I have entered the age of High Definition...

...with a new HD TV (got a GREAT deal on Woot) and a Playstation 3 as a BluRay player. I also christened it with GATACCA on BluRay - the same movie I christened my original DVD player with (though it was one of the only DVDs available at the time). The image and sound quality were excellent!

And I was reminded what a GREAT movie GATACCA is. If you've never seen it, go out and get a copy on VHS, DVD, BluRay, or digital doanload!

Bye-Bye HD-DVD

It is unofficially official. Toshiba has decided to shut down its HD-DVD operations and end support for the format altogether. It appears the last nail in the coffin was Wal-Mart's decision to stop stocking the format. If you were one of the millions (?) who bought an HD-DVD player when prices began to plummet before Christmas, all hope is not lost. We are hearing that Wal-Mart, Target, and other retailers will be having blowout sales soon to clear their inventories and you may wind up picking up some titles for a few dollars that won't be out on Blu-Ray for years and even then may cost $40 and up.

If you have not yet invested, and do not plan to buy a Playstation 3, my advice is still to wait. Holographic discs, iTunes HD downloads, and other options are still out there, so the "next generation format war" may not truly end with this move.

Warning for BluRay Buyers

There has been a lot of news lately about Hollywood finally choosing a single format for High Definion (HD) movies, and BluRay has won over HD-DVD. What is NOT being talked about much is the fact that most of the players currently on the market are not set to be compatible with disks to be released even later this year. The Consumerist warns us that unless you are watching your BluRay disks on a Playstation 3, you may be in for a rough wake-up call.

But with the exception of the Playstation 3, current Blu-ray DVD players were built without future-compatibility capabilities, so come this October owners won't be able to take advantage of features like Internet connectivity or enhanced interactivity (whatever that means—details are sketchy). "One key Blu-ray developer told BetaNews that although he builds discs for studios including Fox and Lionsgate, he did not buy a Blu-ray player for personal use."

Buyer beware. Even if the HD wars are over (and I suspect we'll learn from Apple next week that they are not), it is still very easy to get burned in the current market.

Are you ready for the DTV changeover?

We have discussed it before here, but in informal chats with friends I am finding that most are not aware that 2008 is the last year for over-the-air analog TV. It has been coming for over a decade, but Congress appears to finally be serious about reclaiming the vast analog TV spectrum for emergency responders, and forcing TV companies to take up a smaller spectrum for digital over-the-air (HD) broadcasts. If you have an existing non-HD television, and still get your TV from an antenna, now is the time to start thinking about your backup plan. (If you have an HDTV, look for an ATSC tuner. If you have cable TV, don't worry about it as cable is not affected by this legislation.) The simplest and most effective is to order a converter box for your TV which will switchover digital channels into analog ones. If that is the way you want to go, < the government is offering subsidies to anyone making the switch. Click on over and take a look. Now is the time to sign up, to give yourself maximum time to adjust.

HD Resolutions Explained

I don't have an HD TV, so I haven't really looked into what the different resolutions mean before. I found this article over at Wired interesting and informative.