| Hometheaterphile June 2007
 The State of My
High-Definition Experience
Last year, according to PBS Online, 19.7 million digital
televisions were sold in the US and, for the first time, digital TVs outsold analog sets.
This indicates that many people have seen the hi-def difference and are willing to pay for
it.
When did this happen for you? When was the moment you
accepted the fact that you were going to have to fork out a few thousand bucks for a
digital set that barely fits in your living room? I can recall several moments when I almost
pulled the trigger, but the first HD set I bought was a Sony Trinitron KV-36HS420, a
36", 4:3 CRT. It was obscenely big and heavy, took up way too much space, dominated
the room, and was quite the eyesore. On the other hand, what a picture! The set was
capable of displaying a 1080i signal that was simply outstanding.
I’ve since sold that CRT to a friend (it’s now his
first HD set) and replaced it with a Mitsubishi WD-Y57, a 57", 16:9 RPTV. The
Mitsubishi, however, hasn’t been able to match the Sony’s color accuracy,
exceptional contrast ratio, and superb black levels. Sure, the screen is bigger and has
better technical specs, but when it comes to actual picture quality, the Mitsubishi
doesn’t come close. I don’t mean to disparage my new TV, which I bought after
comparing it with sets from other big-name brands. As far as I could see, not a single TV
out there today has been capable of besting my old Sony in all parameters.
Until now. A few weeks ago, while wandering through a local
A/V store, I stumbled on one of Pioneer’s new Elite plasma displays: a 50",
1080p model. Connected to the Pioneer Elite Blu-ray player, it was showing the animated
film Happy Feet. The picture was flawless! With eight more TVs playing the same
video signal as the Pioneer plasma, it was easy to see the difference. But that difference
comes at a hefty price: $8000 USD.
That’s the reality of the marketplace: If you want
bigger and better, you better have deep pockets. I’ve often taken advantage of the
zero-interest payment plans offered by big-box stores. Having two years to pay off a few
thousand dollars is a lot easier to swallow than having to pay a big lump sum. This opens
the market to a wider spectrum of consumers, which now means that it’s not only the
most well-to-do buyers who can bolt a plasma screen to the wall.
What are you going to watch?
When I bought my Sony HDTV in 2003, I was starved for HD
content. Now, just four years later, dozens of networks are broadcasting in hi-def. While
not all of these networks’ content is delivered in HD, most of their primetime
shows are. Sporting events are also enjoying the HD boom. If you haven’t seen an NFL
game in HD, you have no idea what you’re missing. The stunning detail and brilliant
colors of such events leap off the screen, delivering the kind of experience that can
transport you to the stadium without having to pay the price of admission.
Also pushing the limits of entertainment are the new hi-def
disc formats. HD DVD and Blu-ray deliver stunning video that really lets your HDTV
shine. But will consumers embrace the new formats, or will another format war scare them
away? I think the answer to both is yes.
I’ve already embraced both formats with open arms. I
bought Toshiba’s HD-XA1 HD DVD player (recently replaced by the HD-XA2) when it
was first released. Later, the Toshiba was joined by the Sony PlayStation 3, which doubles
as a Blu-ray player. Both HD formats deliver the level of quality I expected, and in some
cases have exceeded it. My TV has never looked better, and my audio system has never
sounded better. The more dynamic, more detailed sound, combined with a larger TV screen,
creates an experience much like that of a big cinema -- which has been my goal for my home
theater all along. The new formats have helped me achieve that goal.
But if you’ve been waiting for the technologies to
stabilize and prices to fall, perhaps now is the time to join in the fun. With the average
price of an HD-format player being close to a grand, the sticker shock a new enthusiast
experiences is quite understandable. Becoming willing to pay what an HDTV costs is quite a
hurdle in itself. On top of that, the first HD-format players were plagued by slow load
times and buggy performance. But the second-generation players offer smoother operation
and, in some cases, lower prices, and more and more films are being released in the new
formats.
And the winner is . . .
Now that I’ve encouraged you to buy an HD player,
I’m going to tell you which format player to buy. (This opinion is my own, and not
necessarily shared or endorsed by the SoundStage! Network.) The winner is Blu-ray Disc.
For the most part, Toshiba has solely toed the HD DVD
line. They were the first HD format to market, and their plunge into the deep end
didn’t bomb as much as predicted. While their first player had long load times and
lots of little glitches, the format’s stunning video quality was what mattered. Also,
many recent film titles were released on HD DVD immediately after the format’s
launch, while the Blu-ray camp continued to push back release dates. And even then, the
first Blu-ray discs left much to be desired. Fuzzy video quality, along with rumors of the
trouble Blu-ray was having with the disc-pressing process, made it seem as if HD DVD
would win with a quick knockout. A year after they’d launched their first HD DVD
player, Toshiba announced that they had sold over 100,000 of the machines, "ahead of
any other high-definition format." All seems to be going quite well for HD DVD.
Still, I feel that Blu-ray will eventually become the main
hi-def disc format. From electronics manufacturers to movie studios, Blu-ray simply has
more support within the industry. HD DVD’s initial flood of big titles has
slowed to a trickle; the most widely sold new release HD DVD has had to date is The
Departed, also released on Blu-ray. Blu-ray’s biggest seller so far is the latest
James Bond film, Casino Royale (not available on HD DVD), which sold 100,000
copies faster than any other HD disc to date. Blu-ray has exclusivity agreements with the
Fox, Disney, and Sony film studios, but the only studio with an HD DVD exclusivity
contract is Universal -- and even Universal now seems ready to break that agreement,
according to German IT website Heise Online.
Maybe it’s still too early to judge, but to me the end
seems clear. HD DVD plans to release 70 more titles by the end of July, which will
bring their total to over 300 -- but is it enough? Everything depends on
HD DVD’s ability to land exclusive content. If they can’t produce HD titles
available only on their brand, then the public will choose the brand that can deliver more
films in HD, and so far that is Blu-ray. Another deciding factor may be how quickly
universal HD machines able to play Blu-ray and HD DVD can be produced. LG has
built a universal player that has received some good reviews, but it costs over a thousand
dollars. Many manufacturers remain on the fence. You don’t see a multitude of
universal HD players in development, nor do you hear companies favoring one format over
the other. Until player prices fall and the format war generates a clear winner, the
public may decide to wait this one out. But until the decision is made for me,
Netflix will keep delivering steady streams of films in both formats to my system’s
revolving disc tray.
...Randall Smith
randalls@hometheatersound.com |
