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HD DVD

HQV Benchmark Blu-ray, DVD and HD DVD
Home Theater HD DVD Blu-ray

HQV Benchmark Blu-ray, DVD and HD DVD

The HQV Benchmark discs from Silicon Optix offer a structured battery of deinterlacing and scaling tests across DVD (480i, no progressive flags), Blu-ray, and HD DVD formats, with Blu-ray and HD DVD tests centered on a SMPTE RP-133 1920x1080 1:1 pixel-mapped pattern. Most players fail the raw 480i cadence tests yet perform well with Hollywood titles because commercial releases embed progressive flags that guide the video processor directly. Understanding this distinction helps buyers evaluate whether a player or external scaler can handle edge cases like anime cadences, 4:3 letterboxed content, and native 1080i-captured concert or documentary material.

Richard Fisher •
Reviews
Toshiba HD-A3, HD-A30, HD-A35 HD DVD and SD DVD players
HD DVD Home Theater

Toshiba HD-A3, HD-A30, HD-A35 HD DVD and SD DVD players

The Toshiba HD-A3, HD-A30, and HD-A35 represent the final generation of HD DVD players, with the flagship HD-A35 delivering native 1080p24 output and HDMI 1.3 bitstream support for all HD audio codecs. Bench testing against the OPPO DV-981HD reference player showed the Toshiba excelling in luminance frequency response, color decoding, and SD DVD scaling at 1080p60, though a firmware bug causes the player to remain locked in 1080p24 mode when switching to SD DVD content, producing aliasing and chroma artifacts. Buyers seeking reference-grade HD DVD and upconverted SD DVD performance at dramatically reduced street prices will find strong value here, provided they can tolerate manually switching output scan rates between disc formats.

Richard Fisher •
Reviews
Blu-ray HD DVD

Plextor Announces New Internal Blu-Ray Drives

Plextor announced two internal SATA optical drives in early 2008 that support both Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats: the PX-B920SA, which writes BD-R at 4X (18 MB/sec transfer rate) and reads HD DVD, and the PX-B300SA, a read-only combo drive for both HD formats with 16X DVD+-R recording. Both drives include a 4MB data buffer, LightScribe support, and SATA interfaces delivering up to 150 Mbits/sec throughput. Users invested in either high-definition disc format can consolidate playback into a single drive without committing to one format exclusively.

Shane Sturgeon •
Bulletins
Home Theater HD DVD Blu-ray

HDTV Almanac - R.I.P. HD DVD

With Blu-ray winning the high-definition format war, retailers Circuit City and Best Buy launched compensation programs for HD DVD buyers: Circuit City extended returns to 90 days for full store credit, while Best Buy is issuing $50 gift cards to all HD DVD player purchasers with no time limit and no trade-in required. Best Buy also launched a trade-in program at bestbuytradein.com starting March 21, accepting HD DVD players and discs regardless of purchase origin, with prepaid shipping labels provided. Best Buy estimates the gift card program alone will exceed $10 million in total payouts.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Home Theater HD DVD Blu-ray

HDTV Almanac - More Blu-ray Fallout

Samsung has cancelled the BD-UP5500 dual-format HD DVD/Blu-ray player announced at CES 2008, leaving the older BD-UP5000 hybrid available at under $500 while the format war winds down in Blu-ray's favor. Unlike multi-format computer optical drives where combining CD and DVD variants adds little cost, the technical differences between HD DVD and Blu-ray made single-box integration more expensive than separate units. With the U.S. economy weakening and standard DVDs still performing well on HDTVs, consumers face little incentive to invest $300 or more in a Blu-ray player, raising questions about the format's near-term profitability.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Blu-ray HD DVD

Blu-ray Wins: A Bittersweet Celebration

Toshiba's withdrawal from the HD DVD format war hands victory to Blu-ray, ending a costly industry battle in which hundreds of millions of dollars were spent backing competing high-definition disc formats. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray offered technically capable platforms for home video delivery, making the outcome difficult to predict even for developers and software companies. For consumers, the resolution means a single clear standard for high-definition physical media, though emerging storage and distribution technologies may soon reshape the landscape again.

Dale Cripps •
Articles
HD DVD Deals

A Special Deal on Sunrise Earth HD DVD Set

Discovery Channel's Sunrise Earth HD DVD set features 12 Season 1 episodes plus a bonus Secrets of the Sun episode across 4 discs totaling 11 hours and 55 minutes of high-definition content. The limited-time discount, paired with free shipping, mirrors a concurrent deal on the Planet Earth HD DVD set, which spans 11 episodes with multilingual subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. HD DVD owners should act quickly given uncertain stock levels, as both sets represent a rare opportunity to acquire premium nature programming at a reduced price.

Shane Sturgeon •
Bulletins
HD DVD

HDTV Almanac - HD DVD for $50

Microsoft has dropped the Xbox 360 HD DVD player to $49.99, bundled with five free HD DVD titles at roughly $10 per disc, following Blu-ray's decisive victory in the format war. With hundreds of existing HD DVD titles now flooding clearance channels, including eBay listings starting at $0.99 with no bids, the collapsed market creates a low-cost entry point for high-definition viewing. Xbox 360 owners willing to invest in a discontinued format could assemble an HD library at steep discounts before remaining stock disappears.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
HD DVD

Special Deal on Planet Earth HD DVD Set

The Discovery Channel's Planet Earth HD DVD set, a multi-episode natural history series more than five years in the making, is available at a discounted price of $29.95 for HD DVD owners through the Discovery Channel Store. The 11-episode set includes behind-the-scenes content covering the equipment and technology used in production, plus subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. HD DVD collectors looking to expand their high-definition library should act quickly, as stock at this price point may be limited.

Shane Sturgeon •
Bulletins
Home Theater HD DVD Blu-ray

Onkyo Will Discontinue the Development and Production of HD DVD Players

Onkyo Corporation is discontinuing development and production of HD DVD players following Toshiba's February 19, 2008 announcement to exit the HD DVD business, which cut off Onkyo's supply of core components. Having sold approximately 2,000 units across select markets, Onkyo will maintain full after-sales support for existing owners while pivoting to Blu-ray-compatible home theater products. The company's parallel Blu-ray R&D program positions it to continue delivering high-definition audio and video solutions without significant disruption to its product roadmap.

Shane Sturgeon •
Bulletins
Blu-ray HD DVD

HDTV Almanac - High-Def DVD: It's Over!

Toshiba's reported decision to cease HD DVD production marks the end of the high-definition disc format war, with Blu-ray emerging victorious despite HD DVD players costing roughly half the price of comparable Blu-ray units. The turning point was not technical superiority but strategic maneuvering, including Warner Brothers' well-timed pre-CES defection and a coordinated wave of retailer endorsements from Netflix, Best Buy, and Walmart. Sony appears to have learned from its Betamax defeat by applying targeted market pressure rather than relying on specs alone.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Blu-ray HD DVD

HDTV Almanac - Two More Nails for HD DVD

Netflix announced it will cease purchasing HD DVD titles and transition exclusively to Blu-ray, citing four of six major US studios already publishing exclusively in that format, while its current library holds fewer than 400 Blu-ray titles out of more than 90,000 total. Best Buy, with over 800 retail locations, simultaneously declared it would prioritize Blu-ray stocking and direct sales staff to recommend it over HD DVD. Together, these moves signal a decisive industry shift that will shape which high-def format consumers can realistically rent, buy, and find supported going forward.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Blu-ray HD DVD

Best Buy to Recommend Blu-ray as the Customer's Digital Format Choice

Best Buy announced in early 2008 that it would prominently showcase Blu-ray hardware and software products in its U.S. retail and online channels starting in March, recommending Blu-ray as the preferred high-definition disc format over HD-DVD. The retailer cited the rapid proliferation of HDTVs and the need for a single, widely-accepted format offering product compatibility and expanded content choices as key drivers. Consumers already invested in HD-DVD could still purchase those products, but Best Buy's endorsement signaled a decisive shift in retail support that would accelerate Blu-ray's market dominance.

Dale Cripps •
Bulletins
Home Theater HD Audio HD DVD

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast #248 - Samsung BD-UP5000 and Audioengine AW1 reviews

The Samsung BD-UP5000 dual-format player handles both Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs at an MSRP of $999, featuring the Reon video processor, 7.1-channel analog audio outputs, and a built-in Ethernet port for Profile 1.1 readiness, though Dolby TrueHD is limited to stereo and DTS-MA is unsupported pending firmware updates. The Audioengine AW1 Wireless Audio Adapter transmits audio over a proprietary protocol running on 802.11 with a 100-foot range, offering strong interference rejection against Bluetooth, cordless phones, and WLAN. Together these reviews address practical home theater decisions around format compatibility and cable-free audio distribution.

The HT Guys •
Podcasts
Home Theater HD DVD Blu-ray

Another Opinion - On the Matter of the HD DVD Petition...

The HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war ended not because consumers chose a winner, but because Sony secured the investment returns by writing the checks that brought Warner into the Blu-ray camp. With only around 750,000 to 1,000,000 HD DVD players sold, a petition of 12,000 signatures carries no meaningful weight with studio executives focused on ROI rather than consumer preference. Owners of high-end units like the Toshiba XA2 are advised to repurpose them as upconverting NTSC players and accept the format's fate alongside other failed technologies.

Terry Paullin •
Columns