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 I'm constantly asked, "Which high def DVD format should I buy?" Yep, the consumer electronics industry has done it again, we have two competing formats: HD-DVD and Blu-ray. My answer today: "Don't. Get an upscaling DVD player instead." Read more to find out why.
For anyone unfamiliar with HD-DVD and Blu-ray, keep reading for a bit of useful background. If you're past that, jump right to our recommendation. HD-DVD and Blu-ray Technical Formats
HD-DVD is ultimately expected to offer up to 45GBs of storage and up to 12 hours of HD media. Blu-ray plans over 50 gigabytes of storage per disc, which equals nine hours of HD content. Standard DVDs are 720x480 with bit rates peaking at 10mbps. HD formats are up to 1920x1080 with bit rates closer to 50mbps. That gives you 6x the resolution and a 5x increase in data bandwidth. The results with these new high def devices are spectacular, especially on 50-inch screens and larger.
HD-DVD and Blu-ray Devices
There are a few HD-DVD and Blu-ray players out there, but they're relatively expensive -- ranging from $450 to more than $1,000. They come from companies like Toshiba, Sony, LG, Samsung, Pioneer, and Panasonic. Early units feel slow and clunky, even when compared to a $50 DVD player. Some are full-blown Linux machines and the overhead of the OS shows through. In the coming year, this will change as manufacturers take what is software code on the early units, and turn it into custom chips to streamline the devices. Even recent downloadable firmware upgrades have improved some units that are already out. HD-DVD and Blu-ray Movies There are a limited number of titles in both formats available today. You can buy or rent them at many locations, including Netflix. The quality on both formats varies substantially. Some transfers are nothing short of stunning, while others disappoint with film scratches, dust, poor compression and bad color. Back to the Future with VHS and BetaMax Competing video standards is nothing new for the consumer electronics industry. For those of you old enough to remember, VHS and BetaMax warred for dominance in the 1980s with the arguably technically-inferior VHS coming out the winner. As then, the winner of the HD / Blu-ray battle will likely have little to do with technical superiority. Oddly, the winner of this HD disc format war may mirror the video game console cage match between the popular Microsoft Xbox 360 and the long-anticipated Sony Playstation 3 (PS3). Microsoft will soon offer an external USB HD-DVD upgrade for the 360 for under $200, and it's likely that drive will become standard in the 360 in the next year. When they finally ship, all Sony PS3s will come with a Blu-ray drive. Many believe, myself included, that the first substantial volume of high def disc players to make their way into homes will be in 3rd generation game consoles. How well 3rd generation game consoles will operate as high def DVD players is unknown. The 2nd generation game consoles like Xbox and PS2 do a poor job of scaling and de-interlacing compared with most $50 DVD players. What to Buy Now? Today, unless you are an extreme HD enthusiast and have $$ to burn, I don't recommend you buy either high def format stand-alone player. If you have a large HD screen and want to increase your movie quality, I recommend instead that you buy one of the \verting DVD players on the market. Upscaling DVD players do two key things: - Upscale a standard DVD from 720x480p or 720x480i to 720p, 1080i or 1080p using video scaling technology
- Provide a cleaner video image by using digital connections such as DVI or HDMI from the DVD player to HDTV, rather than analog connections like component, S-Video or composite video.
If you are still using that $50 DVD with composite, S-Video or component video, and you have an HDTV, you can improve the quality of the DVDs you watch with an upscaling DVD player. No, it's not as good as either HD-DVD or Blu-ray, but it's also not as expensive, nor will it send you down a path that could be a dead-end. Remember the Betamax. There are several upscaling models to choose from with prices ranging from $80 to more than $3,000.
Oppo Digital OPDV971H 
There's no question that expensive upscaling DVDs like the Denon DVD-5910CI with it's 10-bit video processor will have outstanding performance, but the difference between less costly upscalers (like my two favorites -- the Oppo Digital OPDV971H and Samsung DVD-HD960), and the Denon is minimal in most home theaters. I can only imagine one scenario that might justify the cost of a device like the Denon DVD-5910CI. You must 1) have a huge DVD collection, 2) have no interest in either of the HD formats, 3) have the high-end home theater gear to leverage every feature of the device, and 4) plenty of disposable income. For that kind of money, you might be better off getting an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player since either can upscale standard DVD discs. But I still wouldn't get either of those high def devices now. I'd get a reasonably-priced upscaling DVD player. A final caveat: If you decide to buy an upscaling DVD player, you'll have to optimize your video and audio connections to realize the benefit. Bottomline, don't buy one if you are not going connect using DVI or HDMI. To learn more, see the TechDigs.net articles Get the Right Video Connection on Your HDTV and Are You Maximizing Your Audio? Check Your Wires! My hope is that in the coming months, the HD-DVD / Blu-ray frontrunner becomes clear enough that we can make a recommendation. Until then, the safest bet for improving HD viewing of movies on discs is to spend minimal $$ on an upscaling DVD player.
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