No End to Blu-Ray HD-DVD Rift in Sight

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120494,tk,dn041905X,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120494,tk,dn041905X,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Recent comments by Sony executives raised consumer hopes of a truce in the next-generation optical video disc battle between Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD. But closer questioning of companies on both sides points to no significant change in their positions, and the continued likelihood that consumers will be forced choose between two competing formats...But late last week, a Sony spokesman ruled out any compromise over Blu-ray Disc. The only talks that Sony would entertain were those of the HD-DVD supporters dropping their format and supporting Blu-ray Disc, said Taro Takamine, a Sony spokesman in Tokyo."</i><br /><br />&lt;sigh> Figures. :roll: I should have known that Sony would never work with a competing format and this was just a smokescreen. I can't believe the mess this is going to make, and the fact that the movie studios don't realize what a train wreck it's going to be. I don't see a technological way out of this one... :?

[Gary Sheynkman]

In other news...plextor announces the uber-writer that writes all the 300 new disk formats that companies are planning on using.

[Jerry Raia]

I bet Sony wants to get the memory stick into this some how too. :lol:

[Felix Torres]

&lt;sigh> Figures. :roll: I should have known that Sony would never work with a competing format and this was just a smokescreen. I can't believe the mess this is going to make, and the fact that the movie studios don't realize what a train wreck it's going to be. I don't see a technological way out of this one... :?

This one is going all the way to the end users.
Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Just as with Beta vs VHS, it will be educational to see how the technical "advantages" play out in the real world.

And the first real shot comes with the first release of actual HD content from a meaningful player, Time-Warner, the godparent of DVD, later this year. An actual commitment, this, not just joining a press-release mill:

http://news.com.com/Warner+Bros.%2C+Microsoft+team+on+high-def+format/2100-1041_3-5675480.html

And in the fight to deliver HD content on physical media, lets not forget the red laser contenders; they just might sneak in via the back door...

[Filip Norrgard]

I bet Sony wants to get the memory stick into this some how too. :lol:
And don't forget: ATRAC! :lol:

[Jerry Raia]

Oh yeah...another fine innovation :lol:

[Jonathon Watkins]

:roll: Great.

I actually find myself wanting Sony to win this one for once. 25Gb is better than 15gb. However, an agreed standard would trump everything. :(

edit: Scratch that. I just read that Blu-ray is not backwardly compatible (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050419-4824.html) with current DVDs. What are Sony thinking???? :crazyeyes: Betamax mark II anyone?

(My family bought a betamax player btw)

[Felix Torres]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&amp;u=/nm/20050420/tc_nm/tech_sony_dvd_dc&amp;e=6&amp;ncid=738

They're talking about a unified standard, with two proposals on the table:

Sony wants Blu-Ray disks with HD-DVD's software

Toshiba wants HD-DVD disks with Sony multilayer tech

Sony's proposal retains the lack of DVD compatibility, Toshiba's keeps the disk DVD compatible. This suggests that Sony sees the lack of backwards compatibility as a *feature* not a flaw.

This is not as crazy as it sounds: by forcing disk manufacturers to move to all-new, more expensive manufacturing hardware, they make it harder for disk counterfeiters to stamp out pirate disks *and* provide a justification for higher retail prices on HD disks. Both provide extra profits for the studios, which Sony is, at consumer expense and risking a slower adoption rate. Plus, with the higher start-up costs and lower early sales rate, they can keep smaller content providers out of the HD-disk market.

I would not be surprised to see HD-movie disks priced in the $40 range instead of the $25-30 range likely for HD-DVD media.