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Sony's BDP-S1 updated to support TrueHD and DD+
Since, HD DVD and Blu-ray firmware updates seem to come out weekly, we quit covering them; but Sony just dropped a big one this morning. After you update your BDP-S1 you'll be able to enjoy Dolby TrueHD and DD+, like HD DVD fans have for some time. We are actually surprised that Sony would even bother, considering they have a new player right around the corner. [Via AVSForum]
Pioneer Elite BDP-94HD Blu-ray player gets official
The Pioneer Elite BDP-94HD, which is America's version of the BDP-LX70, has finally gone official. This second-generation Blu-ray player sports silky smooth 1080p output via HDMI, and supports Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, 7.1 surround sound, Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), and "seamless home theater integration via HDMI Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) technology." Additionally, this device features an "enhanced version of Pioneer's Home Media Gallery home networking feature," which includes IP networking and a new user interface to access media files stored on their computer. The BDP-94HD should hit US shelves this month and will purportedly include two mystery BD films for a nice round $1,000. Click on through for another angle.
Panasonic launches $600 DMP-BD10A Blu-ray player, bundles five films
Not too long after Pioneer went and introduced its second generation Blu-ray player, along comes Panasonic to follow suit, but unlike the BDP-LX70, we've got a pricetag as well as a few tempting reasons to pick this one up over the competition. The DMP-BD10A packs an audio upgrade that brings 7.1, Dolby True HD, and DTS-HD on board, and it incorporates Panasonic's EZ-Sync system for "one-touch operation" of your home theater. The overall design doesn't deviate too far from that seen in the first iteration, but you will find 1080p upconversion via HDMI, a 14-bit DA converter with 4x oversampling, support for BD-J, and compatibility between select HD camcorders via the AVCHD (H.264) codec. Notably, Panasonic is giving users two reasons to seriously considering its new offering, as the fairly reasonable $599.95 pricetag looks even better when you consider the five BD films (Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Transporter, Fantastic Four, and Crash) you'll be getting right in the box.[Via Impress]
Sony responds to rumors of the PlayStation 3's audio limitations
Yesterday, sister site Engadget HD posted a link to a site that claimed the PlayStation 3 wasn't capable of outputting Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD, even though the PS3's HDMI 1.3 support should guarantee that. Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD are considered two of the highest-end audio formats on the market and since the PlayStation 3 is advertised as being able to support both of them, this caused a bit of an uproar amongst the more hardcore technophile PS3 owners.Sony responded later in the day though, stating that the PS3 DID indeed support both formats - but that you have to use the PS3 to decode the signals, not a separate AV receiver. A minor bummer, but not a huge deal. Now, I just need $1600 to buy a receiver that actually supports HDMI 1.3.[Via Engadget HD]
Digital Video Essentials calibration tool launches on HD DVD
We certainly can't say that this one arrived a moment too soon, as all of you early adopters of HD DVD drives have probably been frustrating yourself with manual color calibration techniques that just never turned out quite right. Thankfully, the highly-anticipated (and perpetually delayed) HD DVD version of Digital Video Essentials is finally available for sale, and interestingly, the disc will actually be of the dual-format variety for those still keeping a vanilla DVD player around the house. Users will be graced with both 1080p and 720p VC-1 encoded material, NTSC and PAL compatibility, 6.1-channel Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital True HD tracks, built-in color filters, and of course, widescreen / standard options. So if you've been yearning to get your HD DVD calibration on, the time has finally come, at least for those willing to shell out the $34.95 required to pick DVE up.
It's official: Lost Planet finds PC gamers
Capcom signaled its self-described return to more frequent PC releases by officially announcing a PC version of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for June. The Windows XP and Vista game will support DirectX 10 for gamers with those shiny video cards, but DirectX 9 players are also invited into the snowy world.The PC version will run at resolutions up to 2,560x1600, making the console war's "True HD" sound like a tired marketing slogan. (Oh wait, it already did.) While the graphic effects beyond resolution will also be improved, little else is certain to change.Capcom told us at its Gamer's Day event that the PC game may include new multiplayer maps and even increase its 16-player online cap, but both updates are still pending. However, multiplayer matches between Xbox 360 gamers and PC players will not be supported.%Gallery-2562%
Xbox 360 Elite uses HDMI 1.2; no support for Dolby TrueHD
For audiophiles, this may hurt. For everyone else, this may induce yawning.The Xbox 360 Elite will ship with HDMI version 1.2, as opposed to the latest version 1.3. What do you lose with such a monstrous degradation? HDMI 1.3 adds support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams; this can be accomplished in HDMI 1.2 if the player can decode these streams into uncompressed audio, but unfortunately neither the Xbox 360 nor HD DVD add-on support it. (For reference, the PlayStation 3 was the first device to use HDMI 1.3.)Other differences include audio / lip sync technology, a greater transfer speed -- which would matter if you were outputting above 1080p, but that is currently the maximum resolution -- and Deep Color, which again will be more distinguishable in future resolutions.For now, the only major disparity will be the audio. Does this affect anyone's decision to purchase the Elite?[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Not so fast, Sega: EA has a 1080p game too
It's clearly a time of miracles, with mega publisher EA revealing to Gamasutra that it too, has achieved the "basically impossible" and delivered an Xbox 360 game running in that Shangri-La of resolutions, 1080p. Yesterday, Sega gushed that Virtua Tennis 3 would bring 1080p gaming to the 360 "for the first time," an issue that has prompted EA to wag its enormous finger and point towards the upcoming NBA Street Homecourt. EA claims the basketball game runs happily at 30 frames per second in 1080p resolution, and that it will see release on 20 February. Virtua Tennis 3 is due for release in March. Until then, you'd best lay low until the resolution gunfight is over -- they have to run out of bulletpoints sooner or later.
EA's NBA Street Homecourt to be first 1080p 360 title
Yesterday we pointed out that Virtua Tennis 3 was going to be playable in 1080p. It was going to be the first Xbox 360 title to official support the resolution announced back in September. But that was yesterday, and this is today. EA has announced that NBA Street: Homecourt will be shipping on February 20th, a month earlier. On top of that, the game will support 1080p at 30fps among the other standard resolutions, squeezing out VT3 as the premiere title to deliver the 1080p goods. So, you've played the demo, now it's coming to you in 1080p, are you interested in this game? If it's only the "True HD" experience you're after, will you wait a month longer for Virtua Tennis 3?
PS3 scaling functionality unearthed
Warning: a truly awful pun awaits you at the end of this post.In updating the software development kit for PS3 developers, Sony has enabled scaling functionality that was previously thought to be non-existent in the base hardware. An interesting and rather technical article at Beyond3D explains how Sony has enabled developers to combat the image downscaling issues that has been known to affect owners of certain HD televisions. If you recall, the PS3 had previously been unable to upscale resolutions (like the Xbox 360's Ana chip) from 720p to display on 1080i-only televisions, instead downscaling images to a less impressive 480p.Though Sony's solution is far from complete, Beyond3D notes that the latest SDK implements hardware accelerated horizontal scaling. It's still up to developers to take the feature all the way, but the enhancement already decreases the memory footprint left by less elegant upscaling techniques. It might appear that a secret piece of hardware is slowly being "unlocked" here, but a more likely explanation is simply that Sony is slowly but surely tweaking their development software (and the way it utilizes the existing PS3 hardware) to enable proper scaling functionality in lieu of an obvious and dedicated scaler chip. It will likely become mandatory for upcoming games to support this new hardware scaling solution; older games like Resistance may eventually see a patch implementing better scaling. More information will surface as tech sites analyze and contribute to this report, but it's nonetheless reassuring to see Sony being mindful of the problem and taking action to brush off that chip on their solder.[Thanks, Jonah.]
Happy Feet coming to both HD DVD and Blu-ray
Apparently, Warner didn't feel Happy Feet was that important to include within their '07 HD DVD/Blu-ray road map but nevertheless here we are, tolling away at the high-def news. Warner is bringing this new family favorite out on a Combo HD DVD disc encoded at 1080p along with a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack, and it will hit the shelves at $29.95. The Blu-ray flavor, however, is coming out on a standard disc (non-combo), lacks the lossless audio track found on its HD DVD counterpart, but still gets an extra channel thanks to a Dolby Digital 5.1 EX audio track, and will carry a sticker price of $24.99. The decision is yours come March 27, but we would opt for a lossless audio track if it was up to us.
Legends of Jazz brings Dolby TrueHD to Blu-ray
One of the ways Blu-ray has trailed HD DVD so far is inclusion of advanced audio codecs, but that will start to turn around later this month when Legends of Jazz "Showcase" is released. As we noted when the series first aired on PBS, it was produced in HD and 5.1 surround sound to enable viewers to fully experience the musicians featured. This disc will be the first Blu-ray release to include a 24-bit Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack (along with Dolby Digital 5.1and PCM Stereo options) that Dolby Labs exec Craig Eggers says captures "every nuance" of the performance. In Europe a copy will be included with each Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player, somewhat bittersweet because it doesn't support Dolby TrueHD. The Playstation 3 will, but what other upcoming players can decode the audio format is unclear. Still, especially if you've got a PS3 preordered and an HDMI 1.3-capable receiver at the ready -- who doesn't? -- a better way to experience the 13 performances will be hard to find after its release October 24th, with an MSRP of $34.98.[Via The Man Room]
DVD International announces eight HD DVD combo releases including DVE HD
Proudly proclaiming itself as the leading independent and fourth overall largest supporter of the HD DVD format, the DVD Acquisition and Development Group has announced HD DVD / DVD combo disc releases for the fourth quarter of this year. Coming from their DVD International division, the most high profile release is the high definition edition of Joe Kane's Digital Video Essentials calibration disc. DVE HD will include 720p and 1080p-encoded versions on the HD DVD side, various test patterns for all manner of A/V setups, and is "HDi capable" -- hopefully this means the menus are easier to navigate, some complained about that on the DVD release (included on the flip side). The seven HDScape discs? Your basic travelogue fare, Exotic Saltwater Aquarium HD DVD, Fireplace HD DVD, Antarctica Dreaming, Visions of Sea: Explorations, Serenity: Southern Seas, HD Window: Hawaii, HD Window: The Great Southwest provide what we're sure are crystal clear looks at various landscapes if you're not already bored to death by them on INHD2 into that type of thing. DVE HD will retail for $34.95, while the HDScape discs will all go for $29.95. A sampler (pictured) is currently on sale at the website for free plus $3.95 shipping.
PS3: No price cut for the US, Dolby TrueHD audio support in but component cables out?
With the November launch date closing in, we still have a lot of unanswered questions about Sony's Playstation 3 and apparently so do they. What we do know is the 20% price cut in Japan will not be applied in the US, and that 80/20 launch split is up in the air. In an interview with Wired, Phil Harrison said the Japanese price adjustment was to hit "magic price points" after consumers there reacted badly to the initially announced price. In the same article fellow Sony execs Kaz Hirai and Ken Kutaragi were unsure if component video cables would be included, and seemed to lean towards "no". With HDMI already confirmed out of the $500/$600 box, we're trying to figure out how Sony is going start the HD era without any cables, S-video just isn't very next gen. At least there's some good news to report, as they officially announced Dolby TrueHD audio support for up to 7.1 channels and Dolby Digital 5.1 support for games. Although there aren't any Dolby TrueHD Blu-ray movies out yet, once there are a large number of players on the shelf we're sure studios will include it, or at least bring them over from cross platform HD DVD releases. You don't need David Copperfield to figure out that a lower price and guaranteed out of the box HDTV support would go a long way to getting us from behind this keyboard and camped out in front of local electronics retailers.Read - Sony Execs Talk PS3Read - Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD Deliver a Premium Surround Sound Experience for PLAYSTATION® 3
Microsoft's 1080p lets you read the fine print
Much like looking both ways before crossing the road, remembering to read the fine print is a valuable life skill that will inevitably save your existence at one point or another. Some even consider HD resolution to be a matter of life and death, especially when the money spent on a 1080p television could have been used to purchase New Zealand instead. When Microsoft announced earlier this week that an update would automagically enable 1080p resolution ("true" or "full" HD if you believe in such things) for the Xbox 360, they neglected to mention any specifics regarding component output and that pesky issue of copyright. A Microsoft insider (with handle "amirm") provides some clarity on the AVS forums, explaining what types of content are allowed over a component connection. If you insist on watching your HD-DVDs at full resolution, it appears you'll have to invest in a VGA cable (and not an HDMI cable).If your 360 is hooked up via component cables: Xbox 360 games can be upscaled to 1080p. Titles that run in 1080p natively (none of which currently exist) will also display without a problem. HD-DVDs will display at 1080i maximum -- you can thank AACS for that. Normal DVDs will play at 480p. CSS prevents anything higher (though some upscaling DVD players conveniently ignore it). If your 360 is hooked up via VGA cable: HD-DVDs, Upscaled DVDs and games can all display at 1080p with no copyright hassles. If your 360 is hooked up via RF Adapter: You have bigger problems. [Via Engadget HD]
Micron announces 5 megapixel HD sensor for consumer cams
HD video is becoming more and more prevalent, but most people are still snapping those grainy VGA flicks with their digital cameras, which might be plenty for YouTube, but it won't win you any videophile cred. We can't guarantee stuffing a HD sensor into your consumer cam is going to do much for that cred either -- maybe you and cred were never meant to be -- but it's a fun spec to have for specifications sake, and Micron is bringing just that kind of love with their new HD sensor. The new CMOS unit can handle 60fps 720p, or 30fps 1080p videos, and Micron hopes to start sampling the sensor this fall. Micron also has a new sensor with similar specs, but designed for camcorders, so hopefully we'll be seeing some price drops and spec bumps for those in '07. We're guessing this first wave of such consumer "TrueHD" tech might leave a bit to be desired in the quality department, but it's a good step towards putting a whole lot more pixels in every pocket.
TGS: Xbox 360 to add 1080p support, PS3 to lose bullet point
At their pre-TGS press briefing in Tokyo today, Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 will support 1080p content through a software upgrade. The "p" stands for parity.Microsoft's announcement -- which effectively parries Sony's bold claims regarding the merits of 1080p high definition content or, as Sony calls it, True HD -- is their latest move seeking to blunt the impact of the oncoming Sony PS3 hype-train. With the True HD cat de-clawed, Microsoft's mantra of choice will appear even more appealing. It's another bullet point taken out of the next-gen console war equation.Joystiq spoke briefly with Shane Kim, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios, about their announcements in Tokyo today. First off, Kim clarified that, while the software patch would upscale all content to resolutions as high as 1080p, Microsoft themselves had no plans to produce gaming content taking advantage of this ability. He was similarly convinced that very few other developers would see the value in producing 1080p games, with the singular exception of Sony's first-party studios, eager to validate the value of the capability.Similar to the way the Xbox 360 upscales original Xbox games from 480p to 720p/1080i, you'll be able to enjoy your existing Xbox 360 games at the new resolution. As if you needed more proof that Microsoft's adoption of high definition HD-DVD is little more than a strategic move to limit Blu-ray's potential sphere of influence, Microsoft's 1080p software upgrade will also remove some of the value of their upcoming HD-DVD add-on by upscaling your existing DVD movies to HD resolutions, including 1080p. So, Microsoft just announced that the Xbox 360 will play your existing DVDs back in high-definition -- in addition to being able to play back legitimate HD-DVD content if you're interested -- and they're gonna do it in 1080p. In the bullet point war, Sony better hope that extra Blu-ray disc space is worth it; they'll have a chance to prove it at TGS this week.Microsoft's TGS press briefing:HD-DVD add-on hits Japan Nov. 17th for ¥19,800Blue Dragon hits Japan this holiday
HD DVD reviews updated with Dolby TrueHD, firmware update warning
So far only only a few HD DVDs have rolled out with a Dolby TrueHD lossless audio soundtrack, and with good reason, the only players on the market didn't support it. But now, thanks to the just-released 2.0 firmware, Toshiba HD-A1 owners everywhere can enjoy advanced audio. According to High-Def Digest, as long as you have a receiver that accepts audio via HDMI or analog 5.1 inputs (but not S/PDIF, sorry) you should be ready to go. Of course this is only worthwhile if there is a noticeable difference and by their report, there is with improved quality and surround sound effects. We look forward to more TrueHD enhanced releases, although you have to wonder what this will do to potential HD DVD/DVD combo releases that don't have the space for the movie and uncompressed audio. Given the benefit, the possiblity of bricking your HD DVD player during the update is but a miniscule risk (take any discs out before updating via the Ethernet port or it's to Toshiba customer support you must go.)
HD DVD 2.0 firmware to be released by Toshiba today
Toshiba sure does love their firmware updates. Their fourth update in as many months bumps the version number to a nice round 2.0, and promises TrueHD 5.1 support, allowing for full digital reproduction of studio mastered sound with 24-bit/96kHz discrete channels. As our friends at HD Beat astutely point out, it ain't no Blu-ray support, but it's a nice one-up on the competition all the same. No word on when exactly this will drop today, but we wouldn't stray far from the remote if we were you and had an intense craving for yummy TrueHD and expansive version numbers.
Sony Playstation 3 Conference Details
Lets get down to the facts. $499 w/20GB HDD, $599 w/ 60GB HDD in the United States No new details about Blu-ray movie playback or drive speed Japan launch date: November 11 US Launch date: November 17 2 million PS3s to ship in "launch window" Accelerometer in a wireless dual shock controller, much like Nintendo's, no rumble support Showed Gran Turismo HD: a special version using GT4 models rendered at 1080p and 60fps Well there it is folks, don't forget to check out Joystiq for the moment to moment updates, although they are likely to slow down momentarily as Sony's last announcement was that they had playable PS3 games onsite. Now I suppose the question is why would anyone buy an HD DVD player for $500 when they can get a PS3 for the same price. Did anybody else check out the stream (via Gamespot.com or E3insider.com), what were your impressions?
