1946 replies to this topic

[dazbug]

For the Reg 4 machine coming there 'may' be a code to crack it to play reg 1 sd dvd's.

As Mark said the hd-a1 wont ever be able to play reg 4 sddvd, but trust me, once you have seen and heard hd-dvd you won't waste ur time playing them again. Im just going to use my xbox360 for that if need be. Ive still got my sd dvd player for the loungeroom anyway.

For the price though, you cant beat the build quailty of the hd-a1.

[mav]

alebonau, on Oct 25 2006, 05:34 PM, said:

holy crap ! is that the first HD-DVD up for sale in Oz ?

bloody hell..already I didnt think that woudl happen for quite a while

I tell you guys of ezydvd is selling them this is goign to be mainstream in no time

and look at the price $29.99 ! thats pretty fair ! I was expecting a much higher sticker price for HD-DVD

this is sensational news !

But look at the title sheesh! I mean it"s hardly a must have title to start the ball rolling now is it.

[MeWhoElse]

mav, on Oct 25 2006, 05:48 PM, said:

But look at the title sheesh! I mean it"s hardly a must have title to start the ball rolling now is it.

Hopefully its only the first one they have added, and not the first one that is only available.

After all, Europe starts on the 13th... 7 days before, may be the same date here, as I can not understand why our titles would not be sourced from Europe.

As with talk of region coding on HD DVD, we will be in Europe's "lot".

[mav]

Well I decided to take matters into my own hands and went down to the Alice Springs PO armed with my tracking paperwork and after a bit of a "chat"    with the woman behind the counter she took my tracking sheet and went out the back.  After about 10 mins she came back and confirmed that they had actually taken receipt of it yesterday morning but they were not sure what had happened to it.  

Anyway off she went out the back again for another 5 or so minutes and then hey presto she comes out with it in her hand. They had forgtten to book it in! Anyway a few minutes later and it was in my hand and is now back in my house.  

Now to do the firmware update and settle in for a first viewing of Batman Begins on HD.  

I also have an AE700 PJ with a 102" screen, going to run some temporary RCA cables until the ones I ordered arrive from Sydney, which will probably be tomorrow.

[AndrewW]

mav, on Oct 25 2006, 05:55 PM, said:

Well I decided to take matters into my own hands and went down to the Alice Springs PO armed with my tracking paperwork and after a bit of a "chat"    with the woman behind the counter she took my tracking sheet and went out the back.  After about 10 mins she came back and confirmed that they had actually taken receipt of it yesterday morning but they were not sure what had happened to it.  

Anyway off she went out the back again for another 5 or so minutes and then hey presto she comes out with it in her hand. They had forgtten to book it in! Anyway a few minutes later and it was in my hand and is now back in my house.  

Now to do the firmware update and settle in for a first viewing of Batman Begins on HD.  

I also have an AE700 PJ with a 102" screen, going to run some temporary RCA cables until the ones I ordered arrive from Sydney, which will probably be tomorrow.

OK I'm really getting jealous now.

Good work my son, I was going to suggest going to the PO, if not at least ringing them.  Its amazing the number of times this has happened to me, especially with stuff that I am really wanting badly...

Enjoy, I think you are in for a fun and sleepless night.

Andrew.

[MeWhoElse]

Has anyone noticed the distributor of the "First" HD DVD (and Blu-Ray actually) for an Australian retailer, is Sony BMG!!!

Interesting....

[mav]

MeWhoElse, on Oct 25 2006, 05:54 PM, said:

As with talk of region coding on HD DVD, we will be in Europe's "lot".

Which is the main reason I went with the XA1 as I know this player will remain region free for HD titles and this allows me to take advantage of specials worldwide. I have already asked CD-WOW if they intend to stock HD-DVD titles but they said they have not made a decision on when they will start to stock them but they said that it could happen very soon.

Got to love CD-WOW with their free international shipping and fast delivery times.

[:)]

MeWhoElse, on Oct 25 2006, 06:12 PM, said:

Has anyone noticed the distributor of the "First" HD DVD (and Blu-Ray actually) for an Australian retailer, is Sony BMG!!!

Interesting....

well well well !

well picked MWE

no wonder HJ been a bit quiet since hehehe

[MarkH]

Keep in mind that Regional Coding has not been "approved as definite" for HD-DVD - the case for and against starts with the DVD Forum in January.

[dJOS]

dazbug, on Oct 25 2006, 05:35 PM, said:

The biggest surprise for me was the sound on the HD DVD. OMG !!!! It blows away dts/dd on sd dvd.  Again, its just so crisp, loud and detailed.  I was always happy with sd dvd sound, but now when i think back they sound so 'compressed' and no where near as alive.  Closest thing i can describe it to is like listening to dvd-a or sacd. It really is that good.!!! The surrounds really come alive and are as active and detailed as the front 3 speakers. Bass is steped up to a whole new level now. Tight bass that moves you. This is why i got into HT !!!

yeah Samhain and myself found this also and that was only using the DD+ audio on FF:Tokyo Drift. The sound is so rich and detailed and so thoroughly engaging - as I mentioned in another post even the LFE channel took a quantum leap forward in SQ!  

[AndrewW]

MarkH, on Oct 25 2006, 06:52 PM, said:

Keep in mind that Regional Coding has not been "approved as definite" for HD-DVD - the case for and against starts with the DVD Forum in January.

At this point I don't really care, because my HD-A1 doesn't implement region coding

The only downside will be if they 'fix' it in a future firmware upgrade that fixes something that is really broken.

I really hope they decide to do away with region coding.  What a fantastic differentiator that would be to blu-ray, and surely another nail in the coffin.

Andrew.

[Trigg]

alebonau, on Oct 25 2006, 03:34 PM, said:

holy crap ! is that the first HD-DVD up for sale in Oz ?

bloody hell..already I didnt think that woudl happen for quite a while

I tell you guys of ezydvd is selling them this is goign to be mainstream in no time

and look at the price $29.99 ! thats pretty fair ! I was expecting a much higher sticker price for HD-DVD

this is sensational news !

Blu Ray one is the same price

http://www.ezydvd.co...item.zml/790767

[Jace]

AndrewWilcockson, on Oct 25 2006, 07:29 PM, said:

At this point I don't really care, because my HD-A1 doesn't implement region coding

The only downside will be if they 'fix' it in a future firmware upgrade that fixes something that is really broken.

I really hope they decide to do away with region coding.  What a fantastic differentiator that would be to blu-ray, and surely another nail in the coffin.

Andrew.

The problem is, you will only get Fox to agree to buy into HD DVD if region coding is implemented.  The Samsung Blu-Ray player was region free until last week, when a firmware update was made available that, among other things, region locked the player.  Why?  Because Fox, who are about to start releasing movies to Blu-Ray, insisted on it.

[:)]

Jace, on Oct 25 2006, 08:30 PM, said:

The problem is, you will only get Fox to agree to buy into HD DVD if region coding is implemented.  The Samsung Blu-Ray player was region free until last week, when a firmware update was made available that, among other things, region locked the player.  Why?  Because Fox, who are about to start releasing movies to Blu-Ray, insisted on it.

typical bloody mindedness, spoil sports  

[MarkH]

Jace, on Oct 25 2006, 08:30 PM, said:

The problem is, you will only get Fox to agree to buy into HD DVD if region coding is implemented.  The Samsung Blu-Ray player was region free until last week, when a firmware update was made available that, among other things, region locked the player.  Why?  Because Fox, who are about to start releasing movies to Blu-Ray, insisted on it.

Can you provide a link to your source regarding the Samsung being region-free prior to the firmware upgrade? I find it odd that a format such as BR who adopt RCE so strongly would allow this machine to be released without region coding. Besides, the official word found HERE makes no mention of regional coding being "added" to the machine upon firmware.

AndrewWilcockson, on Oct 25 2006, 07:29 PM, said:

At this point I don't really care, because my HD-A1 doesn't implement region coding

Just to clarify, i agree with you. The original post by me was in response to another forum member asking a question.

[dazbug]

well watch Aeon Flux tonight. Boy this movie sucks big time. Great sound, excellent picture at times, while at other times it ranged from yeah thats clear to wow, thats amazing.

Pitty the movie is crap. Not  demo HD DVD from me, but was pretty amazing in pic quality.

[mav]

Okay I just watched Batman Begins on my XA1 and even though I did not bother hooking up my analogs in order to benefit from the new codecs the DTS soundtrack rocked. This is what I bought my AE700 for, to see the clarity of this picture in HD is just awesome. I thought I was getting a good picture from all the upscalers I have owned but Pffft! they do not come close to this.

The XA1 is just a beautiful machine and I do not understand peoples comments on the remote I love it and it is RF so no more having to point the remote at the machine. It is very responsive and has excellent range.

For those that love their extras these HD-DVD format disk will be their nirvana especially those disks with the In Disc Experience enabled.

Love It.     

The sound from the centre speaker is just so much better than I have ever experienced before with my setup, I can hardly wait to upgrade my speakers now as I can only wonder how much better it will sound if this player can do this with my current speakers.

[norpus]

alebonau, on Oct 25 2006, 03:35 PM, said:

now why did you have to post that daz !

oh man ! I am so tempted !  

Come on Al, just do it

[AndrewW]

dazbug, on Oct 25 2006, 10:23 PM, said:

well watch Aeon Flux tonight. Boy this movie sucks big time. Great sound, excellent picture at times, while at other times it ranged from yeah thats clear to wow, thats amazing.

Pitty the movie is crap. Not  demo HD DVD from me, but was pretty amazing in pic quality.

I agree, this movie absolutely blows from a story telling point of view.

From an eye candy point of view ... Woot Woot, Charlize Theron in very skimpy outfits .. need I say more

Funny that you mention variable quality, because over at avsforums everyone raves about this being THE reference disc for HD-DVD, it is the only disc to score a 10 so far on the consolidated review list here http://www.avsforum....ad.php?t=665702

Andrew.

[Jace]

MarkH, on Oct 25 2006, 09:34 PM, said:

Can you provide a link to your source regarding the Samsung being region-free prior to the firmware upgrade? I find it odd that a format such as BR who adopt RCE so strongly would allow this machine to be released without region coding. Besides, the official word found

This thread on the AVS Forum confirms that the recent firmware update caused the Samsung to be region coded "A" (for the US and Japan):

AVS Forum Discussion on Samsung Firmware Update

[MarkH]

Jace, on Oct 26 2006, 08:44 AM, said:

This thread on the AVS Forum confirms that the recent firmware update caused the Samsung to be region coded "A" (for the US and Japan):

AVS Forum Discussion on Samsung Firmware Update

And who wouldve thought that Sonys' first BD releases were region free? Despite them telling Hollywood that their format was THE format of choice because of not one, but TWO copy protection modes!

So just to keep the debate going, has the BR org CONFIRMED (not suggested, but actually confirmed) the Regional Coding Breakup i.e. which country/location is which? I know there was a lot of "most likely" etc etc but has it been confirmed yet?

[Jace]

MarkH, on Oct 26 2006, 08:53 AM, said:

And who wouldve thought that Sonys' first BD releases were region free? Despite them telling Hollywood that their format was THE format of choice because of not one, but TWO copy protection modes!

So just to keep the debate going, has the BR org CONFIRMED (not suggested, but actually confirmed) the Regional Coding Breakup i.e. which country/location is which? I know there was a lot of "most likely" etc etc but has it been confirmed yet?

Yes.  The Region Codes are:

Region A - North America, South America, East Asia (excluding China but including Japan)
Region B - Europe, Oceania (ie Australia/NZ), Middle East and Africa
Region C - China, Russia, South Asia

Blu-Ray Region Codes

Catalogue titles won't be region coded, only new films.  It's also not mandatory and some studios may not adopt them (Warners is opposed to region coding, for example).  I would expect HD-DVD to follow this coding if it is introduced for that format, or to continue with the current region coding on SD DVD.

[MarkH]

Jace, on Oct 26 2006, 09:13 AM, said:

Catalogue titles won't be region coded, only new films.  It's also not mandatory and some studios may not adopt them (Warners is opposed to region coding, for example).  I would expect HD-DVD to follow this coding if it is introduced for that format, or to continue with the current region coding on SD DVD.

Very odd about catalogue titles, if anything this is what I would be more interested in than newer releases. Also what is defined as a Catalogue title? Will the box be marked indicating RC or not? This is very important as people would need to know what is and what isnt.

[dazbug]

mav, on Oct 26 2006, 12:22 AM, said:

The XA1 is just a beautiful machine and I do not understand peoples comments on the remote I love it and it is RF so no more having to point the remote at the machine. It is very responsive and has excellent range.

Tell me about it, unless it was fixed recently, but my remote is sooooo responsive. Just like any other remote i own.  Maybe we got a good remote or something, who knows.  No lip sync problems, no remote problems, loading time is around 30 sec max if that.  There is no issue with this player (well mine). Couldnt be more happier



BTW- CAN WE KEEP BLU-RAY TALK OUT OF THIS THREAD AND FOCUS ON THE ACTUAL THREAD NAME (so this thread can assist those wanting to buy HDDVD or own HDVD)

[MarkH]

I agree.