Engadget HD Podcast 087 - 06.04.2008
Ah, it feels good to get back into the swing of things as we crank out a second podcast two weeks in a row right after our long hiatus. We were a little more on the ball this week as we talked up some interestingly odd Toshiba news, that Ben refuses to believe. There are also a few more Blu-ray topics as we approach a Summer of Blu. We also get on to our new favorite topics, like trashing digital downloads and TiVo. Then we finish things up by cracking on our least favorite brand as one of Philip's latest HDTVs receives a pretty bad review.Get the podcast
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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh and Steve Kim
Producer: Trent Wolbe
08:03 - Toshiba knows no shame, plans to release super-resolution DVD player
10:16 - Transformers Blu-ray edition gets detailed, confirmed for September launch
15:22 - Jack Ryan to finally go Blu in July
16:52 - Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending May 25th, 2008
22:58 - Poll: Are you replacing your DVDs with Blu-ray Discs?
26:09 - VUDU's v1.5 firmware update brings along costly rental extensions
27:28 - TiVo's Tom Rogers speaks of "whole home model"
36:08 - DISH Network's EchoStar XI heads to Sea Launch for summer liftoff
37:13 - Hauppauge HD-PVR now shipping
39:21 - Philips' 42-inch 1080p 42PFL5603D LCD TV reviewed
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Spiza @ Jun 4th 2008 2:24PM
Downloading HD movies? Not from Time Warner:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2008/tc2008063_767960.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories
Spiza @ Jun 4th 2008 7:40PM
I'm guessing this might be the cable companies new response to You Tube, Hulu, Apple TV, amazon's unbox, etc.
Justin Sluss @ Jun 4th 2008 2:37PM
I've got the Jack Ryan Collection on HD DVD. Paramount PR sent me two copies. We never got to review them as you guys mentioned. They were on shelves then pulled. I made Wal-Mart pull it from their shelves myself at a local store.
Big Wizz @ Jun 4th 2008 4:58PM
Wow, I really expected you guys too spend a little more time on the Toshiba "super-upconverter" DVD player.
Granted, it was total flame-bait for the HD-DVD supporters.
Spiza @ Jun 4th 2008 7:40PM
You know nFinity did say he saw this tech at CES and said everyone that saw it loved it. You guys were there. Did you see it?
Nfinity @ Jun 4th 2008 10:11PM
They obviously didn't.
What bugs me about this podcast is the whole "I can't believe they are doing this" type of attitude from both of them.
Seriously guys.. I expected more from you. I know you are rabid Blu-Ray fans but come on. This is an extension of DVD and is in EVERY way good.
For someone who was taunting how we need superiority in everything both picture and sound, I'm surprised that you guys are now criticizing the fact that we can get much much better quality out of regular DVDs thanks to this technology. Basically you are saying, let's have same old crap upscaling of existing DVDs instead of having close to or almost equal footage to HD>
What's exactly bad about that? Oh I know, it complicates things for Blu-Ray. God forbid we have a free and competitive market. What fun would that be when we can pay high prices to BDA and everything that stands in their way is automatically insane. This technology is not even competing with Blu-Ray, granted it complicates things for them as it will further dampen the desire for regular schmo to upgrade to Blu-Ray but hey, that's BDAs problem and will force to them to lower the prices much quicker to the benefit of all of us.
Seriously, let's at least have some objectivity and reason here instead of an hour or so of a podcast filled with rabid fanboyism. Give me a break please.
I told myself that I would listen it again and give you the benefit of the doubt as true technology aficionados but you guys give it such a pro Blu spin on it that's it absolutely ridiculous. You are so tainted that you can't see a good thing when it smacks you in the face.
Really sad on so many levels.
Ben @ Jun 4th 2008 10:12PM
NFinity,
Thanks, I haven't laughed like that in a long time. That was hilarious!
Nfinity @ Jun 5th 2008 12:04AM
Ben,
I'm glad that I amuse you.. if you guys actually researched this technology you would realize that SpursEngine can be applied to HD footage as well since the same functionality principle.
The reality is that I will buy immediately this player as soon as it comes out because it will allow me to enjoy a ton of movies in a much better quality then just simple upscaling while I get Blu-Ray versions of them for cheap. It's a very normal and reasonable way of looking at things.
When technology eventually progresses in displays and we have 4k displays and similar this Toshiba's new technology will also be applied to HD sources as well and double up their resolution with the same engine.
If you don't find any of this worthy then there's no reason really to discuss this with you or anyone else spitting against it because it simply goes against anything logical from a consumer point of view.
It's really sad how some people just have no sense of being objective. It's so hard to say, oh my that technology can actually be cool and good for all of us when it goes against your fanboy preference.
It just shows hypocrisy at it's worst.
Nfinity @ Jun 5th 2008 12:06AM
but then again, a ton of people supported an unfinished and 3 times more expensive technology over something that was already mainstream ready and more backwards compatible without any real quality loss.
So go figure with the whole logic thing.
dj496 @ Jun 5th 2008 8:33PM
Ben/Steve, About the "how often do we really need to upgrade our receivers for new audio codecs" comment, for more audiophile-types like me, it's quite annoying actually. I upgraded to a HDMI (1.2) receiver early 2007 so that I could get into and enjoy DVD-Audio and SACD for the first time, along with a cheap universal Oppo player.
I thought, great, I can use this receiver for blu-ray too, once it gets within my price range. But not so. I understand why the new codecs must be there, but I just find it annoying, and I'll have to go internal decoding for at least the next 10 years, because I didn't spend $2500 on a receiver for nothing.
Balloondoggies @ Jun 6th 2008 2:44PM
Wowsers, you guys just trash the HD PVR every time it pops up in the news.
If I hear "I don't want a 2nd gen copy" one more time...
Some people wouldn't be watching some HD channels at all if it wasn't for this device.
For example, I am a loyal MythTV user. I love it and have been using it for years. Currently the only way to *legally* get Dishnetwork, Direct TV, or encrypted cable channels into MythTV is the analog hole. Currently the majority of users use S-Video with their SD Capture cards.
Right now I only get the major networks in HD. My TVs are either plasmas or HD projector however I am still watching all of Dishnetwork recorded at SD because I won't use Dish's crappy PVR.
So the HD PVR will allow me to legally get ALL of Dishnetwork's HD lineup into my Mythtv.
So to some of us a "2nd Gen Copy" is the only copy of HD that we can get at the moment.