> From: "Peter O'Byrne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [OGD] HD delivery format > > Jim Miller said: "The video was shot in high definition, and though > there is no HD delivery format right now for consumers". > > Sorry Jim, but you're a wee bit out-of-date. I can buy the Toshiba > HD-DVD player in virtually any electronics store in town, and while > I'm at it I can buy a number of movies on HD-DVD to put into the > machine. Of course, I need an HDTV to watch it on, but these are also > available, as long as one has enough of the rough 'n ready.
Hi Peter, Sorry, but either I was not clear or you made a quantum leap in reasoning. I'm hardly "out-of-date" as I do this for a living. I did mention both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats. You are correct as far as players are concerned, but you failed to take into account that an individual cannot master video in either format. Just as in the early days of CDs and DVDs, the hardware required to burn data onto the discs was prohibitively expensive. My first CD burner cost me $2,250 US dollars. My first DVD recorder cost almost $3,000. Right now there is no consumer-level recorder/burner for either Blu-ray or HD-DVD. And even if there were, the resulting discs would play only on a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player. What are the chances that more than a tiny percentage of people on this list (or anywhere else) would own one? The Toshiba HD-DVD player is available for about $500, while the Samsung Blu-ray sells for a cool $1000. Why on earth would I create a disc that nobody could play (except for early adopters such as yourself)? Plus, even if more people had one of these, I'd have to price the disc at $200-300, as I would have to send the video file to a professional manufacturing house rather than just a commercial duplicator. I did not feel that the readers of this newsgroup needed to know all that, so I simply said delivery methods for HD video were not yet available. In the future, I promise to be more thorough. That said, I should point out that the discs people will buy from me will have images far better than the average TV broadcast. That's because standard DVDs have about 500 lines of resolution using what is called progressive scanning, while analog TV essentially consists of two 250-line interlaced frames which must be put together to fool the eye into thinking it's seeing a higher resolution image. That's a gross oversimplification, of course. If anyone thinks it's important for everyone on the list to know all the exact details, I'll be glad to share a comprehensive explanation. Meanwhile, I was surprised at how many orders already came in for the DVDs. Thanks! It's a very worthwhile project we are supporting. Some feel that it's a "lost cause" trying to reintroduce native Florida orchids, but at least we have to give it a try. If anyone missed the original post, I'd be happy to share the details. Best regards, Jim _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
