The guys over at Movies @ Home Theater Blog have already posted a review of Batman Begins and it looks like a winner. From the pristine 1080p transfer to the Dolby TrueHD soundtrack the reviewer dubs the disc an easy recommendation. Here are a few other quotes from the review.

“I was hard pressed to pick out any noticeable film grain, this is one extremely clean transfer and what little grain is present hardly takes away from the overall presentation.”

“Of all the dark films I’ve viewed on HD DVD (and it seems to be a disproportionate amount) ‘Batman Begins’ produced the most discernable low-level shadow detail”

“To be quite honest the [Batman Begins] HD DVD provides a better viewing experience than what I remember from the theater.”

Sounds like a great disc, read the ‘Batman Begins’ review in its entirety here.

R.Hollis

Some rather interesting revelations have come to light surrounding the European launch of the Toshiba HD-E1 and HD-XE1 HD DVD Players. According to Heise Online the players benefit from several refinements, features and additions over their predecessors:

The translation is a bit rough but after going back and forth between Google Language Tools and Babel Fish a few times, I think it?s pretty accurate.

?Intel CPU?s have been replaced with CE, SoC (Software on Chip) processors.
?Start-up and disc load times have been “shortened”.
?Both units include a revised ‘easier to read’ remote control.
?The higher end HD-XE1 includes 1080p output and HDMI 1.3

Could some or all of these features and improvement make their way into HD DVD players for the United States? I’d have to say the chances are very high. Veering off into a bit of speculation for a moment, I also expect that when the replacements for the Toshiba HD-A1 and HD-XA1 appear in the U.S., they’ll retail for a bit more than their predecessors, but this isn’t necessarily bad news.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yes that’s what Ultimate AV’s Shane C. Buettner had to say (”Best HD image quality available on any format”) about HD DVD in his Toshiba HD-XA1 review. Now in all fairness he also noted the first generation players aren’t lightning fast loaders and do suffer from minor hang-ups, but take a look at some other comments from Mr. Buettner.

The image quality is, in short, everything we’ve hoped it could be, and represents a significant challenge to Blu-ray or any other format that comes down the pike. The picture is unequivocally the best I’ve seen in my home from any HD source. DirecTV is my broadcast HD source, and sometimes presentations on Showtime HD, Discovery HD, and the HDNet channels approach this level of quality, but they don’t quite get there

HD DVDs are unequivocally more film-like in the complete elimination of compression artifacts, motion artifacts, and certainly in the depth of the image and more convincing color saturation. In fact, I couldn’t see just how prevalent these artifacts are with DVD until watching these discs and noticing that they’d simply vanished. And again, even compared to the best broadcast HD I’ve seen the level of clarity is a clear and mighty cut above with the best discs.

Read Ultimate AV’s Toshiba HD-XA1HD DVD Player review, in full.

R.Hollis

One has to wonder with reviews like this one, what criteria are reviewers using to judge HD-DVD? Do these publications think that a slow loading tray or mediocre remote are really going to discourage potential buyers away from HD-DVD?

Of course not, people who are seriously considering HD-DVD are looking for one thing, owning and enjoying their favorite films in HD at their leisure. Now I?m not advocating that reviewers shouldn?t note minor bugs but let?s not lose sight of the big picture.

Well I?m happy to report that at least one publication kept in mind what potential buyers are really after, when they reviewed the Toshiba HD-XA1. Sound and Vision magazine proclaimed the HD-XA1 to be ?A Taste of Heaven? and finished their review with:

It ended up taking very little time for me to become accustomed to the stellar picture and cleaner, more open sound of HD DVD. Basically, I’m ruined ? I’ll never again be able to watch a regular DVD with an uncritical eye

The five page HD-XA1 review from Sound and Vision?s Rob Sabin paints a very different picture from that of Consumer Reports. Could this discrepancy in the reviews be due to the fact that Rob Sabin actually has a passion for AV, and not how slow a tray loads or how the remote operates?

R.Hollis

Those old bastions of consumer advocacy over at Consumer Report?s have chimed in on HD-DVD and specifically the Toshiba HD-A1 (not sure why they refer to it as the HD-A1KN). And true to form they uncover reasons you shouldn?t buy it.

I first knew something was amiss when I read, ?Neither player is a must-buy yet.? Can anyone cite an example of a consumer electronics item that is a must-buy, maybe a cell-phone or baby-monitor? What gives here? Is that how CR bases their recommendations, on whether you actually need the item? I don?t ?need? half the items in my house, but I?m sure as heck not throwing them out. Ok deep breath, I?ll move on.

From there CR went into the whole format-war speech. You know I?m thinking that in most cases any reiteration of the whole format-war is redundant, but in CR?s case maybe their readers are genuinely unaware of how things are playing out here, so I?ll grant them this point.

Next up was the ?WHAT WE LIKED? section of the review. Among the examples cited here were image quality with both HD and SD discs and that was about it?

The ?WHAT WE DIDN’T LIKE? section however complained about lack of 1080p support (even though just about every 1080p capable display will up-convert 1080i internally to 1080p) and ?Finicky HDMI connections? as well as the often bemoaned remote.

Here?s a tip CR, I?m guessing a large portion of the folks who are buying this player use a universal remote, which could easily handle the HD-A1?s remote codes. High Definition DVD is here and we?re talking about remotes?

R.Hollis