Is HD-DVD 1080i worth it?

[ViRaL1]

I've been seeing some decent prices on what I'm assuming are 1st generation HD-DVD players that support 1080i, but not 1080p. At the moment, my TV only supports 1080i, so while it might seem like a moot issue, we're talking upwards of $300 and this is just my first HDTV. My PS3 on the other hand will do 1080p right out of the box as I believe most (if not all) Blu-Ray players will. My question is, should I get a 2nd gen player with 1080p (either paying more or waiting longer) or is the difference negligible on a TV that supports 1080p?

[rallynavvie]

Did you mean a second gen TV that supports 1080p? You already have the player that supports 1080p in your PS3 and from what I've seen of mine it does a fantastic job as a BD player and also upconverts DVDs very well for a 1080p monitor. AFAIK BluRay is always 1080p whereas HD-DVD can be 1080i or 1080p.

However having only seen both on a 1080p set I could only tell the difference in some of the fast action scenes where the bitrate went through the roof. The 360s HD-DVD playback (for this test we used The Last Samurai in both formats) got a little choppy during the fight scenes whereas the PS3 BD one did not. I don't know if I should contribute that to the players or the transfer since both were 1080p releases.

Having never really owned a 1080i TV I can't compare. I went with a 37" 1080p monitor, not a TV with a tuner built in, because it would be attached to my HTPC and my PS3 so I needed DVI inputs as well as HDMI. One thing I can say about 1080p is that the extra res is more noticeable when you're viewing distance is closer. For instance my HTPCs primary monitor is still a big CRT and I'll sit at it while playing PS3 games and the LCD TV is only a few feet from me. 1080p games (like Full Auto 2 or the GT HD demo) look great up close. 720p games are still OK, and even DVDs look surprisingly well when upconverted.

One word of advice to you as a PS3 owner: do not buy a Westinghouse LCD TV. The Westinghouse I have looks great and I have absolutely no problems using it with my HTPC or HD digital cable signals, but it does not like the PS3. From what I've learned on the web there is an issue where the Westinghouse TV messes up the HDCP handshake from the PS3 (obviously only when using HDMI or DVI connection) and keeps cutting out everytime it switches resolutions to anything other than 1080p until you switch it off that input and back to it. Both Westinghouse and Sony say it's the others problem but I believe Sony is telling the truth. I took my PS3 back to Best Buy and they let me hook it up to every TV they had and only the Westinghouse 1080p monitors had this issue. So for the record the PS3 works splendidly with Sony (duh), Sharp, and Samsung LCD TVs.

As for the BD vs HD-DVD debate the consumer will be the loser. Despite the fanboys for both camps (I am in the BD camp being a Sony whore myself) we'll probably end up having to buy a combo player to get access to all titles in HD. And honestly, once the cost of combo players comes down to reasonable levels the argument will be moot.

[ViRaL1]

Eventually, I do plan to get a 1080p set. Last I heard, the PS3 didn't upconvert. Are you sure it's not your TV thatt's upconverting? Also, I wonder if the choppiness of the 360 HD-DVD might be due to USB. Then again, I don't know what the bitrate is for 1080p HD-DVD or 1080p Blu-Ray. I'm using a Mag 32" myself.