do you have to have a hd dvd player or can you use a regular dvd player to play hd dvds? i do have a hdlcd tv. i also have herd about useing an optical feed from the dvd player to the tv can someone help me there. is it a better pic?
You need an HD-DVD player to play HD-DVD's. These new formats won't play on regular DVD drives or players. The new formats use a blue-violet laser with a shorter wavelength (405 nm) while regular DVD drives use a red 650 nm laser. The digital optical output from a DVD player carries audio data usually in the form of a Dolby Digital movie soundtrack. This connects to a home theater receiver with an optical (Toslink) input. This optical feed does not carry video. You may have mistaken this for an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) connection which carries both video and audio and can connect to an HDTV.
A number of DVD players will upconvert through DVI / HDMI .... sony, LG, Oppo, Samsung, Denon ...many will upconvert to 1080i through DVI or HDMI. I have an oppo and they're really awesome. I'm going to stick to upconversion until they have it all straightened out with HD DVD or whatever. I don't think upconversion units work though component cables though so your TV would have to have DVI or HDMI inputs. If you do, I think you'll be impressed with the upconversion units....the pic is truly awesome.
If you want great upconversion try looking for the Toshiba HD-A1. There may be some deals out there where you can get these for $300 or less especially when the A2's come out. It's a better upconverter than my old Oppo (which I still use for non-Region 1 discs).
@dblbogey7...I'm afraid that Toshiba can only upconvert unprotected DVDs over component....protected DVDs still must be over HDMI like other upconversion players but the older units could upconvert protected DVDs over component until sued and forced to stop. Here is a segment explaining it from eopinions followed by a link to the whole review/explanation. I think you'll find it interesting: Whole review / explanation: http://www0.epinions.com/content_186326683268 [bold]It was just explained to me that the lawsuit was about the creation of an "analog hole" through component cables over which the movie could be copied. A$$HOLES!! [/bold]
Gerry can you shed more light on what protected DVD's are? I once heard that a copyright protection prevents the up conversion? Is that true? Also, why do adult DVD's make the trip up to 720p through up Conversion (shot in HD disk) better than enhanced for 16x9 widescreen? I can't figure this out!
