Category Archives: HD DVD

Web-enabled features

Posted on December 31, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

I’ve just been writing my reviews of HD DVDs and Blu-ray discs for Sound and Image magazine. I did a long one on the newly released The Bourne Ultimatum, which is on HD DVD, so I didn’t have much space … Continue reading →

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Blu-ray booming

Posted on December 5, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

I’ve just received a press release, issued by Sony Australia’s PR firm Hausmann Communications. It seems that providing Blu-ray support in the Playstation 3 was a pretty good idea. According to the release, market research company GfK Marketing Services says … Continue reading →

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Check, Recheck and Triple Check

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

One of the tasks involved in doing reviews on equipment is identifying faults with that equipment. That may seem easy, but it isn’t always. If you have a lousy picture while watching HDTV, is it the HDTV receiver that’s the … Continue reading →

Posted in DTV, Firmware, HD DVD, HDTV, Testing | Leave a comment

Blu-ray blows, or how to let the opposition win

Posted on November 21, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

I must confess that in the Blu-ray vs HD DVD stakes, I’ve been somewhat partial to Blu-ray. I think it has been because of the larger capacity of the disc than HD DVD, at least in their first incarnations (HD … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Firmware, HD DVD, Region Coding | Leave a comment

Toshiba HD DVD goes 24 frames per second, oddly

Posted on November 1, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

UPDATE (Friday, 30 November 2007, 10:49 am): This item is incorrect in the section concerning resolution. I have now determined that the Toshiba HD-XE1 does not output 1,921 by 1,080 pixels in 1080p24 mode, but the proper 1,920 by 1080 … Continue reading →

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The HD format war already coming to an end?

Posted on April 11, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

I’ve been saying pretty much from the start that eventually there will be dual format HD DVD/Blu-ray players. But I wasn’t expecting it for maybe three or four years. Well, the pace of technological improvement continues to accelerate, and already … Continue reading →

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Blu-ray vs HD DVD – is Blu-ray hobbling itself?

Posted on April 10, 2007 by Stephen Dawson

Some years ago I received a DVD player for review. Before I had a chance to get it out of the box, I received a call from the PR company. The previous reviewer had accidentally left a DVD in it, … Continue reading →

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The Bitrate Trap

Posted on November 14, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

I’ve been experimenting a bit with downloading recordings from the Strong SRT-5490 and the Topfield TF6000PVRt digital TV receivers to my computer, editing and then burning DVDs. But there has been a problem: time. I’ve been using Ulead Movie Factory … Continue reading →

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HD TV vs SD TV

Posted on November 10, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

When describing the differences between standard definition and high definition TV, I generally say that the higher resolution doesn’t so much deliver more detail, but that the detail that is there is cleaner and more nicely defined. While that may … Continue reading →

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Blu-ray, HD DVD and frame rates

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

On Monday I drove up to Sydney for the launch of HD DVD by Toshiba and Castel Electronics, Toshiba’s Australian distributor. Toshiba will be releasing two HD DVD players in the near future. First, on 10 December 2006, there will … Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, HD DVD, How Things Work | Leave a comment