I sure am glad I wasn't going to get into the format right now. Sucks for everyone who was planning on it though.

They were using this player: Victor/JVC HM-DH30000U

Julien

Why is he saying you HAVE to use firewire with D-Theater? Component works just fine. Least it did the last time I tried with my D-Theater deck (same one he's using.)

Anyone “planning on” getting into D Theater in 2022 deserves all the challenge they encounter.

I couldn’t stand to actually watch this video so I don’t know exactly but he seemed to be commenting on HDCP. So, the same limitations compared to HDMI. Component does do 1080i though, doesn’t it? It for sure does 720p.

Anyone who refers to a FireWire connector as “hyper obscure” isn’t really much of an expert on things and he’s super annoying to listen to.

If I remember correctly, wasn't firewire only for the recording side?

Verily. You could output via firewire if you wanted to, but it was the only input you could use if you wanted to make HD recordings from a cable box, HD over the air receiver or a Satellite box.

Component works just fine. Firewire can both output and input. Analog inputs are limited to sd recording but firewire can record hd as well.

The model in this video is the first d-theater vcr. It is the most common one too. It can not play the DTS soundtracks. All models have ntsc tuners only (useless now) except the last generation DT100 which has an atsc tuner built in which can show & record over the air hd channels.

The video is literally indistinguishable from Blu-rays in most cases. It was too good and ambitious for its time. No one had HD TVs back then, tapes were around $80 per movie at Best Buy, mainstream public wasn’t ready.

Yeah I don't remember if firewire was obscure, I had a Hi-8 video camera once that had it and a chance to get a DVD recorder that had it
but went with the cheaper model without.

I think it was short lived rather than hyper obscure.