Hey all, I'm getting this new system soon. Problems: - Why get a 1080p/THX/7.1 receiver? Do i need a THX DVD player also?? Are there 1080p/THX/7.1 encoded sat/cable/HD Tuner signals? or on DVDs? I haven't found a 1080p HD tuner. I found a 1080p DVD player, but this is just upconverting, right? Do DVDs even come in a 1080p quality? Also, there isn't 7.1 surround for DVD players unless you get a HD DVD player or blue ray? It seems a 1080p HDTV is a waste, as well as a THX receiver and 7.1 speakers.
- What HD signal is sent by cable and satellite? 720p? is THX in the stream? 7.1? - Normal, over-the-air, HD tuner signal? 720p? - DVDs - THX/720p/7.1 ?? - DVD players - Have to get a HD DVD player THX/7.1/1080p?
Any help appreciated!! Luv this place!!
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Jeff, a couple of things that might make it a bit clearer (although I'm sure better answers are sure to follow from others.)
As I understand it, THX is merely a "certification" process and doesn't add anything magical to the equipment. If you are a manufacturer and you think your "system" has what it takes you can go to George Lucas and let his group run tests. If they pass you are allowed to put THX on your reciever or what have you. (Is this the same with Dolby or are their actual techinical specs that need to be met?) Anyway, from what I understand you can have a kick butt reciever but if the manufacturer said, "bah, I don't need Lucas to tell me it's good," then it won't have THX on the side, but it will still be a kick butt reciever.
As for HD signals sent via cable or satellite, it depends on the actual broadcast channel. Fox, for example, will broadcast it's football games in 720p. Another station may broadcast in 1080i. The cable company or satellite provider merely passes this signal along.
DVD's are 480p. We won't see 720p/1080i/1080p DVD's until BlueRay and HDDVD (I think a couple have been released already?) As for 7.1 I don't think any DVD's are currently mixed with 7.1 yet. A good reciever, however, can sort of "upscale" a 5.1 or 6.1 audio feed to 7.1 by mixing the "surround" channels (again, as I understand it...anyone else, anyone, anyone, Bueller?) I'm sure that 7.1 mixes are in our near future, however, so it's always nice to be "ready" with that sweet reciever.
Perfectly explained Mike. I might add that the Toshiba HD-DVD player is supposed to be at Dealers for retail sale tomorrow. Blu Ray player by Samsung is scheduled to be available May 23rd. Titles for both should be available in an ever increasing supply as time goes on. You can go to Amazon and pull up a list of the "On Order" discs for both formats today.
On a note of interest the Toshiba was ready to ship on March 28th but was intentionally delayed due to no titles being available until tomorrow.