Quote:
Originally Posted by 80B
(Post 8123)
When the MX150 comes out, it should be at a point where it's basically 100% up to date with the latest standards, at least for what I'm seeking. HDMI 1.3a, room correction, etc. It should have a relatively long production run since there doesn't seem to be any new earth-shattering A/V standards on the horizon. Of course, if I'm missing something here please chime in. I also write that as someone who uses my system for music 90% of the time, and regards the multi-channel and video aspects of the system as rounding out the core stereo capabilities.
The Blu-Ray and HD standards are relatively new, so their life cycles (1080p HD standard more than the medium of Blu-Ray itself) have years to play out. As much as I'm a fan of innovation and progress, it's likely these standards will be in place for a long time. They are high-quality, and when you look at the phenomenon of iPod/iTunes/MP3, the case for incremental quality increases, and interconnect improvements is more a case of decreasing returns than ever. Contrary to this is the industry's need for a new format, interconnect, or standard, etc. to make your current gear obsolete.
Maybe in 20 years I'll laugh at this post for being unimaginative, but I certainly expect to still be listening to my 501s and B&Ws at the very least.
|
I agree with most of this.
The core blu-ray standards are finally settled. Look how long DVD lasted without any major changes and it is still going strong, far outselling blu-ray. With hdmi 1.3, support for the new lossless codecs, room correction and video processing, the mx150 should be good for quite some time.
On the audio front, I think things are settled for a long time. Dolby just created IIz, which adds height channels, and maybe they will create IIz2 so that it covers both the front and rear, but aside from that, blu-ray supports 8 channels, and that is that.
I don't think there will be any sort of major push towards 1440p. The masses are just now starting to upgrade to hdtv in bulk, and look how long that transition is taking... A quick google says there is 34% penetration in NA at the end of 2009 and it's taken years to get that far. I highly doubt anyone is going to be pushing 1440p when they're still working on getting the majority into the current best technology. Frankly, the only people 1440p would even benefit are those with front projection, and that is a small niche of the total HD market. I expect blu-ray penetration is even less, but that will start to take-off soon. I certainly don't think the studios would go back an scan all those negatives again for such a small market though. So maybe we'll see some 1440p projectors, but they will rely on video processors to upscale imo. I'm viewing a 106" screen in 1080p from 10' and i'm perfectly happy with it. The detail is incredible and I don't think there's anything missing from my image.
The big wrinkle is 3D. It is my opinion that 3D will take a LONG time to stabilize and an even longer time to penetrate, even though 2010 is supposed to be "the year of 3D" (it's not). Home 3D is still in its infancy. IIRC they don't even have standards defined yet. And look how long it took manufacturers to sort things out with plain old HD and the retarded ever-changing hdmi spec. Whereas there was tons of catalog material to go back and scan for 1080p, there is almost nothing but a bunch of kid's films for 3D. I can count the number of "3D" movies i'd be interested in seeing on one hand.
I saw Superman in 3D on an imax screen. Frankly, of the 20 minutes done in 3D, some of it was kinda cool, but some of it was terrible, particularly the part where they were trapped and drowning and there were waves and water splashing everywhere. 3D was not able to handle that very well at all and I started getting a headache. Sure, avatar is better, but it's basically a tech demo. How often does anyone get a budget of 300million dollars to play with? These types of movies will get cheaper to make, but again, it will take a long time. Unless you are really in to games, I say 3D is at least 5 years off before it's even worth considering, and 5 years from now, I still think they'll have enough movie source material for most adults to care. Even though I have front projection, I'm more inclined to go spend $10 bucks at the movies for the occasional 3D movie I actually want to see than several thousand changing all my gear.
