digitalfreaknyc

VERY interesting article:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1960294,00.asp

Peep

Admitting the "need" "A lot has been invested" in such advanced DVD players, he said. "It's expensive having two different types of hi- definition technologies."

awmurray

I've deleted by reply from the other thread and moved it here:

Apparently, as it stands now, there will be no dual format players due to the BR license agreement.

If Sony is open to the possibility, it is definitely a sign of weakness on their part. He may have meant, "we'll keep it looking good for 12-24 months to save face before we give it up 'for the good of the industry'."

I'm guessing that behind closed doors, Sony is feeling the pressure from studios who want to go agnostic. The whole reason the studios want to release on HD is because DVD sales are peaking. The format war will actually hurt HD format sales. Logically, then, they won't tolerate it for long.

RonBoster

Thanks for sharing the article

Deus

It would be cool if they just created dual players and sold both HD-DVD and BD as ‘one’ format with the differences being thought of in a similar way to the differences between single layer and dual layer DVDs. That way TV series, etc could be released on the larger capacity BD discs and HD-DVDs could be used for regular films that don’t require as much space.

awmurray

In theory it would be cool.

However, it is much more expensive to manufacture BR product due to lower manufacturing tolerances (from what I've read). Therefore, I wouldn't want a dual format player because it'll cost a fortune (stand alone BR players cost a fortune).

What is interesting is that Sony is apparently open to the idea, whereas up until now the very idea was absurd... why make a dual format player when HD-DVD will be dead?

I guess the news of HD-DVD's death has been greatly exaggerated.

"The next generation doesn't start until we say it does." -Sony

Rusty James

Methinks Sony has blinked.

digitalfreaknyc

Sony was the one refusing before. It would be VERY interesting if HD-DVD were the one who refused now.

awmurray

Yea, I don't think it would be good to have a dual format player.

Wasn't HD-DVD calling Blu-Ray, "disruptive technology" at CES 2006?

I don't want no disruptive technology in my player.

BravesMG

As far as I know, when Sony refused they were percieved (at least by me) to be leading in the race. Now, I give the edge to HD-DVD, especially given that they've hit their release dates and their expansion into the 360 add-on. I'd be surprised if HD-DVD went along with it now, since one of their big selling points is affordability.

Alan Smithee

Sony blinked the day they started selling VHS machines.

RoboDad

I think what Freak was referring to is this quote:
And that quote is certainly an about-face from their position three months ago.

That has been my thought all along. The revenue that either camp receives from player sales is trivial in the long run. It's the software royalties that will matter. Let the players support both "formats," and then see how the titles develop to exploit the advantages of each of them.

digitalfreaknyc

That would be pointless. If both formats had the same films, the only difference would be storage amount. HD-DVD would use 2 discs if they had to and BR would use 1. Of course that all depends on BR being able to come up with a working dual layer disc which has yet to be seen. And of course, we have to see the visual differences with different compression schemes.

That's why, at the moment, the only big difference is support. Otherwise, they're the same on the surface, technically.

Deus

I was thinking about series like Futurama for example which is spread over 15 dual layer DVDs, which is 141GB (not really since each disc isn’t filled to capacity but I’m just using it as an example). So the entire series could fit on a single eight layer BD (that is if they manage to get one up and running. Also, they already have a prototype of a four layer disc, haven’t they?). I think that would be great as far as convenience goes because you’d be able to watch any episode from the series easily without having to change discs all the time unlike if you want to watch an episode on, say the first DVD of the first season, then the third DVD of the fourth season and then on the fourth DVD of the third season. And also be able to programme your player so that it plays the episodes back to back. It’s obviously going to cost more than just a single movie so it would also benefit from the “durabis 2” coating that comes as standard on BDs. Whereas a smaller movie could be released on an HD-DVD at a cheaper price for the manufacturer since it wouldn’t require anywhere near as much space and it would also be much cheaper to replace if the disc got scratched and so it wouldn’t need the protective coating.

That way there would be one format in the public's eyes making them more willing to adopt and studios could choose which ever format they want to use depending on the size of the material they want to put on it. The cost of players should drop over time as technology improves.

Mr. Cinema

Fox still hasn't announced any of their BD plans. I wonder what the chances are that they are considering releasing product on HD-DVD as well...

To me, if Fox crosses the line, that would be a huge plus for the HD-DVD camp.

Josh Z

The multiple-layer Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD) discussion is mostly theoretical and is being done for show rather than for actual release. The hardware players that are being released to stores will only support playback of single-layer or dual-layer discs. Even if the manufacturer does come up with a working 8-layer disc, it won't be compatible with any players.

DthRdrX

Plus the format war will probably be resolved, in one way or another, by the time Sony could even get the 8 layer discs working.

Deus

These are early days though. Anything could happen in the next year or two (and I really think it’s going to last that long if not longer). Weren't the first DVD players only capable of playing single layer DVDs?

Maxflier

8 layers? Jesus Christ...... How long before they come up with infinite layer discs?

digitalfreaknyc

Hell no.

mattgoble

DVD Players were always capable of playing dual-layered discs.

Ignoring the feasibility of an 8 layered BD-ROM (I think 4 layers may still be touch and go), could anyone actually see fox selling 15 DVDs of Futurama across 1 or 2 Blu-Ray discs?

"You know that series that cost you $200 on DVD, well here it is on double-disc Blu-Ray. Now do we charge you the $200 again just for two discs, or do you expect us to give it away at $39.99"

etc etc

darkside

The horror at the thought of scratching my $200 single disc set of Futurama on Blu-ray. [shudders]

I think these guys have their hands full with dual layered and should leave it at that. I've got no issue with multidisc sets.

DavidH

I have no issues with mulit-disc sets --- and I don't think the average consumer does either. I think the issue of "disc space" in this context has been greatly over-emphasized.

Spiky

I doubt the HT/movie side of this market will see more than 2 layers. If more actually come out, they will be nice for PC use.

15 DVDs cost less to make than 1 BD right now. The number of discs has nothing to do with the price of TV sets, other than to trick consumers into thinking it does. Witness Star Trek prices vs almost anything else.

Deus

Since they’ve probably already saturated the market with Futurama (although, I’m not sure how it was shot so there’s a chance of an HD version anyway which would likely rule out being able to fit all of the episodes on a 200GB disc anyway. I’m just talking about older series that were shot on video) they’re likely not to charge the same price, for the single disc release, that was charged originally for the DVD releases since there would be no point in people buying it. The convenience of having all of the episodes on one disc wouldn’t be worth it in that case.

Even 200GB wouldn’t be enough for longer series like Cheers, Frasier, Friends, X-Files, Simpsons etc. It’s just disappointing that the new formats, while they offer more, they don’t go far enough.

You wouldn’t have to worry about the 200GB discs getting scratched since the protective coating would be used on them (Although, in my view, if you let you dog or child, bite, burn, snap or play Frisbee with a classic series like Futurama, then you deserve to lose your money ). Regular DVD scratches from excessive use or even accidents, like accidentally dropping it, shouldn’t ruin the disc.