Upscaling Standard DVD
In 2003 two manufacturers, Samsung and V Inc. introduced DVD players with a twist; the ability to upscale standard DVD to HDTV resolution with a aid of a built-in scaler and DVI output. DVI provides a direct digital video feed to a DVI-equipped television and is quickly becoming the standard for connection of HDTV-related components.
This year, there were an increased number of DVI-equipped DVD players on display at CES, as well as Toshiba opting for an HDMI interface for its DVD-to-HDTV unit. Although high definition DVD is on the way (see next section), it will be many years both hardware and software to catch up. In the meantime, for consumers that own HDTVs, the HD upscale feature on some of the latest generation DVD players, is a way of getting the most out of the current DVD-Video format.
Blu-ray and HD-DVD
High Definition DVD is on the way, but don't hold your breath quite yet. For the past several years, high definition DVD player and recorder prototypes have been on display at CES, however, this year, the units shown were very close to the production model stage. Basically, high definition DVD promises to deliver true high definition recording and playback on a DVD-sized disc. Employing Blue Laser technology (which has a much shorter wavelength than the current red laser technology used in current DVD), a disc the size of a current DVD disc can hold an entire film at HDTV resolution or allow the consumer to record two hours of high definition video content.
However, there is a catch. You guessed it, there are two competing formats that are incompatible with other. The competing formats are: Blu-ray, which is supported by Hitachi, LG, Matsushita (Panasonic), Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Thomson, HP, and Dell. Whereas, another format, HD-DVD, is supported primarily by Toshiba and NEC.
You would think that the overwhelming solution is to adopt Blu-ray as the standard for high definition DVD, as it has more supporters, but HD-DVD has one key advantage. To put it simply, Blu-ray will entail a major infrastructure investment by its members for manufacturing; new facilities for manufacturing discs and players, lots of retooling. However, due to the physical specifications for HD-DVD, most of the manufacturing plants making current DVD players, discs, and other parts can still be used for HD-DVD. Don't expect this issue to be resolved soon, however, do expect to see both Blu-ray and HD-DVD players arriving on store shelves be the end of 2004 and throughout 2005. Currently, the DVD forum has approved Blu-ray as both a playback and recording format and has approved HD-DVD as a playback format only at this time.
It is expected that players in both formats will arrive first, followed later by units with recording capability. The question is, who is going to provide enough pre-recorded software. Sony-Columbia is expected to jump in early, but it remains to be seen how quick the other studios react. In addition, will consumers really have access to high definition DVD recording, or will the studios slow down the introduction of both Blu-ray's and HD-DVD's recording capabilities due to potential piracy concerns?
In any case, you can expect the prices of early units to be very high.
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