A new product from the popular gaming enhancement site XPloder promises to upconvert your PS2 games to HDTV resolutions. The settings are loaded via a CD-Rom and then stored on your memory card. You can choose from 1080i or 720p, and even 480p if you so desire. A release date is not yet available. It will be interesting to see how this effects the gameplay itself. Hopefully it will not cause any slowdown due to reprocessing of the video. This could be a big bonus for those not wanting to pay $600 right away for a PS3, but still want high resolution gaming from a Sony console. We shall have to keep our eyes and ears open for more information on this one…

Article from Club Skill

This looks like another Crash type of movie.

Crash was about people dealing with racial differences. This one is dealing with language differences.

Check it out below:

Babel Trailer HD

Babel movie website

Audioholics has a new Q&A section to answer questions.

The question last Monday was:

1. Which DVD player would be a better match for the Sanyo (in terms of image quality)… The Denon DVD-2910 or a new Blu-ray disc player?
2. Which type of screen do you recommend (my room won’t be 100% dark but will have very, very little ambient light.) The Stewart Studiotek 130 or Grayhawk RS? What size? I am looking for that real cinema feel… My thought is between 100 and 130 inches?
3. Should I just wait for the newer (budget) projector models which will accept 1080p? I know there are some out there already but they fall above the budget category (Sony’s $8-$10k Ruby comes to mind).

I guess I would have one caveat to their answer. If the person has a dedicated TV in another room for cable/satellite, then I think it would be a good idea to buy the best 1080p projector you can afford because that is what you are dedicating this room for. If your projector will be multi-purpose (Movies/Cable/Sat), then I feel you can pass with a 720p projector.

Ask Dr. A! Of Projectors and 1080p

PCWorld has an article on HDTV and some of the myths that are out there. It’s a good read. Here are the 10 myths with some of my commentary.

You all know as well as me that this isn’t true

Another truth.

This depends on the scaler, the source, etc..

We all know this has been taken care of

We all know bright is not what we want. We want contrast and colors that don’t fade over time.

Ha! If you doubt me check out my calibration article here.

Again if you have lived on planet Mars you all know this isn’t true.

It can be bad, but it will depend on the source and how good of a scaler you have.

Again you know this is a lie, but it is a good scare tactic to get people to upgrade to HD.

My Little Business: HDTV Myths
Ten HDTV Myths

I have always been partial to Denon products, and their new DVD player lineup looks particularly tasty! The great part is that it extends from their $369 DVD-1930CI all the way to their $1499 DVD-3930CI, so everyone can join in the party. The only question is, does it make sense to spend the dough on one of these players, or jump on in to a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player? Personally, I am not satisfied with the offerings from Samsung and Toshiba/RCA right now, but whether to wait for the next crop is a whole different question.

Electronic House article

Calibre announced what looks to be a killer video product this week; the Vantage HD video scaler/processor featuring the highly regarded Silicon Optix Realta HQV video processing engine. In addition to getting some of the best video processing around, you get a world class switcher as well. I see two additional perks that might make this product a home run for videophiles.

I would love to see this baby pared with a 1080p projector, such as the Sony Ruby. That would be pure video bliss!

Well, I was clearing out room in my backyard for one of these, but quickly ran out of space. At $28 million, the World’s Largest HDTV may not be for everyone. Can you imagine the engineering that went into this thing?

Geez. I just get done talking about the rumors that we can’t have a dual-format HD/Blu-ray player because of limitations in their licensing and here comes the EU asking questions from both groups to see if the limitation is true. Maybe my caveat from the Netflix is confused article may become a reality sooner than later, but I still don’t change my quote.

From the article:

“We have sent a letter earlier this month to the makers of HD DVD and Blu-ray to request information about licensing,” a Commission spokesman said, declining to give any further information.

So now the EU has slapped Microsoft with record fines and now is sniffing around the Blu-Ray/HD licensing.

Looks like the US needs to get some balls and start standing up for the consumer because the EU sure seems to be doing it for us right now.

EU in antitrust probe of rival DVD format creators

The “war” of formats is far from over.

If you took a snapshot today, in the player arena you would say that HD DVD has the lead. If you take a snapshot in the PC arena you would say Blu-Ray. Content? HD DVD has more titles right now, but Blu ray has more announced titles. HD DVD has had a firmware patch to fix many problems, Samsung is working on one for their Blu-ray player.

So who wins?

Quantities of players and content are way too low right now to call anything for either side. Companies like Netflix, Blockbuster, and Walmart aren’t going to decide this right now. They all will sit on the fence and distribute both formats.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:

This “war” will be decided after Christmas 2008. Quote me on that. This will be the time where there will be affordable (under $100) players, and lots of content will be available. This is when the Walmarts and Netflixs of the world will determine a winner by pulling support for one of the formats.

The only caveat I have to my quote is if a company comes out with an affordable dual format player and is allowed by both sides to ship it. Then it will be like the DVD +R-R+RW&^$ whoha where it doesn’t matter which disk you get, it will play. I still see this as the most likely scenario because if one side starts to falter significantly then it will capitulate to the other and allow multiformat players to be shipped.

Netflix CEO sees HD DVD and Blu-ray war “maintaining stalemate”

People have been complaining quite loudly about HDMI switching devices and lockups that occur because of it.

It’s interesting that the media (as usual) gets it wrong and places the blame on HDMI. HDMI is just a delivery system, a cable, and some specs on how to shove a whole bunch of data down that cable. On the other hand, there is HDCP. This copy protection “scheme” is suppose to authorize display devices (HDTV) with content devices (Blu-Ray/HD DVD). Sounds good in principal until you add one more thing.

The switch.

Most receivers today that have an HDMI switcher in them to do just that. Switch from HDMI device to HDMI device. The problem is that when it switches it cuts off the connection to other device, the HDCP handshake is broken, and boom goes the player.

Short of getting rid of HDCP (that has my vote), the only way to fix this is for the receiver to be the HDCP device. Kind of like playing “man in the middle”, but I think that the HDCP group wants the player to directly talk to the display device.

Another “hack” would be the HDMI switch inside the receiver broadcasting the display device HDCP signal back down to the connected devices like say your satellite receiver and your Blu-ray player. The players would be happy because they are getting their HDCP signal fix and there should be no lockups. This also would save the receiver company from having to pay the HDCP licensing fee.

A compromise needs to be hammered out quickly because I think that critical mass will happen next year when the new receivers start shipping that support the HDMI 1.3 bandwidth and can decode the new audio formats. By that time this HDMI/HDCP mess had better be a non-issue.

The latest on HDMI

Warner Brothers has delayed indefinitely the release of “Good Night, and Good Luck”, which was due to arrive on August 1st. The BD version of the movie is still on track for a release on the 1st. Warner didn’t give a new release date for the HD DVD, nor did they give a reason for the delay.

I know you can’t read too much into these kinds of things, because there are so many many reasons why this could have happened. But looking at it strictly from a BD versus HD DVD view, it’s strange. Why would the movie be ready on one format but not the other? Both BD and HD DVD support the same video and audio codecs. The only real difference is the interactive layer, and Warner has been getting plenty of experience with the new format of late, releasing many (well, relatively at least) titles in HD DVD.

At any rate, we’ll see the movie on HD DVD soon enough, and maybe then we’ll get an answer.

Warner Not Ready to Say ‘Good Night’ on HD DVD