MS and Intel choose the wrong side

[erdega79]

Microsoft, Intel Back Toshiba's HD DVD, Shuns Blu-Ray

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest software company, and Intel Corp., the world's biggest chipmaker, have thrown their support behind Toshiba Corp.'s HD DVD format, marking a setback for Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray standard.

The HD DVD format, also backed by NEC Corp., Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. and Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, offers cheaper hardware and easier connections to other devices, the companies said in an e-mail statement.

Toshiba and its HD DVD partners aim to make the dominant format for the next generation of DVDs in a rivalry with Blu-ray, which is supported by Sony, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Apple Computer Inc. and Dell Inc. Talks between Toshiba and Sony to unify the standards broke down in May.

``We will build the HD DVD infrastructure for the next update of Windows and participate in promotion activities because we want to support the format that matches our criteria the most,'' Adam Anderson, a spokesman for Redmond Washington-based Microsoft, said in a telephone interview today.

Both technologies offer better picture and sound quality, greater recording capacity and improved copyright protection over existing DVDs. A dual-layered Blu-ray disc's capacity is 50 gigabytes, equal to about 10 conventional single-layered DVDs or about 70 music CDs, according to the Blu-ray Web site. That compares with 30 gigabytes for double-layered HD DVD.

Toshiba said today it will begin sales of laptop PCs with an HD DVD drive in Japan by the beginning of 2006. Samsung Electronics Co., the world's second-largest semiconductor maker, will sell a DVD recorder with a Blu-ray drive, the company said yesterday in a release.

Did anyone expect anything different?

[Blue]

Not to worry. The proposed release date of Longhorn / Vista or whatever other name you want to call Microsofts next operating system release will not be released until Dec 2006. HD should be on it's knees by then, if not on the floor dead. There is another sting in the tail with longhorn - if as they promise it's a 64 bit operating system. For the non computer geeks that means replace your computer. Expect service pack 1 out shortly after with a fix, however I suspect Dell & HP will already have drivers etc for when longhorn is released.

[iceman]

looool nice topic erdega

[thunderhawk]

The HD DVD format, also backed by NEC Corp., Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. and Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, offers cheaper hardware and easier connections to other devices, the companies said in an e-mail statement.

Sure... -_-"

The BDA could say that aswell... Idiots...
Argh

However, it wont make a difference, Intel has nothing to say in consumer electronics (not the PC industry), or am I wrong?

[Gorkab]

The good thing could be that Apple support the Blu-Ray...

[Alex Pallas]

all i hope is that Microsoft's latest f-up will help topple their evil empire

[Rob]

The way I see it, the only major advantage Blu-Ray has over HD-DVD is it's higher capacity. However, if HD-DVD was to bring out a 45GB triple layer disc to compete with Blu-Ray's 50GB dual layer disc, that advantage would dissapear. Assuming both formats had near identical capacity, how would you decide which to back. While I'm looking forward to Blu-Ray movies on my PS3, (when I get one), I'll wait until 1 format succeeds before buying a dedicated high definition player.

[thunderhawk]

Advantage would be back if they'll release the quad layered version of the Blu-ray Disc, with only a slight delay...
Like the higher-speed recordable discs follow eachother...

And don't forget how many companies the BDA counts

[Patrick]

TDK has already created a 100 gb Blu-ray disc and I read somewhere that Sony is currently lab testing a 200gb Blu-ray disc.

[Alex Pallas]

Originally Posted by Patrick

TDK has already created a 100 gb Blu-ray disc and I read somewhere that Sony is currently lab testing a 200gb Blu-ray disc.

but date of availability is really the issue i think

[Waelan]

Originally Posted by Rob

The way I see it, the only major advantage Blu-Ray has over HD-DVD is it's higher capacity. However, if HD-DVD was to bring out a 45GB triple layer disc to compete with Blu-Ray's 50GB dual layer disc, that advantage would dissapear. Assuming both formats had near identical capacity, how would you decide which to back. While I'm looking forward to Blu-Ray movies on my PS3, (when I get one), I'll wait until 1 format succeeds before buying a dedicated high definition player.

The thing is they try to avoid adding layers as much as possible. Every time you put another layer on you get a significant slowing down of read speed because it has to sift through the extra layer. That is why 25 Gig BR >> 30 gig HD-DVD and 50 gig BR >> 45 gig HD-DVD.

[Rob]

Lets say that both camps launch with discs that are 50GB and 45GB for pre-recoreded discs. That will allow for 4-4.5hrs of hi-def material to be stored which is plenty for the average film, tv series, (well, 6 episode Uk series anyway). While Blu-Ray may be able to release 100GB and 200GB discs in the future older players probably won't be able to play them so I can't see companies releasing anything on these larger capacity discs. Therefore, they'll only be of any use for own recordings. However, it seems to me that hi-def material will be copy protected far more commonly than SD material today and therefore the extra capacity may not be all that useful.

[erdega79]

Originally Posted by Waelan

The thing is they try to avoid adding layers as much as possible. Every time you put another layer on you get a significant slowing down of read speed because it has to sift through the extra layer. That is why 25 Gig BR >> 30 gig HD-DVD and 50 gig BR >> 45 gig HD-DVD.

The layers are transparent to each other and there is no slowing down or whatever. I wish I could find a link to explain it all

[erdega79]

Originally Posted by Rob

The way I see it, the only major advantage Blu-Ray has over HD-DVD is it's higher capacity. However, if HD-DVD was to bring out a 45GB triple layer disc to compete with Blu-Ray's 50GB dual layer disc, that advantage would dissapear. Assuming both formats had near identical capacity, how would you decide which to back. While I'm looking forward to Blu-Ray movies on my PS3, (when I get one), I'll wait until 1 format succeeds before buying a dedicated high definition player.

Blu ray is inherently much better at capacity because blu ray can reach very small areas to reach data and is built with that in mind.25GB is sort of a minimum per layer and it's possible to increase that to much more. The other format is just dvd with blu lasers. Multi layers are built from begining in blu ray and it's built in players. 50GB is barely enough as a storage capacity now let alone few years from now. It's only 2 hour of highest quality (54Mbps). Remember how vhs progressed from 2 hours of poor quality to 6 hours of better quality.

We need more storage for movies as well as a storage device. Broadband and hard drives are growing exponentially . Media is still growing rapidly particularly photo and video cameras and we need affordable portable storage.

[Alex Pallas]

Originally Posted by Waelan

The thing is they try to avoid adding layers as much as possible. Every time you put another layer on you get a significant slowing down of read speed because it has to sift through the extra layer. That is why 25 Gig BR >> 30 gig HD-DVD and 50 gig BR >> 45 gig HD-DVD.

wont a faster processor fix this problem though?

[Alex Pallas]

Originally Posted by erdega79

...we need affordable portable storage.

we need mass amounts of this