A Wide-Ranging Conversation About the Debut of High-Definition Disks

[Jeremy Charette]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.hdissues.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=37428&afterinter=true' target='_blank'>http://www.hdissues.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=37428&afterinter=true</a><br /><br /></div><i>"In this exclusive interview, Consumer Electronics Net's Charlie White speaks with Mark Knox, adviser to the HD DVD Promotion Group. In part one of this multipart interview series, Knox talks about the competition between HD DVD and Blu-ray, the resolutions and codecs used in the first disks to be shipped, and the Toshiba players which will be on the market in March of 2006."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/mark_knox_single.jpg" /> <br /><br />This is an outstanding interview, and one I highly recommend reading if you're thinking of getting an HD player or HDTV in the next year or so. The highlights: 1080p is a non-issue due to the fact that the HDMI specificaiton doesn't support it, Blu-Ray has greater storage capacity per layer but needs it since the compression format is not as good, DRM will be a non-issue for the typical consumer, Blu-Ray discs will be considerably more expensive to manufacture, larger screen sizes necessitate higher resolutions, and copy protection will allow manufacturers to trace pirated discs to the person that produced them. Blu-Ray is looking more and more like the BetaMax of the next generation. Great in theory, but inferior in practice.

[ChrisL01]

Knox should be fired, he doesn't have a clue what he is talking about. In the few interviews that website has done with him he has got several large issues incorrect.

Point in case: HDMI currently DOES support 1080p. 8O A larger problem is the lack of displays that currently support actually 1080p input.

[Jeremy Charette]

Looks like you're right!

"Despite speculation in some corners that only the most recent versions of the HDMI spec support 1080p, HDMI Licensing ’s Leslie Chard informed me that all versions of the HDMI spec support 1080p video at 60Hz." (http://www.hdblog.net/2006/02/09/update-on-hdmi-1080p/)

Now, the real question is: what do they mean by 1080p video at 60Hz? Does it support 1080p24, 1080p30, or 1080p60? Because what I'm most interested in is 1080p60. I play lots of video games and watch primarily action movies, so 1080p60 is the way I want to go for the best picture. From what I hear, that can't be done over HDMI today (nor can any game console produce a 1080p60 signal), so 720p60 looks like the way to go, at least for the next 2-3 years.

I really want to see the first few reviews of HD DVD and Blu-Ray players on 720p HDTV sets. I'm particularly interested to find out how well the player handles scaling the 1080i or 1080p signal from the disc.

[sdrosenthal]

Buying a 1080p TV is a waste of money. There is NO standard for 1080p by the standards body. It will probably be about 2 years before a standard is agreed upon.

1080p TVs play at 30 frames/sec, and are not capable of 60 frames/sec at this point. Having said that, again no standard has been developed so no guarantees of anything working together that claims 1080p today.

60 frames/sec is really important for things like sports, or fast moving images with items like many video games. This is why most sports channels use 720p/60 (ESPN, FOX, etc) and why the Olympics on NBC looked like crap when skiers where flying down the hills at 100 mph.

Marketing folks know most consumers think bigger numbers is always better, which is one of the reasons you see so much of a push for 1080p, and why you will pay a premium to have it.

Which leads one to wonder, what exactly is Sony going to put out with the PS3? A system that runs 1080p, which again has no standard. People keep thinking Microsoft screwed up with the Xbox360, but it is out today (although still hard to get), and follows standards that will ensure support by TVs in the future.

Save yourself some money, and get a 720p and 1080i supported TV. If you must have 1080p, then buy a 720p TV today that you won't mind putting in the spare bedroom in a couple of years when 1080p is standardized.

Stephen

[ChrisL01]

All versions of HDMI from the start have supported 1080p60. 1080p60 requires 148.5MHz of the current 165MHz trans. rate of HDMI. Assuming you have a display that can input it correctly, and a device that can output it, it will be displayed perfectly.

The HP MD5880n currently accepts 1080p24/30/60.

[Jeremy Charette]

I wouldn't say it's a waste of money. I would say that consumers who purchase a "1080p capable" TV today should expect to have to replace it within the next couple of years if they want true 1080p60 video performance. What kind of HDTV you should get really depends on a lot of factors, and probably the most important of those is this: What content do you plan to watch? If it's a lot of cable broadcast channels, 1080i is the best native resolution for you (or a 1080p that does a good job of converting a 1080i signal such as the 37" Westinghouse that Felix Torres recently reviewed). If you want to play video games on an Xbox 360, 720p is the best native resolution for you.

If you want to watch 1080p HD DVDs or Blu-Ray discs...wait. Don't get an HDTV today. There's no guarantee you'll be able to take full advantage of that 1080p content as of yet.

As for me, the 37" Westinghouse previously mentioned is looking better and better. I have no expectations that it will be able to play 1080p60 down the road, but if it displays 1080i well, and scales 720p up to 1080p effectively, then it's a win-win for all the current video formats. When the 1080p specification wars are over, I'll get a new TV.

[Jeremy Charette]

Chris,

Do you happen to know how much bandwidth a full 5.1 audio signal takes up on an HDMI connection? I think the point of contention that I've heard is that the HDMI spec. doesn't support a full 1080p60 signal and multi-channel audio simultaneously. This was one of the big selling points of HDMI, the ability to eliminate cable clutter by having one unified cable system for audio and video.

[ChrisL01]

IIRC with 1080p60 it can also handle up to 8 channels of PCM at 24bits/192kHz.