The Buff

One of my favorite hobbies is movies and DVDs. Now, I haven't made the huge investment in a high definition 16:9 format TV and my surround sound is only 3 channels. Why am I being so cheap? Well, two kids, a bun in the oven, and a mortgage have something to do with it. The other thing, the quality of this stuff isn't there yet.

Now, some of you are screaming, "Huh!?!?!?" Here's what I mean.

DVDs are still in NTSC format. That means that they only have 480 lines of resolution on them. Plug a DVD player into your plasma TV and you get 480 lines on a screen capable of handling 1080. It's like AM radio on stereo speakers. What has to happen to take advantage of the higher resolution on the TVs is for DVDs to be made in a high definition format. Once that comes out, you'll have a true high-def experience off DVDs. At present, the only way to get high def movies in your home is to subscribe to Showtime HD or HBO HD.

That's about to change.

Several articles are out saying that new players and DVDs should hit the US shores in late 2005 with discs from the studios in an HD format. In the words of our presidential candidates, "Bring it on!" I, for one, can't wait to get a 55 inch screen with 6 speaker surround sound and blast Master and Commander in HD DVD in my family room.

Here's some of the articles if you are interested.

Blu-Ray vs. DVD HD
Blu-Ray as a winning format?
Blu-Ray coming to U.S. in 2005