Toshiba at CES

[gadgtfreek]

Reiterated dismay with the warner deal, talked shortly about HDDVD not being dead and that it was pro consumer , then on to tv's.

Now I would have imagined player talk was planned for the HDDVD event which has been canceled. Seems like they woulda hit on some player/format news.

Not real smart if you're trying to keep everybody warm and fuzzy. They also did not take questions.


Saying that youre pro consumer and cheaper does not say very much.

 

[Zookster]

Reiterated dismay with the warner deal, talked shortly about HDDVD not being dead and that it was pro consumer , then on to tv's.

[\QUOTE]

Thanks for the quick post. What else could Toshiba say while they circle the wagons and work with their HD DVD group partners to consider next steps? They were really put in an awkward position by Friday's Warner announcement. Though I'm glad BD will emerge as the winner, as a PR pro, I kind of feel sorry for Toshiba (I buy their TVs).

 

[gadgtfreek]

They had 36 hours, personally Id have worked to have something positive for HDDVD at CES. Not discussing the players and canceling the event I disagree with.

IF they dont want it to die. I'm happy they did not, the web will just spread more doom, but if it was me I woulda worked up something more positive.

 

[akodoreign]

They had 36 hours, personally Id have worked to have something positive for HDDVD at CES. Not discussing the players and canceling the event I disagree with.

IF they dont want it to die. I'm happy they did not, the web will just spread more doom, but if it was me I woulda worked up something more positive.

They did touch on using the Cell processor in there new up scalers for near perfect HD quality up converts though.

I found that a bit interesting though.


10:37 - Talking about the power of Cell chip to do super SD2HD upconversion. Claims it makes SD look like HD.


Live from Toshiba's CES press conference - Engadget

 

[gadgtfreek]

I missed that, is pretty interesting.

Pioneer made no BD comments. Watching Panny release now.

 

[akodoreign]

I missed that, is pretty interesting.

Pioneer made no BD comments. Watching Panny release now.

Brings up a interesting thought. With losing the HD war. What if Toshiba unloads these super Up converters and markets them as a way to extend the life of DVDs.

They may be just sticking a knife in the entire Blue Laser industry.

I mean Toshiba does fabricate all Cell processors since Sony sold them that division. They probably could make them so cheap that people would buy into them before ever going to a true HD format.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Hehe, no telling.

If they could theoretically get a upconvert to look hd, I'd live. But what everyone offers as upconverted now does not cut the mustard.

 

[akodoreign]

Hehe, no telling.

If they could theoretically get a upconvert to look hd, I'd live. But what everyone offers as upconverted now does not cut the mustard.

Right thats why they probably going with this Super Up converter technology. I mean Could you theorize what the average consumer would think if they could buy a sub $100 player that gives you at least 720p High def without having to buy any new movies.

 

[rad]

10:37 - Talking about the power of Cell chip to do super SD2HD upconversion. Claims it makes SD look like HD.

You mean like the PS3 does???

 

[gadgtfreek]

Helluva concept. Especially since I had a couple hundred dvd's, compared to 49 HDM's.

 

[gadgtfreek]

You mean like the PS3 does???

hehe, I have a ps3 and sddvd's dont look hd. The A2 is better, BUT neither compare to BD/HDDVD.

 

[akodoreign]

You mean like the PS3 does???

No no, PS3 uses it for games etc. Its like the difference in using a pentium 3 in the xbox vs. using one in a PC.

You highly specialize it for Upconverting. No layers of software and firmware to work through.

Theoretically They could get 3x - 4x performance by dedicating it to this task.

 

[rad]

hehe, I have a ps3 and sddvd's dont look hd. The A2 is better, BUT neither compare to BD/HDDVD.

Sorry, couldn't resist. IMHO they (anyone) can say they upscale to make it look like HD but it's still not going to match the native HDDVD/BD picture.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Sorry, couldn't resist. IMHO they (anyone) can say they upscale to make it look like HD but it's still not going to match the native HDDVD/BD picture.

I too am skeptical.


Since they are already working on this, wonder if they too feel the HDM wont live?

 

[akodoreign]

Sorry, couldn't resist. IMHO they (anyone) can say they upscale to make it look like HD but it's still not going to match the native HDDVD/BD picture.

LoL, figures you wouldn't be listening Rad.

This is a new application of technology. Lets strip away everything but upconversion. Dedicate a super powered chip to it. (one Toshiba manufactures at that). And use new algorithms to get max out of it.

We will not know of course how good it is till they release it of course, But you never know.

I mean if they can sell it as the way not to have to buy movies again (remember how many complained they were re-buying movies when moving from VHS to DVD). They may sink HDM completely.

I don't know if they just came up with this idea out of the blue (like the last 36 hours maybe). But it could be a way to retaliate. It seems things have got a touch more interesting.

 

[rad]

LoL, figures you wouldn't be listening Rad.

This is a new application of technology. Lets strip away everything but upconversion. Dedicate a super powered chip to it. (one Toshiba manufactures at that). And use new algorithms to get max out of it.

We will not know of course how good it is till they release it of course, But you never know.

I mean if they can sell it as the way not to have to buy movies again (remember how many complained they were re-buying movies when moving from VHS to DVD). They may sink HDM completely.

I don't know if they just came up with this idea out of the blue (like the last 36 hours maybe). But it could be a way to retaliate. It seems things have got a touch more interesting.

What wasn't I listening to, I don't see a link to a live audio presention in this thread? Or were you talking about me typing my response as the same time as yours and not seeing it (look at the time stamps).

Now maybe Toshiba can pull this off but how will the cost compare to just purchasing a BD player that for most people does a fairly good job of upconversion and then just going forward just purchase native BD media?

 

[akodoreign]

What wasn't I listening to, I don't see a link to a live audio presention in this thread? Or were you talking about me typing my response as the same time as yours and not seeing it (look at the time stamps).

Now maybe Toshiba can pull this off but how will the cost compare to just purchasing a BD player that for most people does a fairly good job of upconversion and then just going forward just purchase native BD media?

We don't know thats the point. Were talking about something new. Not current Up - Conversion. It could be Toshiba just blowing hot air up all are buts for all I know. Or it could be the second coming of Christ.

We will not know until the product reaches review phase. But it is defiantly something to think about till then.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Other than PQ, cost is my next biggest question.

I dont see how it can cost any better than the BD players now.

Even if PQ is close, you dont get as good of audio right?

Very interested to see what they hope to achieve.

 

[akodoreign]

Other than PQ, cost is my next biggest question.

I dont see how it can cost any better than the BD players now.

Even if PQ is close, you dont get as good of audio right?

Very interested to see what they hope to achieve.

Well considering that Toshiba fabricates the Cell processor and they just got the thing to 45nm, It is possible that they could be planning this as a Dump product to screw the HDM (both formats).

Audio wont be lossless thats for sure. But Audio has even a more niche market than PQ does when it comes to the Average consumer.

 

[diogen]

They did touch on using the Cell processor in there new up scalers for near perfect HD quality up converts though.

Strictly speaking, when the information is gone - it can't be recreated, no matter how good the upconversion is.
But since we are talking about such a subjective element as human vision that can be fooled and non-perfect ways
of transfering the image - have a look at this 1080 image (SD vs. HD):

it was taken from here
AVS Forum - View Single Post - Blu-ray, HD-DVD & SD DVD Comparison Screenshots *WARNING - LARGE PICTURE FILES*

It won't be hard to differentiate between SD and HD on a good PC screen. But if your TV supports displaying images, copy the picture above
to a flash drive and have a look on your TV. If you need more than a second to see the difference - you won't notice it in real life.

The linked post above also shows how this picture can be photoshoped to make the difference even less visible
(what the Cell could presumably do).

Diogen.