2006 was an exciting year for High Definition content. Downloadable content, the Next Generation of Optical Media (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray) and the HD Programming offered by the Cable Companies (see our Comcast, Dish, DirecTV lists) has pushed HD content into the forefront of our lives. Over next few years, HD will continue to grow and displace SD material.





HD-DVD and Blu-Ray launched in the summer of 2006. The launches were a little slow to start with hardware players being delayed and also studio movie releases. By late summer, both formats were shipping in full force with HD-DVD quickly pulling ahead due to image quality. The HD-DVD camp is primarily using VC-1, a codec development by Microsoft several years ago with the release of Windows Media Player 9. Over the past few years several companies have joined the VC-1 camp and the codec has been improved (many times).

VC-1 has been declared superior to MPEG 2 and H.264 by several industry leaders including Tandberg Television and DV Magazine. VC-1 supports several features that allow for the reduction of noise/artifacts and also improves the quality of interlaced material such as 1080i broadcast content. The codec even supports superior compression technologies. In fact, MPEG 2 has to increase the bitrate by 2x to 3x to achieve the same PSNR (Peak Signal to Noise Ratio). Meaning at lower bitrates, MPEG 2 (main codec used for Blu-Ray) is very noisy requiring a higher bitrate to match the PSNR of VC-1. MPEG 2 is an aging codec that was designed for much lower resolutions and I am not convinced it will ever be good enough for HD material.

With VC-1, Microsoft, Toshiba, Universal and WB have demonstrated that HD-DVD is the format to beat when it comes to image quality and compatibility as HD-DVD also supports the combo format. The combo format works like this. Superman Returns for instance is:

-30GB HD on one side of the disk
-9GB DVD 9 on the other side of the disk

This allows for compatibility in HD-DVD Players and Standard DVD’s, something Blu-Ray does not support.

Blu-Ray has been marred by issues from the beginning. The only player available for the first six months, the Samsung BD-P1000 was blamed for most of Blu-Ray’s woes. Blu-Ray movies suffered from the cropping issue in the beginning in movies such as Training Day, but artifacts and noise became the biggest issue along with the lack of brightness/contrast which softened all Blu-Ray images greatly. Sony and Pioneer both delayed their Blu-Ray Players many times and finally shipped over a month ago. Unfortunately the new players are not showing much improvement but did make one adjustment that has made a difference. Sony has increased the bitrates on new releases such as Kingdom of Heaven. The bitrates now are on average around 30 Mbps with HD-DVD averaging in the high 20’s (Mbps). The new bitrate brings image quality of Blu-Ray movies on par with average HD-DVD movie releases but still does not compare to HD-DVD benchmark titles such as the Chronicles of Riddick, Serenity and Batman Begins.

The PS3 is supposed to be the “Knight in Shining Armor” for Blu-Ray. Sony’s plan is to force feed Blu-Ray down the throats of gamers and consumers alike. Forcing a standard is a bad idea because you should always leave us consumers with a choice. Combine the fact that PS3 gamers are more interested in gaming than Blu-Ray movies and the poor image quality of Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray may turn out to be Sony’s Achilles Heal. Microsoft on the other hand, gave consumers a choice. You are free to support HD-DVD if you choose or go with the competing format. You are not forced into paying for a format you may never use. With the purchase of every Toshiba HD-DVD Player and XBOX 360 HD-DVD Drive, we know consumers are buying and renting HD-DVD movies. The same cannot be said of the PS3. When a consumer purchases a PS3 there is no guarantee that a Blu-Ray movie will be purchased to go along with it. The only disadvantage HD-DVD has at this moment is capacity as Blu-Ray is shipping 50GB disks. HD-DVD will move to 45GB in the late spring therefore neutralizing Blu-Ray’s only advantage (which is really not an advantage).






Acquiring official hardware and sales numbers if very different as both camps have been very quiet except for some numbers that have been released recently:

-Toshiba claims that 70,000 of their first generation HD-DVD Players, the HD-A1 and HD-XA1 have been sold. Leaked Samsung sales numbers show that only 15,000 Blu-Ray Players were sold. If these numbers are accurate (as they appear to be as HD-DVD Players were sold out all year), Toshiba outsold Samsung 5 to 1.

-The XBOX 360 HD-DVD has sold 42,000 units through mid December compared to 197,000 PS3 (in the US). This number is misleading as every PS3 sale does not guarantee Blu-Ray movies sales. Nearly every 360 HD-DVD Drive guarantees at least one to two movies sales if not more (I have HD-DVD 24 movies).

-Toshiba also claimed that 1.5 million pieces of HD-DVD software have been sold. Toshiba and the HD-DVD group have claimed that HD-DVD movies have outsold Blu-Ray movies 6 to 1 which translates to 1.5m vs. 250,000, another impressive number (if accurate).





Microsoft surprised us all with the release of the Video Marketplace the day before Thanksgiving. The Video Marketplace contains Movies and TV shows in HD (720p) and SD (480p). Movies such as V for Vendetta and Poseidon are available in 720p along with hit TV shows such as CSI (available in 720p) and South Park. The Movies are for rent only. You have 2 weeks to watch the movie and 24 hours once you start watching. TV shows are yours to own. The pricing is as follows:

480 points (6.00) for New High Definition Movies in 720p
320 points (4.00) for New Standard Definition Movies in 480p

360 points (4.50) for Classic High Definition Movies in 720p
240 points (3.00) for Standard Definition Movies in 480p

240 points (3.00) for High Definition TV Shows in 720p
160 points (2.00) for Standard Definition TV Shows in 480p.

All signs point towards the Video Marketplace as being a huge success. Movies such as Poseidon and V for Vendetta in 720p are among the most popular. With the 360 Video Marketplace begin very easy to use (couple of button presses) with no moving of the movie once the download is complete, Simplicity is KING! I have requested official information from Microsoft regarding Video Marketplace downloads. Stay Tuned…






Morgan Freeman and Intel launched a download movie service a few weeks ago. The service offers HD (a few) and SD movies for a fee. Consumers can rent movies from 9.99 to 11.99 or purchase movies from 19.99 to 24.99. The pricing is ok but the biggest problems with ClickStar and services such as Amazon’s Unbox (no HD movies) is getting content to the right system for playback. Most consumers want to watch the movie in the living room. ClickStar is supporting Intel’s Viiv meaning you can playback the content easily from any Viiv enabled system. Unbox allows you to download the movie to the PC of your choice but if you have no HTPC or Media Center PC in your living room, you are stuck with watching on the PC. In addition to downloading to the PC of your choice, Unbox does provide a version of the movie for playback on your Windows Media enabled portable device such as a Creative Vision M (IPOD is not supported for obvious reasons).

Unfortunately both services will continue to struggle as ease of use is poor and consumers are confused enough over formats, resolutions and PC technology in general, which is why the Video Marketplace is thriving.




BitTorrent announced their alliance with Hollywood a few months ago. BitTorrent will rent and sell SD movies for a fee. There is no word on whether they will supply HD content. Microsoft and NBC announced a deal late in the year that will bring original HD content to MSN starting with “Big Life with Sissy Biggers”. The material is to include interactive content. Vongo (Vongo.com - Choose Now. Watch Now.) is another service that launched late in the year. They offer unlimited movie downloads for 9.99 a month and also offer Pay Per View movies which vary in pricing (see Vongo for more). The Vongo network is powered by Starz which shows that Premium movie providers are getting into act. But sadly Vongo does not offer HD movies at this time.

2006 was a good year for HD material but more choices with ease of use are needed if HD content is expected to grow. If HD remains the stuff of us early adopters, then it will be a while before it all becomes mainstream, leaving most of us video power-users extremely frustrated and screaming for MORE.

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Editor - www.hidef.com

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