Sharp Introduces BD-HP20U Blu-ray player

[mmmmDoNut]

Disregard. Major brain fart.

Wonder if that port is a proprietary port like the ones you see on some Sony devices.

[taygan315]

wow all these announcements and nothing about interactivity. when is sharp coming out with an hddvd player?

This player surprised me too. What is the deal??? Makes me wonder if Sony has all their ''partners'' in this format war on the same page!!!! Price is not too bad...but it is not enough,imho. Toshiba is going all out and Sony seems to make a little step forward and then a mile step back!!!! Patience is wearing thin. This kind of inconsistencie is exactly the reason why many consumers are not on board yet.

[mmmmDoNut]

If that's HDMI, then what is the port that has the big black cable connected? Does this unit have two HDMI ports?

Wonder if its a firewire port? Not sure why there would be one though?

Edit: Might be USB but it doesnt look like its square all the way around. Could be the screw above it making the plug look a little different.

[MidnightWatcher]

Blu-ray still doesn't have its act together I see.

[mmmmDoNut]

If that's HDMI, then what is the port that has the big black cable connected? Does this unit have two HDMI ports?

That unidentified port is the Aquos Link.

http://www.engadgethd.com/photos/han...player/385414/

[allanmejia]

Just to clarify since this is my first post. I'm not a fanboy of either format and I’m not trying to convince anyone to go to either side of this so called format war, but lets be fair.

HD-DVD :
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware is cheaper than BD, that is a fact, but what is cheap?, a low end equipment, just enough to watch a movie with only 1080i output, limited decoding cap. and a cheap brand, most people carefully choose brand name equipments due to reliability issues, that is a fact.

The lack of lossless audio on some high profile movies, example, Transformers only with DD+ soundtrack, why? Due to the lack of media space and low bandwidth. that is a fact.

Studio Support: boths sides have their share, its up to the consumer to choose which way to go based on the catalogs offered on either side, that you can say, is a fact.


Blu-Ray
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware is more expensive, true that it is inconsistant on their specs, but it has a lot more support from other companies who are investing on BD technology, Example: Sony (obviously), JVC, Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic, Phillips, Hitachi, Denon, Daewoo, and now Sharp and more, all of these companies are and will be selling BD standalone players.

Keep in mind that DVD went through some transitions as well, i know i had to go through 3 DVD players to get new features (Dual Layer support, Progressive Scan, and now HDMI for up conversion), so hardware will always change.

BD can handle higher bitrates, therefore it has better picture quality and Lossless audio due to its capacity and bandwidth, true that earlier players will not have profile 2.0 for p/p, the average person won’t know the difference on that, they just want to watch the movie, no matter the format, and in the end, if anyone is really interested on the interactive side, they can either go with the HD-DVD format, or soon with the BD-j Live enabled players, it depends on what you want.

In my own opinion, i would be more willing to sacrifice interactivity to get the best picture quality and sound out of my movies, once again, that is my preference, since I never go through any extras or interactive features.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Conclusion

1 If you want a cheap player with low end specs (example 1080i res. And limited decoding capabilities) go with HD-DVD.

2 If you want the best experience on high definition then either buy the high end HD-DVD or a Blu-Ray player, they will both cost around the same, just beware that you will get the best picture and lossless sound quality with Blu-Ray on their releases based on the capacity and bandwidth, that is a Fact. But in the end it’s up to the consumer to choose.

3 Decide what format will give you the movies you want to see, ask yourself, what weights more, either go with HD-DVD Universal and Paramounts Catalog, (personally the only hits I would want from them is Transformers and Shrek, most of the Universal movies I already have on DVD), or Blu-Ray which has Disney, Fox, Mgm, and obviously Sony (Personally I know I want Spiderman 3, Ratatoi, Die Hard, Pirates, Fantastic 4 etc.) Warner is neutral as we all know so it does not matter where you go.

4 Buy the player based on Facts in regards to what they both offer and not because we either hate Sony or because HD-DVD "Sucks", be smart, do your research, and enjoy your movies!

In the ideal world I would have loved to have both formats, HD-DVD and BD into one single format, what this war is doing is simply confusing the consumer and prolonging the adoption of the wonderful world of high def.

Allan

[evivbulgroz]

Well said. Some reason finally...

[livingproof73]

Looks like another annouced blu ray player that is obsolete before release.....none of them are stating if they are 1.1 and no DTS-HD

[allanmejia]

I will give you that, but more than likely it will be 1.1 at this time of the game.

Talking about the audio side, the players will support PCM uncompress audio regardles, and TrueHD is now becoming a standard on the BD releases, if i recall correctly, paramount was the only company not taking advantage of the audio formats in High Def., all the other studios do, Blades of Glory was supposed to be their first title with uncompressed PCM 5.1 Track, but the HD-DVD did not have lossless audio, and sadly, Transformers wont either .

Even known HD-DVD supports TrueHD, i would like for them to start using it in their releases, but the technology has its limits sadly.

[ddwyer]

Just to clarify since this is my first post. I'm not a fanboy of either format and I’m not trying to convince anyone to go to either side of this so called format war, but lets be fair.

HD-DVD :
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware is cheaper than BD, that is a fact, but what is cheap?, a low end equipment, just enough to watch a movie with only 1080i output, limited decoding cap. and a cheap brand, most people carefully choose brand name equipments due to reliability issues, that is a fact.

The lack of lossless audio on some high profile movies, example, Transformers only with DD+ soundtrack, why? Due to the lack of media space and low bandwidth. that is a fact.

Studio Support: boths sides have their share, its up to the consumer to choose which way to go based on the catalogs offered on either side, that you can say, is a fact.


Blu-Ray
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware is more expensive, true that it is inconsistant on their specs, but it has a lot more support from other companies who are investing on BD technology, Example: Sony (obviously), JVC, Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic, Phillips, Hitachi, Denon, Daewoo, and now Sharp and more, all of these companies are and will be selling BD standalone players.

Keep in mind that DVD went through some transitions as well, i know i had to go through 3 DVD players to get new features (Dual Layer support, Progressive Scan, and now HDMI for up conversion), so hardware will always change.

BD can handle higher bitrates, therefore it has better picture quality and Lossless audio due to its capacity and bandwidth, true that earlier players will not have profile 2.0 for p/p, the average person won’t know the difference on that, they just want to watch the movie, no matter the format, and in the end, if anyone is really interested on the interactive side, they can either go with the HD-DVD format, or soon with the BD-j Live enabled players, it depends on what you want.

In my own opinion, i would be more willing to sacrifice interactivity to get the best picture quality and sound out of my movies, once again, that is my preference, since I never go through any extras or interactive features.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Conclusion

1 If you want a cheap player with low end specs (example 1080i res. And limited decoding capabilities) go with HD-DVD.

2 If you want the best experience on high definition then either buy the high end HD-DVD or a Blu-Ray player, they will both cost around the same, just beware that you will get the best picture and lossless sound quality with Blu-Ray on their releases based on the capacity and bandwidth, that is a Fact. But in the end it’s up to the consumer to choose.

3 Decide what format will give you the movies you want to see, ask yourself, what weights more, either go with HD-DVD Universal and Paramounts Catalog, (personally the only hits I would want from them is Transformers and Shrek, most of the Universal movies I already have on DVD), or Blu-Ray which has Disney, Fox, Mgm, and obviously Sony (Personally I know I want Spiderman 3, Ratatoi, Die Hard, Pirates, Fantastic 4 etc.) Warner is neutral as we all know so it does not matter where you go.

4 Buy the player based on Facts in regards to what they both offer and not because we either hate Sony or because HD-DVD "Sucks", be smart, do your research, and enjoy your movies!

In the ideal world I would have loved to have both formats, HD-DVD and BD into one single format, what this war is doing is simply confusing the consumer and prolonging the adoption of the wonderful world of high def.

Allan

Reading the (what I assume to be objective) movie reviews on this site, I'm not sure if I've seen anything definitive to say that BR titles look/sound superior to their HD-DVD counterparts. Additionally, all HD-DVD players are required to decode the HD audio formats (Dolby TrueHD and DD+, at least) - several BR players don't - how does this translate into superior video/audio quality for BR? The 1080i vs. 1080p capability is irrelevant if your TV/monitor properly deinterlaces the signal (most 1080P players go from 1080P off the disc -> 1080i -> 1080P internally so what's the difference between the last step being done by the player vs. the monitor if the monitor does it correctly?). Even so, you can get a 1080P player (e.g., HD-A20) for less than a BR player so the argument that HD-DVD is cheaper only if you're willing to accept the "inferior" 1080i output is fallacious. Further, Paramount has always released titles on both HD-DVD and BR with at best DD+ audio tracks - that's Paramount's problem, not a problem with the format.

I'll buy that there's the theoretical possibility for better video quality if a BR disc's encoding actually leveraged the extra bitrate, but as for the rest... I think you're buying a bit too much into the BDA marketing that tries to justify the higher pricepoint and steer you their way. The studio support is an important consideration but after Paramount's move, it looks like you can't even guarantee ongoing support for either format.

I'd personally be a bigger supporter of BR if 1) they'd get their player prices competitive with the HD-DVD camp's (at some point, I'm sure they will) and 2) they'd stop releasing players with inconsistent support such as this Sharp player (perhaps after the 1.1 spec is mandated?).

[view-it-purple]

Blu-ray still doesn't have its act together I see.

Darth Blu
Member

Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: This Blu World
Posts: 58

The Daewoo is supposed to come out Q1 of 2008 and is 2.0 compliant. The funny thing is that it might be as cheap as the PS3. I might just have to get this one as well. It just looks so purr-ty. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.



Here's the link for it:

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=480
__________________

[allanmejia]

Reading the (what I assume to be objective) movie reviews on this site, I'm not sure if I've seen anything definitive to say that BR titles look/sound superior to their HD-DVD counterparts. Additionally, all HD-DVD players are required to decode the HD audio formats (Dolby TrueHD and DD+, at least) - several BR players don't - how does this translate into superior video/audio quality for BR? The 1080i vs. 1080p capability is irrelevant if your TV/monitor properly deinterlaces the signal (most 1080P players go from 1080P off the disc -> 1080i -> 1080P internally so what's the difference between the last step being done by the player vs. the monitor if the monitor does it correctly?). Even so, you can get a 1080P player (e.g., HD-A20) for less than a BR player so the argument that HD-DVD is cheaper only if you're willing to accept the "inferior" 1080i output is fallacious. Further, Paramount has always released titles on both HD-DVD and BR with at best DD+ audio tracks - that's Paramount's problem, not a problem with the format.

I'll buy that there's the theoretical possibility for better video quality if a BR disc's encoding actually leveraged the extra bitrate, but as for the rest... I think you're buying a bit too much into the BDA marketing that tries to justify the higher pricepoint and steer you their way. The studio support is an important consideration but after Paramount's move, it looks like you can't even guarantee ongoing support for either format.

I'd personally be a bigger supporter of BR if 1) they'd get their player prices competitive with the HD-DVD camp's (at some point, I'm sure they will) and 2) they'd stop releasing players with inconsistent support such as this Sharp player (perhaps after the 1.1 spec is mandated?).

DDwyer: You missed my point!

I know that HD-DVD specs states that the player should support Decoding of TrueHD and DD+, the problem here is that studios are not using TrueHD (Lossless audio), do explain why the mayority of HD-DVD movies use DD+ instead of TrueHD, it requires a lot more space on the disc, and yes, bandwidth is also a factor, on the other hand, all mayor releases in BD have Lossless Audio.

On the 1080i Resolution, only people with 42" HDTVs and up will notice the difference between 1080i and 1080p, and believe me, it does makes a difference, again, some people may not care about that.

You also agree with me about the fact that higher bitrates makes better picture quality and sound, it is a fact!, remember the SuperBit DVDs and why the would cost more than reg. DVDs?

The point of my post is to open the eyes on both sides, not to base your decision because you "Hate Sony" or "HD-DVD is inferior", which is what i have been seeing in this forum, look at the facts, make your decision, respect the opinios of others, and enjoy your movies!,

You are the consumer, if price is a big factor to you, then you should go with low end HD-DVD, ever hear the saying "you get what you paid for", don't expect higher standards in quality on a cheap brand, believe me, i learned the hard way.

I'm sure people will be happy with a high end HD-DVD player, and yes, expect Blu-Ray players from several companies to be released and drop in price on par with High End HD-DVD players (and PERSONALY regardless of what specs they have, they still play movies at 1080p and lossless audio which is what i want in the end regardless of the format), if there is one good thing that this war did for us, is the price drops on the hardware, DVD players took a long time for the prices to drop when they came out!!.

Consumers will adopt the format either because of the price of the player or the quality of the video/audio the player is capable to provide, and or the content each side has to offer.

I also wanted to express my own personal opinion, that is all.

Regards.

[TaiwaneSTUD]

my S300 is like crap now

i want this AQUOS

[HD Guru]

Hardware Inconsistency! Where is the DTS-HD Master Audio decoding??? Hello!! All of Fox's BD's are encoded with it. And no bitstream out! No thanks. I am really getting fed up with Blu Ray disc. Seriously.

-dad

there are several other players already announced that will pass through dts-ma and truehd as bitstream so your receiver can do the decoding

i would much rather have my $2000 receiver do the decoding than my $500 player