AfterDawn: News

Philips unveils a CD/DVD/Blu-ray recorder

Philips was quick to announce their first PC triple format hybrid recorder, supporting the next generation Blu-ray format. The drive is about to be presented in Las Vegas at the CES 2005 expo. So the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray war is soon about to really begin, as consumer ready solutions are entering the market. It is however questionable, is there yet a demand for the next generation formats. After all, DVD recordable technology has not really evolved to a mature stage yet. Film studios have expected the new format to hit the market in 2006.

he Dutch company, together with a group of other powerful electronics makers including Sony Corp, Hewlett-Packard and Dell , is proposing the Blu-ray format which can store up to 50 Gigabytes of data on a disc.

This level of storage allows film publishers to put a full-length movie in the high-definition format on one disc.
...
The new Philips drive has three lasers, including Blu-ray's blue laser which has a shorter wavelength than current red lasers, allowing for a thinner light beam that can read and write smaller bits of information on a disc.

Source: Reuters.com

Written by: Lasse Penttinen @ 3 Jan 2005 9:03

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• 20 comments

• GrayArea

  So, hardware manufacturers will have to make a CD-R/RW, DVD+R/DVD-R(&RW...), Blu-ray, AND HD-DVD compatable burner? No one will be confused or hesitate to buy this stuff... Gawd what a stupid mess.

  3.1.2005 09:21 #1

• GrayArea

  So, hardware manufacturers will have to make a CD-R/RW, DVD+R/DVD-R(&RW...), Blu-ray, AND HD-DVD compatable burner? No one will be confused or hesitate to buy this stuff... Gawd what a stupid mess.

  3.1.2005 09:22 #2

• GrayArea

  oops

  3.1.2005 09:22 #3

• charact3r

  Soooooo...How much does that blu ray compatible write once media cost?? The brick and mortar stores around me have yet to stock the dual layer media, but sell the hardware to burn them!! It seems that the wagons (formats) are getting too far ahead of the horses (media). Sides, I want to buy rewritable media only, as the cost of turning an expensive write once dual layer disk into a coaster prohibits me from using them anyway.
  Triple format?? Whats that?? +R -R +RW -RW RAM, or what?? Or is it just triple lasers???
  
  This must be a way of getting consumers to upgrade their DVD players to use this technology, as well as buying or renting movie dvds that incorporate hi-def
  formats. It also pushes consumers who are on the fence over to purchasing HDTV sets sooner.
  
  I have heard rumors that the MPAA is pushing encryption technology for hi-def broadcasts over satellite and cable anyway so what good is this technology to consumers if this happens?? I don't think that anyone is going to need to burn home movies in hi-def!!

  3.1.2005 11:31 #4

• daemonzx6

  I'm sure the media will cost an astronomical amount for a piece of plastic. The DL media is still at about 10 bucks apiece. I'd say the single layer blu-ray discs will be 30 bucks apiece and the duals 60. The technology is still too new to be cheap.

  3.1.2005 15:24 #5

• djscoop

  sony's external blu-ray usb 2.0 burner is $3000, and the 25GB media are $50 a pop.

  3.1.2005 16:47 #6

• daemonzx6

  Oh yeah, I remember the ProData now...

  3.1.2005 19:41 #7

• indienemo

  you could buy a half decent car with that

  4.1.2005 02:10 #8

• squizzle

  Maybe in like 2 or 3 years at least.

  4.1.2005 04:18 #9

• WarForOil

  Yes its great another load of formats and lasers,by the time they are cheap enough for most to afford they will be ready to bring something else.Dvd players are showing signs of slow down so its what we call saturation point so we have to bring something else out to make you part with your hard earned bucks and so the trend goes on and on and on and on..........Where will end, it wont progress is infinity.Happy 2005 to everyone.

  4.1.2005 13:10 #10

• canuc1060

  I think that the industry is very slow in adapting a "blue laser" to DVD. The eye surgery have made such lasers obselete because the newer Krypton lasers are even smaller. The blue laser which I feel must be an Argon laser because of it's description was used regularly by Ophthalmologists to render "eye treatment" to people with diabetic retinopathy etc. The Krypton laser which is capabable of a much smaller "beam" has been used by these doctorsa for more than ten years. This will probably be the next newest type of device , and will probably allow technology to burn a disc with 100 Gigabytes. Let's see if my prediction comes true as the next step in planned obselence. This method will undoubetly earn the Computer industry many more profits in the years to come.

  4.1.2005 21:11 #11

• canuc1060

  I think that the industry is very slow in adapting a "blue laser" to DVD. The eye surgery people have made bluelasers obselete because the newer Krypton lasers are even smaller. The blue laser which I feel must be an Argon laser because of it's description was used regularly by Ophthalmologists to render "eye treatment" to people with diabetic retinopathy etc. The Krypton laser which is capabable of a much smaller "beam" has been used by these doctors for more than ten years. This will probably be the next newest type of device , and will probably allow technology to burn a disc with 100 Gigabytes. Let's see if my prediction comes true as the next step in planned obselence. This method will undoubetly earn the Computer industry many more profits in the years to come.

  4.1.2005 21:13 #12

• 420ninja

  what the heck is so bad about DVDs that we need yet another media to put movies on? how much better can the picture get? the innovators must be pretty bored. they can't find some other technology to improve on. like, how to fix a pothole in the road. or a cure for AIDS. let's just stop here with DVDs for a while. people were happy with VCRs for the longest time, DVD hasn't even been out long enough for everyone to enjoy, and already, their trying to replace it? come on people, i'd rather see a flying car b4 i see another type of expensive media/format to hit the market.

  5.1.2005 08:42 #13

• daemonzx6

  All these new formats are just an excuse to develop new protection that will no doubtedly be broken in a matter of days. I would personally be fine using DVD for a while longer and using Blu-Ray for data backup. And how expensive will these HD movies be when the blanks are $60? I just don't think it will happen as soon as those idiots think it will. Many people have just recently started using DVD, and I don't think many people will want to adopt this new format until the prices are lowered, and the prices won't get lowered until they've reached saturation point, so its basically a lose-lose situation. By the time people get used to the new formats, there will definitely be some new great format that will have some kind of UltraHD where they record the raw movie straight to it.

  5.1.2005 13:17 #14

• soban

  well i see all your concerns and expectation. well lets not fly so high and see what do we have now and what we will like to have.
  
  DVD recorders are not that a big hit with the consumers. I work at future shop and i know how many we sell over there.
  
  Why do we need a blue ray recorder? and the answer is to record more and record HD tv. unfortuately we dont have that many HD channels and most likely we not be able to get the media until somwhere at the end of the 2006. SO forget that an average consumer going to dish out money on these formats unless they are around $300.
  Biggest consumer of the recording products are woman recording soap operas and quite frankly i yet have to see a woman going for a dvd recorder for that purpose. so as far as I see consumer market is not going to be very thrilled about the new dvd recorder.
  
  Now the important question is what drive going to take over.
  
  The blue ray drive is going to be a big hit with the pc people for obvious storage reasons. so they going to need the player to play it. so they going to get a blue ray player. And so the final verdict is going to be delivered by the computer users and not the normal consumers.
  
  But again price and availability of the writable media is going to be the major factor in decision.

  7.1.2005 15:49 #15

• ag22

  I believe TiVo DVD recorders will be huge in this. If they go for one or the other, I think that will be the deciding ground.

  7.1.2005 17:24 #16

• daemonzx6

  For the first round of these new formats, I agree that it will be decided by PC users. And I would hope PC users would want the higher storage, Blu-Ray. Average people won't really care about HD this and that.
  God I hate TiVo.

  7.1.2005 18:30 #17

• ag22

  DVRs sell just as fast as computers now-a-days, and most of them can obly hold 80 GB. A 50GB Blu-RayRW disc, with burner would make people go crazy.

  8.1.2005 06:33 #18

• soban

  i dont know about dvd recorders sale in other countries. as far as canada goes, as i said before i worked in one of the biggest future shop of canada located at the border of toronto and mississauga. and i did not see a good sale of dvd recorders and by the good sale i mean 10 a day and i am talking of december month.
  
  And NO. not the average consumer cares about the hd quality. U guys are forgeting that most of consumers dont have HD tv or HD compatible tv for that matter.

  8.1.2005 19:09 #19

• walshy298

  im what you consider to be an average to high user of my computer. i use lots of dvds approx 20 a month now what i want ot know is what speed are these writers going to be it takes long enough to write a current dvd but writing 50gb of data i would rather just have a removable hard drive in a caddy. if the new blue ray dvds cost £40 a go i could purchse an 80gb and soon this will be higher maybe 160gb hard drive for this amount and this could be re written, the data transfer would also be quicker. im sorry to say it but removable storage like hard drives etc... will lead still as it costs less to do more. i also think that dvd recorders in the red laser will take of more but only because they have to due to vhs being phased out. my overall verdict then is that blu laser would be good if A. it was CHEAP and B. if it had fast data transfer etc...

  16.6.2005 16:09 #20