What are WMV-HD DVDs and how do I play them?

[HDRJason]

WMV-HD is Windows Media High Definition

These are computer files with a .wmv extension, stored on standard single or dual layer DVD-ROM. They can be played on your computer, HTPC (home theater computer), or a handful of standalone players.

The quality is excellent, all progressive scan, in either 720p or 1080p formats.

So far, this format has not picked up much steam, but the titles that are available have generally been very well received. Recently, a handful of European companies have begun encoding D5 master tapes into WMV-HD DVDs and selling them to the European market. These are generally big budget American movies, but with German menus. The audio is English, and the subtitles can be turned off, so when you're watching the feature, there is no difference, aside from the obvious quality difference when watching 1280x720 rather than 720x480!

On the audio side, WMV-HD uses 5.1 channel audio, but getting that audio to your home theater can be tricky. If you're using a computer, you have to use 5 analog outputs, or convert to dolby digital. this can be done on the fly with software or by Nvidia Soundstorm audio chipset embedded on many motherboards.

[jcrobso]

Amazon.com has many WMV-HD DVDs, most are from I-Max movies and are dual DVD package. One is a standard DVD and the other is the WMV-HD DVD.
I use a DVI cable from my PC to my CRT-RP HDTV and use an optical audio cable from my PC to my AV Receiver. The sound and picture are excellent. John

[Shane]

Just FYI, we also carry several titles from HDNet in WMV HD DVD format in our HDStore: http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/hdstore/cat ... c-251.html

Cheers,

- Shane