[Ears]

Ears- What's all the hubbub from the last few days about the present Blue-ray players not supporting profile 1.1 that becomes mandatory in November(?) about?

I believe its  sometime in October and its basically a case of current BD players other than the PS3 not doing picture in picture without 1.1 compliance.
Other than that, the newer discs will play as they have on current players.

I personally never use pip for the little bit of TV I watch so would most likely never use it during a movie either.
I think this is a case of studios trying to tell us what we want on our HD discs, as opposed to something the majority are likely to value.

There is pip on the HD DVD version of 300 and its still being outsold by quite a large margin, so evidently pip is not that valuable of a feature for most HD optical buyers.
Apparently a lot of people at A/V forums are ending up boiling their 300 HD DVD combo discs that have SD DVD on one side and HD DVD on the other, in order for them to playback without freezing/skipping. which seems insane to me

[stereocilia]

Apparently a lot of people at A/V forums are ending up boiling their 300 HD DVD combo discs that have SD DVD on one side and HD DVD on the other, in order for them to playback without freezing/skipping. which seems insane to me

When I first read "boiling" I honestly thought it was a video term I'd never heard of...like "burning" a cd.  I'm talking ten whole minutes.  Then I realized that this must mean physically putting the disc in boiling water.   

[mcullinan]

So when should it be safe to buy a bluray player if it is indeed the winning format? Will they change the bluray format as it goes along?
Mike

[Ears]

So when should it be safe to buy a bluray player if it is indeed the winning format? Will they change the bluray format as it goes along?
Mike

If you value picture in picture during a movie, you either buy a PS3 or wait until October/ November for a 1.1 compliant player.

I am used to a bit higher end players like Denon 5900 and Onkyo sp 1000 ect for dvd playback and have no problem using the PS3 as a Blu-ray player even though I am not a gamer.

Denon has two BD players or actually one player with realta chip for both dvd/BD playback for 2k and a BD transport for around 1100.00 that are both 1.1, along with Sony, Samsung, Pioneer Elite, Philips, Panasonic and the other BD player manufactures all coming after October, with some of these being 2nd or third generation players already.

As far as what else may change, I remember my first dvd player was a 1k Sony 7000es which ended up not being able to play DTS but I never regretted buying it as it was the very best player at the time.
Supposedly, 1.1 will be compliant for any features in the BD spec but I have no idea if that's guaranteed.

For those not in this yet who aren't interested in anything other than 1080p and DTS-MA, DD-THD and and PCM uncompressed audio, along with your normal extras, you can probably pick up a current player on the cheap once the 1.1 players are released.

As far as I know, the cheaper Sony stand alone is the only player that can be found for under 500.00 right now, and I believe it comes with a 5 free movie voucher via mail.
These players are supposed to be available for around 300.00 by the holidays.

If this goes anything like dvd did, both the players and software will improve over time though.

[Big Red Machine]

SOme of you seem pretty pro-BD and anti-HD DVD.  I have over 60 HD DVDs and only one has not played in my XA2 and I haven't tried it since some recent firmware updates.  Very happy with it and the only issue I see is Toshiba is letting Sony get away with their sneaky marketing tactics.  Shame on Toshiba.

On the interactive stuff, I could care less, just give ma a movie w/o any extras.  That's all I am interested in.  All these extra features are non value added in my opinion no matter the format.  But I am happy as a pig in mud with the new 1080p PJ. 

[klh]

Hopefully the PS3 will be updated to comply with version 1.1. It seems to have the computing power and hardware to support 1.1, and Sony has been great about adding quality in the form of firmware updates, but the proof will be in the pudding. The same goes for DTS MA.

[Philistine]

http://www.comcast.net/news/entertainment/index.jsp?cat=ENTERTAINMENT&fn=/2007/08/11/736840.html

Interesting neutral article that sums up the current situation well.

[jqp]

"In the United States, standalone HD DVD players have 61 percent market share, while Blu-ray players have 36 percent share and the few dual-format players have a 3 percent share, according to market research company The NPD Group Inc."

So HD-DVD players have the lead. For discs sold, Blu-Ray has the lead.

The state of hi-def video in the real world was kind of summed up for me when I went to a Blockbuster and the clerk said "we don't have any Blu-Ray discs and probably won't get any anytime soon". This was a Blockbuster in an upscale area. The "Blockbuster chooses Blu-Ray" is all hype as someone has already pointed out - only corporate stores are affected?

I would never buy a Blu-Ray player at this point based on it being the likely "winner". Or an HD-DVD player at this point based on it being the likely winner. There are fan boys of Blu-Ray who claim that it is winning and the fan boys for HD-DVD can claim it is winning for other reasons.

Neither type of player is that expensive, relatively, for an audiophile used to $5,000-$20,000 systems! But you can't make an authoritative statement as a "videophile" at this point as to what to "invest" in. In 10 years HD as we know it may mean something completely different.

Whatever format wins, it may not matter. Some believe that this is the last hard-copy format that will exist, so a "player" may not be important for very long. In any case, I think that it will be a case of "give away the razor and charge for the blades". You will either have one of each type of player, with a value of about $50 each or a dual player. But I will bet that the players will be hard-disc or flash-memory based in the near future anyway. And what is the life-span of consumer electronics in this age? One to two years?

My advice is to get the player of your choice for under $200-300, maybe even one of each as fits with your home theater needs. Not everyone's needs are the same. If you want a PS3 there is no choice to make - you have a BluRay player, and you can get a $200 HD-DVD player that will cover all your needs. If you want an XBox, you can add an HD-DVD player for less than $180 today, and also get a PS3, or a standalone Blu-Ray player to cover all your needs. I personally don't think anyone can create a "reference" home theater because it is too much of a moving target at this point.

[ctviggen]

Neither type of player is that expensive, relatively, for an audiophile used to $5,000-$20,000 systems! But you can't make an authoritative statement as a "videophile" at this point as to what to "invest" in. In 10 years HD as we know it may mean something completely different.

No, it really is expensive for those of us who have expensive systems but who have not kept up with technology.  For instance, my system is based on component/s-video.  I did not have any display device suitable for displaying HDMI until I purchased a projector just recently.  Now, to get the projector running, I need HDMI cables (I have a DVD player with HDMI output and an HDTV cable box) that are fairly long.  Additionally, if I get a blu-ray/HDDVD player, that'd be another HDMI input (at least temporarily that I'd need to compare the two DVD players for regular DVD viewing).  That means I'd need a switcher, which can be several hundred dollars to get one that can support a 30+ foot run.  Additionally, if I want to use the fanciest audio signals, that would entail buying a new receiver that supports those formats.  There's another grand or so.  Then there's the several hours it takes me to reprogram my remote in order to operate with all these new devices. 

So, when you're talking HD-DVD or bluray, it's not simply buying that one component; it's buying a ton of supporting stuff (for those of us who are behind in terms of technology, that is). 

[Ears]

http://www.comcast.net/news/entertainment/index.jsp?cat=ENTERTAINMENT&fn=/2007/08/11/736840.html

Interesting neutral article that sums up the current situation well.

I already explained to you in no uncertain terms that there are no chinese hd dvd players coming, and that it was all a rumour made up by an hd dvd insider....but yet you post this garbage once again.
Any hd players from the Chinese market are not actual hd dvd players, and will not be sold anywhere besides China.

As someone who has owned several players from both formats....I have to say you are defineltely not up on the reality of which format is the only one with a chance at mainstream.

In Europe....BD software sales are even farther ahead than in the U.S.

Articles from neutral sources are saying that hd dvd should just give it up.....and that is the reality of whats about to happen no matter what a few hd dvd zealots are attempting to hang onto.

[Ears]

"In the United States, standalone HD DVD players have 61 percent market share, while Blu-ray players have 36 percent share and the few dual-format players have a 3 percent share, according to market research company The NPD Group Inc."

So HD-DVD players have the lead. For discs sold, Blu-Ray has the lead.

The state of hi-def video in the real world was kind of summed up for me when I went to a Blockbuster and the clerk said "we don't have any Blu-Ray discs and probably won't get any anytime soon". This was a Blockbuster in an upscale area. The "Blockbuster chooses Blu-Ray" is all hype as someone has already pointed out - only corporate stores are affected?

I would never buy a Blu-Ray player at this point based on it being the likely "winner". Or an HD-DVD player at this point based on it being the likely winner. There are fan boys of Blu-Ray who claim that it is winning and the fan boys for HD-DVD can claim it is winning for other reasons.

Neither type of player is that expensive, relatively, for an audiophile used to $5,000-$20,000 systems! But you can't make an authoritative statement as a "videophile" at this point as to what to "invest" in. In 10 years HD as we know it may mean something completely different.

Whatever format wins, it may not matter. Some believe that this is the last hard-copy format that will exist, so a "player" may not be important for very long. In any case, I think that it will be a case of "give away the razor and charge for the blades". You will either have one of each type of player, with a value of about $50 each or a dual player. But I will bet that the players will be hard-disc or flash-memory based in the near future anyway. And what is the life-span of consumer electronics in this age? One to two years?

My advice is to get the player of your choice for under $200-300, maybe even one of each as fits with your home theater needs. Not everyone's needs are the same. If you want a PS3 there is no choice to make - you have a BluRay player, and you can get a $200 HD-DVD player that will cover all your needs. If you want an XBox, you can add an HD-DVD player for less than $180 today, and also get a PS3, or a standalone Blu-Ray player to cover all your needs. I personally don't think anyone can create a "reference" home theater because it is too much of a moving target at this point.

The only thing that matters is actual disc sales where BD is leading worldwide....and the PS3 easily defeats any stand alone advantage.
Yep you can have an XBOX 360 and player for around 600.00 and Best Buy has just discontinued the 360 because of the fact that every single 360 is defective....just like the one I own.

[Eric5676]

http://www.hollywoodinhidef.com/blog_detail.php?id=107

^^ Disclaimer: This is a pro Blu-Ray site. I would have liked to have seen more direct quotes and less paraphrasing, but I think most readers can seperate the author's opinions and commentary out of what Universal's Kornblau says or is reported to have said.

FWIW: If this author had really misrepresented Kornblau, by now we would have seen some kind of statement from him to that effect.

Nothin' doin'. 



http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070809/NEWS09/70809084


http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6467868

^^ More objective and impartial.



Long/short: I wholeheartedly disagree with Warner's and Universal's stated outlook and stances and I fully expect Blu-Ray to win and most likely in a dominant manner through this holiday season.

Disney will be the biggest reason for this, although Sony Pictures continues to crank out big hits and if Fox comes out of their coma as is expected, then HD-DVD simply is not going to have enough killer content to keep up with it, no matter how much cheap hardware they try to flood the market with.

[Ears]

http://www.hollywoodinhidef.com/blog_detail.php?id=107

^^ Disclaimer: This is a pro Blu-Ray site. I would have liked to have seen more direct quotes and less paraphrasing, but I think most readers can seperate the author's opinions and commentary out of what Universal's Kornblau says or is reported to have said.

FWIW: If this author had really misrepresented Kornblau, by now we would have seen some kind of statement from him to that effect.

Nothin' doin'. 



http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070809/NEWS09/70809084


http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6467868

^^ More objective and impartial.



Long/short: I wholeheartedly disagree with Warner's and Universal's stated outlook and stances and I fully expect Blu-Ray to win and most likely in a dominant manner through this holiday season.

Disney will be the biggest reason for this, although Sony Pictures continues to crank out big hits and if Fox comes out of their coma as is expected, then HD-DVD simply is not going to have enough killer content to keep up with it, no matter how much cheap hardware they try to flood the market with.

Exactly right...Bourne can't compete with the likes of Spiderman 1/2/3, Pirates of the Carribean 3, Ratatouille, Cars, Pixar animated shorts, Die Hard 4, Fantastic Four 2, National Treasure, Close Encounters, Kill Bill 1/2, Pulp Fiction ect ect that Blu-ray is releasing as exclusives.
And when blockbusters like Transformers are released on both formats, we are going to see an even bigger sales gap than the 300 release because of the PS3 and its fan base being the actual target audience for movies like Transformers.

I also firmly believe that this holiday season is going to show BD as the dominant HD format and that the discs sold percentages are headed to a 85-90% BD sales advantage.

[tex-amp]

Apparently a lot of people at A/V forums are ending up boiling their 300 HD DVD combo discs that have SD DVD on one side and HD DVD on the other, in order for them to playback without freezing/skipping. which seems insane to me

Do you have any links for this? I read AVS and HTF fairly regularly and haven't seen this issue for the 300 combo disc.  I don't think I've seen it for any combo disc since the firmware update.

[jqp]

No, it really is expensive for those of us who have expensive systems but who have not kept up with technology.  For instance, my system is based on component/s-video.  I did not have any display device suitable for displaying HDMI until I purchased ...

So, when you're talking HD-DVD or bluray, it's not simply buying that one component; it's buying a ton of supporting stuff (for those of us who are behind in terms of technology, that is). 

My point is that the choice of which format to invest in is not an issue of money - invest in either/both for less than $500 - the upgrade to HD itself is another story

[jqp]

"In the United States, standalone HD DVD players have 61 percent market share, while Blu-ray players have 36 percent share and the few dual-format players have a 3 percent share, according to market research company The NPD Group Inc."

So HD-DVD players have the lead. For discs sold, Blu-Ray has the lead.

The state of hi-def video in the real world was kind of summed up for me when I went to a Blockbuster and the clerk said "we don't have any Blu-Ray discs and probably won't get any anytime soon". This was a Blockbuster in an upscale area. The "Blockbuster chooses Blu-Ray" is all hype as someone has already pointed out - only corporate stores are affected?

I would never buy a Blu-Ray player at this point based on it being the likely "winner". Or an HD-DVD player at this point based on it being the likely winner. There are fan boys of Blu-Ray who claim that it is winning and the fan boys for HD-DVD can claim it is winning for other reasons.

Neither type of player is that expensive, relatively, for an audiophile used to $5,000-$20,000 systems! But you can't make an authoritative statement as a "videophile" at this point as to what to "invest" in. In 10 years HD as we know it may mean something completely different.

Whatever format wins, it may not matter. Some believe that this is the last hard-copy format that will exist, so a "player" may not be important for very long. In any case, I think that it will be a case of "give away the razor and charge for the blades". You will either have one of each type of player, with a value of about $50 each or a dual player. But I will bet that the players will be hard-disc or flash-memory based in the near future anyway. And what is the life-span of consumer electronics in this age? One to two years?

My advice is to get the player of your choice for under $200-300, maybe even one of each as fits with your home theater needs. Not everyone's needs are the same. If you want a PS3 there is no choice to make - you have a BluRay player, and you can get a $200 HD-DVD player that will cover all your needs. If you want an XBox, you can add an HD-DVD player for less than $180 today, and also get a PS3, or a standalone Blu-Ray player to cover all your needs. I personally don't think anyone can create a "reference" home theater because it is too much of a moving target at this point.

The only thing that matters is actual disc sales where BD is leading worldwide....and the PS3 easily defeats any stand alone advantage.
Yep you can have an XBOX 360 and player for around 600.00 and Best Buy has just discontinued the 360 because of the fact that every single 360 is defective....just like the one I own.

Now I know you are emotional and biased -

1. Best Buy is NOT discontinuing the XBox 360. They are likely going to discontinue the CORE XBox 360. Why? Because Microsoft is likely going to discontinue the CORE XBox 360. It is as simple as that.

2. it is absurd to state that "every single 360 is defective". The fact is that about 30% of the XBoxs were defective and Microsoft is repairing all of them for free. I have never had a problem with mine.

3. you can have an XBOX 360 and player for $530, not $600. Also "Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player for $199 with free shipping, HDMI cable and five HD DVD movies "  http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/dealzmodo/-281666.php

Blu-Ray may eventually win but HD-DVD may also win. The war is not over, and I am not even sure that any battles are over. Why are you  wanting to rush to judgement???

Please stop posting false statements - it does not help.

[Ears]

"In the United States, standalone HD DVD players have 61 percent market share, while Blu-ray players have 36 percent share and the few dual-format players have a 3 percent share, according to market research company The NPD Group Inc."

So HD-DVD players have the lead. For discs sold, Blu-Ray has the lead.

The state of hi-def video in the real world was kind of summed up for me when I went to a Blockbuster and the clerk said "we don't have any Blu-Ray discs and probably won't get any anytime soon". This was a Blockbuster in an upscale area. The "Blockbuster chooses Blu-Ray" is all hype as someone has already pointed out - only corporate stores are affected?

I would never buy a Blu-Ray player at this point based on it being the likely "winner". Or an HD-DVD player at this point based on it being the likely winner. There are fan boys of Blu-Ray who claim that it is winning and the fan boys for HD-DVD can claim it is winning for other reasons.

Neither type of player is that expensive, relatively, for an audiophile used to $5,000-$20,000 systems! But you can't make an authoritative statement as a "videophile" at this point as to what to "invest" in. In 10 years HD as we know it may mean something completely different.

Whatever format wins, it may not matter. Some believe that this is the last hard-copy format that will exist, so a "player" may not be important for very long. In any case, I think that it will be a case of "give away the razor and charge for the blades". You will either have one of each type of player, with a value of about $50 each or a dual player. But I will bet that the players will be hard-disc or flash-memory based in the near future anyway. And what is the life-span of consumer electronics in this age? One to two years?

My advice is to get the player of your choice for under $200-300, maybe even one of each as fits with your home theater needs. Not everyone's needs are the same. If you want a PS3 there is no choice to make - you have a BluRay player, and you can get a $200 HD-DVD player that will cover all your needs. If you want an XBox, you can add an HD-DVD player for less than $180 today, and also get a PS3, or a standalone Blu-Ray player to cover all your needs. I personally don't think anyone can create a "reference" home theater because it is too much of a moving target at this point.

The only thing that matters is actual disc sales where BD is leading worldwide....and the PS3 easily defeats any stand alone advantage.
Yep you can have an XBOX 360 and player for around 600.00 and Best Buy has just discontinued the 360 because of the fact that every single 360 is defective....just like the one I own.

Now I know you are emotional and biased -

1. Best Buy is NOT discontinuing the XBox 360. They are likely going to discontinue the CORE XBox 360. Why? Because Microsoft is likely going to discontinue the CORE XBox 360. It is as simple as that.

2. it is absurd to state that "every single 360 is defective". The fact is that about 30% of the XBoxs were defective and Microsoft is repairing all of them for free. I have never had a problem with mine.

3. you can have an XBOX 360 and player for $530, not $600. Also "Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player for $199 with free shipping, HDMI cable and five HD DVD movies "  http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/dealzmodo/-281666.php

Blu-Ray may eventually win but HD-DVD may also win. The war is not over, and I am not even sure that any battles are over. Why are you  wanting to rush to judgement???

Please stop posting false statements - it does not help.

http://www.crn.com.au/story.aspx?CID=85600&src=sitemarq

Check under consumer electronics and you will find that Microsoft admits 11.6 million Xbox 360's are faulty, and with my sons first lasting just 7 hours and the replacement already starting to have problems at just over a year with very little playing time, I would have to say it is you who needs to get his facts straight.

By the way....let me add core 360
And the one I bought my son is not the core version so....

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=8250

[Ears]

Apparently a lot of people at A/V forums are ending up boiling their 300 HD DVD combo discs that have SD DVD on one side and HD DVD on the other, in order for them to playback without freezing/skipping. which seems insane to me

Do you have any links for this? I read AVS and HTF fairly regularly and haven't seen this issue for the 300 combo disc.  I don't think I've seen it for any combo disc since the firmware update.

I goggled it and your right, apparently boiling the 300 disc doesn't seem to help the freezing for those that have the problem on the 300 disc.

Its still ridiculous that others have had to resort to boiling any hd dvd release to get it to play correctly new out of the case.


jqp....so your recommending the Xbox 360 as an hd dvd player knowing full well that it will never play HD audio on an audio first board.....is that your position?

[Ears]

"In the United States, standalone HD DVD players have 61 percent market share, while Blu-ray players have 36 percent share and the few dual-format players have a 3 percent share, according to market research company The NPD Group Inc."

So HD-DVD players have the lead. For discs sold, Blu-Ray has the lead.

The state of hi-def video in the real world was kind of summed up for me when I went to a Blockbuster and the clerk said "we don't have any Blu-Ray discs and probably won't get any anytime soon". This was a Blockbuster in an upscale area. The "Blockbuster chooses Blu-Ray" is all hype as someone has already pointed out - only corporate stores are affected?

I would never buy a Blu-Ray player at this point based on it being the likely "winner". Or an HD-DVD player at this point based on it being the likely winner. There are fan boys of Blu-Ray who claim that it is winning and the fan boys for HD-DVD can claim it is winning for other reasons.

Neither type of player is that expensive, relatively, for an audiophile used to $5,000-$20,000 systems! But you can't make an authoritative statement as a "videophile" at this point as to what to "invest" in. In 10 years HD as we know it may mean something completely different.

Whatever format wins, it may not matter. Some believe that this is the last hard-copy format that will exist, so a "player" may not be important for very long. In any case, I think that it will be a case of "give away the razor and charge for the blades". You will either have one of each type of player, with a value of about $50 each or a dual player. But I will bet that the players will be hard-disc or flash-memory based in the near future anyway. And what is the life-span of consumer electronics in this age? One to two years?

My advice is to get the player of your choice for under $200-300, maybe even one of each as fits with your home theater needs. Not everyone's needs are the same. If you want a PS3 there is no choice to make - you have a BluRay player, and you can get a $200 HD-DVD player that will cover all your needs. If you want an XBox, you can add an HD-DVD player for less than $180 today, and also get a PS3, or a standalone Blu-Ray player to cover all your needs. I personally don't think anyone can create a "reference" home theater because it is too much of a moving target at this point.

The only thing that matters is actual disc sales where BD is leading worldwide....and the PS3 easily defeats any stand alone advantage.
Yep you can have an XBOX 360 and player for around 600.00 and Best Buy has just discontinued the 360 because of the fact that every single 360 is defective....just like the one I own.

Now I know you are emotional and biased -

1. Best Buy is NOT discontinuing the XBox 360. They are likely going to discontinue the CORE XBox 360. Why? Because Microsoft is likely going to discontinue the CORE XBox 360. It is as simple as that.

2. it is absurd to state that "every single 360 is defective". The fact is that about 30% of the XBoxs were defective and Microsoft is repairing all of them for free. I have never had a problem with mine.

3. you can have an XBOX 360 and player for $530, not $600. Also "Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player for $199 with free shipping, HDMI cable and five HD DVD movies "  http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/dealzmodo/-281666.php

Blu-Ray may eventually win but HD-DVD may also win. The war is not over, and I am not even sure that any battles are over. Why are you  wanting to rush to judgement???

Please stop posting false statements - it does not help.

As the links show.....its not false info but rather factual.

As far as the formats, I have owned 2 hd dvd players both completely defective with numerous playback problems besides skipping and freezing of brand new hd dvd movies.

I have owned three BD players and a PS3 all with zero freezing/skipping and find that BD is the better technology as long as the powers that be in hollywood put us in this position in the first place.
I said BD would be shown to be the dominant force in HD optical sales after the Holidays....and not that hd dvd would be completely dead as you seem to be suggesting.

The simple truth is that stores as well as consumers sitting on the fence want one format, so I chose the one with more potential, studio support, CE support, and the one with  over 90% of its releases that are format specific having at least one form of HD audio as in uncompressed PCM, DD-THD  or DTS-MA.

HD means audio and not just 1080p video which most on an audio forum like this one would value.
hd dvd has less than 10% of its format exclusive releases in HD audio and that will be less than 5% when Warner releases those titles containing DD-THD on BD.

Although my two hd dvd players were defective, I have noticed  a lot less complaints from the owners of newer models, however I made my choice last August and sold my 24 hd dvd titles mainly because of the defective players, but also because of the lack of HD audio on most releases.

Only one format stands a chance of competing or defeating dvd in the future the way things stand as of now, and that's BD plain and simple.
I also do not want downloads to be the only available option down the road for HD media, and that is the most likely scenario if there were a stalemate.

Thankfully that scenario is unlikely at this point.

Now when you have tried several players from both formats and followed this so called war since before it actually started, and can see what is FUD and what is fact, then you will realize that there is no need for emotion to pick a side so to speak.

I noticed you have no problem with the absolutely made up Chinese hd dvd player postings which everyone knows have no basis in reality, but you have a big problem with postings on the defective 360's (which I have purchased) that can't deliver HD audio even if they were not defective.

Now who is emotional here?

[Bob Wilcox]

Its still ridiculous that others have had to resort to boiling any hd dvd release to get it to play correctly new out of the case.

I hope they never fix the problems with combo discs. Combo discs are just another way to overcharge the consumer. I have not heard of having to boil HD discs that were not combos. This is a QC problem for combos. OTOH, I have encountered brand new defective Blu-Ray discs that froze or skipped - I don't know what the excuse is for these. They looked very clean and shiny.

There are plans to produce a Blu-Ray/HD DVD combo disc. I hope those don't work either because I don't need any overpriced dual format discs. Until the typical hi-res disc is priced at $20 or less I see no reason to buy and will rent instead.

Bob