This is a question for those of us using a HDTV, be it LCD, Plasma, DLP, etc. **I want to preface this with a caution because I don't want this to seem like flame bait. I will be using the term "Blu-ray" as an example and I don't wish to create a flame war.. or DRM-haters party. I have a 42" Phillips LCD HDTV (1080p w/ambilight). I also have a PS3 that I use to watch BOTH upscaled DVD's and Blu-Ray movies. I've noticed some people are hesitant to buy Blu-ray for various reasons and I respect that decision 100%. I do wonder however, how others obtain HD content (films, videos, TV shows, etc.) if they are not using what seems to be (to me) the most commercially available HD format around. I know one can download, but for me it takes a long time to get HD content as the file sizes are much longer (as they should be). Is there another easy outlet to obtain HD films and such? If so this is a thread for people to post how they do things. ... again. PLEASE don't make this an arguement. I would just ask that people contribute if they can, or ask other like-minded questions. This may be an eye opener for many people. Thanks.
I have a 50" Pioneer Kuro plasma. My HD sources according to usage: Panasonic BluRay player - 75% HD cable/HD VOD - 15% Toshiba HD DVD player - 10% (also used for upconversion)
I have a 61" Samsung LED DLP. My HD sources according to usage: Toshiba HD-DVD - 75 percent (also used for upconversion) HD Cable - 15 percent I typically watch more movies on my HD-DVD player then I do cable. I've been buying a lot of my movies from Deep Discount and other online outlets. I'm not in the market for a Blu-ray player as of yet.
We took a plunge and bought a 50" Pioneer Kuro Elite. Our local dealer gave us a lower price than the non-elite so what the hey, we watch a lot of movies/sports. My HD sources according to usage: HD Cable: mainly Discovery and Sports Toshiba HD player: HD movies and upconverting. All our HD movies have been bought at firesales/second-hand. Online, the majority have been from INetVideo. They generally have specials on shipping every weekend. Their prices have ranged from $3.99 up. Prices have gone up slightly due to availability. This is a Canadian company with offices in Canada and USA. Keep in mind, some packaging (covers) can be bilingual (English/French).
I have a 52" Sharp Aquos LCD. HD sources are; Sharp Blu-ray player - 20% Toshiba HD DVD player - 40% (also used for upconverting) Over The Air broadcast - 40% I get 1080i on some channels, sports are either 720p or 1080i. Got the Blu-ray player free with the tv otherwise wouldn't have gotten it. Pick my discs up from Ebay, Amazon or Deepdiscount online, also watch for sales in b&ms.
I guess I forgot to post my percentages! haha. I guess I should have mentioned: 50-60% Blu-Ray 10-20% Downloaded materials (no specifics, as some are torrents for films I own on DVD, and some are documentaries/tvshows) 30ish% Digital Cable. I'm not sure on the resolutions.. but I watch Red Sox Games in HD as they are ALWAYS available in HD. Also Discovery and a few movie channels come in HD for me.
I thought I would mention a Canadian HD deal here. FutureShop has Planet Earth HD @ $24.99. None online but I did notice quite a few in stores.
Do people think it would be useful if people mentioned there location? It seems that in UK blu-ray is winning the battle for HD content on disc, and HD-DVD will have increasingly less titles on to choose from.......
Where are you prawn? HD-DVD's been dead for months and BluRay will also die a slow death with this economy if it doesn't improve. I have no desire to go to HD discs. My upconvert pannys look great on my 40" Sammy.LCD. I watched Jumper with a fiend on the fourth with his new 50"+ Sammy DPL and Sony Upconvert and was impressed. about 50%-50% HD Cable and standard upconvert DVD(usually no compression)
im in the UK. I dont know what the future will hold re:HD discs. I was just wondering where people were from because there seems to be a lot of HD-DVD usage out there which as you say has died on it's arse! Blu-Ray. who knows....