Blu-Ray/Standard DVD hybrid

[Logansneo]

My father-in-law and I were discussing how best to bridge the DVD to HD-DVD conversion gap that inevitably will take shape in the months to come. One idea we both came to agree would be awesome was the concept of having a dual-sided Blu-Ray/standard DVD hybrid disc to offer the public. In using this method manufacturers would not only be able to expand into the HD realms, they would allow those with less disposable incomes to not be forced to convert RIGHT NOW to HD and enjoy the standard DVD side, at the same time allow them to be collecting the HD titles they will use in the future making for a near seamless transition. I know that electronics manufactures probably wouldn't appreciate this due largely to the fact that their new-fangled Blu-Ray players (I know, I know, I'm a Sony ***** ) wouldn't be snapped up as quickly, but they must also know that people won't be terribly eager to abandon their current DVD players just because some electronics conglomerate says they need to! Not to mention how well standard DVD players are still selling! A co-benefit is that according to replicators the transition to Blu-Ray as far as tooling would supposedly take "minutes" making hybrid discs possible. Also most DVD's made today are mastered from HD transfers of films allowing dual format transfers to be possible. Most importantly this would probably entice Hollywood studios concerned about slow initial HD title sales in the first few years compounded by stagnant hardware sales, similar to HDTV upon its inception, though increased production time could slow releases a bit. But what a benefit it would be!

-Jeremy

P.S. I believe if Sony does produce PS3's with Blu-Ray technology, there would be no stopping the format! Makes me wonder what Microsoft is considering for the X-Box 2?

[Rob]

But how much would this dual sided disk cost? Obviously, companies will want to charge a premium for Blu-Ray discs as it is a new format of say £25-30 per film. DVD owners would surely be unwilling to pay a premium for a product they cannot as yet use. Still, it's a good idea. Would make sense to only have one version of the same film, rather than 2.

[Logansneo]

Well I made the mistake of posting this same idea over at DVD Town where the moderators are about as closed minded and rude as anyone I have ever had the displeasure of conversing with online. Oh well, ya live and learn I guess. Anyway I used SACD as an example of a logical hybrid disc medium that people can use now and have the ability to upgrade later to rediscover in even higher fidelity sound. And most of the time the hybrid discs themselves are as inexpensive as the CD-only counterparts. SACD in and of itself has not taken off as quickly as it possibly could because it has DVD-Audio to compete with, which in my opinion is far less compatible due to it's inability to play on standard CD players at all! But I digress. I used SACD hybrid's to illustrate that at least Sony has shown it can bring hybrid discs to the mass market with at least some degree of success, and that Sony has a good grasp on what consumers want, but with high resolution audio being such a vastly different market as opposed to DVD and Blu-Ray trying to predict the success or failure of a DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid with current SACD hybrid sales would be inaccurate at best.

I only hope that these companies would take a moment to consider how best to approach the inclusion of a new video disc format without ostracizing their current DVD market, which could have the affect of polarizing consumer opinion against Blu-Ray and in turn doom it to fail in a similarly spectacular fashion as Betamax did 20 years ago.

[erdega79]

the basic problem with your idea which seems well intentioned btw is that blu ray and so called hd dvd are incompatible because they they use different protection layers for one, something like 0.1mm for blu ray and 0.6 for hd. Furthermore blu ray has everything hd has plus the added size and flexibility for more due to multi layering in the future.