HD-DVD Players

[HT BUFF]

I own a 1080i TV as well as a Denon 1910 upconverting DVD Player,my receiver is a Pioneer Elite with NO HDMI input.
Question: Am I wasting my money by going to a new Toshiba HD-DVD Player & Upgrading to a Receiver with HDMI inputs for higher resolution sound ONLY, I have no plans on changing my TV. Also will I only get higher resolution sound(TRUE HD) from HD-DVD discs only or will it produce it from regular discs as well.

[PeruvianSkies]

My best advice to you at this point in the game is wait wait and wait. Right now there are so many bugs still being worked out and I would personally wait until the second run of HD-DVD and Blu-ray combo format players are out and working fine. Then I would invest in getting a machine that handles both formats and by then maybe there will be a receiver with the chip to actually play DTS-HD and you will also be able to take full advantage of the higher resolution sound. So you have some time between now and then...save your money and build up a nice cash reserve so you can go all out once that time comes.

[PeruvianSkies]

Oh, and if you are really impatient and just want a HD-DVD player, get the Xbox360 with HD-DVD option. That should hold you over for the time being and you get a gaming system out of the deal.

[musicman1999]

Not if your reciever has a multichannel input,use that and let the player do the decoding.Thats all you need,in fact to get the full use of the Toshibas extra features thats all you can do.No need for a reciever to decode the new formats.

bill

[musicman1999]

Oh, and if you are really impatient and just want a HD-DVD player, get the Xbox360 with HD-DVD option. That should hold you over for the time being and you get a gaming system out of the deal.

I don't believe the 360 has any way to output the new sound formats and that is what he is most interested in.
bill

[drseid]

I own a 1080i TV as well as a Denon 1910 upconverting DVD Player,my receiver is a Pioneer Elite with NO HDMI input.
Question: Am I wasting my money by going to a new Toshiba HD-DVD Player & Upgrading to a Receiver with HDMI inputs for higher resolution sound ONLY, I have no plans on changing my TV. Also will I only get higher resolution sound(TRUE HD) from HD-DVD discs only or will it produce it from regular discs as well.

First off, if your TV is 1080i, then you already are compatible video-wise with the HD DVD players and will see a major improvement. So you are already video compatible and will benefit from the upgrade there. As for sound, you can output Dolby TrueHD from either the coaxial outs or HDMI outs. If I remember correctly, the HD-A2 may not have as many connections as the first-gen HD-A1... You may want to look for a deal on an A-1 as they have better build quality and can be had new for about $300 as they have been discontinued to make way for the A-2 and XA-2 models. Bottom line is you will definately notice an improvement over your Denon picture and soundwise when playing HD DVDs. I would keep the Denon around though, as the 1st gen players are indeed buggy... especially with regular DVDs (slow to startup too).

---Dave

[musicman1999]

I don't believe Dolby TrueHd wii output from coax out.It is downconverted to DTS.

bill

[drseid]

I don't believe Dolby TrueHd wii output from coax out.It is downconverted to DTS.

bill

That is correct... It is ouputed through the analog audio outs (from the internal decoder chip in the player) and through HDMI.

---Dave

[PeruvianSkies]

I'll repeat my answer....wait.

Wait until the technology and chips are available to support the HD audio components as well, but if you are itching ot just have an HD-DVD player then get the Xbox360 to hold you over, obviously it won't be able to do what a dedicated HD-DVD player could and you will still have to wait for the DTS-HD receiver, but at least you can play the titles available on HD-DVD and the picture will still be better than DVD.