In This eNewsletter:
• HDMI Me by Thomas J. Norton
• News From the Format War Front by Shane Buettner
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith by Thomas J. Norton

By Thomas J. Norton

The addition of digital video outputs to DVD players (and compatible inputs on video displays) is clearly a positive step toward better images. They provide a direct digital connection—no digital-to-analog conversions required—to the display. The benefits to this appear self-evident, particularly with a high definition source. With an analog CRT display the potential benefits are less obvious, or even non-existent, because somewhere along the line the information must be converted to analog to drive the display elements.

But are digital connections, particularly the current industry poster-child, HDMI with its upconversion capability, being oversold for DVD players in the same way that progressive scan was in the recent past?

When progressive scan DVD players were introduced, they were touted as the latest Wonder Bread—helps build strong pictures 12 ways. Forgotten in the rush was the fact that all the progressive players we know of produced their progressive signal by using an internal deinterlacing chip—an on-board line-doubler. But since all televisions capable of accepting a progressive scan input already had their own built-in deinterlacing, the question was not whether progressive scan was better, but whether the player did the deinterlacing better than the display. And sometimes it did, particularly in the early days of HD, when many televisions had deinterlacers barely worthy of the name. But it wasn't progressive scan per se that produced the improvement.

Whether or not to choose progressive scan DVD player may be an irrelevant consideration today, however, when they're practically giving away them away in Cracker Jack boxes. Nevertheless, don't assume the progressive setting of such a player will look "better" than the interlaced. Try living with both for a while. Only then will you be able to tell which offers the combination of picture qualities (and lack of artifacts) that works for you.

A similar situation is developing with HDMI (and DVI) video. Most DVD players with HDMI provide several options for their HDMI output. Typically, these include 480p, 720p, and 1080i, though there may be others as well.

Those higher 720p and 1080i resolutions (players offering 1080p are just starting to appear, and we'll discuss those when we've had a chance to evaluate them) merely modify the pixel count of the source—in the case of DVD, that's 720x480—to match the native rate of your digital display. Your set is equipped with circuits that perform the same upconversion. If the upconversion in the set is better than that in the player, you just might get a better image by using the 480p HDMI setting on the player and ignoring its upconversion feature.

The latter will also likely be the case if you own a display with a resolution other than 720p or 1080p, such as 1366x768 (such odd resolutions are particularly common in flat panel plasma and LCD displays). A 480p setting will allow the display to do all the scaling. Scaling the image twice—once in the player to 1280x720p and again in the display to our example of 1366x768—may actually degrade the image quality.

So don't robotically assume that if your display is 720p you should set the HDMI output of the player to 720p for the best picture. You should also try 480p. (Since very few sets are currently native 1080, you're unlikely to see any benefit to the player's 1080i setting unless you have one of the new 1080p displays—and even then I would experiment).

There's one more complication. Most players do not provide a 480i setting for their HDMI output (one that does is the Pioneer Elite DV-59AVi). If the player has a deinterlacer inferior to the one in the display, the player's 480p and 720p HDMI settings may produce more artifacts, and possibly an inferior picture in other ways, to what you'll get by using the 480i component connection, which will allow the display to do the deinterlacing and scaling.

The bottom line to getting the best picture on your set from an HDMI link is to experiment with the settings available on the player. Don't assume that any one setting will be best, and don't assume that the HDMI connection will always be superior in all ways to a component link.

Postscript: I assume that everyone reading this knows that the upconversion settings on an HDMI-equipped player do not actually produce a genuine high definition output; the true resolution in the image cannot be any higher than the resolution in the source, and DVD's resolution is standard definition720x480.

Many consumers mistakenly think that today's DVDs are HDTV (they're digital, so they must be HD, right?!). This fiction, if widely believed, may have a negative impact the ultimate acceptance of the upcoming Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats. Implying, even indirectly (as some manufacturers do in the way they word their advertising copy) that you can get genuine high definition out of a DVD player by upconverting the signal to one of HD's resolutions won't help, either. (Also beware of the use of vague terms like "high resolution," used in ad copy to make the reader think "high definition." High definition is high resolution, but the reverse is not automatically true.)

HDMI connections can also result in oddities with some associated components like failure to lock on at all, whacked-out color (generally resulting from a display locking on to the signal as digital RGB when it's actually digital component), odd aspect ratio issues and limitations (sometimes using a 480p HDMI output from the player will give you more aspect options on the display than a 720p and 1080i setting!), and audio problems. (HDMI will also carry audio from the source to the display, or the video inputs of your pre-pro or AV receiver, but not all displays—or pre-pros and receivers—are yet able to strip off and use that audio properly. This situation will require the standard, separate audio link.) All of these problems deserve separate discussions of their own. We'll have more to say about all them in the future.

By Shane Buettner

As anticipated, Warner Home Video announced in late October that it would be releasing its feature films in Blu-ray leaving Universal alone among the six major studios in supporting HD DVD solely. While Warner officially remains committed to also releasing its films in HD DVD (a point the Toshiba camp was quick to remind the press of before the ink on the Warner announcement could dry), many in the industry don't believe that Warner will really release movies in dual-inventory when the times comes, and that when they choose Blu-ray will be the one.

In addition to the broad support Blu-ray enjoys among the other Hollywood studios (Sony's Columbia/MGM library, Fox and Disney are Blu-ray only, while Paramount is for both formats, but reportedly feeling warmer toward Blu-Ray these days), Sony's format has broader support with computer manufacturers and has the PlayStation 3 mojo working for it too. Gamers of all ages are champing at the bit to buy PS3 when it streets next Spring, which means Blu-ray has a built-in audience in every one of those game consoles that figure to fly off the store shelves.

Adding fuel to the idea that Warner and Paramount might jump entirely to Blu-ray were reports that Warner and Hewlett-Packard immediately began lobbying the Blu-ray Disc Association to adopt two of HD DVD's key features: guaranteed Managed Copy and iHD-based interactivity. Managed Copy refers to HD DVD's guaranteed commitment to allow consumers to copy HD DVD discs to a home computer connected to a home network. iHD is the protocol layer of HD DVD that will empower the format's enhanced features and computer/Internet interactivity. iHD is regarded as being less complex and less expensive to implement than Blu-ray's Java-driven solution. If Warner gets what it wants from the format that will be included in PS3, why do HD DVD?

Both features are so desirable to HP's key partners Microsoft and Intel that they previously announced that they would support HD DVD in their upcoming products (such as the Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system and Intel's Viiv technology). All three companies are planning components that will serve home networks that will be the center of people's connected lives with HD content moving about the house on those networks. You can bet HP doesn't want to be at odds with Intel and Microsoft on the HD disc format of the future, and vice verse.

Another possibility is that this jostling of features could result in a format with the physical disc structure of Blu-ray driven by the protocol layers of iHD, a scenario that could possibly unify all the companies involved and have them sharing in the royalties the format will generate. The studios and retailers would certainly be behind this, as presenting a unified format to consumers and not forcing people who seem content with the current DVD format to choose between two formats they might not want.

But the clock is ticking. Microsoft's Xbox 360 is about to hit stores, and Sony's Blu-ray based PlayStation3 is only a few months from release. The closer Sony gets to manufacturing those game consoles the more tenuous it will become for them to adopt any wholesale changes to the format. Given the reports of lagging sales in many sectors of its business, and the huge shot in the arm they'll undoubtedly get from PS3, it's doubtful Sony would even consider delaying its release to accommodate changes in the Blu-ray format. Tick-tock, tick-tock.

China and the next-gen DVD formats
Even those who are living under rocks these days know what a powerhouse china has become in electronics manufacturing. In mid-October China announced that it would try to find out just how powerful it has become by launching it's own next-generation DVD format in 2008, with "higher definition, better sound, and better anti-piracy measures."

In doing so China would break what it regards as a "foreign monopoly" on current DVD standards. It's estimated that China now manufactures between 70-80% of DVD players sold in the world. But they're sore about licensing fees that they deem exorbitant. You've got to love that they want to make money manufacturing and selling players, but apparently don't want to pay anyone for developing the technologies used in those players!

Before anyone could figure out if this was a bluff or not, an even bigger, more interesting announcement came slamming down the news wires. Toshiba, already the loser in the format war according to some industry analysts, is opening up licensing to Chinese manufacturers, ostensibly in an attempt to get a vast array of inexpensive HD DVD players to market before the release of PS3 or standalone Blu-ray Disc players.

While this might result in Toshiba being undercut in price while it tries selling its own players under the Toshiba brand, they can still win if it's a $30 HD DVD player that people are getting trampled for at Wal-Mart next Xmas. How? Just like IBM and Microsoft won by allowing "clone" PCs to be built by myriad companies, and just like the manufacturer of your inkjet printer wins selling you a printer dirt cheap- they make up for it elsewhere. Microsoft had an army of machines that needed to buy and license its expensive software programs to run. Your printer manufacturer makes more than it cost them to manufacture your printer every time they sell you a print cartridge. And if HD DVD wins the format war and becomes the next-generation disc standard Toshiba will win the battle royal on royalties.

That's obviously a big "if." But as noted above, at some point in the next few months it's going to be too late for either format to blink in this high-stakes game of chicken. But until one of them does, it's going to be a wild ride!

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Is the third time a charm?

Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christenson, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee. Directed by George Lucas. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1. 140 minutes (film). 2005. Dolby Digital 5.1 EX (English, Spanish), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround (French). Two discs. Twentieth Century Fox Home Video. PG-13. $29.98.

Picture 4.0*
Sound 4.0*
Film 3.0*

George Lucas' 28-year epic is now complete. If it isn't as fully satisfying as this fan hoped it would be, it wasn't for lack of trying. The work that went into the film was all up there on the screen, and it's all here on these DVDs.

I reviewed the theatrical release when it came out last summer—contrary to our usual practice of waiting for the DVD to discuss a film—a departure we will occasionally make on www.ultimateAVmag.com where space is less limited than in a print magazine. How a film looks and sounds in a good theater is often a useful sneak preview of how it will transfer to DVD.

That review was more than a little negative about the film (not its technical quality). Yes, I was put off by some of the too overt (I thought) attempts to link the saga to current political controversies. But this really only showed up in a few lines of dialogue sprinkled through the story. I saw the film twice in the theater, and was much less distracted by this element the second time around.

The film's real failings were poor dialogue in general, wooden acting in some key roles (not helped by the dialogue), and a narrative flow that, for me, made Anakin's conversion to the Dark Side unconvincing. The role of Anakin, as written, is a mess. And while Hayden Christensen tried his best, he never found the degree of gravitas this central character required as he devolved into the evil Darth Vader. (If that's a spoiler for you, it's roughly equivalent to me telling you that the Titanic sinks.)

Watching the movie again on this DVD, all of these problems remain. But like a piece of music you don't care for at first but later come to appreciate, the movie did grow on me in important ways. While many of the special effects sequences feel overstuffed, they do reward you with new discoveries on subsequent viewings. Those who like to go back and watch clips of favorite films on their home theaters after viewing the entire work once or twice (and many of us do) will find a treasure trove of repeatability in Episode III.

The closing face-off on the volcanic planet Mustafar, in particular, is eye-popping. Lucas often lets his children choose character and, I presume, planet names for the films. They must have just watched The Lion King when this name popped up. The presence of an industrial facility on such a volatile planet defies belief, but once you get over that small detail (and the heat that the characters would have had to endure in such an environment), it's one of the best fight sequences ever put on film—or in this case, into a computer. As we learn in the extra features, the shots of spewing lava were filmed during a real eruption of Mount Etna in Italy, and later composited into the finished shots.

Even after (or perhaps because of) watching some of this magic explained in the special features, it was mesmerizing to see how well both the images and sound came together into a spectacular whole. Stripped of its dramatic flaws, the entire film is an audio-video wonder, and will certainly be the featured attraction at a CES near you!

The DVD transfer is one of the best of the year. It's easily the best looking and sounding of all the Star Wars movies on disc, though Episode II doesn't fall short by much. As with Episode II, the live action here was captured with high definition video cameras rather than on film, but those cameras continued to improve significantly in the three years between Clones and Sith. The main difference I spotted between the live action and CG elements here was a subtle difference in the sharpness of the live action footage from shot to shot. Some live shots were a bit softer than others, while the CG remained almost uniformly crisp throughout. But that's nit-picking. You will not be disappointed in the overall look of this DVD; it's a stunner.

The audio quality here keeps pace with the video. It can be a little bright in places, but is as dynamic and exciting as you could hope for, with active surrounds and very powerful bass. The new THX video promo sounds spectacular—far better, in fact, than the film's studio logo and title sequence. And check out the opening shot of the battle cruiser drifting across the screen! In space they may not be able to hear you scream, but they can sure hear the ships rumble past in a Star Wars movie.

The extra features were enjoyable, but not exceptional. You'll learn interesting facts, visit strange places, and meet interesting people—particularly in the long featurette "Within a Minute." I loved seeing how all the pieces were put together in assembling 49 seconds of the climactic Mustafar fight, but less intrigued by having to sit through the contributions of the caterers and production office. But I'm sure they're nice, hard-working folks who deserve a little recognition.

Star Wars Episode III isn't my favorite Star Wars film—that honor will always belong The Empire Strikes Back. But Revenge of the Sith is the best of the new Star Wars trilogy by a huge margin, and if you liked it, you'll love this DVD. Even if you share my reservations about the film, you'll still find a lot to like in this 2-disc package.