HD DVD Player ED Plasma TV?

Question

I bought a 44 inch plasma EDTV before HD became all the rage. now they have HD DVD players. I have a very extensive DVD library and i was wondering if i can play regular DVDs on an HD DVD player and also can i even use an HD DVD player with an EDTV? Honestly i am getting a bit agitated with all this because i spent quite alot of money on the setup i have now but with the options getting so diverse and with some DVDs only coming out in HD or Blueray format i want to up grade my player. Is this possible with an EDTV i dont want to have to shell out another 3 grand for another tv when the one i have isnt even 3 years old yet

Answer 1

You can use a HD DVD or Blu Ray player w/ your EDTV. The TV will just downconvert the signal to 480P which is your TV's native resolution. You can also play your SD DVDs on either format.

Answer 2

One error in your question ... no movies are yet coming out only in HD format. Since HD DVD and Blu-Ray are still a niche product format (less than 10% of total disk sales. In fact HD format disks only just overtook VHS format movie sales ... and you know how often you see them these days!) studios would be crazy to cut off their major source of sales ... normal DVDs.

So .... you can save your money and forget the HD DVD (or Blu-Ray) player unless or until you upgrade to a true HDTV (at least 720p / 1080i).

Think of it like this. Your TV is the limiting step in that it won't diplay more than 480 (horizontal lines) resolution. While an HD DVD player will output 480p and will play normal DVDs there would be no advantage to buying the HD DVD model.

The only exception might be if you need a new DVD player anyway, in which case the Toshiba HD-A2 would be a good choice since it not only plays normal DVDs but also "upscales" them to a form of pseudo HD that look good on a true HDTV (and also allow you to play HD DVDs as well should you wish to pay the premium).

But the bottom line is your EDTV has a limited future IF you want a sharper picture. On the other hand if you find the picture acceptable you can ignore all the hype around HD DVD and Blu-Ray and hold fast for at least a couple more years until things sort out and prices come down even further,

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

The broadcast industry is moving toward conversion of our system to High Definition Television (HDTV), a conversion which presumably will be complete sometime in this decade. This is good news. HDTV is better than EDTV, and much better than regular TV for two reasons. First, it increases the number of scan lines on the screen, so you get much more picture clarity and detail. Second, it gives you a wider picture that looks more like a movie theater screen rather than the old, almost square TV.

So how many more scanlines do you get? Well, there are two popular HDTV formats in use. One is called 1080i, and the other is 720p. But don't worry, there are no format wars to worry about. All digital projectors and digital HDTVs take both formats. The fact is that ABC, ESPN, and Fox broadcast in 720p, while CBS, NBC, HDNet and others use 1080i. Both formats produce great pictures that are a leap forward over regular television. And you will never know the difference. If you are watching Everybody Loves Raymond in high definition on Monday night, and you flip to ABC to see what is happening on Monday Night Football, your projector or HDTV will automatically switch from 1080i to 720p without you even knowing it. All you will be aware of is that both channels look a lot better than they used to with an amazingly clear and detailed widescreen picture.

For those who want a bit more technical explanation, we can say that both formats feature the widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio that defines HDTV. However, the 1080i format has 1080 lines for each frame of video, whereas the 720p format has 720 lines. A lot of people think 1080i is preferred because it has more scanlines, and thus is capable of more picture detail. However, since there is so much data in the 1080-line format, each frame must be separated into even and odd lines and broadcast a half frame at a time in interlaced format, just like the current TV broadcast system. This can introduce the same type of artifacts as we see today, but they are smaller and less noticeable since there are so many scanlines.

The alternative HDTV format is 720-lines progressive scan, or 720p. Though it has fewer lines, the native progressive scan format eliminates motion artifacts that originate in interlacing. So for subject matter that contains a lot of rapid motion—NFL Football for example--you can get a clearer, more stable picture from 720p than you can from 1080i. Alternatively, for subject matter that has very little motion, 1080i is capable of rendering more picture detail.

The truth is that 1080i and 720p are both excellent HDTV formats. One is not better than the other; they are just each better with particular types of subject matter. When done right, both are clearly superior to the 480-line format we have today. And best of all, you will never have to worry about it because your projector or HDTV will sort it all out for you anyway.

Answer 4

first of all,hd dvd players r backward compatible with dvd disc format anyway.ucanuse ur edtv for hd player but u'll not get the full hd resolution coz of ur edtv.
best solution to ur problem is buy an upconvert dvd player that can upgrade ur dvd disc picture on ur edtv.
another thing is hd tv for the size of 44 inches isn't that expensive now . u could get one for a little over a grand.
hope this answer helps.good luck.

Answer 5

Well i imagine the hd dvd player is like the blu ray player and in that case, yes you can play dvds on it, the people the make dvd make hd dvd so it would be stupid for them not to put that option on it. With the tv you will not notice a big difference between hd and dvd without a full hd tv. Iv been using my Blu ray on a normal flat screen tv and i see no difference, but when i plug it into my hd tv its a huge difference.