Buyer Beware: Toshiba's New HDTV DVD Player By Phillip Swann TVPredictions.com
April 17, 2006 http://www.tvpredictions.com/tvpblog.htm Does new technology always have to be so complicated? Toshiba this week will begin selling its new $500 high-def DVD player at Amazon.com and electronics stores nationwide. The set-top can play Toshiba's new HD-DVD which can display a true HDTV picture on high-def sets. Yes, it can display a true HDTV picture -- but will it? As reported here previously, the new HD-DVD (and Sony's rival Blu-ray HDTV DVD, which will be released in early summer)includes an anti-copying feature that could dramatically reduce the picture quality on early-model HDTVs with analog components. (The number of HDTVs with analog components could be as high as 12 million.)If the studios add the anti-copying software to their DVDs, the picture quality would not only not be true HD, but it would be little better than current DVDs. Most studios are saying now that they won't add the software, but they are not making any long-term commitments. So you might see a great picture today and a lousy one before year's end. To make matters even more complicated, Toshiba's new DVDs will not be compatible with the Sony Blu-ray player, which could lead to another Beta vs. VHS disaster. Your new Toshiba player could be obsolete in a year or two. The launch of the high-def DVDs is an exciting development, but the industry has made it difficult for me to recommend that you buy one at this time. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
