High Def and BlueRay...

[DetroitBaseball]

Originally Posted by SamuriHL

Oh yea, in that case, definitely. They'll come down but right now I'd not even consider an internal at all. The only reason I'd consider the external is so I can use it on both the 360 and a media pc. Like all things, the prices will become reasonable eventually.

I don't like external because you have to hook them into a USB port, which is slower anyways. Not to mention $200 is too much anyways. I'm not a big movie guy to spend $200.

[James]

Originally Posted by d_bohne

since Any DVD HD will remove the need for HDCP compliancy, what kind of hardware will be needed to output 1080p from a computer to a HD TV with an X-Box360 HD DVD drive? 1080p has to be pretty demanding for a computer, what kind of processor and graphics card would be needed for that??

A fast processor would be nice, like an Intel Core2Duo 2.4 GHz.
For graphics, an ATI X1600 is fine. (You could buy more expnsive cards, too, of course..)

[James]

Originally Posted by SamuriHL

Sweet. Any comments on my question about a possible CloneDVD HD type product to remaster the content before writing it to a blank disc? Like being able to remove trailers, logos, etc would be nice. Also, it would be killer if you could rip BluRay and write it back to an HD-DVD R, would it not?

AnyDVD HD already does this "on the fly".
Really, I had to do this before the first beta, 'cause I couldn't stand the 40 seconds unskippable Universal "HD-DVD is so great" intro on *every* Universal HD DVD.
As a side effect, the Warner & Paramount intros are now gone, too.

[James]

Originally Posted by peer

On a mid to high end Dual-Core with a decent Video card (like NVidia 7xxx or equivalent ATI) you'll have a CPU-load around 20-30%.
If you copy the HDDVD-content to your harddisk first (of course with AnyDVD/HD running ) and then play from there, you'll save another 5-10% by eliminating the need for realtime decryption.

What monitor to choose, of course, is only a question of how pretty you want your images to be.

So it's fair to say, that AnyDVD/HD reduces the hardware-requirements significantly

Careful, Peer. Your measurements are certainly with hardware acceleration in the graphic cards enabled.
You don't want this at the moment, because it really doesn't work 100%. Trust me, I am a professional.
Some titles are more demanding than others. Try MI:3 (which requires two VC1 decoders running at the same time) without hardware acceleration, you'll reach 80% CPU load on demanding scenes on a Core2duo 2.4 GHz.

[James]

Originally Posted by Ajax

So James When can we expect this new version of the AnyDvD implementation into HD...

I finished the beta today. It is tested now internally (hi, peer).
I don't know how the beta will be distributed, someone else (Tom?) will probably make an announcement.

[James]

Originally Posted by peer

Fireball,

the reason for us to pick HD-DVD first (which does not mean "only") was basically an idealistic one.
Personally, I'd like to see Blu-Ray drop dead and vanish (if there were another, less restrictive format than HD-DVD, I'd wish the same for HD-DVD) - despite the technological advantages you mentioned, which are undisputable.
I'd like the idea of Sony learning, that tying up their customers, will make those simply not accept their product.
Sadly, this is not the conclusion they will reach in the end - rather that marketing failed to make the format a success. But I can dream, can't I?

As soon as we have AnyDVD/HD out and ready for sale, I will take a closer look at the Blu-Ray formats and requirements - especially at BD+, which will probably require some additional reverse engineering.
After that, further decisions will be made.

From a consumers point of view, we can only hope, that one of the formats drowns soon, because as long as both formats are out there competing, many (most?) titles will only be available in one of the two formats. Not being available to those, who chose the other format for their home entertainment...
This whole HD-disc war is being fought out on your backs, guys, and sadly enough, you're also funding the money for it

Very well said!

[James]

Originally Posted by SamuriHL

Sweet. Any comments on my question about a possible CloneDVD HD type product to remaster the content before writing it to a blank disc? Like being able to remove trailers, logos, etc would be nice. Also, it would be killer if you could rip BluRay and write it back to an HD-DVD R, would it not?

CloneDVD HD is not planned at the moment. Maybe later, if the HD formats gain popularity. There will be an "AnyDVD ripper like" application to copy files to the harddisk (remember, Windows XP doesn't support UDF2.5, so you can't "drag'n'drop", until you manage to install the UDF2.5 filesystem from Toshiba Laptops on your PC... cough, cough)
There will be an upgrade to CloneCD to make 1:1 copies and harddisk UDF images. There will be an update to Virtual CloneDrive to mount them.
(Well, it already mounts them, but the stupid PowerDVD Ultra doesn't play them yet).

[James]

Originally Posted by SamuriHL

Sorry if this question was asked and answered already...I tried to read through all the posts to make sure and didn't see it. My question is regarding AnyDVD vs AnyDVD HD and whether they will be two separate products. What I mean by that is will we have 2 fox icons to contend with? Will AnyDVD HD be able to handle regular DVD's in addition to HD-DVD's? I would like to think that AnyDVD HD would be an upgraded product over and above the "basic" AnyDVD and that only one program would be needed to do both. I hope my question makes sense.

AnyDVD HD will contain all functions from AnyDVD "classic". So you will only have one Fox icon. In fact, AnyDVD HD installs in the same location as AnyDVD, and uses the same dlls and drivers. In other words, you *can* only install one or the other.

[DetroitBaseball]

Originally Posted by James

AnyDVD HD will contain all functions from AnyDVD "classic". So you will only have one Fox icon. In fact, AnyDVD HD installs in the same location as AnyDVD, and uses the same dlls and drivers. In other words, you *can* only install one or the other.

I don't like that. You mean you can't have AnyDVD and AnyHD-DVD installed simultaneously?

[James]

Originally Posted by DetroitBaseball

I don't like that. You mean you can't have AnyDVD and AnyHD-DVD installed simultaneously?

No, because AnyDVD HD replaces AnyDVD. Why don't you like it? It is only a few kBytes bigger and "looks and feels" the same.
The only difference is in fact a new "Video HD DVD" settings page in the preferences.

EDIT: If you use your regular AnyDVD key AnyDVD HD will "convert itself" into AnyDVD classic. I've done this to make development and distribution simpler.