hd dvd debuts! but... :(

[crosvs]

... but ... please tell me why Best Buy (at least here in SD) is being so stupid?!

HD DVD has just hit the market as of yesterday, and BluRay is on its way in July. But curiously, despite a highly skeptical market regarding the incentive to embrace this new technology, adequate promotion seems curiously lacking from one of the nation's largest consumer suppliers, Best Buy.

They've got this nice (but VERY little, un-flashy) display to showcase the new technology. And, appropriately enough, they've got it hooked up to a gorgeous 50" plasma screen.

But then I thought something didn't seem QUITE right. I looked closer at the screen and read its specs:

BEST BUY WAS USING A FREAKING EDTV INSTEAD OF AN HDTV TO DEMO ITS NEW HD DVD PLAYER!!!! (I believe its resolution was an odd 1386x768 or something like that)

(note to the uninitiated in the alphabet soup of acronyms: EDTV is the so-called "partial" or "half" HD resolution. Thought of another way, EDTV is sufficient for "simulating" an HD look with half the resolution. It allows one to get a plasma screen for far less money than a true HD plasma screen would ordinarily cost.)

What gives?!

Meanwhile, with BluRay still several months out (July), this is just bad for the VERY necessary HIGH IMPACT marketing promotions these new, and less obviously necessary upgrades demand.

Admittedly, the leap from DVD --> HD/BluRay DVD is nowhere near as significant (read: obvious) to the casual consumer as VHS --> DVD.

But now, in addition to creating ANOTHER VHS/BETAMAX war like back in the late 70s/early 80s (wow I was born in 1979 and I still remember that as we STILL have our BETAMAX VCR *AND* BetaCam video camera!!), they're also not marketing with NEARLY enough push ... nor is it being marketed CORRECTLY!!

I'm all for the promotion of newer and better technologies for the greater good of technological innovation and adoptation, even if such "leaps" seem negligible at first. And so I'm very bothered by this seeming lack of care to properly push this new era in home video technology as I think it is a very necessary next step in the ongoing transition from SD to HD, without which the transition from SD to HD television broadcast will likely be delayed EVEN MORE than it already has been.

Thoughts?

[asawadude]

Your local Best Buys store didn't have its act together. Product rollouts are scripted down to the installation; evidently somebody screwed up.

Differing technologies has become a way of life in the tech industry. It's like it wouldn't be the tech industry without conflicting protocols, conflicting strategies, conflicting applications, etc.

But in the case of HD DVD and BluRay, you're right. It is the Beta/VHS war once again, albeit with bigger corporate players. Instead of tape, the media is a laser disc. Other than that it is the same.

[ncx]

What 50" plasma at 1386x768 (1366 perhaps) was NOT HD? That plasma rez is capable of 720p without scaling, and 1080i with internal scaling. Do you remember the brand/model? I've never heard of an ED 50" display. 42" is the largest I've ever seen.

Maybe they didn't have the DVD player configured properly and it was scaling the output before it got to the display. Will be interesting to see how well HD DVD sells initially.

[SuperGreg]

My question is, what source material is available for this new technology??

[LCC]

Originally Posted by SuperGreg

My question is, what source material is available for this new technology??

HD-DVD movies are now available, although not many. And you would really need a 1080i to take full advantage of the technology. However...there seems to be a debate as to whether the differences are that astonishing compared to upscaling players. Some say yes, some say no. I have not seen them yet, so will reserve judgement until then. I have an upscaling DVD player that cost about 4 times what these retail for, so I think mine does a really nice job upscaling.

[5Xwen]

Originally Posted by crosvs

... but ... please tell me why Best Buy (at least here in SD) is being so stupid?!

BEST BUY WAS USING A FREAKING EDTV INSTEAD OF AN HDTV TO DEMO ITS NEW HD DVD PLAYER!!!! (I believe its resolution was an odd 1386x768 or something like that)

What gives?!

Thoughts?

The majority of 50" plasma display are 1366 x 768. This is considered HD. True 1080 plasma displays are just starting to hit the market.

[rayxi]

I don't expect a big push on the HD players until there is a good selection of media available. The hardware is pricey, $500+ for HD-DVD and $1000+ for BluRay (or the other way around?) so nobody is going to buy one just to play 3 movies.

The players are being released now for political/strategic/marketing reasons. They really don't expect to sell many at this stage of the game.

At the descretion of the studio the media may have a flag set to down rez the output to 1/4 of HD when output through analog connections or digital connections without copy protection. This means that current owners of HD displays with HDMI or DVI connections that don't comply to AACS digital rights management will be restricted to 1/4 HD resolution eventhough they have an HD display.

[X5Jay]

Not trying to be facetious, but why do you care how this new technology is being marketed? Just curious - I'm probably missing something obvious which wouldn't at all be unusual...

[rickp]

Although Betamax was never embraced by the consumer, it is still heavily used in the TV film industry. Who knows, maybe BluRay will survive in the same scenario. I'm holding out for at least another year before I make a decision.

[rayxi]

Originally Posted by X5Jay

Not trying to be facetious, but why do you care how this new technology is being marketed? Just curious - I'm probably missing something obvious which wouldn't at all be unusual...

I can't speak for Marc but I care because the harder they push sales of HD players the sooner studios will release HD titles. It's the chicken and egg thing. The sooner people start buying the sooner prices come down for both hardware and media.