1) I can't afford an HD DVD player yet. But i want to start collecting the movies. Is it possible to compress an HD DVD movie, to a DVD-R... maybe even a DL? I would think so... since you can compress a DVD-DL to fit on a single layer DVD-R. 2) Do all HD-DVD players, playback in up to 1080p? I always thought it was the TV, or monitor that decided what resolution is displayed... I have a 1080p tv... and I'd like to take advantage of it. Thanks for reading.
It's possible to do with the right encoding tools. The main problem is this: If you start to collect the movies now then how will you play them? They will not play on a regular DVD player and will not play on a PC DVD drive. The HD-DVD discs will not be recognized and you'll just get an error message. With the recent price cuts and Toshiba's $100 off promo I'm sure you'll find a good deal for a player. Your 1080p TV will play them back as 1080p. The Toshiba HD-A20 and the HD-XA2 can output 1080p thru HDMI. The 1st gen players and the HD-A2 can output up to 1080i but your TV will deinterlace the signal and display it at 1080p
I appreciate the quick response. The part near the end, when you got into the TV de-interlacing - that's what confuses me about HD. So what difference does it make if my dvd player outputs 1080p... will it be sharper? will i be able to tell a difference? I mean, as opposed to a 1080i signal.. de-interlaced.
If your TV does a good job deinterlacing the 1080i signal then you most likely won't notice a difference. The thing is some TV's do a better job than others. What model do you have?
I have a JVC 52" HD-ILA 1080p. HD-52FA97 I'm quite in love with it... even though (thanks to the ol' xbox) I've seen at most 720p.
The JVC tvs have great de-interlacers in them but they are not as good as the Reon-vx by Silicon Optix. So if you are going to buy the HD-XA2 then don't think twice about it. If not then go with the HD-A2 ans save some money as the difference will be marginal. My two cents, -Ced
