Playback: the Computer-to-HDTV Connection

[kwshaw1]

This article by Mark Goldberg appears in the latest issue of the WEVA magazine and describes how to use a computer for HD content playback on HDTVs, with the suggestion to market this as a functional HD delivery solution. He makes some good points about the low cost and widespread usability of computer-based HD playback, but glosses over some glaring problems with using this approach for delivery to customers. Imagine a couple having to keep a computer connected to their TV or hook one up every time they want to watch their wedding in HD, and guess how often they're going to do that before reverting to using the SD copy. Plus few people have a computer with an output suitable for full HD quality when connected to an HDTV - meaning most will get compromised quality which defeats the whole point of HD distribution. Add the lack of a formal authoring process with standard DVD-style menus and it turns out this solution is awkward for both videographers and their customers.

I've debated this topic extensively with the author both publicly and privately, but in spite of my best efforts to explain why his approach is flawed he seems determined to pitch it as the best way to get HD content to customers. It is a potentially useful option which he is apparently using successfully with his clients, and I've considered offering it to some of mine, but I wouldn't recommend it as a preferred solution for reasons stated above. Plus it gains the clients nothing in terms of their ability to play mainstream HD movies, whereas convincing them to buy an HD movie player gets them that plus an easy way to watch their video in HD. And it does nothing for clients who have already bought an HD movie player and want to get their video in a compatible format, so it misses the mark as far as that's concerned.

I consistently get a smile out of couples when I suggest that the bride buy her fiancee a Sony Playstation 3 as a wedding present so I can deliver their video to them in HD. When I tried pitching computer-based delivery to a bride recently to see what happened I got a mildly interested but ultimately stale reaction, and I doubt I could have improved that by spelling out what's involved to make it work. Computer-based HD playback is a plausible idea for home theater enthusiasts with the latest computer hardware and some technical know-how, but a poor idea for average consumers.

Kudos to Mark for developing a delivery solution which could have been more useful before customers started buying HD-capable entertainment devices by the millions, but which is becoming irrelevant with the spread of formal HD delivery options. Would you give your customers their videos in a format which isn't very practical now and won't work on HD movie players when those become widespread? I'd rather give them an actual HD movie disc (i.e. Blu-ray) which they can enjoy easily today and in the future, or give them a widescreen SD DVD and tell them to buy an upsampling DVD player.

[osbornes5]

I consistently get a smile out of couples when I suggest that the bride buy her fiancee a Sony Playstation 3 as a wedding present so I can deliver their video to them in HD.

This is pretty clever and a great idea actually. One question though. If they don't have an HD TV, and they try to play the DVD on their TV through a PS3, what will happen. No pic at all, messed up pic, or down graded pic?

[HankCastello]

If they don't have an HD TV, and they try to play the DVD on their TV through a PS3, what will happen.

The Sony PS3 utilizes HDMI.  If your TV doesn't have an HDMI input, you're not going to be able to connect (unless there is an HDMI to AV adapter out there).

As for the PS3 being the ideal way to watch Blu-ray, there are a few disadvantages..

  * You can't upconvert standard DVDs like other Blu-ray players will
  * Menu navigation is awkward
  * You can't control the PS3 with your universal remote
  * You can't send the kids off to play video games while you watch a movie!

[HankCastello]

Kevin is right, currently the average home computer is a less than ideal device for delivering hi-def movies to consumers...

..however - this is the premise (I think) that Microsoft has based its Windows Media Center on and one of our son in laws setup a theater room in his home, based on this system, several years ago.  Of course he is a Microsoft developer.

Another son-in-law regularly downloads movies and plays them on his hi-def TV.  So maybe this isn't quite as klutzy a delivery method as Kevin and I would think.

But even among the young, there is a great digital divide.  We run into many young people who barely do email and over ten percent who don't have access to the Internet.  I would say at least sixty percent lack the tech savvy to be able to rig their computer to play hi-def onto their tv.

I don't think "Media Center" is catching on, at least not in the mainstream sense, but perhaps its day will come?

[osbornes5]

* You can't upconvert standard DVDs like other Blu-ray players will
* Menu navigation is awkward
* You can't control the PS3 with your universal remote
* You can't send the kids off to play video games while you watch a movie!

There's always a catch for crying out loud! :lol:

[HankCastello]

For the latest on HD delivery, checkout engadget's article on the XStreamHD press event -

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/08/xstreamhd-details-continue-to-emerge/

They're talking about a $399 solution!

Although this is delivery from satellite, it includes a storage system that will probably be PC accessible.

[kwshaw1]

As for the PS3 being the ideal way to watch Blu-ray, there are a few disadvantages..

  * You can't upconvert standard DVDs like other Blu-ray players will
  * Menu navigation is awkward
  * You can't control the PS3 with your universal remote
  * You can't send the kids off to play video games while you watch a movie!

The PS3 does a great job of SD upsampling, so that's not correct. With the optional TV-style remove menu navigation isn't bad. Incompatibility with universal remotes I can see being a minor nuisance, but it hasn't bothered me. As far as the kids are concerned, surely you're not letting them use your tax-deducted PS3 for non-business purposes?  ;-)   Besides, aren't they all into the Nintendo Wii...?

Honestly, the PS3 is one of the best electronic gadgets I've ever owned and is basically the all-purpose multimedia/communications device some of us have dreamed about for decades. It's not perfect but it's pretty darn close, especially if you get the advanced version with the digital camera memory card readers and PS2 game compatibility.

[kwshaw1]

For the latest on HD delivery, checkout engadget's article on the XStreamHD press event -

They're talking about a $399 solution!

The base model PS3 is $399 now and can play both Blu-ray and SD movie discs, without any service contract like XStream HD appears to involve. Plus the PS3 happens to be a pretty good game machine and can connect to the internet for downloading additional content. And it's available now, as opposed to end of this year (or later) for the XStream device.

[kwshaw1]

I don't think "Media Center" is catching on, at least not in the mainstream sense, but perhaps its day will come?

Not unless TVs start coming with computers built in, or consumers start putting computers in their living room on a widespread basis. A lot of people are buying game machines which can serve as media centers if you can pry them away from the kids (see Hank's comment in an earlier post), and some are buying AppleTV or similar gadgets, but I don't see any significant consumer interest in attaching computers to TVs for multimedia purposes. Watching video directly on a computer is another story, but that's not the same as trying to get HD content into people's living rooms.