RCA HDV5000 HD DVD player hits store shelves
HD DVD continues to move, as RCA has announced we can buy their HD DVD player, the HDV5000 at stores everywhere. Its basically the same as the lower-end Toshiba HD-A1 model, although a few earlybirds on AVSForum have noted the remote is a bit better. If you're looking for more than the 1080i, 30 second boot time loading of the first HD DVD players however, you'll need to look elsewhere as they share the same hardware underneath. PQ is still excellent, akin to an HD broadcast without the nasty compression artifacts, same HDMI out, surround sound support and everything else. Still, if $499 is burning a hole in your pocket and your local electronics retailer doesn't carry Toshiba, this is a big day for you. We're just glad this is over so we can look forward to second-generation players, sans-glitches and 1080i maximum resolution.
Read - RCA HDV5000 HD DVD Player now Available at Retail
Read - Early Impressions @ AVS Forums
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jim @ Jun 2nd 2006 1:14PM
I'd be interested to know what the disc load times are for it, compared to the Toshiba and if it has any of it's own glitches to teh table. Hopefully it is a more polished unit than the Toshiba.
Jeremy @ Jun 2nd 2006 2:43PM
I love the podcast and the blog, but do you guys have to take a jab at HD-DVD at every single chance. It is possible to mention a news story without an under handed comment towards the format. Yes this one wasnt very blatant but most seem to be.
Carl @ Jun 2nd 2006 2:46PM
I work in Geek Squad at Best Buy and I'm always walking over to Home Theatre to reset the damn Toshiba HD-DVD player we have on display, complete pos, and we are showing off Apollo 13, and in 1080p you see the film grain, which doesnt help to show off PQ, be nice to see Serenity, seeing as I believe it was filmed in 1080p camera..? No film grain would be visible... anyway, I hope ps3 doesnt have such bad issues, or HD-DVD players around christmas, which is when I plan to make a dicision on which side of the fence I'll jump to,
zombieflanders @ Jun 2nd 2006 3:00PM
"I'd be interested to know what the disc load times are for it, compared to the Toshiba and if it has any of it's own glitches to teh table. Hopefully it is a more polished unit than the Toshiba."
Like the post says, it's the exact same hardware as the Toshiba, just a different faceplate.
hmurchison @ Jun 2nd 2006 3:43PM
Carl
The film grain is there for a reason. If the Director and Director of Photography didn't want film grain they would choose film stock known for having little grain. Complaining about film grain is like complaining about 24 frames per second. Everyone knows it causes motion isues but stylistically that's what filmmakers love and feel comfortable with.
There's supposed to be a firmware update coming for HD-DVD players that should rid the players of certain issues. I doubt Blu Ray sees as many issues because they aren't rushing product out to hit the market first.
I expect a few glitches but not as many as HD-DVD. I'll own both myself I figure the more options the better
Jay @ Jun 2nd 2006 4:39PM
Looks like it was made in 1981. I will pass on both players..
Jim @ Jun 2nd 2006 5:35PM
I wasn't jabbing the HD-DVD format at all, so much as I was the first gen Toshiba player itself. If I'm going to plunk down that kind of cash on a product, I want it to be stable and work reasonably well. New tech is always buggy. I'm an MSCE, trust me you always have to be wary of first run software and hardware. The problems with the Toshiba seem to be more firmware/software than the actual hardware itself. Format-wise I think HD-DVD makes more sense than Blu-Ray, but I think they will both co-exist when hybrid players emerge, similar to how things worked out with DVD+R and DVD-R.
Jeremy @ Jun 5th 2006 3:49PM
I was referring to those who post news at the site itself, not ur reply to the news story.
Paul Beck @ Jun 14th 2006 12:14PM
It seems that the Blu-Ray fans need to make negative comments regarding HD-DVD every chance they get. I bought my first DVD player on opening day, March 25, 1997 and had to return the Pioneer DVD with several glitches making it impossible to play most of the 5 disc I bought then. These guys are really out of their minds not having and Blu-Ray player or discs to see yet.
The upgrade for the Toshiba HDXA1 was easy to do online and though I did not have the freezing some people wrote about, it did make the player faster in changing with the remote to different choices.
Because HD (whether HD-DVD or Blu-Ray) shows more of the original any film grain will be more evident when that is part of the original film.
Of the 18 HD-DVDs I own (and 2 more rented from NetFlix) all have played perfectly without stopping along the way.
At the beginning before the upgrade one disc (Bourne Supremacy) froze once - but when played the next time did not. After the upgrade all discs play without freezing.
This is not about one format or the other, though you guys who are proclaiming support for Blu-Ray need to see those discs on an operating player before you trash the HD-DVD format.