Saturday, January 6, 2007
What is the difference with all these new DVD formats?
That's the question that a lot of people are asking. Why are the new technologies so expensive?Well a typical DVD disc can only hold 4.7 GB of information, which is why there are so many movies that offer special editions utilizing a second disc - there's not enough information to keep the resolution of the movie, and high fidelity sound at their highest output, so a second disc is required. But you can hook a DVD to practically any television.When it comes to Blu-Ray and HD DVD players they are similar in that they will both output a High Definition image from a disc, but differ in many other ways. Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs first off can hold up to 10 times more information that a typical DVD so now you can have tons of extras on a disc (commentaries, deleted scenes, games, behind the scenes, easter eggs, etc), while having up to 1080p lines of resolution and up to 8 channels of surround sound - a typical DVD can not do this.Between the two formats you will hear many people picking one over the other, I personally prefer Blu-Ray because more movie studios are backing it, and the disc has more capacity (Blu-Ray up to 50GB, HD DVD up to 25/30 GB). There will be more Blu-Ray movies, and more Blu-Ray compatible players, as well as the Playstation 3 that offers Blu-Ray as well.The price is high at the moment because it is new, as was DVD. I paid $600 for my first DVD player, and now I could walk in and get the current generation unit for $120, and other brands for $40 - $70. Blu-Ray and HD DVD will drop, technology always does. First thing you should do is get an HDTV, then decide which of the High Definition Disc formats is right for you.I hope this helped.
How do you connect more than one HDMI Cable to your tv if you only have one input for it?
I've got a PS3, Upconverting DVD Player, and an HD DVR all with HDMI, what can I do to get everything connected for best performance?
With that much high end equipment, there's a few options for you. 1 - you can purchase HDMI switching devices from your local electronics store for $100 +, which will give you 3 or more inputs and one output for the signal to the television. 2 - look into a surround sound receiver with HDMI switching - in your case because you want to use HDMI on all three devices is going to be expensive. Most receivers now have 2 HDMI inputs for under $1000. If you are looking for more, you're going to be in the $2000 + range. This will allow you to connect your devices through the receiver and have one HDMI cable go out to the Television. The other benefit to many of these is that you can run all of your components into the receiver and it will upconvert analog signals through HDMI. Say for instance you bought the Denon AVR 2307 ($800) it has upconversion. You could run your PS3 and DVD player with HDMI and your DVR with Component, then have the receiver upconvert the Component video to HDMI and you will have all of your signal coming through the TV with HDMI, and use the receiver as a switching device. 3- Use HDMI for the PS3, and Component for the DVD player and DVR. The picture quality of the DVR won't be that different from what you have now, but the upconverting DVD player will go back to progressive.The best possible outcome for you is to look into a receiver with HDMI switching - this will give you the most flexibility along with the best performance.I hope this helped.
With that much high end equipment, there's a few options for you. 1 - you can purchase HDMI switching devices from your local electronics store for $100 +, which will give you 3 or more inputs and one output for the signal to the television. 2 - look into a surround sound receiver with HDMI switching - in your case because you want to use HDMI on all three devices is going to be expensive. Most receivers now have 2 HDMI inputs for under $1000. If you are looking for more, you're going to be in the $2000 + range. This will allow you to connect your devices through the receiver and have one HDMI cable go out to the Television. The other benefit to many of these is that you can run all of your components into the receiver and it will upconvert analog signals through HDMI. Say for instance you bought the Denon AVR 2307 ($800) it has upconversion. You could run your PS3 and DVD player with HDMI and your DVR with Component, then have the receiver upconvert the Component video to HDMI and you will have all of your signal coming through the TV with HDMI, and use the receiver as a switching device. 3- Use HDMI for the PS3, and Component for the DVD player and DVR. The picture quality of the DVR won't be that different from what you have now, but the upconverting DVD player will go back to progressive.The best possible outcome for you is to look into a receiver with HDMI switching - this will give you the most flexibility along with the best performance.I hope this helped.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
