What About HD DVD?

By Zeeman Haus

Obviously you've upgraded to a true HD TV and the difference in picture quality is breath taking. The real problem is now in the quality of your DVD playback. It has somehow become less crisp than it used to be. Part of this is perception and part of it has to do with your player. Looking at an HD DVD might save you a little money and enhance your movie watching experience.

There is a lot of talk on the market and on the showroom floor about HD DVD and what it does for you. The basics of these conversations go down like this: HD quality picture through the use of a better, more accurate DVD player than can utilize your old DVDs. The advantage is that you 1) don't have to buy a Blue-Ray player and 2) you don't have to buy all new movies to replace the ones you have. Both are sound arguments and a little flawed.

While it is true that no player will make your DVD look as good as HD picture, you can play your old DVDs on your HD player without adapters or having to change players or input settings on your TV. This is a plus because I am on a one man mission to help cut down on the number of remote controls next to my Lay-Z-Boy. So in plain English; Standard DVDs work in HD DVD players.

HD DVD players use what is called a blue laser. I assume it's called that because the laser is blue. I don't know this for sure because the sticker says I shouldn't be looking at it. Let's just go on the assumption that the manufacturers were telling the truth and the laser is indeed blue. A blue laser has a short wavelength than a red one, this means more content can be held on the disc and the load times will be fast. Hey! Both are great things.

Having one of these players is a space saver as well. The fact is no one wants, a DVD player, a VHS player, Blu-ray and HD cable box all piled under their brand new, sleek HD TV. The wiring behind your TV would look like there should be a small animal trapped in there somewhere. Having an HD DVD player helps eliminate some of the clutter behind and in front of your shiny new TV stand.

The packaging is another attractive aspect of making the change from standard DVD to HD DVD. They all come in the same packaging so the boxes are all the same size. When you consider what life was like when you made the change from VHS to DVD, the value in this is clear.

The players are readily available and relatively inexpensive compared to Blu-ray, so price is another factor. If given the option a lot of consumers would go for the cheaper solution to a problem and HD players for DVD are a viable one.

The choice to buy a hd player is pretty much up to the individual. Blu-ray doesn't really load any faster and they do tend to add in some extra content with the focus on interactivity. But with DVD you know what you are getting, the pricing difference makes for an attractive deal and being able to not have to completely switch formats all at once is a good incentive. - 31846

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