http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds22406.html

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At a recent Toshiba road show in the US they demonstrated their upcoming HD-DVD specification and a few more details became available as to what we can expect from the format when it launches in the US late (November) this year – it will launch with 89 titles available in HD. The audience reaction was very positive to the comparable images shown in both standard DVD and HD-DVD.

The most interesting thing for people buying TVs at the moment is that Toshiba have stated that their HD-DVD Player will ONLY output high Def on the player's HDMI output (plus other digital connections) the analogue output will be downrezed to 480 lines (in the US - expect the equivalent, no doubt, in Europe). The Toshiba player will also have a USB interface to allow connection to computers for enhanced content and interactive options direct off the disk. In addition mastering of the underlying DVD content will be based on 1080p - but there was no discussion on the resolution of the MPEG4 images.

The HD-DVD disk will come in 3 sizes when first launched. There will be 15Gb / 30Gb / 45Gb disks (single / dual / triple layer) and there will also be a fourth variety which will have a SD-DVD version on the reverse side of the disk, allowing retailers to have a single version of new films on the shelves and allow consumers to build a library before they have the equipment.

These disk sizes translate into 4, 8, 12 hrs using MPEG-4/AVC compression. The switch to MPEG4 of course means that the fight that is about to break out between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray is one about how much content can you offer on a disk. The reality is that for a basic movie in MPEG4/AVC the amount of disk space you need is very little more than you can get on a current generation DVD 9. How consumers will view this with a format war about to break out is going to be very interesting to see. The reality is that Blu-Ray will win the computer war because it offers greater volumes form day one and for computer manufacturers it is a great advantage. But for the consumer it will be dependent on other things and only once the machines are delivered will we find the answer as to what seems to be taking the lead.

As you can see Toshiba will be trying to ensure that studios are confident in the security that they are offering with HD output only being available on the secure digital outputs (HDMI and IEEE1394). So once again if you are thinking about buying a HD capable screen make sure it has HDMI.

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Still waiting to know of the content is 1080p24 and not localised pre rooted 1080p50 or 1080p60 requiring to be changed back into what it should have been in the first palce.

Danny.

Can't wait for HD-DVD. How long till it hits our shores, and how much are we lookin' at

Please don't waste your money until BD comes out middle of next year. Let the format war be waged without your financial cost

As to the heading of your post most of the upscaling players will only upscale via their HDCP HDMI output anyway. I can only think of 2 players that'll upscale via component.

Question for DannyR - the heading of this thread says to make sure you have HDCP, but in the text you don't mention hdcp (you mention "secure digitial outputs" though).

So, to be clear, will these future players only work if you have HDCP HDMI and not plain HDMI? The reason this is rather important is that Toshiba's 52" and 62" rptvs currently being sold are only HDMI, not HDCP HDMI I believe. Which basically means that they will be obsolete as soon as the dvd players come out.

(Yeah, I know you can connect via other connectors, but it kinda defeats the point).

D

HDMI is just a connection type so there is not really a plain vs anything but you are right in what you are saing. These source components (most DVD players and the HD ones coming) are HDCP protect so they require the display to be HDCP compliant. So if your display is not HDCP compliant like the Toshiba's then that is a YES they are obsolete if you want to use them with a newer player as we are seeing with the Denons, Yamaha's, Marants, pretty much anything that upscales these days.

For 'datvman' & everyone else:

Wait until you see the prices of the HD-DVD players and recorders! Only being sold at the moment in Japan for around $4500 US dollars! (exspecialy the SONY BDZ-S77 DVD) type it in Google and check out the rest. Have a read below:

(The Sony BDZ-S77 is currently priced at 222,000 yen ($2,150 U.S), while the Panasonic DMR-E700BD is priced at 189,000 yen ($1,830 U.S). The discs required to record high-definition video are priced at about 2,700 yen ($26 U.S) per disc. The explanation for the high retail prices is that the recorders are targetted for businesses and enthusiasts rather than regular consumers.)

The disks are known as Blu-Ray and that's wat the up-coming PS3 will use and maybe HD-DVD players.

Check out http://www.blu-ray.com/

Disks priced at ≈ $40-60 AUS

Matt.

you'll get cheap players coming in from China, no problem.

As far as I was aware, HDCP is part of the HDMI standard. Hence the reason I never mentioned HDCP. But I have just checked the HDMI website and yeah, its optional, just like on DVI. I really didn't think anyone was selling devices that were HDMI but not HDCP compliant.

Just another thign to ad to the consumer minefield. What chance do regular joes have of buying the right device? Its really quite disgusting that AV manufacturers aren't offering HDCP on every display pannel equipped with HDMI or DVI. The charges are really noy exacessive, US$15,000 per year plus $0.005US per unit. That will really break the bank won't it! I mean with all the royalties you need with a DVD player, you would still be lucky to break US$0.50 per player.

Danny.

Originally posted in worng section...

No more HDCP worries now, check this link out

HDCP filter

It's very expensive, though.

I don't think HD-DVD players are going to be anywhere near 350 euros when they first come out so people with HDTVs with analogue connections are sure going to prefer spending the extra dosh instead of forking out for a new telly.