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04 August 2006

Hi-Def Digest has done one of the first head-to-head comparisons between Blu-ray and HD DVD using identical source material. The findings are pretty interesting.

Whatever its merits as a film, 'Training Day' has made history by becoming one of the first titles to be released on both the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. In our first head-to-head comparison, we found the HD DVD to be superior. The unfortunate cropping of the Blu-ray image, coupled with more noticeable compression artifacts and an overall darker cast, can't compete with the more consistently pleasing presentation of the HD DVD.

If you'd like to read more, Hi-Def Digests comparison can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

01 August 2006

If you've been hoping for a hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD player, you're probably not going to want to read this. According to an article at The Inquirer, LG has canned the hybrid Blue-ray/HD-DVD player that was planned for launch at the end of this year.

According to Bob Perry, VP of LG sales and channel marketing, hybrid product has been canned. Bob continued: "LG remains part of the Blu-ray camp and will make a product announcement later in the year". Perry was speaking on product plans at the company's '2006 Summer Line Show' this week in New York.

Let's hope that Samsung can come through with their hybrid player. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

04 August 2006

Hi-Def Digest has done one of the first head-to-head comparisons between Blu-ray and HD DVD using identical source material. The findings are pretty interesting.

Whatever its merits as a film, 'Training Day' has made history by becoming one of the first titles to be released on both the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. In our first head-to-head comparison, we found the HD DVD to be superior. The unfortunate cropping of the Blu-ray image, coupled with more noticeable compression artifacts and an overall darker cast, can't compete with the more consistently pleasing presentation of the HD DVD.

If you'd like to read more, Hi-Def Digests comparison can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

20 July 2006

Aside from price, the biggest criticism of Blu-ray so far has been picture quality. Those that picked up the Samsung BD-P1000 quickly found out that the video did not look as good as those in the HD DVD format. AVGuide.com has reported that this is due to the noise-reduction circuit being enabled, causing the picture to soften significantly.

Don Eklund, executive vice president of advanced technologies at Sony Pictures, noticed that the player's image did not match the quality of the master tapes from which the Blu-ray titles were encoded. He contacted Samsung, whose engineers determined that the noise-reduction circuit in the player's Genesis scaler chip was enabled, causing the picture to soften significantly.

According to Jim Sanduski, senior vice president of marketing for Samsung's Audio and Video Products Group, "Samsung is currently working to revise the default settings on the noise-reduction circuit in the Genesis scaler chip to sharpen the picture. All future Samsung BD-P1000 production will have this revision and we are working to develop a firmware update for existing product."

It's good to see that Sony and Samsung are responding to the problem. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment