Posted on 06/02/2008 2:40:19 PM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
Washington, D.C. (June 1, 2008) -- Toshiba will soon launch an upconverting DVD player that purports to offer a picture that will rival Blu-ray's high-def disc.
That's according to a report from the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.
Toshiba was the chief backer of HD DVD, the high-def disc rival to Blu-ray. But the company pulled the plug on HD DVD at the end of March due to disappointing sales and overwhelming studio support for Blu-ray.
At the time of the exit announcement. Toshiba executives hinted that it would soon release a standard-def DVD player that could compete with Blu-ray rather than endorse its rival.
Yomiuri Shimbun reports that the new Toshiba upconverter player will be launched within the next six months and will carry a smaller price tag than current Blu-ray models.
If the player's picture does come close to high-def, it would likely pressure Blu-ray makers to lower prices sooner than planned.
The pinged subjects will be those of HDTV technology, satellite/cable HD, OTA (over the air with various roof top and indoor antennas) HD reception. Broadcast specials, Blu-ray/HD-DVD, and any and all subjects relating to HDTV.
Las Vegas Dave
Blu-Rays suck. We got a PS3 specifically for Hairspray. That one was marvelous. About another hour of Special features. Enchanted was pretty good, and Superman Returns was okay.
I have found that most Blu-Ray don’t offer the special features that the DVDs do. For me, that is what I want to see. With the space available on a Blu-Ray, they could hand the cast handheld video cameras and put it all on as special features. Instead we get squat.
I have been telling anyone that will listen to me that upscaling is the way to go. We have upscaling on our DVD Recorder/player and it is very good. Blue Ray will be a temporary blip on the radar unless prices for it drop to regular DVD prices.
Great time for a new product launch, just as Blu-ray is solidifying their grip on the HD format. I can’t wait to see how this will turn out!
The devices won't record to Bluray but they will play Blu-Ray.
I have an inexpensive LG upconverter that produces an amazing picture on an HD screen.
That is why it sucked that HD-DVD failed. Oh well I am waiting for BD 2.0 to be fully accepted before I jump on the blu-ray bandwagon. But if this player is as good as toshiba says it will be I won’t get a blu-ray until forced by the market.
Blu-Ray was the winner of the format war, so it's likely here to stay. A good indicator is that it's now widely stocked at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc. Blue diodes have fallen in price, so my guess is the manufacturers are recouping their initial losses a bit, and prices will start going down. But a full-functioning 2.0 player won't get to $100 any time soon, as that requires a certain amount of permanent storage, memory, multiple decoders and network connectivity.
I hedged my bets by getting a PS3, which is a great game machine and upsampling DVD player, so whatever format wins I still have the games and DVDs. It also happens to offer the best, most expandable (for free) Blu-Ray player on the market.
Where are you seeing Blu Ray players for $150. There are some computer drives in that range, but no freestanding players. Standalone players are still $400.
The PS3 is a great machine.
That’s what we have!
The bonus is that I get to watch Dad play Iron Man and hear Robert Downey Jr in the part!
I haven’t bought a Blu-Ray player yet because my current dvd player also plays DVD-A discs and SACD discs which I don’t think Blu-Ray players play. Do they? I wonder if te new Toshiba player will? If I find a player that plays “everything”, I’ll buy one.
Honestly, I won’t even rent them if I can get the DVD.
I got “I am Legend” for the Alternate Ending. Guess what wasn’t on the Blu-Ray???
I wasn’t clear,...they would be Computer drives...
LITE-ON Black 12X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Blu-ray DVD-ROM Drive Model DH-4O1S-11 - OEM
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$129.99
3 Business Day Shipping $7.00
CUT&PASTED from the linked web site.
Pros:
* Works with SATA-IDE adapter (Rosewill RC-203 SATA to IDE Mini Vertical Bridge). I didn’t have an open SATA slot so I used this adapter and it works!
* Plays all my media including CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray. I use ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre software and it plays flawlessly.
* Cheap Blu-Ray solution for the PC at a buck thirty. Great for non-console gamers (i.e. PS3 alternative)
Cons:
* Doesn’t work with SATA-IDE adapter in IDE-USB 2.0 external enclosure. This is not the drives fault. I’m assuming the external enclosure must be SATA and not IDE to work.
* Does not write *any* media. Read only (no surprise). Not a negative really since it brings down the price and I already have a DVD burner. If you can only have one optical drive (i.e. HTPC, mini-PC, etc) then this may not be for you.
Other Thoughts:
* Haven’t tested it with a SATA external enclosure but I’m sure it works.
The problem with that — You need a powerful computer, an HDCP compliant video card and $100 software.
If you have the computer and software, it’s a reasonable upgrade.
Yawn. Wake me up when society has settled on one, and only one high definition standard. Till then, I’ll be perfectly happy with standard DVDs, they’re just freaking movies, they’re really not that important.
16X DVD±R DVD Burner - Retail Blu-ray/HD-DVD reader & DVD Writer
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2x Winner of Customer Choice Award - CD / DVD Burners $159.99Powerful computers are dirt cheap...and come in all sizes anymore.
Dave,
For us, upconverting is the way to go. We have an extensive collection of DVD movies and select TV series on DVD, such as Combat, Poirot, Robin Hood and Columbo, 2,000+ at last count, most commercially available, but about 20% burned by ourselves from various sources, as they are not commercially available on DVD at this time. We do replace our ‘homemade’ DVDs as they become commercially available, as the extras and the quality of the print usually make it a good buy.
That said, let me further say that the vast bulk of our movie DVDs span the period from the 1930s to the 1950s. They are from native analog prints, in various states of quality. Some have been restored and digitized, but the source material is still acetate/analog. A Blu-ray version of these titles would offer us nothing over a a regular DVD of the same, upconverted.
Thank you for this tidbit of news. Perhaps it could be titled”Toshiba’s Revenge’?
God bless. Sursum Corda
Put me on the list. JUst got HDTV. I am a newbie and dumb. What kind of cable do I need to hook up? See I know nothing.
HDMI cable works. But do not buy Monster cable, Waaaaay overpriced.
What you’re looking for is a “Universal”player..
I think Denon has one or two, they are certainly coming out with them.
Very expensive however.
I have a Denon 5910, which in addition to playing all music formats and standard DVDs is a Stereophile Class A component.
Expect to pay what you would expect to pay for class A stuff.
But the audio and video are both incredible, and I only need one player for everything.
I know they are coming out with a similar model at the end of the year that also plays Blu-Ray, but it better be equally good at other stuff as well before I blow another wad on it.
Meanwhile their current blurays don’t do SACD—not sure aboutDVD-A.
My PS3 plays Blu-Ray perfectly and my Denon ci-3808 up- converts regular DVD’s from my PS3 to 1080p just as fine ...Wait until you a**wipes have to buy a 1440p display...get a grip, technology will shift like the wind. And if you have to have the best you will pay for it. Like me. I love having the best...The good news is that all of this madness will end when I’m dead.:-)
Or when you have two kids in college costing you 50 thou per year.
Check out the Oppo line of upscaling DVD players. They play most formats and the players can even be programmed to play DVD's from multiple regions. These players are very highly rated on AVSForm.
What’s the big deal about Blu Ray? DVDs work just as fine without all of the other crap loaded onto the disc. I don’t care about stopping a movie and bringing up details about a scene as it is in Blu-Ray, I don’t care what type of clothes the actor is wearing, CAN’T I JUST SEE THE DAMN MOVIE?
I have a ton of DVDs, too, most of them classic films from the silent era through the mid-sixties. I don’t see what the point would be of Blu-Ray on these films. I get a great picture on these films with a progressive scan Sony player on a Toshiba HDTV. Of course, I have quite a few post-1965 films as well, and a bunch of Asian cinema from all eras, but standard DVD is fine by me across the board.
Search Ebay for HDMI cables. I wound up buying three HDMI cables for about $5 each. The stores will rip you off, and don’t even consider Monster cables...the price is absurd.
I’m one of the suck, er enthusiasts that got one of the $99 Toshiba HD-DVDs when they had a big sale a ways back. I use it to watch standard DVDs and it looks great.. the up-verting is much, much better than I expected.
An aside, I went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie.. it was digital.. and, other than it being a very big picture, I was not all that impressed with the video quality. I felt like I was watching a big standard def DVD.
I love how a PC can stream video and music wirelessly to the PS3.
Playstation can play Divx and other video formats which is cool.
Being able to stream them from across the house from my PC to the PS3 is even cooler.
How is the Iron Man game?
PINGING THE LIST-VOOM vs DISH update.
Voom: Dish Exit Will Cost Us $1 Billion
The high-def programmer amends its complaint against the satcaster.
By Swanni
Washington, D.C. (June 3, 2008) — Voom is now claiming that it will suffer $1 billion in damages due to Dish Network’s decision to pull its 15 high-def channels from its lineup.
That’s according to an article by Multichannel News.
Dish Network last month decided to drop Voom’s 15 high-def channels after it claimed that the programmer had failed to live up to its carriage agreement. The satcaster said Voom has not make the financial investment in the 15 channels as promised in the agreement.
However, Voom denied the charge and decided last January to file suit against Dish seeking “substantial” damages. Without Dish, Cablevision is the only TV provider that now carries Voom, which leaves the programmer’s future in jeopardy.
In an amended complaint, Voom charges that Dish purposely made “baseless” charges against it so it could violate the carriage agreement, according to Multichannel News. Dish was paying Voom $3.25 per month for each subscriber.
“EchoStar had no right to terminate the affiliation agreement on the basis of a trumped-up and pretextual claim of breach simply because it no longer liked the deal it struck,” Voom stated in the new complaint, Multichannel News reports. “Unable to prevent EchoStar from ‘pulling the plug’ on Voom, Voom HD now has been forced to bring this suit for breach of contract to recover well in excess of $1 billion of damages that it will suffer as a result of EchoStar’s wrongful and improper termination.”
Voom said that Dish had 1.3 million HD subscribers at the end of 2007 and that the satcaster’s high-def audience is expected to reach more than 11 million by the end of the carriage agreement. With those numbers, Voom said it would turn a profit by next year and “generate billions of dollars in revenue over the life of the affiliation agreement.”
Multichannel News reports that Dish Network declined to comment on Voom’s new complaint filing.
Voom’s 15-channel lineup includes special niche networks such as Monsters HD (horror films), Rush HD (music) and Equator HD (nature programs).
I wonder if DirecTV will pick up VOOM.
Thanks for the update on the Voom kerfluffle. I’m waiting for another month or two to see if Dish decides to restore Voom; if not, I’m switching to Direct, if for no other reason than the manner in which Dish stripped some of my favorite HD channels without notice and without commensurately reducing my bill for the reduced service.
I watched The Longest Day on Blu-ray last night and it looked terrific, much better than the DVD.
People forget Blu-ray players also up convert DVD’s and do a good job, so going Blu-ray doesn’t mean you have to choose one over the other; you can keep your DVD’s and get new stuff you want to on Blu-ray if you choose. Great idea if your DVD player is getting old, or you want the added capabilities.
Then there’s Blu-ray rentals, if a person is into them.
cheers
Jim
I loved the “Monster Channel” especially when they played the old black & white movies.
n 1987, Toshiba Machine, the subsidiary of Toshiba, was accused of illegally selling CNC milling machines used to produce very quiet submarine propellers to the Soviet Union in violation of the CoCom agreement, an international embargo on Western exports to East Bloc countries. The Toshiba-Kongsberg scandal involved a subsidiary of Toshiba and the Norwegian company Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk. The incident strained relations between the United States and Japan, and resulted in the arrest and prosecution of two senior executives, as well as the imposition of sanctions on the company by both countries.[1] The US had always relied on the fact that the Soviets had noisy boats, so technology that would make the USSR's submarines harder to detect created a significant threat to America's security. Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania said "What Toshiba and Kongsberg did was ransom the security of the United States for $517 million."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba
I may do likewise. I am missing VOOM as well. Just before pulling the plug, DiSH offer a VOOM channel called VOOM Movies that they had been holding out on. I had several movies set to record when DiSH pulled the plug. Half of what they have now provided as "new" HD channels are crap like Bravo and a lot of stretched stuff.
Go with Monoprice.com for your cables. Cheap, good cables and they ship fast!
The Special Edition DVD of The Longest Day is not at all sharp. I'd love to see the Blu-ray, but not til prices on players and discs come down. I do not regret my HD DVD purchase (HD A3), because it was cheap. I quickly amassed a collection of 50 HD discs for little money. I'd love to watch the Blu-rays of The Longest Day and Patton, but not for $30 per title, and not for $300 (minimum) for a decent Blu-ray player.
I am intrigued by the notion of better upscaling players. I know they can never look as good as HD DVD and Blu-Ray, but I do have ton of SD DVDs I'd like to see in trhe best possible way without rebuying them (expensively) on Blu-ray.
Having a long memory, and Toshiba’s stunt back during the Reagan admin, I wouldn’t buy as electronic device from Toshiba if it turned lead into gold.
I agree, MonstersHD is a great channel - true HD in OAR, no commercials, and a nice library of films seldom seen since the old Chiller Theater shown on Saturdays back in the ‘60s (even then I was addicted to the ‘giant creepy-crawlies attack the world’ genre). The “new” Chiller channel that Dish now offers is not in HD, has commercial interruptions, and the films are butchered with cuts for content and length and not in OAR - as a “replacement” for MonstersHD it’s an insult.
I’m missing some of the other Voom channels as well - Rave is great, and I’ll confess to some hours spent watching Ultra, too - hot models slinking down the runway in skimpy outfits? Oh, yeah!
But the point is that Voom offered great content never (or rarely) available on any other channel...and in HD to boot. Dish made a huge mistake trying to game the system to get a better deal - with Direct offering even more HD programming (like Speed, which I’d love to have in HD), and Dish no longer differentiating itself with Voom’s unique programming, there simply is no reason to choose Dish over Direct.
I second the Monoprice recommendation - high quality at a really affordable price (you’ll save tons over even the cheapest stuff at BB or CC), and great customer service. I began buying my computer cabling from Monoprice, too, and save anywhere from 50% to 90% over what I can buy locally.
Toshiba executives hinted that it would soon release a standard-def DVD player that could compete with Blu-ray rather than endorse its rival.Thanks LVD.
Patton looks outstanding, really great. On closeups it’s almost as if you could reach into the screen and touch the actors.
I also like the Monsters channel. They not only had classic monster flicks, but also kitschy, campy ones that were fun as well. I think I would have liked the VOOM Movies channel it it had been offered for more than the week or so I had it.
I may seriously look at jumping ship and going over to Direct TV after this stunt pulled by DiSH. Hardly any of the "new" HD channels are worthwhile. Man, I sure wish TCM would go HD!
More sour grapes from Toshiba. We lost and now we SUC (Super Up Convert). So Toshiba will sell me a DVD player that is not High Def, but if they tell enough people that it is good enough it must be true. Was the CEO of Toshiba part of the Sore/Loserman ticket?
That’s stupid. Cuz the HD DVD has the alternate ending and that’s the format we own it on.
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