I thought that Amir, Kevin and PJ HiFi put on a good show but must admit it failed to wow me. I guess my pre conceptions were for something perfect and disappointingly it failed to live up to my expectations. This is partly for two reasons, the deinterlacing/frame rate conversion was not perfect due to issues with the external scaler that they could not get to work and the difference in viewing conditions that I am use to - 32" LCD display at 10-12' rather than an 8' PJ screen at similar distance.

Other than deinterlacer and frame rate issues (which disappointedly currently need the assistance of an external processor to cure), plus scaler issues due to first generation HD-DVD player (even with a 1080 screen, the scaling capabilities of the HD player are still important as interactive features may cause the image to be resized - apparently resolved in 2nd gen US and 1st gen Eur models) I only spotted one defect in the image which I though was a pretty good show.

However I must admit, apart from the limitations of my display technology, I am happy with good quality SD with my home viewing conditions. Short of a very large screen, I feel this will be the case with most of Joe Public if they are honest with themselves. Much as I am pleased with my Squeezebox giving me 99% of the quality of my G98, my not insignificant existing investment of G98 and DVD collection give me 99% of what I want without considerable additional expense for little or no gain.

The logo we all got on our t-shirt "The look and sound of perfect" is a very good description. Having been use to DVD-A for over 3 years, I am use to the sound of perfect. But a poorer quality MPEG encoder can also look perfect to me in many different viewing conditions, the exception being very large screen in perfect viewing environment. Likewise the same for SD.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to go HD, and yesterdays demonstration backed up my own views that HD-DVD is indeed the better consumer orientated format of the two (yes, on paper blu-ray looks better but reality can be something different), but the cost of software and doubts over long term future of both HD-DVD and blu-ray outweigh the benefits to me in my viewing conditions.

One piece of irony is the David and Goliath battle with Microsoft starring as David. Love them or hate their parent company, one must commend the small group of dedicated people producing something this good. But in true Microsoft tradition, is it just another case of something new (and often bloated like Office) that is overkill for Joe Public? I am not so sure, I think this time, VC-1 is the saviour of HD-DVD, allowing a lesser specced format to bat at the same level, and often exceed, that of (what on paper looks more advanced) blu-ray. Combine this with the hidden extras (like all video and audio codecs being supported and dual video decoders allowing pip) that come with *all* HD-DVD players, and looking past the main feature movie, HD-DVD offers more than blu-ray. Sorry, BR is not King; maybe President or Prime Minister - full of BS, inherently costly and not in the best interest for the majority of the public (and ironically studios).

Just a shame about the politics that have interfered with both formats (and lack of DVD-A support)

Meridian owner since 1992
Prime & PSU, Focal Elear headphones, Roon (ROCK 8Gi5 NUC), Explorer 1 & 2, F80. 200/203, various Sonos (via Roon).