CES 2006 report preview

[iceman]

Me and Marwin are actually at CES 2006 right now.

We are trying to get some more precise info about the pricing and availability of the BD and HD-DVD players/recorders.

The $500 HD-DVD player is a stripped down budget version, without a remote etc, so the $800 version is the one you should compare the price with. The main problem with both the HD-DVD players is that they are 1080i(!) while all the BD players are 1080p. If you look at the Blu-ray movie covers you will notice that they state 1080p, while the HD-DVD movie covers don't say anything about the image quality...

The Pioneer Elite model for $1800 is a high-brand model with plenty of extras and the price can't really be compared to other models, it's not made for the "ordinary" consumer as the name "Elite" suggests. Some LG representative gave us a price quote of less than $1000 for their BD player. A Sony representative told us they hadn't yet decided their price, but he hinted at a price around $1000.

To summarize it, right now it looks like if you want to watch movies in 1080i you could save a couple of hundred dollars and buy a Toshiba HD-DVD player, but if you want to watch movies in 1080p you should buy a Blu-ray player.

Another positive thing with the BD players is that they have become much smaller, you'll see that when we get back with more info and a longer report after CES

CORRECTIONS:
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There was a misunderstanding when talking to the japanese representative for Toshiba, the HD-A1 (the $500 player) HAS a remote, it's just a different remote from the HD-XA1 (the $800 player). So the difference between the HD-A1 and HD-XA1 are the remote, cosmetics (the HD-XA1 looks much better and has a fully automated door) and that the HD-XA1 has a rs232c connection which the HD-A1 doesn't. Actually the HD-A1 is just a mockup so far, so it hasn't any connections at all:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post6866449
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post6872770

Sharp's Blu-ray player is only 720p/1080i, but Pioneer's and Sony's players are confirmed 1080p.