HD-DVD vs Blue Ray

[lamewing]

Well, I can see Sony dumping everything as they seem to constantly be making big mistakes. Take a look at this website.

http://www.pcvsconsole.com/news.php?nid=3109

Intel and Microsoft are both backing the HD-DVD while Sony (alone?) supports Blu-ray.

[Blue K']

Well, I can see Sony dumping everything as they seem to constantly be making big mistakes. Take a look at this website.

http://www.pcvsconsole.com/news.php?nid=3109

Intel and Microsoft are both backing the HD-DVD while Sony (alone?) supports Blu-ray.

Blu-Ray is backed by more companies than just Sony:

http://www.blu-raydisc.com/Section-13469/Index.html

Contributors

Almedio Inc.

Aplix Corporation

ArcSoft, Inc.

AudioDev AB

BASF AG

Broadcom Corporation

Canon Inc.

CMC Magnetics Corporation

Coding Technologies GmbH

Cryptography Research Inc.

CyberLink Corp.

DATARIUS Technologies GmbH

Deluxe Media Services Inc.

Digital Theater Systems Inc.

Dolby Laboratories Inc.

Eclipse Data Technologies

Electronic Arts Inc.

Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd.

Horizon Semiconductor

InterVideo Inc.

Kenwood Corporation

LITE-ON IT Corporation

LSI Logic

MediaTek Inc.

Meridian Audio Ltd.

Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co.Ltd.

Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

Moser Baer India Limited

MX Entertainment

Nero

Optodisc Technology Corporation

Pixela Corporation

Prodisc Technology Inc.

Pulstec Industrial Co., Ltd.

Ricoh Co., Ltd.

ShibaSoku Co. Ltd.

Sigma Designs Inc.

Sonic Solutions

Sonopress

Sony BMG Music Entertainment

ST Microelectronics

Sunext

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Ulead Systems Inc.

Universal Music Group

Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.

Visionare Corporation

ZOOtech Ltd.

Zoran Corporation

Members

Adobe Systems

Alpine Electronics Inc.

AMC Co. Ltd.

Anwell Technologies USA

Asahi Kasei Microsystems Co., Ltd.

ashampoo GmbH & Co. KG

ATI Technologies Inc.

Bandai Visual Co. Ltd.

BenQ Corporation

B.H.A. Corporation

Ciba Specialty Chemicals Inc.

Conexant Systems Inc.

D&M holdings, Inc.

Daewoo Electronics Corporation

Daikin Industries, Ltd.

Degussa

Elpida Memory, Inc.

ESS Technology Inc.

Expert Magnetics Corp.

Funai Electric Co., Ltd.

IMAGICA Corp.

Imation Corp.

Infomedia Inc.

Intersil Corporation

Kadokawa Holdings Inc.

Kaleidescape, Inc.

Konica Minolta Opto Inc.

Laser Pacific Media Corp.

Lead Data Inc.

LEADER ELECTRONICS CORP

Linn Products Ltd.

LINTEC Corporation

M2 Engineering AB

Maxim Integrated Products

Memorex Products Inc.

Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd.

Nan Ya Plastics Corporation

Newtech Infosystems Inc.

NEXAPM Systems Technology Inc.

Nightjar LLC

Nikkatsu Corporation

NTT Electronics Corporation

nVidia Corporation

Onkyo Corporation

Ono Sokki Co., Ltd.

OPT Corporation

PoINT Software & Systems GmbH

PowerFile

Ritek Corporation

Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

SDI Media America

Shinano Kenshi Co. Ltd.

Singulus Technologies

STEAG ETA-OPTIK GmbH

Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd.,

Tao Group Limited

Targray Technology International Inc.

TEAC Corporation

Teijin Chemicals Ltd.

Toei Video Company Ltd.

Toho Company, Ltd.

Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.

TOPTICA Photonics AG

UmeDisc Ltd.

Unaxis Balzer AG

VDL-ODMS

Vidiom Systems Corporation

Vivendi Universal Games

Yamaha Corporation

Yokogawa Electric Corporation

[jadeclaw]

Another point to add, BlueRaydisc is already in use for professional TV-production and broadcasting.

Public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Germany already uses blueray-based Cameras and editing stations.

I say, BlueRay is here to stay for quite a while.

The consumer version is a different thing, content decides here.

But since Sony owns a movie studio, we might end up with the same situation we already have in the audio department -

Two new systems, which don't really take off and an old one which still owns the market.

[Asia]

WHat's important for BRD is not the manufacturer that do players but the movie company that wil produce those disc..what's the point to produce HD-DVD player when you can't find movie on HD-DVD, and right now most of Hollywood studios have signed for BRD (it was smart from Sony to sell BRD & UMD rights as a package...).

[Asia]

Well, I can see Sony dumping everything as they seem to constantly be making big mistakes. Take a look at this website.

http://www.pcvsconsole.com/news.php?nid=3109

Intel and Microsoft are both backing the HD-DVD while Sony (alone?) supports Blu-ray.

btw, Microsoft supports only the HD-DVD DISC media to add its VIDEO+AUDIO OWN codec and doesn't support the HD-DVD designed by the DVD forum (Microsoft codec is one of the different codec option the DVD forum can pick to be used as standard for the future HD-DVD...that is the only reason why they back it up. Right now some DVD encoded in HD are available in Europe with Microsoft codec..so if DVD forum pick it microsoft will get al the money and will try to put its own audio codec to get rid off the Dolby codec from HD-DVD too etc..

[tommypeters]

btw, Microsoft supports only the HD-DVD DISC media to add its VIDEO+AUDIO OWN codec and doesn't support the HD-DVD designed by the DVD forum (Microsoft codec is one of the different codec option the DVD forum can pick to be used as standard for the future HD-DVD...that is the only reason why they back it up. Right now some DVD encoded in HD are available in Europe with Microsoft codec..so if DVD forum pick it microsoft will get al the money and will try to put its own audio codec to get rid off the Dolby codec from HD-DVD too etc..

The M$ codec is said to be very good and efficient, but those (WM9?) DVD's with HD content look bloody awful.

[Asia]

The M$ codec is said to be very good and efficient, but those (WM9?) DVD's with HD content look bloody awful.

aww...you shouldn't watch movies much then...

[Dinko]

right now most of Hollywood studios have signed for BRD

Not so sure. Warner Bros, Paramount and Universal back HD-DVD. I wouldn't discount those studios' power.

As for the list of BRD supporters above... some of those are in both camps. Onkyo, Fuji & Sanyo for example. Samsung is backing BRD but is also ready to switch to producing both.

[bland10000]

I think whatever format the porn industry opts to use will be the deciding factor.

[hobgoblin]

Well, I can see Sony dumping everything as they seem to constantly be making big mistakes. Take a look at this website.

http://www.pcvsconsole.com/news.php?nid=3109

Intel and Microsoft are both backing the HD-DVD while Sony (alone?) supports Blu-ray.

ugh, put a bullet in my head allready will they?

managed copy: its an attempt at getting the "fair use" crowd to shut up. but it says nothing about being able to media shift the content. and to me thats part of fair use, that i can pop a old disc into the right device and transfer the content on to the next gen media. kinda like how you can go from analog media to analog media, or even some digital ones as long as you keep a pcm copy around to.

problem is that unlimited media shift allso allows for unlimited piracy. cant take that chance now can we?

superior interactivity: ugh, if i have to go head to head with yet another disney disc that have unskipable commerisals for other disney products im giving up and going p2p. its bad enough that one have commersials at the start of movies in the cinema but when they show up on rentals or even bought media then its over the top.

i want a simple disc that i can pop in the drive, select language and/or sub-text and start watching. right now its x number of drawn out multimedia menus you have to dug thru. hell, setting up a pc game is faster then this! it may be fun the first time round. and may fit the team on disc like animatrix but come on!

as for the higher capacity, only place it have a point is on writeable media, atleast thats my view. just look at how the dvd media gets used for audio. the same number of tracks, just higher rez files. sorry but im quite happy with my cds.

so unless they can bring something new to the table in terms of ease of use then both blue-ray and hd-dvd are going to flop for everone except mediaphiles. sure, over time it will trickle down but dont expect the turnaround that one have seen of people going from vhs to dvd. the dvd have clear ease-of-use advantages over vhs.

i kinda think thats why only sonly is/was pushing hi-md. most users that have md are quite happy with those and want equipment that can play those back. sure its nicer to be able to either fit more songs on a media or record in higher rez, but there isnt much point for most users to do that.

so yes, the only place that hi-md can be put forward as having an advantage is recording. and that will only last until someone makes a hardrive based field recorder as one can fit about 10-30 hi-md's most hdd based players right now.

so the only way i can see hi-md get a second life would be as a new age floppy. its smaller then a cd/dvd-rw, so small in fact that you can pop it in most pockets when needed. the media is cd level cheap for its storage and size. and if the usb drive for it can allso mask as a mp3 player without the need for extra software (just drag and drop the files onto the drive in any os) then things get interesting for the common user, fast. it would have all the abilitys of a hdd player but with less bulk. make the drive slotload to boot and it can realy be made slim.

but this cant happen under sony, the music and movie deparments cant have that risk.

so unless someone is willing to licence the tech it will go into pro recording and then slowly walk out of view completly.

to littile to late...

Edited September 29, 2005 by hobgoblin

[raintheory]

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0...Enbv%5E,00.html

Setback for Sony

greenback | Stephen Ellis

SEPTEMBER 29, 2005

THIS year Americans will spend more than $US10 billion ($13.2 billion) on DVDs, and Hollywood will rake in more from selling them than all other revenue streams combined.

So there is a lot at stake in the current battle over the next generation of DVD technology.

Over the past few months it looked increasingly as if the Blu-ray technology championed by Sony was likely to beat Toshiba's rival HD DVD.

But this week's decision by the two most important companies in the computer industry, Microsoft and Intel, to back Toshiba has halted Sony's momentum and renewed fears in both the entertainment and electronics industries that different standards will hurt sales of disks and DVD players and recorders.

The worry is that if Sony and Toshiba cannot reach an understanding, consumers will defer purchases of new equipment and disks until one of the two standards looks as if it is gaining ascendancy.

With prices and margins on today's DVDs and players falling quickly, that would be bad news for the studios and consumer electronics firms. Both need the extra features that more complicated DVD technology will bring to support higher and more stable prices.

By choosing Toshiba's side, however, Microsoft and Intel have done more than just throw their considerable weight into the next-generation DVD fray.

They've also underlined the bigger picture game that's being played out in the US: as computers and consumer electronics come together, with digital music, video and gaming acting as the glue, who is going to profit most from the convergence?

Microsoft, which has watched with displeasure as Apple has stolen a march in digital music with the iPod line and iTunes store, is even more fearful of Sony - largely due to the latter's grip on the gaming market.

Console and computer games are already a larger industry than the movie business, and Sony's Playstation has more than half the market, despite Microsoft's assault with its Xbox product over the past four years, which has been subsidised by $US4 billion.

Both Sony and Microsoft are using the next generation of their games consoles to push further down the path of convergence - Playstation 3 will also function as a DVD player and a Tivo-like digital video recorder.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has been peddling its media centre version of Windows as a PC suited to the living room rather than the study - playing and recording digital music and video are seen as its core functions, along with surfing the web. Despite all the talk of convergence, consumers have so far shown limited enthusiasm for putting PCs in their living rooms or using the game consoles as computers. But as the underlying devices for computing, gaming, entertainment and television access become more and more similar, the markets will merge - at least at a technological level.

For Microsoft and Intel, that creates an opportunity to sell more copies of Windows and more Pentium chips - why not one of each inside every home entertainment hub?

Sony, on the other hand, does not want to find itself in the same position in its core gaming and electronics markets as it finds itself facing in PCs - a mere assembler squeezed between the two giants.

DVDs are far from the only front in this broader struggle, but they are the current focus. The next generation of DVDs will be able to include far more content on a single disk, creating the possibility of more closely integrating different types of content, such as movies and associated games or soundtracks.

For Sony, control of the format for DVDs creates possibilities beyond the royalties it would earn from technology ownership.

The contest also harks back to an earlier loss. This, of course, was in the most famous of all technology standards battles - the fight from 1975 to the late 1980s between Sony's Betamax format for video cassettes and JVC's rival VHS format, which was eventually backed by Hollywood. That loss - despite what most insiders saw as Betamax's superior technology - was sufficiently bitter that it caused Sony to buy Columbia Records in 1987 and Columbia Pictures in 1989 to ensure it would never again have its technology choices thwarted by content producers.

Sony has not managed to generate much synergy from its combination of content and technology. But between Columbia and its participation in the recent consortium that took control of MGM, Sony itself accounts for almost a quarter of DVD sales.

Disney, News Corporation, Dell, Samsung and Matsushita also back Blu-ray, which can include more data on a disk than its rival, and looks like a technology with a longer shelf life.

But HD DVD has two benefits. First, it allows for backward-compatible players which can play today's DVDs as well as the richer, more expensive next-generation disks. And HD DVD is also a lot cheaper for the manufacturers that actually produce the disks - it will impose upgrade costs of hundreds of millions on them, whereas Blu-ray will force them to invest around $US2 billion.

In the end, the pros and cons of the two technologies seem fairly closely balanced and this is why most observers thought Sony's commanding position in the DVD market would let it get its way.

Microsoft and Intel's backing of HD DVD may not prevent that from happening in the end but they have breathed new fire into this fight, and may yet prevent Sony from capturing an important beachhead in the fight for the digital living room.

The Australian

[MZ-NH1]

Yeh read about that in an IT Newsletter Yesterday.

Aparantly Microsoft is for the HD-DVD format...

I hope they don't make both media types... koz then it will be very annoying/expensive/confusing for all consumers!

[Breepee2]

The backwards compatibility issue, is a nonissue, because Blu-ray device can be (and probably will be, else no one will buy them) equipped with lasers that can read also standard DVD's.

[jadeclaw]

Found on Heise.de:

Paramount wants to use both DVD-successors.

As the first studio, Paramount has announced to use both DVD-successor formats - HD-DVD and BlueRay.

This decision could be seen as a weakening of the HD-DVD-fraction, as Paramount wanted to use only that format.

The use of BlueRay-technology in the upcoming Playstation3 is an important argument for rethinking of the position,

Paramount CEO Thomas Lesinski has been quoted in the New York Times on Monday.

It looks like, that this decision will lead to a costly competition, that finally is decided by the enduser.

Both formats are expected to be introduced in the next year.