Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems The one of MANY HD-DVD threads (No bashing Blu-Ray)

I still think that long term, as average screen size increases, so will the demand for HD material. It could be a while though.

My position, 18 months on, remains the same. HD display adoption is ever increasing. Demand for HD software will therefore also increase. The Joe Six Packs who cannot see the difference will either succumb to the marketing machine, or their desire to keep up with the neighbours, further increasing demand. Those that do see the difference will want to adopt. And those who do adopt will never go back. The war is a short-term inconvenience, but it won't stop HD becoming the norm, it will just take a little longer to get there. Meanwhile, I continue to buy more titles than I have time to watch...

Mark

Mark, you are correct. The question is the speed of adoption. I submit that the pace is too slow for the HD discs. The demand for more HD Content will grow and this at some point will create a disruption which will allow something to come in and fill the gap. I think many people will not purchase their old catalog in HD content and will want the ease of downloading. By that point broad band and studio IP issues should be more resolved. You are correct that the HD discs have gotten much more support and more consumer adoption than SACD-DVDA, but I still think in the end the formats will not succeed. I will add that this is just my feeling and not my hope. My hope is my HDDVD/BRD libraries do not become obsolete in the near term.

best regards,
Jerry

I have the HD-XA2. I wanted the better video processing for my next projector. The A2 is so low priced I may buy one for my bedroom 32 inch flat panel TV.

Believe me, Jerry, the only way I can try and make any sort of sense out of what`s going on in this ridiculous format feud is to examine decisions and happenings from every perspective.

One thing I should of added on the whole gaming market topic is, and this is really very important, the Xbox 360s dominance is really only in America. In the rest of the world they`ve barely sold four million units and by the end of the year the PS3 will be likely gaining on this number fast. I`m not surprised the Xbox is met with dismal sales in Japan, but I am still surprised Europe hasn`t taken to the console in a really big way as, aside form the high failure rate of hardware, Microsoft really did create a fantastic online service and it has a wealth of great games. Europe itself in recent years been considered the largest games market in the world (it`s certainly the most lucrative territory), so it`s ultimately the one to watch closely if anyone is to get an idea of who will ultimately take second place to Nintendo`s first.

I`ll leave it there before George tells me to p*ss off and take these topics to a games forum (though it`s pretty impossible to find a game forum where one can have a logical discussion, so I take what I can get). If you want to keep an eye on games console sales then www.vgchartz.com is a helpful resource.

When you mean average, do you mean when those watching TV's on 19-21" TV's start getting LCD's/Plasma's?

Otherwise, unless our average room sizes start to increase, I don't think that average screen sizes are going to rise and rise. For Joe UK Average, me included, I can't see the norm for TV sizes changing much from 26"-32" (possibly 37") otherwise people will have a TV that dominates their average (UK) room. Other regions may have bigger rooms so a bigger TV may be reasonable, but the thought of TV's getting bigger and bigger and becoming more and more dominating in a standard living room I don't think is going to happen. And at these sort of sizes at average viewing distances, unlike the small percentage that owns a projector or doesn't mind the iMax experience in their living room, Joe is going to not be swayed by the HD resolution.

IMHO.

I think there is definitely a balance to be had with screen/room size. And unfortunately in the UK, with it's smaller buildings, it does tend to mean smaller screens. BUT a 40" panel actually takes up significantly less room than the old CRT/rear-projection monsters we would have been forced to use in the past. My mother is my litmus test for acceptable technological intrusion - and she recently enthusiastically adopted a 40" LCD panel info their terraced house living room having resisted anything larger than their old 24" CRT for many many years... And it fits their room beautifully and in many ways is less intrusive than the CRT. They couldn't go any larger, but 40" 1080 is more than capable of highlighting the significant benefits of HD material. If my mum can do it...

Fortunately, our American cousins, and elsewhere, have much more space to play and will proportionally push demand for HD.

Mark

[edit]typos[/edit]

Very true. It's not all about the UK . I was astonished with how low 50" plasma prices have dropped to when I last looked. From �6000 a couple of years ago to �1500 now.

I think that`s the beauty of flat panels really, that it has allowed us to get bigger screens into smaller rooms. As keen as I was about potentially being able to get Sony`s 55” SXRD rptv so cheap earlier in the year it would have been a hugely impractical choice - whereas Pioneer`s 508XD plasma (aks Pro-1150HD Elite for our American friends) is the current object of my technological affection. Between the various sizes and resolutions offered between LCD and plasma we`re spoilt for choice when it comes to picking the right screen for the right room and viewing distance.


Projectors too. A few years ago it was unthinkable that a device like the HD1 could be had for under �3500.

I am with those arguing that HD is best when rendered on a really big screen. I think I might have said it before, but even with good processing, a DVD has no chance when compared with HD media viewed at ~2m +- on my 768 50' plasma panel. Sad thing is my normal viewing position is more like 3.5-3.7m ...

Things will change however as soon as the 1080 projector arrives . I finally decided this is the first thing to get in order to benefit more from HD, rather than going to a 50' or even 63' 1080 plasma screen. Not that such a panel would be a bad thing ...

Daniel,
I didnt know that the XBox was doing that badly internationally. And I also didn't realize Europe was a larger game market than the US.

All that said- check this out guys:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Best_Buy/Industry_Trends/Best_Buy_Survey:_Consumers_Still_Confused_About_HD/1013

Im actually surprised at how bad things are: 9/10 are confused about HD and 4/10 who own an HDTV *admit* to being in the dark about HD- that means in real life its possible that 6/10 HDTV owners surveyed are in the dark because some people won't admit it.

best regards,
Jerry

Which site Mark? There's nothing on Amazon.

BTW, what's the latest on Lawrence of Arabia?