I have a very important announcement. I have just come back from Mediaplex KLCC, that place with all those sweet Plasmas and LCD TVs and projectors. Talked to Gary, the supervisor while i was purchasing the two optical cables i need for my PS3 and 360, and the conversation went to why i needed the cables for. After hearing that its for the consoles, and how im using them for Bluray and HD-DVDs, his eyes bulged in excitement. Apparently they have just received their HD-DVD player, the Toshiba HD-A1, and it's running The Last Samurai HD-DVD(whats with this title anyway, not really top tier title to showcase HD-DVDs) on a Hitachi Plasma they have there. Told him that i just received my Amazon order today, with King Kong and Tokyo Drift, and his eyes nearly fell off their sockets! After some excited exchange of swear words and astonishments, he asked if i could borrow him a couple of HD-DVDs , because they wanted to see how it looked on their 1080p projector room with cinema seats at the back of their store. I eagerly agree, so the date is set for tomorrow between 11am and 2pm for the HD-DVD playtest at Mediaplex KLCC. Asked him if its okay if i bring friends along, he gives the thumbs up. So im extending this invitation to all of you guys to see for yourselves, The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, King Kong, Mission Impossible 3, ....all titles that i have with me, on a 1080p projector on a screen in excess of 100inches, with the state-of-the-art surround sound, on a 1080p quality video and Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD sound quality.

I will be there between those times, Mediaplex KLCC is located on the same floor with SonyStyle KLCC, you need to walk towards TGV KLCC to reach it from SonyStyle.

This simply will be the videophiles/audiophiles dream come true, all you need to do is get yourselves there to experience it all. HD-DVDs, with Dolby TrueHD, at 1080p, on a 100 inch screen, on Mediaplex's own cinema seating auditorium. See it for yourselves tomorrow, and i'll see you there.

Venue: Mediaplex KLCC
Date/Time :December 19th 11am-2pm 2006
Agenda: HD-DVD Movie experience on 1080p projector, in state-of-the-art auditorium.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Dec 21 2006, 10:16 PM

See ya there bro, i'll be sure to bring along ur BD MI3

And then watch the HDDVD MI3 and see if got any difference with Bluray version.

If time permits, if time permits

Wooohoo! Count me in man! Gonna ask for a 2 hour break tomorrow

Hehe thank goodness im on leave tomorrow, will be there 11 am sharp

So what's the exact time? if I can make it will walk over there during lunch time

Feh work interfering with my life.

yalor string... today gotta crunch numbers...

oh noes....if only i can apply for leave.

Im afraid the playtest had to be cut short, due to the HD-DVD player have to be update its firmware. Mediaplex's player is the Toshiba HD-XA1, and has problem accessing U-Control. Because there is no point playing HD-DVD at half its features, we decided to cut it short.

However, to make up for today's unfortunate events, Garry gave me the green light to do another playtest. So i suggested Thursday 5pm till their store closes, so that he can have the HD-XA1 firmware updated, prep his showroom ready, plus he can do a bit of tour of Mediaplex and the HDTVs they offer.

Thanks to Corez, Alkt and Yjtay for coming, and im sorry for any shortcomings. A huge thanks to Garry and the Mediaplex crew for hosting this, they are awesome!

The date and day for the next playtest are not set in stone, you guys decide if Thursday or that date/time is not good for you and we can reschedule. Garry gave me that much leeway for the playtest, but he need some time to do the player firmware update. Cheers Garry for your generosity!

Im really sorry fop those whn made plans to come but unable to do so because of this.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Dec 19 2006, 01:39 PM

We get to see too then... can't wait for time/day to be finalised!

Sorry I can't make it just now, banyak keje siot! This Friday is my off day so it would be perfect if the next playtest is held on that day

**EDIT**

aikss... change day edi. Thursday pon ok

This post has been edited by arj: Dec 19 2006, 01:50 PM

String how much was the HD-DVD player going for btw? Thursday on any evening would be great after work for me

HD-XA1 goes for around USD500 although these guys gets it at a slight premium.

I have to comment on this though. The standalone player is so darn slow. The Xbox 360 addon loads up HD-DVD player 6-8 seconds after the tray closes, standalone HD-DVD player takes close to a minute to load!

Maybe its because of its older firmware, but operationwise, it is erratic and clunky. The standalone player freezes the movie a couple of times at scene selection, which should not happen, since playing it on my 360 addon works with the movie playing on background, and the scene selection displays on top as an overlay. I certainly dont have to mention the U-Control mess on this player. Hopefully Garry get his player updated by Thursday, i mught drop by before Thursday to help him out if he needs me.

Im used to activating U-Control via the "A" button on the Universal Remote that comes with the addon, but doing so on the HD-XA1 does nothing. The player also require MANUAL resolution change, instead of changing it on the fly to suit your TV resolution, and doing so, requires it to restart all over again, which takes considerable amount of time.

All in all, the 360 addon trounces and walks all over this standalone HD-DVD player. Sure it doesnt have HDMI output, and audio donwmixed via optical, but it is a breeze, a pleasure to play HD-DVD on this compared to the stuttering mess that is that standalone player. Garry needs to update that player ASAP.

And also, the HD-XA1 only does 1080i, not 1080p via its HDMI. We were watching Superman Returns and was wondering why the image was softer and not razor sharp. Switched over to 1080i (after a ong wait/pause), and things looks better. Yes folks, i think bro Corez and Yjtay can vouch for this too, there is CONSIDERABLE differences between 720p and 1080i, at this large of a screen size. We all saw it, and was a little let down at the softness and blurriness of 720p before we got it configured to 1080i.

So again to reiterate:-

Venue: Mediaplex Auditorium KLCC
Date/Time: 21st December 2006 5pm till store closes. *tentative, or suggest your preferred time*
Agenda: HD-DVD movie experience on 100 inch screen auditorium, cinema seating, 1080p Sony projector, but at 1080i playback *thanks to the HD-XA1 player*

I'm working at KLCC Tower2 and maybe I'll join in after work at 5pm onwards.

Yeah was there for a couple of hours. Thanks to Gary from Mediaplex who is kind enough to provide the place and Strings for organising this event.
It nice to view the HD DVD in all its glory (100" wow).
On the other side, Strings told me that LOTR trilogy and Star Wars double trilogy will be going out in a different format. D*mn, gotta choose a format.

that place sells PS3 and 360 cables?

Hahahahah, well the different camps for both movies studios distributing the trilogies, what to do. New Line went HD-DVD while 20th Century Fox is warming up to the Bluray blanket.