And so it becomes Blu-ray VS. Digital Media

[bryaaaant]

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/06...beyond-hd-dvd/


As a lot of people here already know, Microsoft's agenda since the very beginning.

[Need0fMany]

I often wondered, given that everybody knows that MS really want digital discs to fail in favor of their downloads, why Toshiba was in such an alliance with them. Maybe besides offering manufacturing deals like the Zune and others, maybe they also promised to keep Toshiba involved in their download strategy and this interactivity consortium is a small part of it.

[SS316SRV]

Isn't this just their "purchase a prop while you watch" idea? I hate to pass this along but J6P doesn't want to have to connect his DVD player to the internet in order to take advantage of the technology.

[aygie]

Originally Posted by bryaaaant

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/06...beyond-hd-dvd/


As a lot of people here already know, Microsoft's agenda since the very beginning.

Was going to post this a few days ago but meh, f**k em, don't wanna give the publicity

[Slapper]

Originally Posted by Aygie

Was going to post this a few days ago but meh, f**k em, don't wanna give the publicity

It's the same "press release", it's just making it's way around the tech sites.

[Mikeesracing]

I don't think the download service will work for alot of people. I don't have the download speeds that people do in the states. So I will have to have a disk type media any type of movie.

[Hayashi]

the US is to far behind in internet connection speeds to have down loadable HD media yet. We aren't like Japan and have 30x the connection speed of the US, yet look at how well BD is doing there haha.

[blu-rayfan101]

Disc arent' going anywhere. Like come on how do I take this to a friends, play it in my bedroom or living room. Like do i have to take my player where ever I go.

[radagast]

Originally Posted by Need0fMany

I often wondered, given that everybody knows that MS really want digital discs to fail in favor of their downloads, why Toshiba was in such an alliance with them. Maybe besides offering manufacturing deals like the Zune and others, maybe they also promised to keep Toshiba involved in their download strategy and this interactivity consortium is a small part of it.

What's Toshiba going to do when MS pulls off their mask and they realize they have been in bed with Satan? Toshiba is going to lose billions if hd-dvd and Blu-ray fail with downloads taking their place. They won't get squat on royalties.

[Hayashi]

The main reason Microsoft went with HD-DVD is because Toshiba decided to use the HDi and Sony didn't. Its in an article but I never seen to get it posted lol. Its just another way you see Microsoft trying to make everything proprietary to them.

[Maxell]

Downloads are not going to be a viable option for many years, possibly even more than 10 years. Even the average 3-6mbps internet speeds are not viable enough for high def downloading, not to mention how many TB's you would need.

Discs are not going anywhere. CD's are still selling a ton. Despite the huge advances of mp3 players like ipods. People want to keep their media stuff as a physical small matter.

[Bigdog]

Originally Posted by Mikeesracing

I don't think the download service will work for alot of people. I don't have the download speeds that people do in the states. So I will have to have a disk type media any type of movie.

Lol the states download speeds are nowhere even close to being able to handle something like this without complete frustration, avg connection rate in this country for people on high speed because there are still many areas stuck on dial up is about 3mb d/l rate. In today's world when people want it they want it now not have to wait the 4 days it would take to d/l the amount of data a blu-disk holds, not to mention how fast the stroage space would get used up. If this is microsoft's idea for the future then it looks like they are not going to be apart of it.

Until i see some Verizon and Comcast trucks in my neighborhood instead of just major city areas installing some fibre optic cable this is nothing more then a pipe dream that will never take off! And i have already asked both many times and it is still possibly over a decade away from ever happening if it does at all.

[shadowmoon]

I wouldnt mind seeing we go the download route personally, as long as we can keep the same quality of PQ and AQ with all the extras n stuff. Biggest issues Ive had with download media is the lack of options when it comes to subtitles, extras, and some PQ and AQ. Also the bandwidth... In order for us to download 50GB worth of info (BD 50), it will take a few hours to say the least.

But I can just picture it now... Instead of a dvd shelf we just have a 200 TB HDD sits right next to our A/V receivers lol.

[Bigdog]

Originally Posted by shadowmoon

I wouldnt mind seeing we go the download route personally, as long as we can keep the same quality of PQ and AQ with all the extras n stuff. Biggest issues Ive had with download media is the lack of options when it comes to subtitles, extras, and some PQ and AQ. Also the bandwidth... In order for us to download 50GB worth of info (BD 50), it will take a few hours to say the least.

But I can just picture it now... Instead of a dvd shelf we just have a 200 TB HDD sits right next to our A/V receivers lol.

Like i said you must live near a city because no 3mb or hell even 6mb connection rate is going to pluck out 50gb in a couple hours more like a couple days. This will never work in the usa, asia and europe maybe but not in this country or atleast not anytime soon in this country.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by shadowmoon

I wouldnt mind seeing we go the download route personally, as long as we can keep the same quality of PQ and AQ with all the extras n stuff. Biggest issues Ive had with download media is the lack of options when it comes to subtitles, extras, and some PQ and AQ. Also the bandwidth... In order for us to download 50GB worth of info (BD 50), it will take a few hours to say the least.

But I can just picture it now... Instead of a dvd shelf we just have a 200 TB HDD sits right next to our A/V receivers lol.

I agree with you. I have actually been download leaning all along. But, the problem is that people hate the wait, and that means market forces will cause a lousy product to be pushed.

If we could get a Sony/Disney/Fox quality from a download, I'd be all over it (even if it took a long time). But, I don't expect it to happen. The pressure will always be there to lower the bitrate, and we'd end up with sub-HD DVD quality.

Gary

[ESUNintel]

It's a great idea, but everyone is going to have to sign up for high speed Internet, which many families in the US can't pay the $50, simply don't want to or don't even use the Internet at home. ...so they're going to have to work out a deal with Broadband/DSL providers. On top of that people are going to have to pay for downloads they probably won't even be able to keep, or they'll loose when their hard drive crashes.

[CAB]

Originally Posted by Hayashi

The main reason Microsoft went with HD-DVD is because Toshiba decided to use the HDi and Sony didn't. Its in an article but I never seen to get it posted lol. Its just another way you see Microsoft trying to make everything proprietary to them.

If my recall is correct, the BDA agreed to include VC-1 and use HDi as options in order to get Microsoft's backing of BD. When MS sided with HD DVD only BDA's need to compromise on the HDi was no longer needed. Keeping VC-1 was wise considering the ports that studios are doing from the HD DVD transfers.

[Elandyll]

I may be crazy, but I do not see the point of downloads in HD, except as a complementary feature directly to a box attached to your HD TV set.

I will always like to be able to gather a "library" of titles, and a download feature would come along severe media burning restrictions.
So we would de facto certainly be limited to a specific kind of portable player ( I want to be able to play my films where ever I want to go), ala Zune or Ipod, getting you married to either Apple$ or Micro$oft.

No thanks.

[Hayashi]

Originally Posted by CAB

If my recall is correct, the BDA agreed to include VC-1 and use HDi as options in order to get Microsoft's backing of BD. When MS sided with HD DVD only BDA's need to compromise on the HDi was no longer needed. Keeping VC-1 was wise considering the ports that studios are doing from the HD DVD transfers.

This is what I got off the other site.

HP in turn invited Microsoft to also support Blu-ray for playback under Windows, which HP would need for the Blu-ray equipped PCs it sold. According to an article by Peter Burrows in BusinessWeek, Microsoft demanded that the Blu-ray group adopt its WinCE-based iHD for developing interactive content (since renamed to HDi) in order to sign on.


Somewhat ironically, the Blu-ray group had already adopted BDj, an interactive authoring system developed by HP. BDj is based upon Sun's Java platform. Content developed for BDj is intended to be easily adapted for delivery not just on Blu-ray disc, but also over cable systems.


The Blu-ray Disc Association “did a three month side-by-side evaluation and concluded that iHD didn't offer enough advantages to make a switch worthwhile,” Burrows reported. “Microsoft was livid.” In September 2005, Microsoft and Intel announced their exclusive support for HD-DVD, which had already included HDi as a mandatory part of the specification.


Bill Hunt of Digital Bits explained to InternetNews that Toshiba was ready to drop HD-DVD and join Blu-ray in 2005 until an unnamed company, which Hunt believes to be Microsoft, “pressured the company to stick with HD DVD since so much time and money had been invested in it.”


“Everything I've been told,” Hunt said, “is a lot of people in the HD DVD camp were ready to throw in the towel in late 2005 and something kept them from doing it. Microsoft seems to be the company that is running around crowing the loudest about HD DVD.”

The simplest answer for Microsoft decision goes back to the Jobs/Gates War lol.

[shadowmoon]

Originally Posted by Bigdog

Like i said you must live near a city because no 3mb or hell even 6mb connection rate is going to pluck out 50gb in a couple hours more like a couple days. This will never work in the usa, asia and europe maybe but not in this country or atleast not anytime soon in this country.

When I said a 'few' hours, that was sarcasm lol. It would take me at least a day to download a BD-50, and thats probably with just 1 download open. And in my previous post, I also stated download time is an issue. I would LOVE to save the storage space of 3 shelves (over 300 dvd and BD combined, I just dont list the dvds cuz Im too lazy lol) to a small HDD, but I dont want to lose the ability to watch it with subtitles if I wanted or flip through the extras etc.

I have to say, ever since I got my ipod and use itunes, I dont buy CDs anymore. In fact, most of the places that sells CDs (tower records, sam goody's) around here has shut down and moved on.

IF we can get decent download speed, get the HD quality PQ and AQ, with the interactive menus and extras, and still affordable (that means with the cost of having the high speed internet), then download media would succeed.