Am Going HD Krazy!

I decided to put together this writeup to help discerning entertainment consumers and aficionados make the best possible decision in modern video entertainment, actually my motivation stems from my costly adventures while trying to seek out the latest in HD entertainment.

HD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray are some of the most common terminologies used by electronic manufacturers to bamboozle consumers this days, its become a case of the more u hear the less u know.HD actually means High-Definition and refers to any Video or TV system of higher resolution than Standard Definition(SD).

Resolution is the main reason HDTV looks much better than standard television, it involves display resolutions of 1280 x 720 pixels(720p) or 1920×1080(1080i/1080p) as against standard television resolutions of 720×480(480i/480p).

It is important to note that an inexpensive HDTV showing high-definition looks much better than a standard TV showing the highest quality stuff, however there is no point in buying a HDTV if you re not going to watch HD material to enjoy the set in its full glory.

HD Components

To really get a true HD experience 4 important factors must be inplace:

1. A HD media source(HD-DVD discs, Blu-ray discs, HD Television or HD satellite broadcasts ),

2. a HD Video Player(PS3, X-box or any Blu-ray or HD-DVD players),

3. a HDMI(High-Definition Multimedia Interface) connector(some players come with it)

4. and a Full HD TV.

So these items were on my shopping list on that day and I thought a worthy place to go would be the Samsung center. At the Samsung center they told me they had no Blu-ray players in stock yet, only a demo was on display. So I taught a full HD Upscaling player would suffice, mind u my focus was on the HD. So I got a 32-inch Samsung LCD HDTV(1080P) and a cute Samsung DVD player(F-1080) with the inscription “Full HD-Upscaling” which luckily came with the HDMI connector and I taught bravo am done.

Impotent Player

As usual after purchasing any item I go online 2 check d tech reviews in order to ensure I haven’t fumbled with my purchase .To my delight I discovered I had acquired one of the best HDTV’s and to my consternation a cute possibly impotent Full HD-Upscaling player. Ow now!, Haba was I blind? No! I was just mis-informed n poorly educated about this techno bubble called HD.

Lets spill the beans. My cute lookin “HD player” is not a HD player after all, its just a regular DVD player that supports what is know as HD-upscaling. Upscaling is an approximation of High-Definition not High-Definition, it involves taking standard definition movies and enhancing them to High-Definition resolution. The picture quality is definitely not High-Definition.

The only useful item from this purchase was the HDMI cable that came with the player. HDMI connectors provide better quality than S-Video, Component, RF or A.V connectors as they eliminate the need for Audio to Digital conversions.

Indeed i wasn’t pleased about this waste considering the fact that I wanted a player that would give me a true HD experience .

Something must be done

My research took me to Sony centre where this Blu-ray HD babies (players) are available for like 60,000.So whts it gonna be 4 me a Playstation 3 (PS3) or a Sony BDP-S350? Only time will tell.

After much pondering i decided to go for a PS3 because i had always wanted to renew my romance with Video games coupled with the following facts:

• this machine Plays all discs CD’s, DVD’s and Blu-ray disc’s

• has an Internet browser

• supports USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet and WIFI

• has variety of decent storage sizes(20GB, 40GB, 80GB, 160GB)

• can run Linux Operating System(means u can turn it into a P.C. and do all Word Processing , Spreadsheets, Presentations e.t.c.)

• More value for money, 80GB version costs 58,000

• supports HD resolutions of 720i/p and 1080i/p

and much more

I got this machine and haven’t regretted it even though the games are pricey ranging from 7000-17,000 depending on where u purchase them. The only other issue I have discovered now is a difficulty in getting Blu-ray movie discs to buy. This things are simply not on the market from Park n Shop to Silverbird Galleria to Mega-Plaza it was a no show. The luckiest i got was at Oshodi market where this dude had just 3 movies for sale and at Park n Shop where they only had blanks for 2,500 Naira.

Important things to note when buying HDTVS

• Don’t buy them if u have no intention of buying a Blu-ray(HD) player and HD-quality discs

• Make sure the Television has an HDMI input and always utilise HDMI connectors, anything else will reduce the quality

• Don’t buy HD-DVD players no matter how cheap, they are no longer supported. Blu-ray players are now the industry standard for HD.

• Beware of standard DVD players that state HD Upscaling or Upconversion, its not the same as HD.

• Go for the 1080P resolution for maximum satisfaction

• Blu-ray discs are scarce and expensive in Nigeria

by the way I heard Multichoice will introduce HD decoders into Nigeria by August