Dell and HP responded to Microsoft and Intel’s reasons for going with HD-DVD, though they didn’t provide too many details.

“From a PC end-user perspective, Blu-ray is a superior format. It offers 67-150% more storage capacity, higher transfer rates, slim-line notebook compatibility, broadband connectivity and a proven interactive layer with BD- Java(TM),” said Maureen Weber, General Manager of Hewlett Packard’s Personal Storage Business. “The technical merits and consumer benefits of Blu-ray Disc make it the ideal solution for HP’s customers.”

A one-to-one rebuttal of the six reasons for going with HD-DVD would have been nice, but it looks like we won’t be getting that. Most computer manufacturers support Blu-ray however, each after considering whether HD-DVD or Blu-ray was a better choice.

“We are actively engaged with our customers who continue to tell us that features such as capacity, advanced interactivity, and industry wide support are of utmost importance when considering new optical solutions,” said Kevin Kettler, Chief Technology Officer, Dell, Inc. “Based on this feedback and a comparison of the two formats, Dell has no doubt that Blu-ray Disc best meets the needs of computer users and provides the type of open industry standards needed to drive innovation and growth of the format across all platforms — consumer electronic, personal computers and gaming consoles.”

Yahoo! Finance - Computer Manufacturers Set the Record Straight on Blu-ray

It looks like Toshiba is still keeping the door open for a compromise.

Yoshihide Fujii, president and CEO of Toshiba’s Digital Media Network Company, shed some light on the complicated situation. “We have no intention of giving up on creating a single format,” he says.

I don’t know if he says this to make Toshiba look good, or if he’s really serious. Toshiba doesn’t want to back down on their physical layer for HD-DVD, and Sony’s not backing down about theirs for Blu-ray. A single format, of course, would have to use one of the two, and thought doesn’t seem to be in the cards right now. Is Mr. Fujii saying that Toshiba is willing to back down? Otherwise he’s just trying to appear as the reasonable one.

1UP.com - HD-DVD + Blu-Ray Still Possible

Pioneer is introducing to the Japanese market a couple HDD/DVRs with HDTV support. They can record HD directly to the HDD, and it allows burning of HDTV material to DVD, but I think they downrez it first, the press release is a little ambiguous. It says “It allows users to move high-definition digital video recorded in the HDD to a disc at a higher picture quality than before.” Hmmm.

The player has an HDMI output and scales 480i video to 720p or 1080i, if so desired. Previous Pioneer players have allowed 480i passthrough on the HDMI output, no mentioned is made here of this feature. (It’s a feature that could be useful if you have a better outboard scaler than the one in the player.)

Pioneer Intros High-end HDD/DVRs

Yesterday Dell announced that they will be offering two new displays, one LCD and one plasma.

The plasma is a 50″ 1366 x 768 display with two tuners, detachable speakers, and 8000:1 contrast ratio, and an MSRP of $3,799. It has two component inputs one VGA, and two HDMI/HDCP inputs. No mention is made whether or not they accept 1080p signals.

The LCD HDTV is a 32″ 1366 x 768 model with detachable speakers, and 1000:1 contrast ratio, and an MSRP of $3,799 $1,799. It has two component inputs one VGA, and two HDMI/HDCP inputs. No mention is made whether or not they accept 1080p signals. Gosh, you’d think the LCD is made by the same people that made the plasma.

Dell - Dell Unveils … TVs For Home Entertainment (Press Release)
Dell - New TVs

Vidikron has a new 3-chip DLP projector, the model Vision™ Model 90 projector. It uses three 1280 x 720 DMD’s from TI to ban rainbows forever. Its MSRP is a paltry $19,995.

WideScreen Review - Vidikron Expands Its HD Projector Lineup

JVC’s GY-HD100 camcorder retails for $4,000 and uses HDVPro for capturing HD imagery. Personal Tech Pipeline gives a little summary of what this thing can do for you.

Personal Tech Pipeline - JVC HD Video Camera: The Future Is Now

At the recent iGrid 2005 confab in San Diego, scientists were treated to the first real-time, international transmission of Super HD (SHD) 4K digital video. 4K is a format used for digital cinema, and has four times the resolution of 1920 x 1080 video, with 4096 (I think) lines of information.

The 4K transmission linked the University of California, San Diego and Keio University in Tokyo via 15,000 kilometers (roughly 9,000 miles) of gigabit Internet Protocol (IP) optical-fiber networks, and allowed organizers to show attendees the most varied 4K content ever presented at a single event anywhere in the world to date.

At 8 megapixels per frame, uncompressed streaming of 4K video requires a data rate greater than 6 Gigabits per second (Gbps). In many places though, the signal must be carried over 1 Gbps circuits. To do so efficiently, the iGrid demonstration utilized prototype JPEG 2000 codecs from NTT Network Innovation Labs, designed to compress and decompress 4K digital video in real time to 200-400 Mbps for direct connection to gigabit IP networks.

Wow! Digital cinema is finding a way to differentiate itself from home cinema, and this looks like a great way to go about it.

LinuxElectrons - Scientists Transmit Internationally, Real-Time Super High-Definition 4K Digital Video

In a major move for Sanyo, they are cutting 14,000 employees as part of a 3-year restructuring plan. Part of that plan is to exit the DVD player, DVD recorder, and VCR markets to focus on the development and promotion of HD-DVD hardware. It still plans to manufacture parts for Blu-ray hardware, though.

CDRinfo - Sanyo to Exit From DVD players, Focuses on HD DVD

The two top Chinese manufacturers, Amoi Electronics and Sichuan Changhong Electric, have voiced support for the HD-DVD format. This is a crucial win for Toshiba because Chinese manufacturers are largely responsible for the low DVD player prices we see today (and hence Sanyo’s leaving the market). This announcement will surely mean that HD-DVD players will come down in cost quickly.

CDRinfo - Major Chinese DVD player Manufacturers to Support HD-DVD

Take a deep breath. Sit down. Ready? Here it is:

Toshiba has officially stated that there will be no HD-DVD offered by Toshiba in the U.S. market this year.

Yikes. Dreams of sugar plums and all have fallen by the wayside as HD-DVD’s creator and largest backer has declined to bow players in the U.S. market in 2005. This is a major blow to HD-DVD, coming right after several successes (Intel, Microsoft, two Chinese firms all backing HD-DVD). With three major studios previously announcing support for HD-DVD, what are they going to do now? Just a little bit of egg on their faces this holiday season.

Is this the straw that broke the camel’s back? First, HD-DVD allows copying of movies to a computer’s HDD, now this?

marketnews.ca - Toshiba Postpones U.S. HD-DVD Launch

Here’s another example of the media’s bias against Sony. They want to write an article about the HD-DVD vs Blu-ray format war. What’s the first line?

Sony risks seeing another flagship product falling the way of its ill-fated Betamax video format after two technology powerhouses backed a rival’s vision for the next generation of DVD.

Then it goes on to talk about Intel and Microsoft, blah blah blah. Never mind that Sun, Apple, Dell, and HP have all backed Blu-ray. But okay, I can handle that.

But then, to back up his claims of Sony being on its back foot, Mr. Blakely says that Matsushita and Samsung have already backed Toshiba. Whaaaa????? Matsushita is firmly in the Blu-ray camp! And Samsung is also in the Blu-ray camp, though it’s thinking about double-dipping into the HD-DVD as well. So both Matsushita and Samsung back Blu-ray, and Mr. Blakely is using them as examples of companies arrayed against Sony! I can’t believe it…

And that’s not all!

When listing the studios backing HD-DVD, Mr. Blakely mentions Paramount, Universal, and Warner Brothers. When listing the studios backing Blu-ray, he mentions Walt Disney and Sony Pictures. See something missing there? What about Lions Gate and Fox?

Does anyone else think this guy is just a bit biased?

Times Online - Sony plays for high-stakes over HD-DVD

Hey, according to Phillip Swan over at TVPredictions.com, Teri Hatcher is number one at looking terrible in HD. Now, I don’t watch Desperate Housewives, but I did watch Lois & Clark, so I know who this is. From going to the Superman’s love interest to worst-looking actress in HD, that’s quite a fall.

But who’s the best looking person in HD? Again, according to Mr. Swan, it’s Jessica Alba of Sin City and Fantastic Four fame. Mr. Swan says “It’s appropriate that Ms. Alba starred in Sin City because she looks so good in high-def that it should be a sin. Her skin is luscious and her lips are full and fleshy. This Alba is the toast of the town.”

Check out the other 9 worst and best at Mr. Swan’s TVPredictions website.

Swanni’s Annual ‘Best & Worse’ HDTV List

At their Global Road Show, held in New York, Samsung showed off several technologies. Samsung is spending $5.2 billion for R&D this year, about 9% of their 2005 projected income. That’s quite a bit. But it seems to be paying off. They showed off the world’s largest DLP HD RPTV, at 71″. The largest LCD at 82″, the largest plasma at 102″, and the largest OLED display at 40″. Interesting to see all those different sizes for the differing technologies. The also showed off a Blu-ray player with a built-in HD tuner.

TWICE - Samsung Unveils New Products At Global Road Show (free subscription)

tom’s hardware guide has a very interesting article discussing the reasons behind their move to support HD-DVD over Blu-ray. There were six main reasons. Two of these I couldn’t care less about: iHD vs BDJ (who cares about either?), and being able to copy a disc to your hard drive (keeping DRM in place). Two were technologies Blu-ray couldn’t demonstrate that HD-DVD did: high capacity (!!) and hybrid discs. Both of these were things that Blu-ray couldn’t show, but will eventually support. The last two are low production costs and low disc replication costs. Personally, I think these will come down for Blu-ray, and will become a non-issue. But there you have it.

tom’s hardware - Blu-ray support a last minute switch, Microsoft says

In an ironic twist, MSN Money (owned by Microsoft) has an article that basically states that Microsoft and Intel’s backing are no big thing. The big factor for the success of either format is studio support. And Microsoft and Intel’s support for HD-DVD may sway studios away from HD-DVD, because PC’s are where all the copying takes place.

Unfortunately, the title of the MSN Money article says that Blu-ray is Sony’s “DVD format”. Not!

MSN Money - Sony defends its Blu-ray DVD format

Sharp is shipping its largest professional monitor, the 45″ LCD model PN-455. At 1920 x 1080 resolution, it fits HDTV perfectly.

Sharp’s LCD monitor line has several proprietary technologies and features that ensure unparalleled image quality for a professional presentation of information, data and images. The line has anti-glare and low-reflection properties enabling Sharp monitors to be placed in brighter areas where other screens might appear washed out. Higher contrast lets viewers discern details they might otherwise miss, particularly when viewing darker content. The 170-degree viewing angles help the monitor display a crisp picture that can be seen from virtually anywhere in the room.

The PN-455 has an MSRP of $9,595.

Creative Mac - Sharp Ships PN-455 45” Pro HD LCD For Digital Signage

How much money do you have? No, really. If you’re shopping for a projector like this one by Faroudja, you better have a whole heck of a lot of it. ultimate AV reviews the Faroudja DILA1080pHD projector, which goes for a nifty $37,995. Add the DVP1080 video processor at $6995 for a cool system price of $44,990. When prices go that high, does one even bother haggling? I gots to wonder.

So what does all that cash get you? Well, no lens shift. Uh… what’s that? That’s right, you’re plunking down a BMW for a projector and you don’t even get lens shift. Maybe they figure rich people like using projectors for foot stools.

But it does get you 1080p. As a matter of fact, this projector only accepts 1080p/60 over a DVI connection. Everything else has to be transmorgified through their processor. (It’s 15.5% of the system price, remember.) At least this video processor does proper 1080i processing, mainting all the little bits when converting to 1080p. The video processor has a DVI/HDCP input, though no mention is made of HDMI.

For $44,990, you want to be able to know, I mean really know, that what you bought is there, right? So Faroudja made sure that the fan was loud enough for you to hear, just as a little reminder for you. “Hey, I’m $44,990 and I’m sitting under your feet!” Yes, I’m exagerrating a little. Shame on me. But for $44,990, you gotta expect perfection, no?

What about picture quality? The reviewer seems to be a little less than enthralled with the device, though in the end he gives it two thumbs up. The waffling is so Belgian, I won’t even try to summarize what he says about the picture quality, the most important part of the review. So you’ll just have to check it out for yourself.

ultimate AV - Faroudja DILA1080pHD and DVP1080 D-ILA Video Projector and HD Digital Video Processor

HDMI is making big inroads. Sherwood America yesterday announced the introduction of HDMI-Link, an AV switcher and video format converter to be used in a separate Sherwood unit to be sold with their receivers. Two HDMI inputs can be switched, with an HDMI output going to an HDTV. The cool thing about this unit is that it can convert component video into HDCP compliant digital HDMI video.

WideScreen Review - Sherwood Adds HDMI To Newcastle And Sherwood Lines

NAD’s new Master Series M15 Surround Sound Processor can do HDMI switching, according to a recent press release. It has two HDMI inputs and one HDMI output. The unit also upconverts composite and S-Video to component video, but not to the digital HDMI.

eCoustics - NAD Raises the Bar with New Masters Series

Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology (TSST) has announced that they will begin sampling an HD-DVD drive for notebooks by the end of 2005. The TS-L802A supports reading of HD-DVD’s, and recording of all CD/DVD formats.

CDRinfo - TSST Announce First HD DVD Drive for Notebooks

At CEDIA 2005 Parasound showed off their universal disc player, the NewClassic D 200 ($1500). It supports DVD, DVD-Audio, and SACD. It also upconverts video to 480p, 720, or 1080i through its HDMI output.

Anthem’s new D2 processor can convert composite and S-Video to both component and HDMI! Another cool HDMI transcoding. The D2 can also convert all sources to 1080p using its Gennum GF9350 VXP image processor.

The article linked below continues with lots of other great CEDIA news, so don’t miss it.

ultimate AV - CEDIA Expo 2005

Both Microsoft and Intel will be backing Toshiba’s effort to make HD-DVD mainstream. Microsoft has already given their support to HD-DVD through previous partnerships, and now they’re going to be more or less reiterating their support. Intel, too, are putting their weight behind the HD-DVD format. On the other side, companies like Apple, Sun, and HP are supporting Blu-ray.

I don’t think this really changes much. I still think Blu-ray will win the day when all the chips are counted.

BetaNews - Microsoft and Intel to Support HD-DVD