Next-gen DVD

[RazaBlade]

Next-generation DVD battle begins

The first HD DVD players and discs have gone on sale in the US.

The release marks the start of the format wars between the Toshiba-led HD DVD and the Sony-led Blu-ray systems.

The first Blu-ray discs are expected in late May, while the first players will be available in June.

Next-generation formats are able to store much more high-quality data, especially important for high-definition video.

Both technologies use a blue laser to write information. It has a shorter wavelength so more data can be stored.

A Blu-ray disc will eventually be able to store 50GB of high-quality data, while Toshiba's HD DVD will hold 30GB. A standard DVD holds just under 5GB.

The disc formats offer much better quality audio and video, while next-generation console games will have stunning graphics and will fit onto a single disc.


Format wars

The two rival systems have been battling to win support for their competing approaches from technology companies and Hollywood studios.

Toshiba, with NEC, Sanyo and others, is pushing HD DVD; while backers of Sony's Blu-ray discs include Samsung, Dell and Apple.

The HD DVD format was given a huge boost last year when technology giants Microsoft and Intel threw their considerable weight behind the standard.

Hollywood is also still split over the new formats. Companies like Disney and 20th Century Fox have sided with Sony, while the supporters of HD DVD include Universal.

Warner Bros and Viacom have said they will support both.


Sony plans to use Blu-ray in the PlayStation 3.

However, the format war, which has been likened to the Betamax-VHS fight in the 1980s, may ultimately be won in the games console market.

Gaming is a $20bn industry worldwide, so is as important as the film industry in terms of money to be made.

Games consoles also tend to drive early adoption of technology because hardcore gamers, keen to get their hands on the latest titles, are prepared to buy the latest technology.

It is estimated that Microsoft sold 20 million of its original Xbox console, while Sony has sold four times that amount of its Playstation 2. Both consoles brought DVD players into people's living rooms.

Sony's Playstation 3, which will be launched in November, will come with a Blu-ray drive as standard.

Owners of the Xbox 360, which is already available around the world, will have to buy a separate HD DVD drive when they become available.

Games giants, such as Electronic Arts and Vivendi, have both backed the Blu-ray format.

So, who do you place your bets on?

I sadly wasnt around at the time of the Betamax-VHS war, but this one could be very interesting. Both sides have got huge names and players. I wonder what it will mean for a person like me who has a Dell computer (Blu-ray side) and runs Windows (HD DVD side)? What will the fight actually mean in real terms? Does the siding of the different movie studios mean you won't be able to watch certain films on the opposite format? Crazy stuff....

[Matra et Alpine]

The difference is that THIS tiem the techology war may not be a major problem for consumers as the computer industry suppliers are developign drives to read BOTH formats --- soemthign that was impossible with VHS/Beta.

The inferior solution won the last time around by a pricing strategy.
I'd expect much of the same.
It's not the first generation of players/recorders/drives that will decide that, the first gen are always bought by technology freaks ( I remember the first dvd writers at $1500 !!! )
It will be who fills the second tranche that will "win".
Sony's tight hold on teh media and games indsutry will be a major factor and it won't surprise me to see HD *AND* BLu-Ray drive offered for the XBox

[RazaBlade]

Yeh, I agree with the final statement. With EA games backing the Blu-ray, Xbox would be missing out on a huge number of its big titles, such as Need for speed, plus the countless sports games they make, if they solely stuck to HD DVD.

So if I understand it right, the difference is only between the storage mediums, not the actual readers?

[Matra et Alpine]

No at the moment each camp has produced their own reader/writers.
BUT peripheral makers had (!) indicated they can produce drives capable of reading both. I jsut checked and LiteOn have backed off of that and as of Jan will be producing two seperate drives !!!!
The same tech source had an announcement from Pioneer that they have developed a 500Gb storage on the DVD format .. so 10+ times more than HD/Blu_Ray ... using an ultra0violet laser instead of blue So in reality DH/BD will last about as long as vanilla DVD did before being superceded !!!!

[RacingManiac]

Sony was on the losing side of the Betamax-VHS war, it'll be interesting if they can turn it around this time...

[Guest]

The inferior solution won the last time around by a pricing strategy.
I'd expect much of the same.
It's not the first generation of players/recorders/drives that will decide that, the first gen are always bought by technology freaks ( I remember the first dvd writers at $1500 !!! )
It will be who fills the second tranche that will "win".
Sony's tight hold on teh media and games indsutry will be a major factor and it won't surprise me to see HD *AND* BLu-Ray drive offered for the XBox

thats the ne bad thing the porn industry did, give us really bad quality VHS tapes (which my mum seems to have a fetish for, the only way to snap her out of it was with a HD recorder!) with fuzzy pictures

[RazaBlade]

thats the ne bad thing the porn industry did, give us really bad quality VHS tapes (which my mum seems to have a fetish for, the only way to snap her out of it was with a HD recorder!) with fuzzy pictures

Im sorry... wrong thread, no wait, we dont have a WTF?!??! Thread

[Vaigra]

thats the ne bad thing the porn industry did, give us really bad quality VHS tapes (which my mum seems to have a fetish for, the only way to snap her out of it was with a HD recorder!) with fuzzy pictures

erm...your mum has a fetish for bad quality VHS porn?

[PerfAdv]

Sony pisses me off when they start using proprietary memory, batteries, even MP3 software. I hope, like mentioned earlier that the technology is invisible to the consumer and then I don't care who make the profits. As long as all the DVDs are compatible with the different players.

[Pellit]

erm...your mum has a fetish for bad quality VHS porn?

hahahahahahaha best reply ever

[PerfAdv]

hahahahahahaha best reply ever

That's how I read it...YIKES!!

[Guest]

erm, well lemme explain, (this may be an urban legend, but i hough it was true) that porn made VHS a sucess as the VHS system was cheaper, and therefore favoured by the porn industry, and as people wanted to play this videos they bought VHS players, starting of a circle which led to the triumph of VHS over betamax, and then i started talking about how my mum just likes recording to things to VHS (and theyre NOT pornographic!)

[RazaBlade]

^ it was the whole combination of "porn", "fetish" and "mum" in the same sentence that got us

[bmwpower]

erm, well lemme explain, (this may be an urban legend, but i hough it was true) that porn made VHS a sucess as the VHS system was cheaper, and therefore favoured by the porn industry, and as people wanted to play this videos they bought VHS players, starting of a circle which led to the triumph of VHS over betamax, and then i started talking about how my mum just likes recording to things to VHS (and theyre NOT pornographic!)

Wow urban legends in the United States of England land are pretty F***ed up, but then again where ever ur really from must be as well

[Matra et Alpine]

It's well understood that the porn industry has been the driving force behind every media since the days of lithographs.
One of the UK mobile networks operators actually had a VP who's responsibility was porn. I met the guy. He didnt' wear a dirty man
But when you go through the $$$$$ then it's clear WHY it drives the technology !!!