No peace in our time for DVD next gen
by Steve Parsons 
{ Jun 21st 2005 at 9:53AM }
There is this big format war coming. Not Xbox 360 vs PS3, but rather Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD.
Two competing hi-def video formats, that will eventually replace the
DVD we know and love. In fact the reason so many new DVD's are coming out is because studios are desperate to get as
much of their catalog out as possible on DVD, so they can gouge you again on the next generation.
Sony supports Blu-Ray. Toshiba supports HD-DVD. The two parties sat down, had a chat over some tea and biscuits, and
ultimately came to no deal. What does this mean? It means the hopes of a unified standard, which would benefit
consumers and speed uptake of the new format, have been taken out back and executed, gangland style.
It's probably safe to say Sony won't be supporting HD-DVD on the PS3 now. Aside from this largely unsurprising
bombshell, there's some more PS3 gossip at the end, which could quite possibly leave you with a headache, as Kutaragi
shows himself to be a wordsmith of infinite renown. "Exponential aesthetic"? Someone got a new word of the day calendar
for Christmas!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
batman @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
wort! wort! first poost! personally i don't think that blue ray will take off. I think it'll fail along with the psp and the UMD. I don't think it'll be a quick, merciful death, all threee will probably fight hard (the psp is already starting to feel the heat in domse ways) but propriotiery formats don't usually succed and the HD-DVD has more than toshibasa support, whose besides sony is backing the blue ray? I know of no one else, besides consumers could look at blue ray and be alienated by the new technology, whereas they could see the HD-DVD and see familiarity and buy that instead.
Viking @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
There are many others behind Blu-Ray. Here is a link to a story on engadget http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000327035372/ being right is more important than being first.
j_ravka@yahoo.com @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
I think Blu-Ray seems to be taking the lead, specially with its new cost cutting announcements.
In the end, I wonder if both formats will be overshadowed by Holographic Disc which should provide 1-Terabyte of blazing fast storage by 2008.
batman @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
touche viking, i stand corrected, but the 3rd poster is right on as well, I've heard that the holographic discs and cards themseleves will be cheap but for now the readers for the cards and discs are upwards of several thousand dollars, if anyone has more info on the holographic storage could you please link it, thnx
Myria @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
Frankly I think both are going to tank, format war or no. I see precious little evidence that the general public wants, needs, or is willing to pay for HD. HD penetration into the market currently sux bigtime and there seems little doubt that the date for shutting off analog is going to have to be moved. Even after analog is shut off, most people will just get converters and stick with the TV they have now.
The switch from VHS to DVD was hugely advantages to consumers and didn't involve having to replace your TV with a new and much more expensive one. Tapes were big, clunky, wore out quickly or got tangled, they were a pain in the rump. DVDs were relatively small, random access, didn't wear out, gave better picture and sound, and allowed for more 'stuff' (granted, most of it crap that no one watches) to be crammed on.
The switch from DVD to Blu-ray/HD-DVD is just going to give consumers more of what they already have -- at a premium, of course. Given that most people are happy with what they have now in DVD, that premium is going to be a seriously tough sale. Tough enough that I suspect that both will join LaserDisc as formats beloved by some, forgotten by most.
Clint @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
I think Blu-Ray will take off if it's in the PS3. I know I will start buying them instead of dvds when it's available. Why waste money on dvds if you can buy something better for about the same price? Blu-Ray players will also play dvds; therefore, Sony could just stop making dvd players and just make these!
James @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
I think it will depend on content providers which format will succeed.
As I last saw (maybe some can provide an update or correction), BR had Sony, Fox, and Disney. While HD-DVD, had the support of Paramount, Warner Bros, New Line, and Universal. The incentive to consumers will be who can provide more movies that they want to watch at a lower price.
Its not about the superiority of technology to the over, but money.
Jon Wilk @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
I can't imagine HD-DVD winning simply because the user-base for Blu-Ray is going to grow much faster with its inclusion in PS3. Blu-Ray will have millions of potential customers halfway through 2006, while HD-DVD has no hardware that will sell quickly on its own.
Venomous @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
Hello, one important fact. HD-DVD will play in old dvd players...not in HD, but still will work. And your old DVDs will work in the new player. Blue ray will be a whole new ball game. And besides...Minidisk anyone? Sony has tried over and over to make their own format to be standard so they can pull in more money to their greedy little hands. #5 is way off. If you have a HD-TV you will need a HD-TV source besides cable or direct TV. People will want to OWN their movies on HD-DVD. Some day we will look back on this topic and laugh at the idiots still holding on to their 8-tracks not wanting to up-grade to CD.
swarmster @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
"Hello, one important fact. HD-DVD will play in old dvd players...not in HD, but still will work. And your old DVDs will work in the new player."
This is not true. HD-DVDs won't play in regular DVD players unless they're HD-DVD/DVD dual disks. In which case I'm not sure they could even fit a whole movie on the HD part. And the Blu-Ray spec has a dual BR/DVD disk, too.
Secondly, your old DVDs will play in any future player, whether it's HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.
Patrick @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM
Well If anybody has seen lately,TDK has created a 100 GB Blu-ray disk, and a 200 GB blu-ray disk is in lab testing. WOW thats a huge amount of space and HD-DVD cant touch it.
Oh and for those HD-DVD believers, Why would you want the second best when it isnt nearly as powerful as Blu-ray, that just doesnt make sense. But I am not worried. The PS3 will have blu-ray which will put a player in over 1 million homes in a short time. Not to mention Sony will make plain Blu-ray dvd players as will other makers like Panasonic, Sharp, Philips, Pioneer, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Samsung...ect Just to name a few... Toshiba is just about the only Company that will make DVD players. How many Warner Brother, new line cinema or Universal DVD players have you seen lately.