This is Not the Way to Show Off HD-DVD

[Jason Dunn]

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/store/news/article/2303263.html

One of the big releases for the HD-DVD platform, and indeed I think one of it s most significant wins, is finally here: the HD-DVD release of the original Star Trek series. You can be sure that ST:TNG and the other chapers in the Star Trek universe won't be too far behind. Star Trek fans, myself included, have shown that they're willing to pay ridiculous prices to own the DVD box sets (I still can't believe I paid those ridiculous prices!), and I suspect we'll see some of these same people now adopting HD-DVD as their platform of choice now that Star Trek is coming out in that format. I sure won't be buying it at the $218 USD price though!. I was curious to see how good the quality was, because while I know film is quite "high resolution", we're talking about some very old footage here. I was pleased to see a link offering a "Preview of Star Trek HD DVD - Season One". Clicking it, this is what I saw:



The choices on the player are Quicktime 56K (dial-up) and 300K broadband, and the same for Windows Media Player (56K and 300K). What? How is that an HD-DVD preview in any way, shape, or form? You can see by the screen shot that I picked the 300K WMV stream, and I got a whopping 164K/s of data. That size of preview (256 x 192 pixels) is something I'd expect to see in 2002, not nearing the end of 2007. Come on Paramount, where's the quality preview of the quality we'd see by dropping $217 USD on this package? Where's the big and glorious 1280 x 720 clip, or even a 1920 x 1080 clip? Show us how good this really will look, and maybe we'll buy it...

[Jason Dunn]

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/store/news/article/2303263.html

One of the big releases for the HD-DVD platform, and indeed I think one of it s most significant wins, is finally here: the HD-DVD release of the original Star Trek series. You can be sure that ST:TNG and the other chapers in the Star Trek universe won't be too far behind. Star Trek fans, myself included, have shown that they're willing to pay ridiculous prices to own the DVD box sets (I still can't believe I paid those ridiculous prices!), and I suspect we'll see some of these same people now adopting HD-DVD as their platform of choice now that Star Trek is coming out in that format. I sure won't be buying it at the $218 USD price though!. I was curious to see how good the quality was, because while I know film is quite "high resolution", we're talking about some very old footage here. I was pleased to see a link offering a "Preview of Star Trek HD DVD - Season One". Clicking it, this is what I saw:



The choices on the player are Quicktime 56K (dial-up) and 300K broadband, and the same for Windows Media Player (56K and 300K). What? How is that an HD-DVD preview in any way, shape, or form? You can see by the screen shot that I picked the 300K WMV stream, and I got a whopping 164K/s of data. That size of preview (256 x 192 pixels) is something I'd expect to see in 2002, not nearing the end of 2007. Come on Paramount, where's the quality preview of the quality we'd see by dropping $217 USD on this package? Where's the big and glorious 1280 x 720 clip, or even a 1920 x 1080 clip? Show us how good this really will look, and maybe we'll buy it...

[Felix Torres]

Pathetic, isn't it?

If you have a PC and display that's up to the task (and these days that isn't hard) *this* is how you demo HD-DVD quality:
http://www.drfoster.f2s.com/trailers_hd-dvd.shtml
Full 1080p HD-DVD in a windows media download that 99% of the human race can play. :wink:

It would hardly break Paramount finances to do what Universal does and provide the theatrical trailers (or equivalent) in a full-res download.
Of course, most of those creative types don't use Windows or Windows Media so they probably think this can't be done.
Its time to get past the Real and Flash era of postage-stamp video, guys!

[Chris Gohlke]

After having spent thousands on all the seasons of all the series on DVD, I'm not likely to buy them again. They should offer some type of an upgrade deal. After all, I already PAID for the content. Maybe in a few years when I can buy an entire series for around $200, then I might rebuy it.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Chris Gohlke

After having spent thousands on all the seasons of all the series on DVD, I'm not likely to buy them again. They should offer some type of an upgrade deal.

Exactly - I'm in the same boat. I already dropped a boatload of money on them, it would take a great deal for me to re-buy the same content...