HD-DVD players. What is the difference?

[mmcguigan]

I'm in the market for an HD-DVD player now that the price has reached my target for a HD player.

I've researched some, but aparently not enough. I've read many reviews that stated the HD-A3 and HD-D3 are the same. They are not. I purchased a HD-D3 Saturday and returned it Sunday, when I found out what the difference was. (A3 supports legacy sound. D3 comes with free HDMI cable.)

My display only supports 1080i at this point, so if I had picked up the HD-A3 I probably would have kept it because it does support Dolby Digital DTS on the up-converted DVDs in my current collection. I've now found a great deal on a HD-A30 which I know has 1080p instead of 1080i and I will probably purchase it, but I'm not looking at making a similar mistake in this purchase, so does anyone know what is the difference between the A30 and A35? I know there is a price difference, but I can't seem to figure out the technical differences.

[jman98]

This is an excellent question. Toshiba is to be criticized for making it VERY difficult for ordinary consumers to know the answer to this question. I own the A30 by the way. The only difference I know of between the A30 and the A35 is that I have read that the A35 does not downconvert HD sound to DVD compatible sound and the A30 does downconvert HD sound to DVD compatible sound (AC3 and DTS, depending on the source - high def Dolby sources get converted down to AC3 and high def DTS sources get converted down to DTS). The manual of the A30 to me (remember, I own this player) seems to indicate that it does not downconvert the audio via HDMI output, but as my perfectly good receiver which I bought 2 years ago does not contain HDMI input (none of the ones on the market at the time had this), I have no way at all to test this. I can find no other difference between the players. I have no choice but to downconvert all HD DVD audio so my receiver can play it - the A30 has an option to deliberately do this.

By the way, the A30 does have an option to output 1080i video, but the big selling point for it over the A3 is that it (the A30) can output 1080p and the A3 cannot.

[MOVIEGEEK]

The A35 has 5.1 analog outputs and is HDMI 1.3 which means you can bitstream the audio to your receiver.
BTW:all Toshiba HD DVD players can decode all audio formats but the lower end ones output PCM.
A2/A3=2ch analog output,optical,HDMI 1.2,1080i
A20/A30=2ch analog output,optical,HDMI 1.2,uses ABT chip to upconvert,1080p
A35/XA2=5.1ch analog output,optical,HDMI 1.3,A35 uses ABT chip,XA2 uses REON chip,1080p

[mmcguigan]

Thanks all. I'm a little behind on the technology at this point. Haven't been keeping up like I should.

My system:

Optoma EP719 projector w/Graywolf 92" wide-screen & 26" Olevia LT26HVX LCD
Yamaha RX-V795 - replacing soon / will then move to HDMI
DCM and Velodyne 5.1 speaker system - have an extra set of DCMs to do 7.1

My current DVD player Zenith DVC2550 doesn't process the digital signal, that is left for the receiver to do. - Currently using optical out for sound.

The ABT chip does a better job of up-converting the video, right?

Looks like the A30 will be good for me, as I'm using the optical out, do analog outputs even matter with my system?

[jagabo]

HD-DVD is the walking dead now.

[mmcguigan]

jagabo,

Thanks for your insightful commentary. If you want to inform me of how BR is somehow technically superior, consumer friendly and backwards compatible, I'll gladly listen. Thus far in my research I've only found gamer fanaticism and corporate greed backing BR. I've looked at the differences between HD-DVD and BR. Beyond larger storage for BR and the current PR , HD-DVD is technically superior to BR and the price is right. HD-DVD is what I'm purchasing.

Now back to the topic. I'm here to talk about my coming HD-DVD purchase.

[cal_tony]

HD-DVD is the walking dead now.

Hard to tell when or if the end will ever come. Really.

Just last summer there were commentaries saying that John McCain was a "dead man walking".
Now look at where he is.

A lot can happen between now and the final death gasp. A thought or a plan or a law suit catches on, it gains momentum and it's a new game.

When you poke it and it doesn't move any more, than it's dead.

Tony

[jagabo]

I agree with you that there are lots of fan-boys on both sides. I'm not a fan of either and I don't have either one. If anything, I was leaning towards HD-DVD because I don't like Sony. But look through the news section of the forums here and elsewhere. Just about every day for the last few months there's a new story about someone dropping HD-DVD (NetFlix and Best Buy today) and going exclusively Blu-ray. Even Toshiba will soon be selling Blu-ray players.

[mmcguigan]

I've read the news. Not all of it, but enough to know the current status. Much of the bad HD-DVD news is exaggerated. Best Buy isn't exclusive BR and NetFlix is doing a disservice to their customers. I haven't seen any news outlets calling them out on the double talk in the NetFlix e-mail either. To top that the latest Toshiba responses aren't even close to great. They should be fighting, by pointing out what makes HD-DVD superior to BR. They should go on the offensive a little, instead they ignore it for the most part and the rumors fly. It doesn't look good for HD-DVD right now. I think the next step for HD-DVD is to drop the five free mail-in offer and lower the price of the A3 to $100 on March 1st. If they do that I think BR is going to have some serious issues next month.

All that aside I'm not loyal to either HD-DVD or BR. No love for Sony Toshiba or Microsoft. Especially that last one. HD-DVD is simply priced right and provides the features I want.

It isn't important to me to buy the winning format. I'm well aware that buying either now is taking a chance. The way I figure it, I can get a great upconverting HD-DVD that I can use to watch my existing DVD collection plus I get two HD movies in box and five free HD movies by mail for $100-$200. I can continue to purchase and watch regular DVD in near HD quality, plus I can purchase HD-DVD movie combo discs that contain the movie in both DVD and HD-DVD formats.

BR doesn't offer all those benefits and the price is still higher than I want to pay. Toshiba and friends are still pledging support for the foreseeable future. The HD-DVD format does have some titles I would like to get and I can always buy the regular DVD for "got to have" movies that aren't availabe on HD-DVD. Worst case; I should be able to get a good two years use out of the player. By then if BR wins the BR player and media prices should be more affordable. Heck, by then there may be another format already replacing these two. Only time will tell, but at these prices, I feel pretty safe in purchasing an HD-DVD player. I just need to figure out which one is right for me.

[jagabo]

Fair enough. You've read the news and you know what you're getting into...

[mmcguigan]

Well, with the latest news from Wal-Mart, it certainly does look like, end of life for the HD-DVD format is near.

Though I still plan to purchase, I haven't picked up my HD-DVD player yet. I think I'll shop around the used markets for a possibly better deal before the end of the month.

Thanks all for your help.

[jagabo]

Just a rumor but:

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=12100

Toshiba is widely expected to pull the plug on its HD DVD format sometime in the coming weeks, reliable industry sources say...

“An announcement is coming soon,” said one source close to the HD DVD camp. “It would be a matter of weeks.”

Too bad. With a monopoly on HD Sony won't be reducing prices on Blu-Ray players any time soon.

[Video Head]

Walmart's decision, coupled with the events of the last 2 months, certainly makes it look like Toshiba will be forced to abandon the HD-DVD technology (rumor has it that they have already made that business decision).

Hopefully this spells the future of HD for the DVD format. With the format war over, the studios, distrubutors and retailers can concentrate on promoting the format and the advantages it brings to the consumer...like lower prices. Once HD-DVD is gone, it will be up to Blu-Ray to prove that the public really wants this and it is not just another "could have been" like audio DVD's. I do believe that they have a challenge before them, but have overcome one of the great business hurdles: market dominance. Microsoft has proven that "owning the standard" is a market prerequisite to success. Doing it smarter is sometimes better than doing it better.

HD-DVD still has a future in data storage but I doubt it will be marketed to a high level.

[hanugro]

Man you are brave to buy HD-DVD now. I will look for player that plays both format if I were you. More expensive but it will save in the long run however this war end.

Anyway if you have kid then just buy them PS3 and you don't need to worry again. Just kidding.

Anyway I doubt about data storage future of HD-DVD. What drive data storage sales is capacity and blu ray wins on this. Maybe the hologram DVD that can store 1TB on 1 side is the future of data storage. :P

[jagabo]

Man you are brave to buy HD-DVD now. I will look for player that plays both format if I were you. More expensive but it will save in the long run however this war end.

Buying an HD-DVD player and a Blu-ray player is cheaper than buying a combo player.

[yoda313]

Just a rumor but:

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=12100

Toshiba is widely expected to pull the plug on its HD DVD format sometime in the coming weeks, reliable industry sources say...

“An announcement is coming soon,” said one source close to the HD DVD camp. “It would be a matter of weeks.”

Too bad. With a monopoly on HD Sony won't be reducing prices on Blu-Ray players any time soon.

OUCH! Good thing I bought my hddvd 360 drive used. I don't have that many movies on hddvd thankfully.

The ONLY good thing about this is maybe it will finally bring LORD OF THE RINGS and STAR WARS into the HIGH DEF disc world at last. BRING IT ON!

[hanugro]

Man you are brave to buy HD-DVD now. I will look for player that plays both format if I were you. More expensive but it will save in the long run however this war end.

Buying an HD-DVD player and a Blu-ray player is cheaper than buying a combo player.

Oops sorry, it must be after toshiba slash their player price. But consider it another clutter on the desk to deal with and another piece of trash you have to dispose at the end of its life.

Anyway I think the OP should be glad he post to this forum otherwise he would end up with $150 paper weight. I will just wait for a while if I were him.

[yoda313]

Again these aren't paperweights. Aren't they all upconverting dvd players at the least? I would say that holds some value after the hddvd is kaput.

Granted its a pricey upconverting player but if you have multiple hdtvs than at least you'll have an extra one handy.

[Krispy Kritter]

Guess you should start looking into a Blu-Ray player.