High Definition players/recorders

[zag]

Having bought myself a high def (as in 1920*1080, I still dunno if it is 1080i or 1080p) camcorder and recorded a couple of hours of content I now want to do some authoring and create a few DVDs.

Problem - this whole Blu Ray vs HD thing has me all confused.

I know I will need something to burn to from my computer after I have done any editing and added titles, etc . . . so, I guess I am looking at either an internal or external DVD burner (and having to choose between HD DVD and Blu Ray).

Then I will need to play the DVD back and show the content on the shiney new telly I bought, so I guess I will need a similar DVD player to hook up.

Does anyone know if there is a product which would act as an external burner for the PC and also act as a player for the TV ?

z

 

[podgerodge]

zag, expensive business it seems - if its a blu-ray camcorder you have

something like this for your pc - [broken link removed]

or
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BWU200S-Blu-ray-Serial-Drive/dp/B000XB0R4U

and then a playstation 3 for playing on the television...

and discs for burning...

or you could just forget about editing and play the 8cm ??? disc from the camcorder directly in the playstation 3 which i understand is possible.

 

[Technologist]

Having bought myself a high def (as in 1920*1080, I still dunno if it is 1080i or 1080p) camcorder and recorded a couple of hours of content I now want to do some authoring and create a few DVDs.

Does anyone know if there is a product which would act as an external burner for the PC and also act as a player for the TV ?

z

All HD camcoders are 1080i. One type uses MPEG4 and the other (mostly Sony) use AVCHD.

With AVCHD camcorders and the supplied software, you can burn to a DVD on your computer and play back the DVD on a PS3 at 1080i over a HDMI connection. It'll also play back on other computers with the right player software. Because it's just DVD media, you won't be able to store more than about 30 minutes, I think.

Alternatively, you could get a Blue-Ray or DVDHD burner and, using expensive media, store the whole length of your HD epic. The Blue-ray discs would play back on any PS3 and also on the new Blue-Ray players, the HDDVD would play back on XBOX360s which have the add-on HDDVD player and also the new HDDVD players.

Very few people have either dedicated Blue-Ray or HDDVD players at present.

Or, get an expensive laptop with a built-in Blue-Ray drive and an HDMI output that you can connect to an HD TV. That'll burn and play for you.

Which format you choose depends on what kind of players your friends & relatives have or if it's just for yourself.