVD
 

Bill's News (BillsNews@pcmagic.net) wrote in alt.video.dvd:
> Are we suggesting that an
> "upconverter" placed between the cable box and the monitor would
> improve picture quality of the lower definition sources?

Without a doubt.

I've been watching the "Babylon 5" DVDs lately, and they look pretty bad
at 480i due to the way they were mastered (there are many threads about
this if you want more info). But, *all* the issues disappear when viewing
output at 1080i. All the upconversion I do has access to the original MPEG
data, though, so that might be a difference.

--
Jeff Rife | "Because he was human; because he had goodness;
| because he was moral they called him insane.
| Delusions of grandeur; visions of splendor;
| A manic-depressive, he walks in the rain."
| -- Rush, "Cinderella Man"

Re: Toshiba: Strong start to HD DVD
 

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 02:43:35 -0400, Jeff Rife <wevsr@nabs.net> wrote:

>Allan (Spamsuckhard@finallykantica22admitstobebrianlamb. org) wrote in alt.video.dvd:
>> >We shall see.......................
>> >I am a usual "early adaptor", but not this time.
>>
>> Me, all over it.... Like the "upconverting" of existing DVD's with
>> the new player....
>
>How is it any different from current upconverting DVD players? Since
>I've got quite a few of those lying around, and you can buy one for
>$150, the extra $350 for the HD-DVD player is an awful lot to pay if
>all you care about is upconverting existing DVDs.

Reviews that I have read state that it "is" better than existing
upconverting DVD players.... and it saves me from having two
machines... just gave away my Sony Upconverting DVD Player because the
Toshiba will do the same thing, and maybe a somewhat better job. My
TV only has so many inputs!






"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

Re: Toshiba: Strong start to HD DVD
 

Jeff Rife wrote:
> Bill's News (BillsNews@pcmagic.net) wrote in alt.video.dvd:
>> Are we suggesting that an
>> "upconverter" placed between the cable box and the monitor would
>> improve picture quality of the lower definition sources?
>
> Without a doubt.
>
> I've been watching the "Babylon 5" DVDs lately, and they look pretty
> bad at 480i due to the way they were mastered (there are many
> threads
> about this if you want more info). But, *all* the issues disappear
> when viewing output at 1080i. All the upconversion I do has access
> to the original MPEG data, though, so that might be a difference.

Thanks Jeff. By "original MPEG data," I presume you mean DVDs? But
your response seems to indicate that broadcast SD TV will benefit from
a converter, so I'm browsing now.