Is your HDTV ready for the new HDTV wave?  The HDMI factor.

 

 

There has been a story developing along with the war between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray as the competitors to be the succeeding format to regular DVD.  Blu-Ray has been approved and endorsed by virtually every studio but one as of this posting, plus a bunch of smaller, but very notable companies.  More are sure to follow.  Part of the battle and win is over copyright protection.  While regular DVD was introduced under awkward circumstances, without all the studios supporting it, had very limited copyright protection.  With only a few hundred “digital keys” to unlock, the code breaking (which is not on all DVDs still to this day) has been at the root of tons of lawsuits and debates.

 

Its competitor, the idiotic pay-per-view DIVX DVD (also known as closed DVD) had more of these keys and with the folding of the format, the software has become pretty obsolete and often serve as coasters for drinks or other forms of “spaced age” décor on the cheap.  Some may even be collectible for fans of certain films.  As noted in our previous essay on the HD format war, most HDTVs purchased to date do not have the HDMI input(s) needed to play back the HD signal from either format.  If you have three-RCA component input, you will only get regular definition.  If you only have DVI input, a DVI/HDMI converter cord will not guarantee HD performance.  Since then, a new version of HDMI has been introduced (1.1 vs. 1.3) that can handle even more data, but the press has been totally negligent in explaining this, even as the holiday shopping season arrives!

 

The newer HDMI will not make HDTVs with HDMI inputs obsolete, but offer great opportunities for people to get more out of upcoming home theater equipment.  The copyright protection on the new HD formats will have millions of these keys, making infiltration much more difficult.  With new audio formats like DTS HD, Dolby Digital True HD and second coming of DVD-Audio’s MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing) “packed PCM” format that is a stronger, richer, less cumbersome version of the old CD sound signal, the upgrade is necessary and since 99.99% of the population has not upgraded, the change is timely.  The arrival of Blu-Ray, HD-DVD and receivers that can play back the improved audio and video will all roll out in 2006; so if you are thinking about upgrades to your system for the holiday, think again.  Unless something is breaking or you don’t care about the money you spend, you are better off to hold steady until Denon does the first DTS-HD receiver and the higher-end to mass electronics manufacturers deliver this new generation of high performance.

 

This will not immediately make current DVDs or their best audio examples obsolete and not just because everything will not be immediately available on an HD format as are the years DVD and its boom have delivered tons of material.  Like the old analog 12” LaserDisc before that collector’s have retained even to date after so many years of DVD, many discs will not be as good as their predecessors, either because of a technical glitch, lack of extras or some other mistake that will be inevitable.  Rights over extras or extra footage will be fascinating to see play out.  Also, yet another thing no one is discussing, so many programs and productions originate in formats lower than digital or even older, brief analog High Definition video, that a whole classic array of Music Videos, television productions and regular DV (at 480i or 480p) will not see much benefit from the advent of these formats.  While all the MTM produced sitcoms like The Mary Tyler Moore Show will be amazing remastered, even if the 1.33 X 1 image has to be windowboxed (bars on the sides instead of the top and bottom for widescreen films), Norman Lear/Bud Yorkin classics like All In The Family are only up to 600 lines of analog video at best.  Even some HD productions not shot that well will not benefit much and the higher definition will actually show more flaws!

 

If you must buy new equipment beyond the kinds of great software we are recommending al the time, think high quality speakers and try your local mom and pop stereo stores for a change.  You will be surprised how competitive their prices and the performance of the lines they carry are versus the usually junkier and sub-par brands all the chains usually carry.  By that time, you’ll really be set up for HD.

 

 

This was the home page essay for late November 2005 by Nicholas Sheffo.