'300': A [pro] HD DVD case study and format future prediction

[ReduxInflux]

link: http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=..._id=1160013116

Tuesday, August 14, 2007
'300': A HD DVD Case Study and Format Future Prediction
Aug 14 2007 10:41PM

I've just finished auditioning 300, the richest-featured HD DVD title to date (with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift its notably adorned predecessor). The HD DVD disc costs roughly $5 more than its Blu-ray and two-disc DVD set counterparts, for which you incur the following incremental capabilities:

Dual-format (DVD and HD DVD on a single disc) obsolescence protection, if you currently own a DVD player but plan to migrate to HD DVD in the future.
An interactive game called Vengeance and Valor, implemented using Microsoft's HDi format
A bluescreen picture-in-picture version of the movie, in which director Zack Snyder compares the pre- and post-CGI-versions of the film
Internet connectivity that enables you to purchase 300-themed ringtones and wallpaper for your cell phone, and to share your favorite movie scenes with others in the registered user community.
300 is an odd high-definition title to evaluate. As Ben Kuchera points out, the director's intentional use of special effects such as added grain and high contrast 'crush' make for a presentation that, versus most HD DVD (and Blu-ray) titles, isn't dramatically better than the red laser DVD alternative. Which is not to say that there wasn't an improvement with the HD DVD version, even on my less-than-optimal plasma display. To date, I've auditioned the disc on my first-generation Toshiba HD-A1; when I get back to Sacramento, I'll try it out on my even more resolution- and quality-accurate LCD TV and companion Xbox 360 with HD DVD drive. I also plan to quality- and feature-compare the optical disc-based versions of the movie with their SD and HD downloadable counterparts.

I focused my attention on the HD DVD-unique capabilities, which uniformly worked well with the exception of one glitch. One of the first few times I accessed the extras menu, the player locked up and required a power cord yank in order to revive it. Numerous other subsequent menu navigation cycles were problem-free. The Internet connectivity features worked well, although (as is the case with the Microsoft Zune's music 'squirting' feature) the collaborative scene-sharing capabilities will only be meaningful when a critical mass of HD DVD players exists.

I'm a bit surprised that Warner didn't do a Java-based version of the Vengeance and Valor game for the Blu-ray version of the disc, although many of the currently-shipping Blu-ray players don't support BD-J, and for those that do, Warner may have wanted to avoid embarrassing potential compatibility issues. And I thought the bluescreen picture-in-picture presentation was outstanding. Admittedly, having just come from SIGGRAPH where I attended presentations of some of 300's CGI effects (albeit not in such exacting detail) may have heightened my enthusiasm a bit!

Unfortunately, unless Warner ramps up its promotion of the HD DVD version of the title (doubtful given that the studio is format-agnostic), many potential customers will never get beyond a limited price-only comparison between the various formats, which will unfairly disadvantage the HD DVD variant. In my scans of various retailers' 300 promotions, rarely was it even mentioned that the HD DVD disc also supported conventional DVD. The added HD DVD features were completely omitted from the advertisements. Look, for example, at Amazon's listings; the Blu-ray entry mentions the disc's 'extras', while the HD DVD entry mentions none of the extras, far from the unique ones!

Some supposed pundits are claiming that HD DVD's days are numbered. I'm not of that mindset, although I admit that Blockbuster's decision to forego (at least for now) stocking HD DVD in most stores in favour of Blu-ray was a momentum-shifting event. After all, the high resolution optical disc market is still extremely immature. HD DVD's key strength, which I've long pointed out, is its inherent cost advantage both for media and players. Toshiba's next-generation player prices begin at $299 and the highest-end version costs less than the lowest-end Blu-ray player. Current-generation Toshiba models sell new for as low as $200 and can be found refurbished for even less; if I was in the market for a replacement DVD player, I'd be sorely tempted to spend buy a slightly more expensive unit that not only upscales DVDs but also handles next-generation HD DVD. And, if you've got an Xbox 360, a HD DVD upgrade will cost you as little as $150.

HD DVD also has supported from the very beginning features that Blu-ray won't begin to support until the October 31 v1.1 profile release date; secondary audio and video channels, software applications (Java-based in Blu-ray's case, versus HDi-based with HD DVD), and additional on-board memory. Current-generation Blu-ray players (with the likely exception of the PS3) won't be upgradeable to the v1.1 feature set. There's also no 'sunset' cutoff date beyond which manufacturers must stop making v1.0 players. And network connectivity remains an optional, not required, part of the v1.x feature set. If you were an executive at a schedule-, resource- and cash-strapped studio, would you add incremental features to a Blu-ray disc that most players won't even support? I didn't think so. Therefore, I predict that Blu-ray media's feature set deficiencies compared to HD DVD will endure for a very long time.

We'll know a lot more post-Christmas about how this format war may play out. If Toshiba and its partners keep driving player prices down, things could get very interesting. How are you handicapping the high definition race?


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in my humble opinion: the man is sorely mistaken. probably an early adopter of hd-dvd that is trying to justify his investment...