Cheapest HD-DVD player, that hits 1080p ?

[quote name='Josehaha60']Just want to buy an hd-dvd player, so I can play some movies that aren't on bluray like brokeback, atonement, ray and a couple more .[/QUOTE]

well, first of all, they can only hit 1080p as far as I know.

Second, I saw in the Sears clearance thread that the 360 HD-DVD Add-On is like $5 or something like that.

otherwise, i'd try ebay.
 
[quote name='Penguin1084']well, first of all, they can only hit 1080p as far as I know.

Second, I saw in the Sears clearance thread that the 360 HD-DVD Add-On is like $5 or something like that.

otherwise, i'd try ebay.[/QUOTE]

There are some that only go to 1080i .

Look for a Toshiba HD-A30 .

And munch is an idiot , as usual .
 
The Toshiba A20, XA2, A30, and A35 do 1080p for sure.

The LG BH200 combo unit does as well.

Not sure about the A1 or XA1, I believe the first gen was 1080i only. The Xbox add-on only does 1080i I believe, but I could be wrong.

Of course there are some questions as to if 1080i/p is really that big of a difference.. (if your TV has a good deinterlacer it shouldn't make a huge difference)
 
[quote name='Richlough']There are some that only go to 1080i .

Look for a Toshiba HD-A30 .

And munch is an idiot , as usual .[/QUOTE]

Where did that come from? He originally put 1090p. Just because you like to steal people's thunder doesn't make me an idiot.
 
Why are you so concerned about 1080p versus 1080i, your flat panel display will automatically convert the output to 1080p regardless so you'll never actually SEE 1080i.....I've got a 1080i and a 1080p outputting HDDVD player (two of them)....and the output at either resolution is identical.
 
[quote name='munch']Where did that come from? He originally put 1090p. Just because you like to steal people's thunder doesn't make me an idiot.[/QUOTE]

I'm sorry , I meant to say how awesome you where it just came out wrong . ;)
But seriouosly you could have just explained it to the guy instead of ROFLing at him .
 

HeadRusch is correct, as long as your new LCD TV is 1080p, it should be capable of de-interlacing it and 1080i/1080p makes no difference.

So, the best deal is to look for the barebone Toshiba HD-A3 player (1080i) which can be as long as $20, unless you can also find the Toshiba HD-A30 (1080p) for the same price of perhaps slightly higher but I won't pay more than $30 for it.




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One thing to remember those Toshiba units are all excellent DVD upconverters, much better than any upconverting standard DVD player you can buy from, say, BestBuy for less than $200 bucks...

Even the cheapest Tosh HDDVD player is a better upconverter than most of the non-premium DVD player/upcoverters on the market
 
The Toshiba 2nd gen (A2, A20, XA2) is considered the best overall, for most cases-- the 3rd gen was where corners were cut to get prices down. They're still good players, but now since pretty much all you can find are through reselling (ebay, craigslist, various closeouts) try to find a 2nd gen unit if you have the option.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with the 3rd gen, just the 2nd gen were a bit more solid (better quality HDDVD drive with fewer problems reading discs, for example-- I know my A3/A35 have more issues with combos than my parents' A2) since corners weren't being cut yet.
 
If DVD upscaling were a factor at all, the XA2 would be the one to get. It uses the Reon upscaling chip. It will not be the least expensive route. It does up to 1080p/24.
 
[quote name='HeadRusch']Why are you so concerned about 1080p versus 1080i, your flat panel display will automatically convert the output to 1080p regardless so you'll never actually SEE 1080i.....I've got a 1080i and a 1080p outputting HDDVD player (two of them)....and the output at either resolution is identical.[/quote]
:wall:
I wouldn't waste my time with anything less than a 1080p HD-DVD player IF and ONLY IF the HDTV is capable of supporting it. There definitely is a difference between the 2 resolutions, and actually have several units, two capable of 720p(1080i) due to that was my initial HDTV purchase, and 1 which is 1080p. The difference between the two resolutions is minor on a smaller 1080p HDTV, but is quite noticeable on a larger 1080p HDTV.
 
[quote name='GWIZ2260']:wall:
I wouldn't waste my time with anything less than a 1080p HD-DVD player IF and ONLY IF the HDTV is capable of supporting it. There definitely is a difference between the 2 resolutions, and actually have several units, two capable of 720p(1080i) due to that was my initial HDTV purchase, and 1 which is 1080p. The difference between the two resolutions is minor on a smaller 1080p HDTV, but is quite noticeable on a larger 1080p HDTV.[/quote]Yeah I have a 52' incher .
 
[quote name='GWIZ2260']:wall:
I wouldn't waste my time with anything less than a 1080p HD-DVD player IF and ONLY IF the HDTV is capable of supporting it. There definitely is a difference between the 2 resolutions, and actually have several units, two capable of 720p(1080i) due to that was my initial HDTV purchase, and 1 which is 1080p. The difference between the two resolutions is minor on a smaller 1080p HDTV, but is quite noticeable on a larger 1080p HDTV.[/QUOTE]

Unless you have a plasma that supports 1080i, you've never seen anything but 1080p on your 1080p display.

1080i to 1080p tv = 1080p displayed
1080p to 1080p tv = 1080p displayed

You may have a not-so-hot deinterlacer in your 1080p set, which could result in a decrease in visual clarity in whatever is displayed, but thats going to vary by model...and frankly at this point in time, you'd be silly to spend $100+ on a 1080p outputting HDDVD player if you could find a 1080i outputting one for $20 or $30 bucks, the visual payoff simply isn't there.

here, taken from a reputable HT website doing a review of HDDVD versus BD:
"The truth is this: The Toshiba HD-DVD player outputs 1080i, and the Samsung Blu-ray player outputs both 1080i and 1080p. What they fail to mention is that it makes absolutely no difference which transmission format you use—feeding 1080i or 1080p into your projector or HDTV will give you the exact same picture. Why? Both disc formats encode film material in progressive scan 1080p at 24 frames per second. It does not matter whether you output this data in 1080i or 1080p since all 1080 lines of information on the disc are fed into your video display either way. The only difference is the order in which they are transmitted. If they are fed in progressive order (1080p), the video display will process them in that order. If they are fed in interlaced format (1080i), the video display simply reassembles them into their original progressive scan order. Either way all 1080 lines per frame that are on the disc make it into the projector or TV. The fact is, if you happen to have the Samsung Blu-ray player and a video display that takes both 1080i and 1080p, you can switch the player back and forth between 1080i and 1080p output and see absolutely no difference in the picture. So this notion that the Blu-ray player is worth more money due to 1080p output is nonsense."
 
HeadRusch, thanks for the quite useful information you've posted.

What about this one which I am not clear on this either.

What happens if the HD Movie material is only 1080i instead of 1080p?

Example: The US (Discovery Channel) version of the Planet Earth shows are only encoded in 1080i but the UK version is encoded in 1080p. There was dispute that the US version video quality is noticeable poorer than UK version.

Any difference in this case?

a) Movie: 1080i on 1080i player + 1080p TV
b) Movie: 1080p on 1080p player + 1080p TV
 
The article you are referring to is severely outdated (July 2006) and cleverly only displayed what you intended it to, read the entire article and it clearly does state 1080p/24 is better for motion. IMHO most ppl wouldn't be able to discern the difference between the two resolutions, but I can notice the difference (the deinterlacing isn't a lossless process, nor is it a perfect process). Whereas my wife and daughter are unable to discern the difference in MOST cases, I just did a little test with my 14yr old, and he was able to discern the difference 3 out of 3 times, and this was with a Panny 50" Plasma PZ80u and a PS3 hooked up w/ HDMI playing Independence Day Blu-ray and he was able to differentiate between the resolutions 3 out of 3 times. Although he wasn't able to tell quickly, but careful observation allowed him to notice the subtle differences.
This is a highly debated topic, but the above test confirms what I can also see, although I do agree that this difference isn't worth the price differences you are stating between the players.
 
The articles date has nothing to do with its relevance unless the technology has changed since then, which it hasn't. 1080p/24 may be better for motion....but what motion? Its really only notable if there are fast pans...something that most film-makers wont do because when their films are displayed in theatres, at 24p via film, a fast pan will look jerky in its motion........I don't want to argue judder here. Lets agree we've probably read the same articles and arrived at slightly different conclusions.

As for your question about 1080i versus 1080p, I don't know how planet earth was recorded...if it was put on US discs at 1080i, that might indicate that it was originally recorded on 1080i equipment. Films are always progressive in nature when converted to digital, so films are always encoded at 1080p.

If the UK discs are 1080p, the source material may have been deinterlaced before being put on disc, but again...i don't know....I dont own the discs. I get enough and Fish and Zebras on the Serengetti from Discovery HD :D

Either way OP, HDDVD is a dead format...don't overpay no matter what you buy. Having said that, there are hundreds of great looking movies and TV shows on the format for dirt cheap prices. Enjoy them while they're out there...
 
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