i think its wise to be privy to whats been mass communicated in internet newsland...so here's the article:
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Video Wars II
Aug 24th 2007
From Economist.com
Can Toshiba’s David topple Sony’s Goliath?
A COUPLE of months ago, the battle over which of the two competing high-definition formats would replace the DVD seemed to be drawing to a close. Blockbuster, the world’s largest video-rental chain, announced that, in future, it would stock only Blu-ray discs in its 1,450 local branches. After all, two out of three customers had been renting Blu-ray titles. Henceforth, HD DVD versions would be available only at Blockbuster’s 250 main stores and through its online service.
Many considered the announcement decisive. In the 1980s, when the video war raged over two rival video-cassette standards, the decision by America’s video-rental chains to stock only one format tipped the balance in favour of Matsushita’s cheaper and longer-recording VHS standard. Within a few years, Sony’s Betamax had disappeared from the shelves.
Back in June, Tech.view argued that because both Blu-ray and HD DVD were for play-back only (recordable versions are still not ready for prime time), they were really only interim solutions. And now that Blu-ray had caught up technically—at least on discs from studios that had upgraded to the same compression algorithm HD DVD used—there was not much difference between them.
The best advice was to pick the one that offered the movies you wanted. Anyway, both would soon be overtaken by slicker means of distributing high-definition video; namely, the warp-speed optical-fibre connections that the phone companies are now laying to people’s front doors.
Then came last Monday’s announcement by two of Hollywood’s more thoughtful studios, DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures. Both have decided to ditch the Blu-ray standard from the Sony camp and release all their future high-definition titles solely in the HD DVD format from the Toshiba alliance. Until then, Universal Studios had been the only one releasing movies in HD DVD exclusively.
The defection certainly levels the playing field in terms of titles released exclusively in one format or the other. In doing so, however, the confusion that’s prevailed in the marketplace—with mainstream customers staying on the sidelines until a winner emerges, or both get overtaken by events—is now set to continue for several more years.
The industry has been abuzz all week over the back-door incentives used to induce the studios in question to abandon Blu-ray. Paramount was rumoured to have received $50m and DreamWorks $100m for making the switch. Other incentives were said to have included exclusive promotion and marketing support for the studios’ new releases.
But that’s business as usual in Tinseltown. And Sony has been a master at pulling off such deals. If both sides offer similar bribes, what was the clincher that made DreamWorks and Paramount favour HD DVD?
For a start, HD DVD is a cheaper system all around. Unlike Blu-ray, which has a much shallower (and therefore a more delicate) data layer, an HD DVD has its digital information etched deeper beneath the surface just like a conventional DVD—and can therefore be stamped out on much the same sort of equipment as a DVD. That translates into a larger profit margin for the studios.
Meanwhile, because of the robustness of the disc, HD DVD players have proved to be much cheaper to build. Models now start at $299, and are expected to fall to $199 by the coming holiday season. By contrast, basic Blu-ray players start at $449.
As far as stand-alone players are concerned, the price advantage has allowed Toshiba to outsell the Sony camp by a wide margin. More than 400,000 American households are expected to have HD DVD players by the end of the year, compared with less than 300,000 with Blu-ray players.
Why, then, have Blu-ray discs lately been outselling HD DVD versions by two to one? Because Sony cannily included a Blu-ray player in its latest video-game console, PlayStation 3. And while PS3 has not met expectations of selling 6m consoles in America, some 1.4m have nevertheless been snapped up since their launch last November. Market researchers reckon that most—90% by some reckoning—of Blu-ray discs are played on PS3 consoles. But Hollywood’s studios now realise they can’t pin the future of their precious video sales (today one of their main sources of revenue) on a game console that has failed to ignite widespread interest outside a dedicated circle of hard-core gamers.
That’s not all. Engineers who’ve worked with both formats say Blu-ray is a pig to program. While extremely flexible, its programming language, BD-Java, requires lots of low-level code for even the simplest of instructions. The highly skilled programmers needed to do the job don’t exactly grow on trees. And because of the program’s complexity, even the best produce their share of bug-ridden software.
By comparison, writing software for HD DVD using Microsoft’s HDi interactive technology is a doddle—with one simple command doing the task of scores of lines of BD-Java. More importantly, HDi is the key to HD DVD’s better navigation around menus, and its instinctive ability to interact with the outside world.
Thanks to the internet connection built into all HD DVD players, Toshiba machines allow users to do all sorts of nifty things—like re-edit films, participate in online polls and download trailers. Increasingly, it’s beginning to look as though, after the initial attraction of high-definition’s much sharper picture, interactivity is going to be the deciding factor that determines the outcome of the current format war.
DreamWorks, Paramount and Universal are betting that HD DVD’s powerful tools for interactivity will let them make a tonne of money out of selling all manner of online services to customers who buy their discs. That’s why, ultimately, Toshiba’s David could yet topple Sony’s Goliath in the current video wars.
Last edited by ReduxInflux; 08-24-2007 at 04:04 PM.
That’s not all. Engineers who’ve worked with both formats say Blu-ray is a pig to program. While extremely flexible, its programming language, BD-Java, requires lots of low-level code for even the simplest of instructions. The highly skilled programmers needed to do the job don’t exactly grow on trees. And because of the program’s complexity, even the best produce their share of bug-ridden software.
By comparison, writing software for HD DVD using Microsoft’s HDi interactive technology is a doddle—with one simple command doing the task of scores of lines of BD-Java. More importantly, HDi is the key to HD DVD’s better navigation around menus, and its instinctive ability to interact with the outside world.
Rubbish! Digital Leisure said BD-J was easier to use, hence Dragon's Lair coming to Blu-ray first. While I haven't ever used HDi, I've used enough Java to know that it not "hard to program with" for any educated programmer.
DreamWorks, Paramount and Universal are betting that HD DVD’s powerful tools for interactivity will let them make a tonne of money out of selling all manner of online services to customers who buy their discs. That’s why, ultimately, Toshiba’s David could yet topple Sony’s Goliath in the current video wars.
Just what I want, need to go out and buy these ads .
Rubbish! Digital Leisure said BD-J was easier to use, hence Dragon's Lair coming to Blu-ray first. While I haven't ever used HDi, I've used enough Java to know that it not "hard to program with" for any educated programmer.
This stuff is FUD, written by the HPG.
Don't have a clue what HDi is like, but Java is very much like C++ and has been around to a long time. There is very little if any learning curve for the millions upon millions of C++ and JAVA programmers out there.
yep, looks like they just downcasted the 1 million number to 400k...absoutley pathetic.
Yep. Isn't it amazing how those numbers always slide down until they exceed what was actually sold?
Last year HD DVD "exceeded all expectations". I'll bet it will this year too.
But, I do have this to say, this part concerns me:
Quote:
That’s not all. Engineers who’ve worked with both formats say Blu-ray is a pig to program. While extremely flexible, its programming language, BD-Java, requires lots of low-level code for even the simplest of instructions. The highly skilled programmers needed to do the job don’t exactly grow on trees. And because of the program’s complexity, even the best produce their share of bug-ridden software.
By comparison, writing software for HD DVD using Microsoft’s HDi interactive technology is a doddle—with one simple command doing the task of scores of lines of BD-Java. More importantly, HDi is the key to HD DVD’s better navigation around menus, and its instinctive ability to interact with the outside world.
Thanks to the internet connection built into all HD DVD players, Toshiba machines allow users to do all sorts of nifty things—like re-edit films, participate in online polls and download trailers. Increasingly, it’s beginning to look as though, after the initial attraction of high-definition’s much sharper picture, interactivity is going to be the deciding factor that determines the outcome of the current format war.
It does sound like the same old PS/3 is a ***** to code, and the Xbox 360 is a dream crap again, so it needs some verification.
Interactivity isn't just the Internet. And what could be more interactive than any application they can think up?
And how many people are going to wonder if their viewing habits are being monitored by that Internet connection?
Geez, paranoid crap toward Sony, and then absolute trust of MS-Toshiba?!
How old is everyone in here? 15, 16? One would think that serious high-def movie afficionados would articulate their sentiments in a less vitriolic fashion. Behaving like prepubescent hoodlums accomplishes nothing. Instead, why don't you write the writer, speak to the speaker, debate convincingly and share your desire to support Blu-ray as adults, not undisciplined school children.
One would think that serious high-def movie afficionados would articulate their sentiments in a less vitriolic fashion. Behaving like prepubescent hoodlums accomplishes nothing. Instead, why don't you write the writer, speak to the speaker, debate convincingly and share your desire to support Blu-ray as adults, not undisciplined school children.
How old is everyone in here? 15, 16? One would think that serious high-def movie afficionados would articulate their sentiments in a less vitriolic fashion. Behaving like prepubescent hoodlums accomplishes nothing. Instead, why don't you write the writer, speak to the speaker, debate convincingly and share your desire to support Blu-ray as adults, not undisciplined school children.
I registered on my 13th Birthday back in July. That said, this article looks like a marketing piece in the guise of an objective report. The facts and numbers that simple research can dispel; designed to proliferate the myth that HD-DVD is better now because it is cheaper now, has ethernet now, and uses a programming language that is widely accepted (who ever heard of Java or Sun Microsystems for that matter?). This article doesn't answer the most basic question that a consumer might not even know to ask: Which technology is better suited to take us through the next decade?
The defection certainly levels the playing field in terms of titles released exclusively in one format or the other. I
Let me get this straight 2 = 4, (Uni & Para) = (Disney, Sony, Fox, MGM). I always thought the Economist did research before they released an article. I am very disappointed. This does not even take into account the quality of the titles, allow me to extrapolate this equation out even further: Evan Almighty = Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Yes! It all makes perfect sense now.
Let me get this straight 2 = 4, (Uni & Para) = (Disney, Sony, Fox, MGM). I always thought the Economist did research before they released an article. I am very disappointed. This does not even take into account the quality of the titles, allow me to extrapolate this equation out even further: Evan Almighty = Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Yes! It all makes perfect sense now.
No, no, no. Because you've proven that 2 == 4, it must follow that Evan Almighty == Pirates of the Caribbean 3 + Live Free or Die Hard.
It's all just FUD. It is all BS. It is also missing key data and is totally one sided (HD-DUD sided).
Just ignore it. Sales figures speak for themselves.
No mention of the following in terms of audio specs either...
According to the DTS website, Blu-Ray’s HD audio capacity has a higher ceiling for the new ‘Hi-Definition’ audio than HD-DVD. How much higher? Well, with Blu’, the site states 24.5Mbps per HD Master Audio compared to 18.0 on HD-DVD. The DTS High Resolution Audio is 6.0Mbps on Blu and just 3.0 on HD-DVD. That’s not a choice, it’s simply the space restriction on the latter format. The other important thing to note about the new HD audio formats, is that you DON’T necessarily need HDMI 1.3 to carry them. My contact at HDMI says all previous versions of HDMI will carry the new HD audio paths. DTS on the other hand says that’s not entirely true. DTS says more specifically, that if the PCM output is used, the DTS-HD can be run through analog outputs but add, earlier versions of HDMI were tested in their labs and as a result, any previous version of HDMI other than 1.3, will NOT carry DTS-HD via bitstream. That, you need 1.3 for. Since HDMI’s inception, it’s always been able to pass 8 channel 192khz/24 bit but the boys at HDMI add that if you want your AV receiver to perform the decoding INSTEAD of your source such as a Blu-Ray player, 1.3 will be necessary. DTS agrees.
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