I've read some of this discussion, but haven't attempted to keep up with it in a while. It seems to be hotly contested, with supporters of both formats having a lot of faith in their preference, or perspective. I personally would like to see both discs stick around, though I prefer Blu-ray Disc, and I am hoping that it's not eliminated.
I read a while ago that the next format will be decided by the porn industry. I apologize if I missed this discussion already posted, but I was wondering if this is something most everyone agrees on. It didn't seem to be disputed, at least not that I remember.
Is there a basic consensus as to wether or not there will there be a single format, and wether it will be heavily decided on by the porn industry?
You're kidding, right? Porn has never been renowned for the quality of its productions. From scripts to lighting to camerawork and especially to acting, it's always been second-rate, done by people who aren't good enough to get jobs in the regular industry. They don't have the expertise, budget or time to do anything better. And the fact is, they won't have to. People will continue to buy them no matter how badly lit and filmed they are, because guys just want to see naked women and lots of silicone.
No I'm not kidding. What other features can you suggest would lure consumers away from the Internet? Most of the TVs out and coming out can connect up to a computer so it's not like seeing it on a big screen is going to be as big a factor as it might have once been. As far as second-rate goes, I agree with you. However, I would argue that getting better looking actresses and sets are not going to take them out of that category but it would in fact put them above all the stuff out now and make seeing porn in Hi-Def actually worth something. Guys are always going to want to see naked women but now that anyone with a camera phone can post on the internet the porn industry will have to change a little bit to compete.
No I'm not kidding. What other features can you suggest would lure consumers away from the Internet? Most of the TVs out and coming out can connect up to a computer so it's not like seeing it on a big screen is going to be as big a factor as it might have once been. As far as second-rate goes, I agree with you. However, I would argue that getting better looking actresses and sets are not going to take them out of that category but it would in fact put them above all the stuff out now and make seeing porn in Hi-Def actually worth something. Guys are always going to want to see naked women but now that anyone with a camera phone can post on the internet the porn industry will have to change a little bit to compete.
There may be something to that, but not as it relates to this dicussion about the formats. Is higher quality Porn better and will it sell more than low quality porn? Yes, probably. But all things being equal, there's not going to be a difference between an upconverted DVD and a Blu-Ray disc, at least not that consumers of porn care about.
however i was counting the 92,000 ALREADY SOLD in nov-dec
1,000,000 minus 92,000 = 908,000 NOW devide by 12 to get?
75666.66 recuring
or as i rounded it to 75,000
given that i was 666.66 out and you were 25,000 i think i was closer
anyway......
i think 8-bit machines will see a resurgance in 2008 how will this effect hardware sales
My number is all that matters to me, it's a guess, a SWAG, a "pure speculation," a prediction, a forecast. It has nothing to do with a simplistic X*Y=Z based on short term historic data.
And if your number is an ~order of magnitude linear extrapolation, by all means be my guest, mine isn't and never was!
And someone who doesn't accept my guess for what it is, a guess, and makes up their own set of assumptions, and then applies their assumptions to my guess, saying that their answer "proves the future" just doesn't get it, and apparently at this point never will!
Well... here's another $40 coupon for xbox360 HD-DVD Add-on from circuit city. The $159 HD-DVD player ain't a bad offer when it comes with remote and King Kong HD-DVD movie. Offer expires on 3/31/07. BTW, coupon's also good with other items as well..... even towards PS3, if you wish.
Well... here's another $40 coupon for xbox360 HD-DVD Add-on from circuit city. The $159 HD-DVD player ain't a bad offer when it comes with remote and King Kong HD-DVD movie. Offer expires on 3/31/07. BTW, coupon's also good with other items as well..... even towards PS3, if you wish.
If the thread is to become an ongoing promotion advertisement for any given format (please Lord let it not be the case), well then it sufficeth to say that GameStop is offering a promotion for $100 off a PS3 via a PS2 trade-in...
Deal ends February 18th and is a really good deal if you are considering upgrading your PS2. Why dink around with an add-on when you can get a full featured, inclusive drive device in the PS3, heh?
There may be something to that, but not as it relates to this dicussion about the formats. Is higher quality Porn better and will it sell more than low quality porn? Yes, probably. But all things being equal, there's not going to be a difference between an upconverted DVD and a Blu-Ray disc, at least not that consumers of porn care about.
That's not the point. Its what the producers themselves will switch to and they will definitely move to HD-DVD. The punters will follow. The costs of authoring and production are just so much lower.
I just was just on Netflix looking for new Blu-ray movies to add to my queue, when I noticed that the Sopranos Season 6 was available. So I started wondering if they were able to consolidate these seasons onto less discs and would Blu-ray have an advantage over HD-DVD here. Turns out that both Blu-ray and HD-DVD are on 4 discs
and get this...
... so is the DVD version.
I understand that 1080p is about 6 times more information than 480p. What I don't get is how discs that supposedly have 5 and 10 times the capacity of a DVD are not able to decrease the number of discs in a box set. There are no HD extras.
If 4 hour long episodes fit onto a DVD and 4 hour long episodes in 1080p fit onto an HD-DVD dual-layer 30 GB disc then shouldn't we see 6-8 of these episodes fitting on a BD-50 disc (both are done in VC-1)? This is one example to me highlighting why TotalHD is a losing format, because rather than playing to the strengths of either format it waters one or both down so that they are always the same. WB doesn't want to do anything extra for one format over the other now so I can't see them doing anything special in the future either. Here's to hoping 24 on BR makes them realize that less discs in a box set is a good thing because I want the Wire on BR and I don't want it half-assed
P.S. After seeing this I'm kinda sad that when 100GB and 200GB discs come into play it will probably take a long time before boxed sets start getting put on them due to legacy player incompatability issues. Ugh, bring on the reliable Hi-Def high speed downloads already.
I just was just on Netflix looking for new Blu-ray movies to add to my queue, when I noticed that the Sopranos Season 6 was available. So I started wondering if they were able to consolidate these seasons onto less discs and would Blu-ray have an advantage over HD-DVD here. Turns out that both Blu-ray and HD-DVD are on 4 discs
and get this...
... so is the DVD version.
I understand that 1080p is about 6 times more information than 480p. What I don't get is how discs that supposedly have 5 and 10 times the capacity of a DVD are not able to decrease the number of discs in a box set. There are no HD extras.
If 4 hour long episodes fit onto a DVD and 4 hour long episodes in 1080p fit onto an HD-DVD dual-layer 30 GB disc then shouldn't we see 6-8 of these episodes fitting on a BD-50 disc (both are done in VC-1)? This is one example to me highlighting why TotalHD is a losing format, because rather than playing to the strengths of either format it waters one or both down so that they are always the same. WB doesn't want to do anything extra for one format over the other now so I can't see them doing anything special in the future either. Here's to hoping 24 on BR makes them realize that less discs in a box set is a good thing because I want the Wire on BR and I don't want it half-assed
P.S. After seeing this I'm kinda sad that when 100GB and 200GB discs come into play it will probably take a long time before boxed sets start getting put on them due to legacy player incompatability issues. Ugh, bring on the reliable Hi-Def high speed downloads already.
w00t!
Do the math;
(1920*1080)/ (720*480) = 6 (like you said)
25GB (Blu-Ray SL)/5GB (DVD) = 5
30GB (HD-DVD DL)/5GB (DVD) = 6
Therefore, 6 (or 5) times the storage versus 6 times the the file size looks like a zero sum game to me (number of DVD discs = number of HD discs). Also, same number of discs for each simplifies packaging.
Therefore, 6 (or 5) times the storage versus 6 times the the file size looks like a zero sum game to me (number of DVD discs = number of HD discs). Also, same number of discs for each simplifies packaging.
Umm they specifically stated that they are using Blu-ray 50GB discs.
Umm they specifically stated that they are using Blu-ray 50GB discs.
Welcome to lowest common denominator.
Warner has done this before. Even if they have access to a 50GB discs as long as HD DVD is viable they are going to target their encodes at that level and then deliver to both platforms.
For Blu-ray fans this means you're not going to get a special high bitrate version of the movie. You going to get exactly what the HD DVD video got and in a lot of cases you won't get TrueHD ( see Happy Feet and other movies)
Now I'm not a believer that 50GB movies look substantially better or even better at all. I think good compression gets the movie down to 20-25GB and the rest of the space is audio and extras and interactivity. I'm hoping that HD DVD moves to Premium 2-Discs sets as that gives us affordable 60 GB of data at most.
Hm... here's another possible option to play HD-DVD from your mac. Leopard ($99/$129) + xbox360 Add on HD-DVD drive.... I guess this is pending since there's no official support announcement, but since apple being neutral, it would most likely support playing HD-DVD with apple dvd player coming with Leopard... MacOS 10.5. Well... if someone makes a combo drive that supports both HD-DVD and BD, it would be perfect HTPC solution on a mac. Also, as M$ being Mr. Xerox.... Vista would likely provide HD-DVD playback offer for free as well, which would now cut the entry level HD-DVD player price down..... to $159 to join the HD-DVD bandwagon for those with new OS. It's time to use the CC $40 coupon....
Hm... here's another possible option to play HD-DVD from your mac. Leopard ($99/$129) + xbox360 Add on HD-DVD drive.... I guess this is pending since there's no official support announcement, but since apple being neutral, it would most likely support playing HD-DVD with apple dvd player coming with Leopard... MacOS 10.5. Well... if someone makes a combo drive that supports both HD-DVD and BD, it would be perfect HTPC solution on a mac. Also, as M$ being Mr. Xerox.... Vista would likely provide HD-DVD playback offer for free as well, which would now cut the entry level HD-DVD player price down..... to $159 to join the HD-DVD bandwagon for those with new OS. It's time to use the CC $40 coupon....
Yeah, I can totally see Apple supporting Microsoft's Xbox 360 as one of their top priorities...
By the way, in already having a laptop loaded with the final RTM build of Vista, I can assure you that you DO NOT have native HD DVD playback. Not in the Enterprise version nor in the most expensive "Ultimate" version. How about native DVD playback on Vista out of the box? Nope not even that, although supposedly the Ultimate version will at least give you native DVD playback which has been apart of the Mac OS for how long? Anyhow, I just want to point out to you that Microsoft's Vista is going to be a non-factor for the HD DVD format. It appears they are going the route of what XP gave us, an OS that will give you both DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray playback albeit in the form of third party software at an additional cost. So much for the OOB experience Microshaft.
Yeah, I can totally see Apple supporting Microsoft's Xbox 360 as one of their top priorities...
By the way, in already having a laptop loaded with the final RTM build of Vista, I can assure you that you DO NOT have native HD DVD playback. Not in the Enterprise version nor in the most expensive "Ultimate" version. How about native DVD playback on Vista out of the box? Nope not even that, although supposedly the Ultimate version will at least give you native DVD playback which has been apart of the Mac OS for how long? Anyhow, I just want to point out to you that Microsoft's Vista is going to be a non-factor for the HD DVD format. It appears they are going the route of what XP gave us, an OS that will give you both DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray playback albeit in the form of third party software at an additional cost. So much for the OOB experience Microshaft.
Time to get a blu-ray drive.
Tiger already recognize xbox 360 add on drive as HD-DVD drive. It won't play HD-DVD movies due to lack of HD-DVD movie software, but once it's placed, or once the new dvd player software in Leopard can play both HiDef format, it should become a HD-DVD player for $159. Don't forget that xbox 360 add on is just an USB external HD-DVD rom drive made by toshiba.
As for the Vista, features will follow with a real version or after apple does.
By the way, in already having a laptop loaded with the final RTM build of Vista, I can assure you that you DO NOT have native HD DVD playback. Not in the Enterprise version nor in the most expensive "Ultimate" version. How about native DVD playback on Vista out of the box? Nope not even that, although supposedly the Ultimate version will at least give you native DVD playback which has been apart of the Mac OS for how long? Anyhow, I just want to point out to you that Microsoft's Vista is going to be a non-factor for the HD DVD format. It appears they are going the route of what XP gave us, an OS that will give you both DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray playback albeit in the form of third party software at an additional cost. So much for the OOB experience Microshaft.
I thought Microsoft announced way back in 2005 that HD DVD support in Vista would trail Vista's launch by a year or so?
Just a few peripheral thoughts and observations. I was in Circuit City yesterday and they had six PS3 boxes on the shelf, all $599, but no $499 units for sale. I think people may be picking them up for a cheap BD player.
Price of 1080p LCD HDTV are dropping faster than plasma, no? I was tempted by a Toshiba 42 inch, but my buddy pointed out that the HDMI connectors were only 768p; strange. It also had component video. He is picking up a Westinghouse 1080p LCD monitor, no tuners. It goes on sale this weekend for $1299. Hard to resist.
Also discovered a few good tuners have all audio input connector types, but convert them to HDMI audio to go to the monitor or HDTV. Must have an A/D converter on board, likely 24 bit, no? That makes life, and cabling, much easier. I'm just trying to get up to speed with HDTV for a future purchase. The longer I wait, the lower the price will be, but waiting is hard to do.
Comments
I read a while ago that the next format will be decided by the porn industry. I apologize if I missed this discussion already posted, but I was wondering if this is something most everyone agrees on. It didn't seem to be disputed, at least not that I remember.
Is there a basic consensus as to wether or not there will there be a single format, and wether it will be heavily decided on by the porn industry?
Don't be so lazy
Don't be so lazy
lol! I really am.
If you insist that it's only the last few pages..
Is there a basic consensus as to wether or not there will there be a single format, and wether it will be heavily decided on by the porn industry?
the short answer to that really IS "time will tell"
i wouldnt rely on history repeating itself, but then again i wouldnt rule history out either
You're kidding, right? Porn has never been renowned for the quality of its productions. From scripts to lighting to camerawork and especially to acting, it's always been second-rate, done by people who aren't good enough to get jobs in the regular industry. They don't have the expertise, budget or time to do anything better. And the fact is, they won't have to. People will continue to buy them no matter how badly lit and filmed they are, because guys just want to see naked women and lots of silicone.
No I'm not kidding. What other features can you suggest would lure consumers away from the Internet? Most of the TVs out and coming out can connect up to a computer so it's not like seeing it on a big screen is going to be as big a factor as it might have once been. As far as second-rate goes, I agree with you. However, I would argue that getting better looking actresses and sets are not going to take them out of that category but it would in fact put them above all the stuff out now and make seeing porn in Hi-Def actually worth something. Guys are always going to want to see naked women but now that anyone with a camera phone can post on the internet the porn industry will have to change a little bit to compete.
No I'm not kidding. What other features can you suggest would lure consumers away from the Internet? Most of the TVs out and coming out can connect up to a computer so it's not like seeing it on a big screen is going to be as big a factor as it might have once been. As far as second-rate goes, I agree with you. However, I would argue that getting better looking actresses and sets are not going to take them out of that category but it would in fact put them above all the stuff out now and make seeing porn in Hi-Def actually worth something. Guys are always going to want to see naked women but now that anyone with a camera phone can post on the internet the porn industry will have to change a little bit to compete.
There may be something to that, but not as it relates to this dicussion about the formats. Is higher quality Porn better and will it sell more than low quality porn? Yes, probably. But all things being equal, there's not going to be a difference between an upconverted DVD and a Blu-Ray disc, at least not that consumers of porn care about.
to defend my math
you are correct
however i was counting the 92,000 ALREADY SOLD in nov-dec
1,000,000 minus 92,000 = 908,000 NOW devide by 12 to get?
75666.66 recuring
or as i rounded it to 75,000
given that i was 666.66 out and you were 25,000 i think i was closer
anyway......
i think 8-bit machines will see a resurgance in 2008 how will this effect hardware sales
My number is all that matters to me, it's a guess, a SWAG, a "pure speculation," a prediction, a forecast. It has nothing to do with a simplistic X*Y=Z based on short term historic data.
And if your number is an ~order of magnitude linear extrapolation, by all means be my guest, mine isn't and never was!
And someone who doesn't accept my guess for what it is, a guess, and makes up their own set of assumptions, and then applies their assumptions to my guess, saying that their answer "proves the future" just doesn't get it, and apparently at this point never will!
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/gener...3Foid%3D160141
Well... here's another $40 coupon for xbox360 HD-DVD Add-on from circuit city. The $159 HD-DVD player ain't a bad offer when it comes with remote and King Kong HD-DVD movie. Offer expires on 3/31/07. BTW, coupon's also good with other items as well..... even towards PS3, if you wish.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/gener...3Foid%3D160141
If the thread is to become an ongoing promotion advertisement for any given format (please Lord let it not be the case), well then it sufficeth to say that GameStop is offering a promotion for $100 off a PS3 via a PS2 trade-in...
http://dealnews.com/deals/Game-Stop-...in/149555.html
Deal ends February 18th and is a really good deal if you are considering upgrading your PS2. Why dink around with an add-on when you can get a full featured, inclusive drive device in the PS3, heh?
There may be something to that, but not as it relates to this dicussion about the formats. Is higher quality Porn better and will it sell more than low quality porn? Yes, probably. But all things being equal, there's not going to be a difference between an upconverted DVD and a Blu-Ray disc, at least not that consumers of porn care about.
That's not the point. Its what the producers themselves will switch to and they will definitely move to HD-DVD. The punters will follow. The costs of authoring and production are just so much lower.
and get this...
... so is the DVD version.
I understand that 1080p is about 6 times more information than 480p. What I don't get is how discs that supposedly have 5 and 10 times the capacity of a DVD are not able to decrease the number of discs in a box set. There are no HD extras.
If 4 hour long episodes fit onto a DVD and 4 hour long episodes in 1080p fit onto an HD-DVD dual-layer 30 GB disc then shouldn't we see 6-8 of these episodes fitting on a BD-50 disc (both are done in VC-1)? This is one example to me highlighting why TotalHD is a losing format, because rather than playing to the strengths of either format it waters one or both down so that they are always the same. WB doesn't want to do anything extra for one format over the other now so I can't see them doing anything special in the future either. Here's to hoping 24 on BR makes them realize that less discs in a box set is a good thing because I want the Wire on BR and I don't want it half-assed
P.S. After seeing this I'm kinda sad that when 100GB and 200GB discs come into play it will probably take a long time before boxed sets start getting put on them due to legacy player incompatability issues. Ugh, bring on the reliable Hi-Def high speed downloads already.
I just was just on Netflix looking for new Blu-ray movies to add to my queue, when I noticed that the Sopranos Season 6 was available. So I started wondering if they were able to consolidate these seasons onto less discs and would Blu-ray have an advantage over HD-DVD here. Turns out that both Blu-ray and HD-DVD are on 4 discs
and get this...
... so is the DVD version.
I understand that 1080p is about 6 times more information than 480p. What I don't get is how discs that supposedly have 5 and 10 times the capacity of a DVD are not able to decrease the number of discs in a box set. There are no HD extras.
If 4 hour long episodes fit onto a DVD and 4 hour long episodes in 1080p fit onto an HD-DVD dual-layer 30 GB disc then shouldn't we see 6-8 of these episodes fitting on a BD-50 disc (both are done in VC-1)? This is one example to me highlighting why TotalHD is a losing format, because rather than playing to the strengths of either format it waters one or both down so that they are always the same. WB doesn't want to do anything extra for one format over the other now so I can't see them doing anything special in the future either. Here's to hoping 24 on BR makes them realize that less discs in a box set is a good thing because I want the Wire on BR and I don't want it half-assed
P.S. After seeing this I'm kinda sad that when 100GB and 200GB discs come into play it will probably take a long time before boxed sets start getting put on them due to legacy player incompatability issues. Ugh, bring on the reliable Hi-Def high speed downloads already.
w00t!
Do the math;
(1920*1080)/ (720*480) = 6 (like you said)
25GB (Blu-Ray SL)/5GB (DVD) = 5
30GB (HD-DVD DL)/5GB (DVD) = 6
Therefore, 6 (or 5) times the storage versus 6 times the the file size looks like a zero sum game to me (number of DVD discs = number of HD discs). Also, same number of discs for each simplifies packaging.
w00t!
Do the math;
(1920*1080)/ (720*480) = 6 (like you said)
25GB (Blu-Ray SL)/5GB (DVD) = 5
30GB (HD-DVD DL)/5GB (DVD) = 6
Therefore, 6 (or 5) times the storage versus 6 times the the file size looks like a zero sum game to me (number of DVD discs = number of HD discs). Also, same number of discs for each simplifies packaging.
Umm they specifically stated that they are using Blu-ray 50GB discs.
Umm they specifically stated that they are using Blu-ray 50GB discs.
Welcome to lowest common denominator.
Warner has done this before. Even if they have access to a 50GB discs as long as HD DVD is viable they are going to target their encodes at that level and then deliver to both platforms.
For Blu-ray fans this means you're not going to get a special high bitrate version of the movie. You going to get exactly what the HD DVD video got and in a lot of cases you won't get TrueHD ( see Happy Feet and other movies)
Now I'm not a believer that 50GB movies look substantially better or even better at all. I think good compression gets the movie down to 20-25GB and the rest of the space is audio and extras and interactivity. I'm hoping that HD DVD moves to Premium 2-Discs sets as that gives us affordable 60 GB of data at most.
Hm... here's another possible option to play HD-DVD from your mac. Leopard ($99/$129) + xbox360 Add on HD-DVD drive.... I guess this is pending since there's no official support announcement, but since apple being neutral, it would most likely support playing HD-DVD with apple dvd player coming with Leopard... MacOS 10.5. Well... if someone makes a combo drive that supports both HD-DVD and BD, it would be perfect HTPC solution on a mac. Also, as M$ being Mr. Xerox.... Vista would likely provide HD-DVD playback offer for free as well, which would now cut the entry level HD-DVD player price down..... to $159 to join the HD-DVD bandwagon for those with new OS. It's time to use the CC $40 coupon....
Yeah, I can totally see Apple supporting Microsoft's Xbox 360 as one of their top priorities...
By the way, in already having a laptop loaded with the final RTM build of Vista, I can assure you that you DO NOT have native HD DVD playback. Not in the Enterprise version nor in the most expensive "Ultimate" version. How about native DVD playback on Vista out of the box? Nope not even that, although supposedly the Ultimate version will at least give you native DVD playback which has been apart of the Mac OS for how long? Anyhow, I just want to point out to you that Microsoft's Vista is going to be a non-factor for the HD DVD format. It appears they are going the route of what XP gave us, an OS that will give you both DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray playback albeit in the form of third party software at an additional cost. So much for the OOB experience Microshaft.
Time to get a blu-ray drive.
Yeah, I can totally see Apple supporting Microsoft's Xbox 360 as one of their top priorities...
By the way, in already having a laptop loaded with the final RTM build of Vista, I can assure you that you DO NOT have native HD DVD playback. Not in the Enterprise version nor in the most expensive "Ultimate" version. How about native DVD playback on Vista out of the box? Nope not even that, although supposedly the Ultimate version will at least give you native DVD playback which has been apart of the Mac OS for how long? Anyhow, I just want to point out to you that Microsoft's Vista is going to be a non-factor for the HD DVD format. It appears they are going the route of what XP gave us, an OS that will give you both DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray playback albeit in the form of third party software at an additional cost. So much for the OOB experience Microshaft.
Time to get a blu-ray drive.
Tiger already recognize xbox 360 add on drive as HD-DVD drive. It won't play HD-DVD movies due to lack of HD-DVD movie software, but once it's placed, or once the new dvd player software in Leopard can play both HiDef format, it should become a HD-DVD player for $159. Don't forget that xbox 360 add on is just an USB external HD-DVD rom drive made by toshiba.
As for the Vista, features will follow with a real version or after apple does.
By the way, in already having a laptop loaded with the final RTM build of Vista, I can assure you that you DO NOT have native HD DVD playback. Not in the Enterprise version nor in the most expensive "Ultimate" version. How about native DVD playback on Vista out of the box? Nope not even that, although supposedly the Ultimate version will at least give you native DVD playback which has been apart of the Mac OS for how long? Anyhow, I just want to point out to you that Microsoft's Vista is going to be a non-factor for the HD DVD format. It appears they are going the route of what XP gave us, an OS that will give you both DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray playback albeit in the form of third party software at an additional cost. So much for the OOB experience Microshaft.
I thought Microsoft announced way back in 2005 that HD DVD support in Vista would trail Vista's launch by a year or so?
Price of 1080p LCD HDTV are dropping faster than plasma, no? I was tempted by a Toshiba 42 inch, but my buddy pointed out that the HDMI connectors were only 768p; strange. It also had component video. He is picking up a Westinghouse 1080p LCD monitor, no tuners. It goes on sale this weekend for $1299. Hard to resist.
Also discovered a few good tuners have all audio input connector types, but convert them to HDMI audio to go to the monitor or HDTV. Must have an A/D converter on board, likely 24 bit, no? That makes life, and cabling, much easier. I'm just trying to get up to speed with HDTV for a future purchase. The longer I wait, the lower the price will be, but waiting is hard to do.