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What is Super Upconversion?

With the recent rumors of Toshiba challenging Blu-ray once again, I decided to search around a bit online and see what I could find out about the so-called “super upconversion” technology. One of the most interesting tidbits that I found was the following comment from Deadmeat, posted on the dvdtown messageboards.

“The upconversion Nishida’s talking about is “Super Upconversion” or Real-Time Super Resolution technique that has been used in astronomy and by intelligence services for decades. CELL’s computational power allows real-time super resolution processing of SD video to increase its native resolution to 960p, by fusing 9 frames front and back.

The Super Resolution(aka Super Upconversion) output is truely 960p, and journalists who have seen the demo at trade shows like CEDEC and CES vouched that it really worked. Previously, Super Upconversion was scheduled to appear on Sharp and Toshiba HDTV sets only, but the death of HD-DVD changed all that it is now confirmed that Super Upconversion will come to DVD players as well.”

We also found this image on the Japanese website Impress:



My thoughts on this are:

1) A Toshiba plan to compete against Blu-ray with DVD super upconversion is certainly plausable, especially if they continue to avoid Blu-ray technology altogether (which they appear to be doing).

2) Cell processors and the hardware needed to power this technology could be expensive. Toshiba is going to need these super upconversion players priced significantly lower than Blu-ray players in order to have any chance.

3) Is this too little too late? Many consumers are already aware of Toshiba’s massive failure with HD DVD. Would these same consumers be willing to ‘buy’ in to the latest Toshiba hype?

4) I would like to personally witness a demo of this super upconversion video technology. Until then, I won’t draw any conclusions on its’ effectiveness (or lack thereof).

What do you think about super upconversion?

Sources; comment: dvdtown, Image: Impress

Toshiba challenging Blu-ray again?

The rumor today is that Toshiba is planning to challenge Blu-ray again, only this time with traditional DVD technology. What’s that you say? Remember when Toshiba left HD DVD in the dust they said they were focusing on upconverting players, and that is exactly what we’re going to see later this year.

But aren’t DVD upscalers already on the market? Yes, they have been for years. Toshiba is claiming their new chip is different. It is using Super-resolution technology to create a 960p image from the original 480i source material. This image will then be scaled to 720p, 1080i or 1080p depending on the TV’s abilities.

Doesn’t this sound like a gimmick? Of course it does. They claim it’s a new “large integrated circuit” (LSI) that converts each frame to high-resolution instantly. This LSI is cheaper than what Blu-ray has to offer so they plan on a full-frontal assault on the Blu-ray market.

How is that different than what they did with HD DVD? I don’t know really. For about a year Toshiba was marketing HD DVD players as a DVD player that made your existing movies look better but also played HD DVD. Now they’re taking out the HD DVD part and saying your existing library of movies will look as good as Blu-ray. Hard to believe, but they’re trying this on for size.

The way they’re marketing this technology may hurt Blu-ray sales, but it seems more of a vendetta than a real challenge. Their real competitors are Silicon Optix (HQV), Anchor Bay (DVDO), Sigma Designs (Gennum), and Genesis Microchip. These companies have been perfecting video scalers since long before the format was first introduced.

The basic math just doesn’t work. Blu-ray begins with six-times the resolution that DVD does. You simply can’t add the fine detail back into the image the compression schemes take out. Maybe Toshiba will join forces with Flexplay to really take on the world.

Flexplay attempts to revive Divx

Some people just don’t learn from history at all. This time Flexplay Technologies is bringing the exact same Divx technology we all despised in 1998 back. Like a reoccurring nightmare, this 48-hour lifespan disc just won’t quit.

If you remember, Divx was introduced in 1998 and about six-months later it was discontinued. You would think companies would have figured out that this technology just wouldn’t work, but in 2003 Buena Vista created the EZ-D disc with the same properties only it would play in any DVD player, not just special Divx players. Again, less than six-months later this attempt failed miserably. Now we have Flexplay (who developed EZ-D in 1999) trying again using the sales channel of Staples (the office supplies store).

The problems are two-fold. The first is this disc is temporary so you have 48-hours to view the content once the seal is broken. The second is this disc is temporary, and in this overly-consumeristic society we’re concerned about the amount of waste we’re producing. In both cases, this is an idiotic move.

Never mind that DVDs are already cheap (in the $10 range), so this $4 to $6 price is outrageous. Hell, when you rent a movie from Blockbuster you get it for five-days, not two! Not to mention the title availability is going to be minimal with only Paramount, New Line, DreamWorks and Warner Bros. on board.

Flexplay Is at least trying to quell the fears of the environmentally minded by providing recycle bins at the place of purchase or postage-paid mailers for recycle. But honestly, most consumers don’t recycle their aluminum cans and they actually pay a fee for those when they buy them. If the movie studios were actually committed to protecting the environment - as they all say - they would abandon this technology right out.

There must be a tax shelter for idiotic business plans.

Credit: Home Media Magazine

Pioneer’s 2008 lineup announced

Sorry for all the Pioneer updates, but this is something that gives clarity to all the discussion of the new Kuro panels.

There are four models in the Elite line, and they share similar specs. All are 1080p, Kuro plasmas. There is a new line within Elite called “Signature Series;” these will be monitors without on board tuners and will be a thin 2.5″ deep. The $5,000 PRO-111FD and $6,000 PRO-151FD are 50″ and 60″, respectfully. The Signature Series are PRO-101FD and PRO-141FD in the same sizes. The Elite plasmas will ship in June, and the Signature Series will ship in October and August (101FD and 141FD).



The consumer line features a 50″ PDP-5020FD and a 60″ PDP-6020FD, both in 1080p. The new panels are almost a full inch thinner than their predecessors at 3.7″ deep. They’re all receiving the Home Media Gallery allowing connection to networked DLNA devices to view video, photos and audio on the TV. The consumer level plasmas will be $4,000 and $5,000 around June.



Interestingly, Pioneer has added a KRF-9000FD front projector to their lineup. They still don’t have full specs on it, but it is a 1080p LCoS projector based on the popular JVC DLA-RS2. This will retail at around $9,000.



Pioneer is also expanding their Blu-ray lineup with a player in their consumer line and in the Elite line. Both Blu-ray Disc players are BD1.1 “Bonus View,” and I’m a bit disappointed that they don’t have a BD2.0 player. The Elite model is BDP-05FD and the Pioneer brand is BDP-51FD. As far as I can tell they’re both the same unit. They both decode all audio codecs, they both have HDMI 1.3, BD1.1 profile, 1080p/24fps and PureCinema Deinterlacer. The Elite seems to simply add gold-plated connectors, touch-sensitive buttons, and an aluminum face plate. I hope there’s more to it than that.



Finally, Pioneer’s highly-respected Elite A/V receivers have been revamped. They will now all feature three audio zones, two video zones and will have RS-232 control. This is another effort to court the custom integrators. The new SC-07 and SC-05 receivers will follow the flagship SC-09TX with ICEpower class-D amplifiers. The VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH will be joined with the existing VSX-94TXH to complete the line.

Panasonic unveils Blu-ray HTIB

New hardware news has been coming in on the Blu-ray tide. Panasonic has revealed specs and pricing on their new SC-BT100 home-theater-in-a-box system, as well as announced a new BD2.0 player.

The SC-BT100 features BD1.1 “Bonus View” compatibility, 24fps output on HDMI 1.3, and codec support for all mandatory and optional formats. It is a 5.1 surround system with all satellites in the famous D’Appolito array. The rear speakers are wireless, meaning they are powered at the rear and wires still need to be attached but they don’t have to run to the front of the room. You can also add another pair of wireless speakers for a 7.1 setup. Out of the box, 7.1 sources are give phantom channels in the rears.

This HTIB also features an embedded iPod dock that plays audio and video from all iPods with the exception of the iPhone. The integrated Blu-ray Disc player upconverts DVD to 1080p over HDMI. This system costs $999 MSRP.

Also announced is the new DMP-BD50 which will be identical to the DMP-BD30 but with added features. Included are all advanced codecs on board, BD2.0 “BD-Live” compatibility (using an SD card slot on the front panel), and 24fps video support. This player will retail at $699. The DMP-BD30 is the BD1.1 player at $499.

Kaleidescape to support Blu-ray

When I first wrote about Kaleidescape, they were ambivalent to HD DVD and Blu-ray. Yesterday they announced they would be supporting Blu-ray in the future (thanks to Kaleidescape Owners’ Forum).

A new Blu-ray player will be released for the system that will rip DVD, CD and possibly Blu-ray to the server. This player will be compatible with all existing servers, so it will be easy to upgrade if you currently have one (and don’t we all?). As Kaleidescape is trying to keep their business on the “up-and-up,” I imagine they’re looking to get the BDA to give them the ability to copy the discs without resorting to third-party encrypting software as other companies are doing. It’s posible the user might have to pay the studio a “user fee” on each copy of the movie.



The player is expected in 2009 at about the same cost as the current media player. They’re predicting at least 5 streams of video and audio from the player with the possibility of going up to 20 on a gigabit network.

There are no plans for an HD DVD model, but they will be watching the marketplace and revisit that decision in the future.

So all of you with $20,000 sitting around and don’t know what to do with it, find a Kaleidescape dealer and enjoy the ride.

Alienware details new High Definition Media Server

The latest, greatest Windows Media Center is the new Alienware High Definition Media Server. Besides its ubiquitous name, the High Definition Media Server (I’m going to call it the HDMS) has a sleek design, up to 4TB storage in RAID-5 redundancy, Intel quad-core processor, 1080p video, Blu-ray Disc read/write, up to four cable tuners (two in high-def), and 7.1 channel pre-amp outputs.



At this point there is no MSRP. Alienware is searching for custom installation firms interested in integrating this product into high-end homes. If I had an undisclosed amount of money I’d consider this.

Visit the Alienware site for more details.