Sony introduced a new HD camcorder, and this time it’s 24p. It does a resolution of 920 x 1080 lines, interpolated up to 1920 and then down to 1440. That’s the HDV format.

The Gizmodo writer says:

But don’t let all the trickery scare you. After playing with this camera for a few hours and looking at lots of its footage, I must say the 24p look of this camera is remarkable. It’s the closest to full HDTV I’ve seen this 25mbit/s HDV format get. That’s helped along tremendously by its CMOS sensors, instead of the CCDs of previous HDV camcorders from Sony and others. These refined CMOS sensors give the camera better interpolation, higher dynamic range and increased perceived resolution, too. It’s all good.

It’s a cool-looking camera with great imagery. But I look forward to the day that a camcorder can record 1920 x 1080 at 30 fps. At a price that I can afford.

Sony Intros HVR-V1U HDV Pro Camcorder, Filmmakers Ogle Its 24p-ness

On October 10th, there will be 7 HD-DVD’s released by Time Warner. Here is the list:

• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Batman Begins
• The Corpse Bride
• Syriana
• 16 Blocks
• The Polar Express

Seeing as I already own the first 4 on DVD, and would like to see the last 3, this makes for the first truly exciting release date of either next-generation format. I am not really a fanboy for either side. A couple of years ago, when it was all very new, I thought Blu-Ray would be the far superior format due to capacity and such, but nowadays, I don’t think either side is “better”. They each have advantages and disadvantages, but as long as each side has one studio exclusively, there will be two formats, and thus, you will have to own two formats to get all the titles you want. But I digress…since I haven’t jumped in yet, it is the titles (and to some degree price) that will probably get me to dip my toes in the pool of High Definitition optical discs, and this list is VERY tempting.

List via HDBeat

HD DVD on one side, DVD on the other. Forget that! That’s so 2006. A couple of Warner Engineers have something bigger in mind - BD, HD DVD, and DVD all on the same disc!

Details are sketchy. All we really have is the names of the two engineers - Alan Bell and Lewis Ostrover. So we’ll have to see where this goes.

Just one problem: already the hybrid discs (HD DVD and DVD) are quite on the expensive side. Just imagine how much more expensive adding a BD layer will be? I would only buy a disc like this if the price difference is negligible between the combo disc and the single-format disc.

Warner Engineers Patent Triple Hybrid Disc

Wanna watch some BD movies on the go on a 1920 x 1200 screen? How about a nice Sony laptop with a BD player built in? You can even connect it to your home theater with the laptop’s HDMI output. The VAIO AR20 series has a 17″ screen, Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 processor at 2GHz, and 2GB of RAM.

Somehow, I get this inkling little feeling in the back of my mind, that this laptop will be expensive. Hmm, I guess I don’t have to be a fortune-teller to predict that!

Sony launches HD laptop with Blu-ray

I’ve previously mentioned Disney’s third wave of BD movies. I was mentioning how totally uninspiring I found the list. But it looks like they’ve snuck in an additional BD movie, and this is one I actually like!

It’s Will Smith’s spy-technology thriller, Enemy of the State. Personally I like the movie and have it on DVD. I watch it every once in a while, unlike many of my DVD’s. However, I don’t plan to repurchase any of my DVD collection on BD, except for Star Wars. We’ll see if I can hold to that!

What about you? Will you repurchase any titles on HD DVD or BD?

Buena Vista Confirms Third Blu-ray Wave

Samsung will rule the roost for just a short few more weeks. Pretty soon it’ll have a BD competitor on its hands - the Panasonic DMP-BD10. Panasonic’s Blu-ray Disc (BD) player is now shipping to distributors. That means it should make it to stores near you in a few short weeks.

Unfortunately, Panasonic has not decided to change their mind about the price of the player, whose MSRP remains $1,299.

Panasonic @ CEDIA - Blu-ray player

We have an earlier post on the new plasma from Pioneer, but one thing that has been left out is that plasmas of today are not the plasmas of a couple of years ago.
Here are some things that may have been fact just a few years ago, but are now myths:

• Plasmas use much less power
• are much brighter
• have little or no burn-in
• have better color and contrast

I guess this would be true of most technologies today. Most high quality LCD projectors today don’t have the ’screendoor’ effect and on that same note almost all DLP’s of today don’t have the ‘rainbow’ effect. Prices may not be dropping like a rock (but they are dropping!), but more features are creeping into lower cost displays (higher resolution, better CR, more inputs, better color, longer lasting bulbs, etc…).

Pioneer @ CEDIA - History of Pioneer plasmas - HD Beat

I have a lot of respect for Joe Kane. I have used DVE (Digital Video Essentials) to calibrate my systems and it does the job very well. I read somewhere before he came out with the latest DVE that Joe had talked to Microsoft on the VC-1 codec and was blown away by what it supposedly could do for video.

So fast forward to today and Joe is showing off the VC-1 codec compared to the antiquated MPG-2. I guess he got lots of “ooo’s and ahhhh’s”.

I have never been a lover of Microsoft, but it seems they have done themselves proud with this codec. I would, however, like to see this against MPG-4 (h.263) and Divx. These two camps have also done some good things with their latest codecs.

Ultimate AV: The Look and Sound of Perfect With Joe Kane