HD TV

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

Capita handle most of the administration these days:

The majority of administration is contracted to Capita Business Services Ltd

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/aboutus/index.jsp

I have no doubt that it is in their interests to generate as much revenue as possible to hit whatever targets are required to unlock extra incentive payments - hence the increasingly agressive letters sent out these days.

I'm also familiar with the content of the letters, having had vacant properties in last few years. I was getting a letter every two weeks I reckon at some points, with loads of red text on there to make it even more intimidating. Of course, I just ignored them.

I think anyone who has been a student is probably familiar with the legal aspects - cos when I was at uni, everyone knew never to let the TV licence people step through your door

[vbloke]

To get back to the subject at hand -
Which is better; HD DVD or Blu-Ray?
Which do you think will win the format wars?
Do you care at all?

[Cuddles]

To get back to the subject at hand -
Which is better; HD DVD or Blu-Ray?
Which do you think will win the format wars?
Do you care at all?

Neither. Just like regular DVDs, within a couple of years they'll just start selling players that do both, and everyone who rushed to buy one just because they were new will feel really silly because all those who waited will be able to watch more than them.

The iPlayer is an interesting development. Technically...are they broadcasts or not? I suspect they'll have to go to court to get a decision on that one. I also suspect they won't bother trying to introduce or enforce licences for online content, it's too big of a hurdle. They have issued a generic statement saying "you need a licence to watch BBC broadcasts online" but that applies to, for example, the live news shows.

The iPlayer thing is a tricky one. It seems really silly to have to pay for a licence to use it, and I don't see how it could be enforced. The trouble is, that effectively means the end of licencing, which means the end of the BBC, and while I think the licencing thing could be done much better than it is now, I really can't stand adverts.

As for vans, yes they are fake, as Farside says. They are standard minibuses with the windows blacked out. I have seen inside one. It's funny because the technology they used to claim "we can detect your home's signal" doesn't really exist like that. For example, if you live in a block of flats, there is no way of detecting whether or not a particular flat is receiving a broadcast channel. The only method they have for 'detection' is eyewitness. They peer through your window. And they don't do much of that these days because it's expensive and risky.

The really fun thing with the vans is that while the technology does exist to detect TVs, it only applies to CRTs, and pretty much no-one has one these days. I don't know much about plasma TVs, but LCDs certainly aren't detectable at all, and I suspect the same is true for plasma.

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

To get back to the subject at hand -
Which is better; HD DVD or Blu-Ray?
Which do you think will win the format wars?
Do you care at all?

I don't think either will win.

YouTube has shown that in general people value content and variety over quality.

DVD will continue to be popular until digital distribution and on demand are truly effective.

Extra features on DVD are a waste of time, so I don't think they are a big selling point for HD DVDs.

HD and BlueRay will have a market, but I can't see them being long term successes anything like DVD, and I am not sure one will be become truly dominant over the other.

When people switch from music tapes to CDs or from CHS to DVD, there is a big transition. I don't think moving from one disc format to another captures the imagination of the public.

And people mostly buy flat screen Tvs because it is fashionable and they look nice, as opposed to truly buying into the HD.

[tkingdoll]

I agree, neither format will 'win' now. HD DVD standalone players (like mine!!) are outselling standalone BluRay players by a massive distance, worldwide. But PS3s are outselling either.

The split in studio loyalty has led to people buying both format players. I suspect the most common combo is PS3 and standalone HD, which is what we'll have when we get a PS3 in March. Makes a lot of sense. Plus you can get those players which handle both.

As for the increase in quality, it is incredible, if you have a good TV. The problem at the moment is that the entire setup costs a lot of money, and so it's still early-adopter technology. It will replace DVDs eventually though, I have no doubt about that. But in the UK that won't be til long after regular broadcasts are mostly in HD. That will be at least 5 or 6 years away. My understanding is that there are currently just a couple of HD channels and they're a bit crap, content-wise.

But if you have an HD TV, I urge you to upgrade to an HD DVD player. The HD DVDs themselves are amazing, but the upscaling of regular DVDs is extraordinary. They look almost as good as the HDs. They looked good on the fancy TV anyway, but now they look...well, I've had a few people round and all of them have said "wow".

[vbloke]

...well, I've had a few people round and all of them have said "wow".

...not followed by "how much..?"?

[tkingdoll]

...not followed by "how much..?"?

Actually the HD DVD player was less than £300, and it came with seven free films (not crap ones, either). I won't tell you how much our telly cost though

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

I've got a PS3 - you can download movie trailers and PS3 adverts in glorious 1080p. It does look amazing - to me anyway.

It took about 3 weeks of HD tv before I managed to get my wife to notice an improvement though

(We'll lose most of the forum here....) Does your tv support 24fps? I've heard a lot of people complain about jittery panning shots on their PS3 cos their TV doesn't support it.

[tkingdoll]

(We'll lose most of the forum here....) Does your tv support 24fps? I've heard a lot of people complain about jittery panning shots on their PS3 cos their TV doesn't support it.

It doesn't have 1080p because of the screen size. We don't have space for anything bigger than a 32" and when we bought it (a year ago) no-one was making them with 1080p in that size, so we have 720p and 1080i without the native 1080p. But you really can't tell. It has some snazzy image processing engine to make up for it, which according to the blurb 'interleaves composite frames in between each frame of the source'. Obviously I haven't tried it with the PS3 yet but it has handled everything else (the HD DVD movies we've watched so far are 1080p and they've been perfect) so I'm really not worried. I even set the HD player to 1080p mode to see what happened, and there was no dragging on the panning shots or anything.

We put a lot of research time in and I'm extremely comfortable with our choice. Plus it has a whopping 3 HDMI inputs! OK, so we're only using one at the moment, but still...

ETA: for anyone reading who is confused, 1080 is the resolution, p is progressive scan, and 24fps is 24 frames per second which is the film rate. Video rate is generally 30fps. Movies are generally filmed on film and TV shows are generally filmed on video.

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

People say that 1080p only really comes into its own at 46inch and above - and I would have to say that I agree. I've got a 40 inch 1080p set and I can't really see any difference between 1080p and 1080i. If I sit real close I think I might be able to see a difference, but I'm not convinced. It's not quite a marketing scandal on the same scale as audio cables but 1080p is definately not essential on the average HD set I'd say.

[tkingdoll]

People say that 1080p only really comes into its own at 46inch and above - and I would have to say that I agree. I've got a 40 inch 1080p set and I can't really see any difference between 1080p and 1080i. If I sit real close I think I might be able to see a difference, but I'm not convinced. It's not quite a marketing scandal on the same scale as audio cables but 1080p is definately not essential on the average HD set I'd say.

Agreed, at least as far as two days of experience is telling me. I envy you for having the space for a 40" incher though! Mind you, ours is still massive at 32", although we had a 28" before that so it might just be my perception.

I hope you don't have a small lounge. I have a pet hate of people who jam ginormous TV sets into poky little rooms

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

Agreed, at least as far as two days of experience is telling me. I envy you for having the space for a 40" incher though! Mind you, ours is still massive at 32", although we had a 28" before that so it might just be my perception.

I hope you don't have a small lounge. I have a pet hate of people who jam ginormous TV sets into poky little rooms

About a day after getting the tv, I was wishing I'd gone 46. Some people are never happy though ???

It is true what they say, you get used to the increase in size pretty quickly. Now I'm used to it, I don't think it is that big at all.

I have a fairly big room, but the 32 inch Sony CRT which I replaced took up a massive amount of space.

[Mojo]

Capita handle most of the administration these days

And there I was thinking it was the Ministry of Housinge.

[tkingdoll]

I have a fairly big room, but the 32 inch Sony CRT which I replaced took up a massive amount of space.

I had a Sony CRT as well. Perhaps we are tech twins! Separated at birth by a series of tubes...

[ZERO]

(We'll lose most of the forum here....) Does your tv support 24fps? I've heard a lot of people complain about jittery panning shots on their PS3 cos their TV doesn't support it.

Gran Turismo or Metal Gear Solid?