Dave Marx

I am in the market for a new HDTV, and this whole issue of DVI vs. Firewire has set my search back. Even the guys in the home theatre specialty store don't seem to know which will become the industry standard. I was especially interested in the Mitsubishi 65-inch HDTV...liked it a lot...but it has firewire and no DVI. What if DVI becomes the standard???? Then I'm up s**t creek...

I don't see how anyone can confidently purchase an HDTV now, without knowing which will become the standard. It would have been like buying a Beta VCR vs. VHS, years ago.

ANYONE have ANY idea or heard ANYTHING about which one will be the favored choice in the future????????????????????????

mikehbkwm

well in my opinion it really wont matter... thats way down the road from what ive read and also i think that most components in the future will have an option for both DVI and firewire so id say go ahead and get a HD set you really dont have anything to worry about.. Ive got a Sony KP51ws500 and it has DVI and I feel totally comfortable knowing that it doesnt have firewire...

Dave Marx

I don't think the Mitsu set I looked at can be upgraded for DVI. I think I may wait for sets that have BOTH inputs in the future, so I can get my bases covered. I think this may be a crucial issue in the future, so I am gonna probably wait, unless someone has information that leads me to believe one of the two standards will become dominant.

57U

There appears to be a "deal" in the works whereby DVI will become the standard for digital TV inputs, while Firewire will be the standard for recording devices. This leaves Mits a little "on the outside" of this battle.

There have been several recent announcements regarding this issue, however nothing is cast in stone yet.

This does mean that if you are considering a TV with DVI, you probably have nothing to worry about, while if the set you're considering only has firewire, you may wish to be aware of these recent developments.

There are many of us who don't have either, but in the same way that you were taking a "small risk" many months ago if your set only had component video inputs, you are now taking a "small risk" if your set has firewire, instead of DVI.

__________________
57U - Toronto, Rogers Cable, SA8300HD, 500GB HDD & Hitachi 61UWX10B HDTV, Yamaha RX-V1 A/V Receiver, Martin Logan Speakers. Photos --> 57U's HT

SA8300HD, 250GB HDD & KDL40W3000 (Upstairs)

Please don't PM me with questions that can (and should) be asked in the forum, thanks. Personal Question? Fire away.

Dave Marx

What do you guys think of this development...reported in another forum. Seems Firewire may have won??

Check out this link:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/show...threadid=203016

57U

Read paragraph 11 in --> This Announcement and everything will be clear as mud again...

It reads that firewire is for recording from STBs, while DVI will be the interface for HDTV. We'll have to see how all this shakes out...

There was a very recent announcement from Rogers Cable in Toronto, that they will "enable" the DVI ports on future HD STBs and not enable firewire. It's very early in this game but that news was disconcerting to some, because if Rogers actually does this, there will be no way to record HD signals from STBs because all recorders so far use firewire. Also TVs with firewire inputs only would have to use the component video (analogue) inputs instead of digital (DVI). Not a big deal...

Rogers may have spoken incorrectly, but we'll wait and see... Rogers may plan to have people use an HDPVR STB, like the SA8000HD which will allow you to record, without the need for firewire since "everything" is in the one STB.

Who knows, if enough people have a need for firewire, Rogers may decide to "enable" the firewire port, but at this time they say no.

Remember that all of these decisions have been made without the input of the MPAA.

__________________
57U - Toronto, Rogers Cable, SA8300HD, 500GB HDD & Hitachi 61UWX10B HDTV, Yamaha RX-V1 A/V Receiver, Martin Logan Speakers. Photos --> 57U's HT

SA8300HD, 250GB HDD & KDL40W3000 (Upstairs)

Please don't PM me with questions that can (and should) be asked in the forum, thanks. Personal Question? Fire away.

pcoffman

I may be mistaken but I think Mitsubishi would probably come out with some way to upgrade the sets people currently own don't you think? I just figured since they have the promise module for those who don't have a built in tuner and for those of us who do any technical upgrades that they have made they just send you an upgrade card and boom fixed. Of course I know you can't do that with DVI since it is an input but couldn't they come up with a different module that you could add possably? Just a thought.

__________________
Mits. ws-55859
Sony STR-DA777ES Receiver
M&K 750 THX System
Denon 2800MKII
xbox
Tributaries Video cables
Kimber Cable Audio cables & Speaker wire

Dave Marx

I don't know if the Mitsu set is upgradable to DVI, but that's a good question. I guess all you would need is ONE DVI input, and then you could hub several more inputs on there, like USB, right? In any case, a smart buy would be to get sets with both, I am guessing.

And then there's the whole copy protection issue, to boot.! Man, seems like shopping for a big-screen TV for the future is a heck of a lot more complicated than it used to be!!!!!!!!!

MassCableGuy

While researching a HDTV to purchase I came across a straight forward answer by Samsung that states the main reason they don't have a IEEE input on their HDTV sets.

The question was:

Does the Samsung DLP™ TV product line feature the 1394 interface?

No. While there are several reasons, the most common and practical reasons include price considerations and the delivery choices of digital and HDTV programming. The important thing to know is that a 1394 equipped TV product would require a MPEG-2 decoder, something that adds considerable cost to a TV set. Note also that the cost of designing a HDTV tuner in most any TV set would add approximately $500 at retail of which most of the cost is the decoder itself. Since there are several delivery options for accessing HDTV programming like cable, satellite and over the air HDTV broadcasts, add-on tuners and receivers are a more practical way to go for most consumers. With this in mind, the product features the high quality DVI interface for true digital connectivity. Most all of the new generation off-air HDTV/Cable TV tuners and Satellite HD receivers are or will be DVI equipped.

MassCableGuy

Almost forgot...heres the link to the page were the Q/A was found...

http://www.samsungusa.com/cgi-bin/n...65in.+Plasma+TV

I can definately relate to the pressures of buying a quality TV not knowing what the future holds for it. All I can do is feel confident in the set I purchased...and so far so good!!! (Samsung HLM437W)

Dave Marx

Mass Cable Guy, thanks for that informative post. But it worries me. Does that mean the Mitsu 65-inch set I was looking at getting is going to be outdated in a couple of years, since it only has Firewire? YIKES!!!!!!!!! This is not good news. Anyway, I am mainly waiting for the satellite services to add many more HD-channels before I invest in an HDTV. Doesn't make sense to spend all that cash and then watch 98% of shows in 4:3, does it?

Why is DIRECTV and DISH NETWORK taking so long to add new HD channels? I mean, there are just a handful of HD channels right now...shameful! I do hear ESPN and ESPN2 will be HD on DISH NETWORK later this year.

MassCableGuy

No problem Dave. I work for ATT Broadband (now Comcast) and I get the opportunity to view many HD sets in the average folks home (out of sight from pesky sales people), which gives me a slight edge when it came to picking one out for myself.

As far as the Mitsubishi becoming outdated...well, HDTV's are similar to computers whereas the lastest and greatest surpasses the 'then' latest and greatest of just a few weeks ago. I'll tell you what I told my best friend, (who incidently took 4 MONTHS to decide which set to buy) get the TV that best impresses YOU, not the salesman or 'us'. For instance, Comcast has a standing order when it comes to adjusting the color/tint/contrast ect on customers TV's ... DONT. What looks good to us doesn't always look good to them.

The firewire is a good set-up, but I feel that it has too many limitations on it as a direct connection for video/audio feed which requires additional steps in presenting the image. Thats just my personal opinion. Do your research from non-biased sources and then dive in.

Hell NTSC format has been around since the dawn of TV broadcast, the FCC isn't going to change or 'update' the HDTV format anytime soon. Firewire/DVI/Component ect are just fluff at different ways of doing the same thing, some are better than others but you have to realize that a 1080i image is the same regardless of how it gets there...component/Firewire/DVI. Thats the beauty of high definition.

Sorry for the long winded post, but I love this stuff!!! You just have to dive in and enjoy Dave, otherwise your going to be second guessing yourself till your too old to enjoy it when you do finally get one.

__________________
Samsung HLM437W DLP
Samsung SIR-T165 Terrestrial Receiver

MassCableGuy

Opps! I got so carried away with myself that I forgot to address your concern about DirectTV & Dish not showing more HD channels.

Simply. It comes down to bandwidth. And whats most cost effective - currently.

For instance, in cable, a standard analog NTSC channel is 6 Mhz wide. so needless to say in a 900+ Mhz pipeline that don't give you to many 'channels' to play with when you consider High Speed Data/VOD VoIP and such taking up more space. So, like DirecTV & Dish, cable went digital in the transmission of channels. Now we can have nearly 6 to 10 high quaility analog channels in the same 6 Mhz bandwidth. However a 'true' HD channel takes much more bandwidth, nearly as much as a standard NTSC does in bandwidth. To the 'bean-counters' its like going 'back in time'. And they don't want to do that YET. :p Its all about demand!! And the sad truth is, not many customers demand it... Those &*($#!!!

Just my two...ahem...five cents worth...

__________________
Samsung HLM437W DLP
Samsung SIR-T165 Terrestrial Receiver

Dave Marx

Thanks again, MCG, very interesting stuff. As for me, I really like the Mitsu 65-inch (think it's the 989 model). However, it only has Firewire, not DVI. I think I will probably wait a few months to see what shakes out, as far as which tv has which format. I see you have the Samsung...do you enjoy it? I had also been looking at Samsung and SONY (though I didn't like SONY's stretch modes in 4:3, where they merely zoom in on the picture instead of elongating the far side of the picture). Seems ya lose a lot of the picture with the SONY.

As far as the lack of demand on HD on Satellite, I think that once more consumers get a look at what the HD picture quality looks like, the demand will certainly increase. The thought of most channels becoming HD just makes my mouth water. The idea of ESPN in HD is fantastic! Imagine the detail during games!!!

Anyway, keep up the good work. Thanks again for the info...

coolmacguy

Not exactly. Component is still analog, while Firewire and DVI are completely digital. Now granted you aren't going to see that much dif but it is still there.

MassCableGuy

True.

However the basis of my post was that there is always going to be something newer/better 6 months from now. Is there a HUGE difference? It depends on the individual.

__________________
Samsung HLM437W DLP
Samsung SIR-T165 Terrestrial Receiver

Eyedox

Mitsubishi has stated that although they have no plans to add DVI-HDCP interfaces on their HDTV's in the near future, they have promised that if DVI becomes the SOLE standard for hooking up protected HD content, their promise modules can be altered to incorporate a DVI interface in addition to the Firewire ones.

hdexpert

if this really concerns you go mits, they already have the firewire and they have already announced that if (when) dvi becomes more popular they will release an upgrade for their rptvs...so they are the only way you are going to get the best of both worlds

Mize

Does anyone have any thoughts on HDMI or seen any new equipment coming out with an HDMI connection?

I have been reading about it as the next(backwards compatible) version of DVI. HDMI allows for an uncompressed video AND audio signal and I have been starting to hear some buzz about it. I heard there should be hdtv's on the market first quarter 2003 with HDMI connectors but have not seen or heard of any.