Televisions And The Next Gen.

[senor_herer]

That's the one drawback of the Xbox 360.  Give it a few years and HD might be coming thick and fast.  And while they are stuck with a plain DVD, Sony will be stuffing lots of content onto Blu-Ray DVD.  Still, it might not happen that way... but at least it's there.

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Yeah, this was the biggest surprise about the XB360 spec for me, the lack of HD DVD functionality. The one thing everyone has known for yonks about PS3 was that it was going to have a Blu Ray drive.

It wierder still when you consider how keen MS are to have their HD video and audio codecs accepted by the mainstream and how much they always push the Xbox's "media station" functionality. I knew PS3 would have Blu Ray so I just assumed XB360 would also have it (or HD DVD rather than Blu Ray) and I was suprised it didn't materialise.

[divine visitor]

I could've sworn I read somewhere where Microsoft said the Xbox 360 would support HD DVD in the future. An add-on, I assume.

[Vorgot]

I did. Like a FOOL. I still have the press release in which they stated playing PS2 would be like jacking into the Matrix.

Aha. Again, though, it's not just for a games console, it's the new TV standard. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray launch properly at the end of the year. No matter which one wins the format war, they both play movies at 1920x1080 to fit snugly with the HDTV standard. Imagine Navy Seals at 1920x1080i! NAVY SEALS!

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Sorry but Blah Blah Blah. Blu-ray is a massive uncertainty and Sony remembers plumping for Betamax waaaaay too much. Sony thinks it drove the DVD format with PS2, but memo to all

Most homes in the UK and US do not own a games console.

Xbox, PS3, Rev drive GAME SALES not other media

Sony has somehow convinced itself that it made DVD(except in Europe, where it made green DVD) and this will carry on. People will not buy a DVD/blu-ray/supertech machine player when they can spend 40 quid on a multi-region DVD that shows what they want.

Forget what WE want, think about Billy Standard consumer. Like your mum.

[Salsa Party Animal]

My view is to save up and wait for next generation HDTV display and wait for price drop after New Year. I am currently saving up for one and got 100 pounds so far out of 1500 target, I use door to door promotion money from the job to save up.

I will buy one offer 480p, 720p and 1080p (for PS3) with quality and decent value for money and size. As long I get it ready for PS3 launch in Japan and before next world cup I will be happy.

[Ayton]

Sorry but Blah Blah Blah.

Blah blah blah?

Sorry, but you've marched right past my point, and commented on something I didn't say.

My point, in summary, is simply that should someone upgrade to HDTV now, they will also be able to get the best out of the forthcoming DVD evolution, whichever format that may take.

[Mike S]

Im hd ready now i have two hd sets. Watching some of the movies i have in hd makes dvds look like vhs tapes. And playing xbox games in hd makes a huge difference even only 480p. If you really want a tv thats hd ready and is future proof find one with hdmi on and your half way there. This will be the new standard in connections come hd-dvd blue ray and ps3, just dont know why 360 doesnt seem to have one. Also sets are at a nice price now, one set cost me under £700 not bad for what i got. I was of the thinking why wait when i can be seeing the benifits now with upscaled dvds wmvhd and xbox in hd.

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Are you sure these are genuine Hi_Def sets? For £700! I think maybe you're thinking progressive, non-interlaced sets here.

I mean Panasonic have only just released their first Hi-Def Ready Plasmas and they're a long way from £700. But very, very tempting all the same, I shall be demoing one and an equivelent Pioneer in a couple of weeks so must be strong....

[Guest Supermackem]

Ive got a hd lcd mate they have already started hitting the £500-700 pound line.

[Uzi]

I think HD CRT sets are around the corner. I'm waiting for them as the picture quality is above the same LCD and Plasma models and it should be cheaper too.

[BeeJay]

Are you sure these are genuine Hi_Def sets? For £700! I think maybe you're thinking progressive, non-interlaced sets here.

I mean Panasonic have only just released their first Hi-Def Ready Plasmas and they're a long way from £700. But very, very tempting all the same, I shall be demoing one and an equivelent Pioneer in a couple of weeks so must be strong....

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Where have you been man. Proper 32" HD LCD sets have all over the place recently for £750. They're still not perfect as some lack 1080p support or only have DVI but not HDMI.

I'll wait for the first complete HD LCD TV to hit £600 before I dive in. 'Analysts' are predicting that this'll be about September time. Just in time for my brithday and then XBOX360

[Crisp_Rapper]

My advice is to compare the picture between the high-def CRT sets and plasmas/LCDs. People are willing to sacrifice so much picture quality for a thin TV. The contrast, depth, richness, color and viewing angle are still winners on CRT compared with the flat boys. The downside is that no CRT has perfect geometry.

After much comparing, I went for a Sony Wega HDTV. At 1080i, it's not a TV, it's a window. Don't discount CRT immediately. They still rule the picture quality roost, in my opinion.

(And Samsung is working on some almost plasma thin high-def CRTs at the moment, if memory serves.)

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fully agree on this... to get the benefit of a plasma (and lcds especially) you have to sit a fair way back from them so they're not pixelly, crts look much better when close up in comparison. i work in a store which sells high end plasmas and lcds, out of the 2, lcds look pants... plasmas look really good but just miss out on sharpness and colouring compared to crt.

crt is indeed being made 'flatter' but only something like 30% flatter... that said most people put tvs in the corner anyway so any depth advantage an lcd or plasma has is instantly lost.

new crt technology will be along to bring them up to hdtv standards but they'll be silly money to start with.

oh and sky tv will only be over here in 720, not 1080 like the US will be getting

[Ayton]

oh and sky tv will only be over here in 720, not 1080 like the US will be getting

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Already has.

The regulars already broadcast in HD. Fox, CBS, NBC etc. ABC uses 720p because it works out better for football (you don't lose track of the ball if there's no interlacing) but several use 1080. When PBS shuts off normal programming at night, they just run loads of 1080 HDTV demos to showcase the tech and help you calibrate.

The chassis depth thing isn't an issue for me, as I said picture quality is more important than how thin my set is. My HDTV Wega stretches back a mile. But the thinner CRTs I was talking about are Samsung's Vixlim (http://www.vixlim.com) which look more than 30% thinner to me! Haven't seen one working yet; people more knowledgeable than I say the geometry must be hellish since the gun has to fire at such an oblique angle, but who knows.

Seems like a step in the right direction anyway. Slim enough to please the posers, but with CRT picture quality for the 'philes. But I adore my Sony. With access to the service menus and a copy of Digital Video Essentials, you can get an exceptional picture.

[whykt]

If 42" CRTs exist, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. Even the most expensive plasma pictures look bad closeup, I was beginning to think everyone was either in denial, or I had dodgy eyesight.

[patters]

Your best bet is a Sevenoaks Sound and Vision or Richer Sounds where they sometimes have a feed showing HD-1 (formerly Euro1080 or something) via sattelite which is a HD source.

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Is that actually any good though? I find I can see encoding artifacts all over normal def Sky and digital freeview (particularly on solid swathes of colour and during motion). The bitrate setting they use is too low. They should have done what they did when choosing the CD audio standard, and set the bar at or above human perception. I can only guess that even if they stuck to the same relative bitrate, the amount of bandwidth for a 1080 feed would be huge, and I'd fully expect it to go to shit during high motion video.

[Lex]

I'm not being hostile towards it, I just don't see it as the main thrust behind the new generation of machines. Its a great feature to have, no doubt about that, but it is the reason to buy into the next gen as Microsoft seem to think it is? It almost seems that MS are trying to get a hook for the next gen, PS1 & N64 made games 3D, PS2 injected emotion (or thats what they said) and now this gen is apparently the HD era? Seems like they are struggling to convince people to upgrade.

And the thing is, they won't need too much persading. I'll be first in line for a 360 thanks, but on my old TV. And I get the point about HD being huge in the US, but I'll also go back to the games on a second TV. My house can't be the only one where the main TV is for the wife and young children, which gives me the only time I can get on the games in back?

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Trade in your wife for a new one; is she won't play Mashed with you, she isn't your life-partner.

[Crisp_Rapper]

The chassis depth thing isn't an issue for me, as I said picture quality is more important than how thin my set is. My HDTV Wega stretches back a mile. But the thinner CRTs I was talking about are Samsung's Vixlim (http://www.vixlim.com) which look more than 30% thinner to me!

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ah, i'd not seen these latest ones... my info's about 2 months old