Re: Toshiba starts shipment of Super Upconversion chip samples. $50 in volume

Everyone who bought a HD DVD player would have applied for the free movie offer - they have our details.

I know this as I recently asked the question about warranty (as I no longer have my original receipt) - The response was that proof of purchase will NOT be require.

So you never know they may offer HD-DVD owners a rebate against new players - it would also be a good way to establish a user base.

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Not typical of the average consumer, but only the likely choice of the 'High End' HDTV enthusiasts on this board, the ' Full 1080p' TV set is very uncommon, being typically HDTV sets that only 1 year ago were retailing at over $3000.

Cipher, I bought my full 1080p set in 4/07 and it retailed for$1800.

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Well looks like I was correct, and my past comment about Toshiba milking us was ON POINT. Bottom line, they had planned this SUPER UPCONVERT way before the DEATH of HD DVD, and that in my books is called Theft By Deception!

IB,

That was kinda my point all along. We'll see how these super upconverts stack up against the XA2 or A35 when and if they ever come out. If they are far superior to the HD DVD players upconverting abilities, then I think we HD DVD owners will have a legitimate gripe. If they are marginally superior or near equal: no big deal! Even so, moaning and groaning about it will get us nowhere anyway.

Hey Steve just a quick follow up, I guess I was just speaking the obvious. I am more pissed at Toshiba and I guess you can call that moaning. My whole point is what I said in my original thread, that Toshiba was developing this SUPER UPCONVERT way before HD DVD's death thats all.
It is what it is, and I will use my A2 until it goes BOOM. I am still happy with the quality of the player, and I still love the movies I have on HD DVD.

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Cipher, I bought my full 1080p set in 4/07 and it retailed for$1800.

Tony, I realize that, mine cost around $2250 a year ago as well, but they were rare and expensive nonetheless.

DLP and Plasma were cheaper than LCD, but even today, you see far more 720p sets selling than 1080p ones.

A major reason that they have started marking the newer sets as 'Full HD 1080p', so people know the difference, and buy the higher end model.

Go walk through Wal Mart's electronics section and check out how many of the 37" and larger screens are 1080p.

Depending the size of the store, there may be none, or a only single model that is 1080p.

Smaller screens aren't worth it, and many shoppers are looking at screen size and price, and not 720p vs 1080p.

Broadcast and Cable TV only go up to 1080i, and so far, the only benefits you get from a 1080p set will only be realized when hooked up to a BluRay or HD DVD player.

Oh, and those 'up-converters' too, although the average person buying the up-converting DVD player still probably has a 720p TV set at best.

Lots of people are paying more for the HDMI cable than they pay for the up-converter that they are using it with.

Consider yourself to be more among the 'elite' here, the average person on this board is far more familiar and knowledgeable with A/V equipment than most others are.

DVDTOWN goes beyond how big of a screen can I get for the cheapest price, and having to pay an extra $500 for the installers to deliver and set up your new HDTV purchase because you don't know how to connect the wiring.

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Broadcast and Cable TV only go up to 1080i, and so far, the only benefits you get from a 1080p set will only be realized when hooked up to a BluRay or HD DVD player.

Technically speaking, you require a 1080p set to resolve the information in a 1080i broadcast signal.

IB,

Sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you were moaning. I apologize if you got that impression. I sure as hell have done my share of complaining so I'm not throwing rocks at other people. Besides, I'm in total agreement with you.

I got I Am Legend in the mail today from Amazon as well as Premonition from Xploited, both on HD DVD.

Steve

As always this really doesnt have anything to do with the topic at hand but does anybody remember when they tried to sell us dvd's with music on them. How did that go...The success of dvd movies was due in part to the format itself(a movie on a disc,no rewinding,instant access) more than picture quality. Saying that,"Why would joe blow adopt any high definition format"? Infact, most already think they have it.

I think what we are talking about here is a niche market. I hardly ever see anybody checking out the high definition discs when I am out and about. Infact it is my belief that what we have now with the upconversion players on the market,and there continued performance,is what the general public is going to buy into. What I am trying to say has already been discussed here,and that is this.

"The mass adoptance of high definition movies,will occur when digital downloads become more practical."

Until then, everything else is just for us....the niche market...LASERDISC part duex.

http://hdtvorg.co.uk/news/articles/2008040801.htm

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PS3 could power your Toshiba LCD TV
In stark contrast to the two companies high profile battle over the next generation optical disc formats (Blu-ray v HD DVD) Toshiba could soon be using Sony's PS3 cell processor to power its own LCD TV's.

Apparently, Toshiba are already working on a prototype LCD TV using the PS3 chip to "upscale standard-definition TV to a very close approximation of high-definition."

Having heard claims by other manufacturers that their latest image processing technology will take an SD feed and upscale it to HD quality, and having been disappointed with the results, we will remain skeptical in relation to these claims until we see the results for ourselves.

What is more certain however is that the new PS3 enabled Toshiba LCD TV's will be able to stream multiple video feeds simultaneously.

This is where Super Upconversion originally came from, as an HDTV upconverter.

> John J. Puccio

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And we don't even know what it will do yet or how much better it is than Toshiba's current upconversion.

It's a lot better than normal upconversion as Super Upconversion isn't "upconversion" at all(You can shoot Toshiba for the poor choice of words), demo pics were posted here.

> Skyhawk

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Actually the chip is a graphics co-processor (not a "super upconversion chip"

Whose primary usage in consumer electronics space is Super Upconversion.

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there is no inherent upconversion capability built in to the chip

Because you probably can't come up with a hardware based Super Resolution solution due to algorithmic complexity.

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Functions like this would have to be driven by software and likely additional specialized hardware components

Normal upconversion takes 0.3% of CPU time.

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Toshiba has given no idication this would appear in any DVD player

Actually "pretty soon" to battle Blu-Ray, according to CEO Nishida.

> Falcon01

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I wonder if these chips will provide better looking upconversion than the Toshiba HD XA2's.

The output of Super Upconversion is 960p native.

> theprof00

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sigh another attempt to confuse the market.
hddvd 2.

Well, Toshiba is happy as long as you don't switch to Blu-Ray and keep buying DVDs.