Hd-dvd

[Eddie Horton]

Curtis, that review you linked to doesn't really tell much. The guy hooked it up to a older TV with the analog cable that came with the player. Probably composite video. Hell, he didn't even realize he was running it in 4:3 mode. I take more stock in reading peoples experiences on the forums. At least you can be a little more sure about the reviewer hooking it up properly. That being said, the bigger your display, the more HD is gonna give you the Wow factor.

[Eddie Horton]

Got my player yesterday. In short, it's spectacular. The main thing that always bothered me with OTA or satellite HD was pixellation. You know, that bit-starved look that stems from lack of bandwidth? This displays none of that, even on complex scenes. My pet peeve on standard DVD was the dreaded macroblocking in dark scenes. Glad to say that it's absent, as well. All in all, the video is better than Discovery HD on satellite, or PBS HD via OTA antenna. The audio is a wee bit strange via analog multi-channel. Mainly it's due to Warner titles having an encoding problem. Seems the audio was encoded about 10dB too soft. Also, the remote looks like it's straight from the 80's, but I use a MX-700 so that's not a problem. It's got it's warts and looks and acts like a first generation machine, but it definately delivers on my big CRT. Oh, I got the black HD-D1, not the silver HD-A1. Other than the color they are identical.

[curtis]

Good thing they do not do SACD and DVD-A.....might be more tempting.

Still going to wait until the format war shakes things out.

[Eddie Horton]

Nope, no SACD support, but it does do DVD-A for 2 channels. Supposedly a firmware fix could enable multi-channel DVD-A support because Dolby TrueHD uses the same MLP technology that DVD-A does. Dolby TrueHD is only good for 2 channels also on this player, however it will do Dolby Digital + and DTS-HD multi-channel.

[BGHD]

Gonna sit this one out too. But while at a BB recently (BB near Inner Harbor in Baltimore), was quite amazed by the Toshiba.

[rosa]

Got my player yesterday. In short, it's spectacular. The main thing that always bothered me with OTA or satellite HD was pixellation. You know, that bit-starved look that stems from lack of bandwidth? This displays none of that, even on complex scenes. My pet peeve on standard DVD was the dreaded macroblocking in dark scenes. Glad to say that it's absent, as well. All in all, the video is better than Discovery HD on satellite, or PBS HD via OTA antenna. The audio is a wee bit strange via analog multi-channel. Mainly it's due to Warner titles having an encoding problem. Seems the audio was encoded about 10dB too soft. Also, the remote looks like it's straight from the 80's, but I use a MX-700 so that's not a problem. It's got it's warts and looks and acts like a first generation machine, but it definately delivers on my big CRT. Oh, I got the black HD-D1, not the silver HD-A1. Other than the color they are identical.

went to BB this morning before they opened to make sure i got the only toshiba hd-dvd player they received yesterday

i have been saving to upgrade my classics so i was a little apprehensive if this is going to be a good move

eddie is right! this player is spectacular... audio, video. is a noticeable improvement from my panasonic s77...listening to boz scaggs concert dvd now and it looks and sounds better than before...this is on a dvd +...i haven't even played the 3 hddvd i got along with it yet...so far this is the best upgrade i made next to the ascends...setup was a cinch, startup is slow but not that bad

i just blew my upgrade budget on the se, sorry about that davef...anybody want to buy a slightly used s77?

[Eddie Horton]

One thing that ended up really surprising me was the sound from DD+. Switching back and forth between the DD+ via analog and DTS via Toslink, the DD+ is not hard to spot. The surrounds are so much more enveloping than standard DD or DTS. They should be, though, with that high a bit rate. After much tweaking, I have the levels exactly matched between the Toslink and analog inputs. The analogs with DD+ win hands down. BTW, Rosa, I agree on the way it handles standard DVD. I now have a Zenith DVB-318 for sale.

[curtis]

I just came from a tour of a sound mixing stage.

Before saying the new formats sound better, you have to find out if what was put into the DD+ stream was the same mix, or if it was re-mixed.

[Eddie Horton]

Before saying the new formats sound better, you have to find out if what was put into the DD+ stream was the same mix, or if it was re-mixed.

Why? If it sounds better to me, then it sounds better to me. Whether a possible re-mix is making it better, or a higher bit rate, or both, the end result to my ears is the same. It is without a doubt more full and enveloping. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but sometimes I think we let the "it must be apples to apples" debate get in the way of what this hobby is all about - finding what gives each of us the best experience. For whatever reason, the DD+ gives me an improvement in the sound.

[curtis]

Why? If it sounds better to me, then it sounds better to me. Whether a possible re-mix is making it better, or a higher bit rate, or both, the end result to my ears is the same. It is without a doubt more full and enveloping. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but sometimes I think we let the "it must be apples to apples" debate get in the way of what this hobby is all about - finding what gives each of us the best experience. For whatever reason, the DD+ gives me an improvement in the sound.

What I am saying is that you can not assume that it is higher bitrate that is giving you the better sound....it could be that someone did a different job mixing it.

I agree that DD+ is more capable, but because it is more capable, you can not assume that whatever is recorded in DD+ is going to sound better than any other format.

There is a thread over on AVS where "thebland" said the DD+ track on a particular movie sounded worse to him.