Primarily by way of Dish Network and their fine line of HDTV receivers. It's truly an amazing bit of technology and it has scared the pants off Hollywood knowing that Joe and Jane Doakes can have real Movie quality pictures and sound in their living room.
Well, I just purchased my latest and most expensive HD receiver from Dish on 12/5/2005. And guess what? It's now obsolete. Dish announced at the CES mentioned above that it was changing the standard which they use to compress the HD signal from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4. And guess what? My one-month old $xxx.xx Dish 942 HD receiver can't receive MPEG-4. Even though I was told it could be "upgraded" by a software download. It can't. So, no new HD for me.
But, nil desperandum, Dish will sell me a new one that will receive MPEG-4!
For $xxx.xx, more.
But, I won't be buying, I'm resigning my HDTV license until they work this stuff out.
Yup. And my two high definition TVs won't work with any of these new players because they don't support the DRM'd crap inputs. And I don't plan on spending several thousand dollars on new HD TVs anytime soon. I'll pass.
Who cares? They're trying to rig everything where you can't record it, or without having to pay. Can you imagine having to pay every time you pop a tape you bought into the VCR?
To hell with Hollyweird.
Do I really need a hi-def DVD player in order to reproduce the poor focus, frame-flutter and giant-hair-in-the-projector experience of my local theater?
I LOVE my HDTV!!!!!
You'll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands......
Obviously not for the faint of heart, but a good set with a good signal, surround system, progressive DVD player, and decent HDTV source material--I mainly use OTA broadcasts, which are good in my area--and you're in Sofa Spud Heaven.
Sony's Playstation 3 will play hi-def Blu-ray dvds next Spring. And the games...
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I ended up reading a lot of the review and performance comparisons. In the end I decided the 850 was sufficient for my needs. I ended up buying it at Brandsmart last night for $138 (versus $134 plus delivery at Newegg.)
We hooked it up in minutes using the HDMI and Standard jacks for sound as I didn't have the digital audio wire. We kept the old unit in place for comparison. We played the old standby "Star Wars IV" as a benchmark between the two units.
The difference was immediately apparent. We had set the HD DVD to a setting of 1920 * 1080. The lines that used to digitally blur on the star destroyer in the opening scene were obvious in the old unit, but completely softened and removed in the new HD DVD unit. The clarity was excellent, although I did notice more of a "halo affect" on the opening text in the movie. The text was also noticeably softened and smooth out. No more rough or digitally boxy edges.
That made all the difference I needed. The Samsung is perfect for me.
There are many additional features that allow you to select definition modes and screen size for the movies. Very nice, especially since the option on the television doesn't always fit the DVD feature so that you can see subtitles when you want them. For the price, I don't think you can go wrong. Just thought I'd share and hope this helps some.
I've had HD for nearly a year now and get all signals from TWC (Time Warner Cable).
No problems with their box, which includes a DVR.
I'll be waiting for the HD DVD wars to declare a winner before investing in a new DVD player.
I have a Sony Upconvert model now that I bought this year for $100.
Sadly, I've become addicted to Discovery HD. I now feel closer to the Teutul family than my own.
Don't be cheap people!!! Drop the extra coin and get a plasma. TV's last over 15 years. You might as well get the best technology available if you are making such a purchase.
been hearing about HDTV, for at least 12 years at NAB.
...so I'm looking at springing for a 56" Samsung 1080p DLP soon. Advice, anyone? Good decision??