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Blu-ray and HD-DVD - to be together or not to be?

Speculations around the next generation optical recording formats don't show any signs of calming down. Forbes yet again brings up the issue of the unified future of the Blu-ray(Sony, Matsushita) and HD-DVD(Toshiba). According the source the negotiations are to be restarted, as the leading companies of both camps have replaced their highest management.

Sony's meeting is scheduled for June 22, Toshiba's for June 24 and Matsushita's for June 29. Sony Chairman and CEO Nobuyuki Idei will resign and be succeeded in both posts by Howard Stringer. In addition, Ryoji Chubachi will become the new president.
...
The previous talks broke down because managing directors and lower-ranking officials from the three firms got bogged down in debate over which of the two formats excelled in technological terms, the newspaper noted.

Now the three manufacturers aim to send their senior officials to the negotiating table for a top-down approac...

Source: Forbes.com

Written by: Lasse Penttinen @ 20 Jun 2005 11:18

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• 14 comments

• weazel200

  They should design a new type of DVD that both companies agree with and will benefit each other. Im glad I haven't built up a massive DVD collection because when the new format does come out they can probably fit trilogies like star wars and lord of the rings on one disc.
  

  
  
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  20.6.2005 12:11 #1

• domie

  and about two or three other trilogies on the same disc as well given that they are talking about 50GB and 100GB capacity.
  i can just imagine the headache this will cause for those of us who want to buy hardware to play it...i guess i will wait until a machine comes out which is divx compatible, HDD recorder and HD-DVD/Blu-Ray Disc compatible...then when i buy it, the next media generation will be in production lol where will it all end ?

  20.6.2005 14:08 #2

• AvsFan19

  Blu ray is going to dominate if none of the other companies see that then they r just shooting themselves in the foot

  21.6.2005 08:16 #3

• djscoop

  Go Sony and Blu-Ray!!!! HD-DVD just sounds lame anyways...

  21.6.2005 11:15 #4

• ToxicFish

  HD-DVD is going to have first rights to the market. Why the hell would you want to use Blu-ray?!?! Yeah, it has a larger capacity, but by what, 5 gigs? A Blu-ray disc is so dense, that any scratch will screw them up. The original Blu-rays that came out in Japan 2 years ago had to come in caddies because of that.
  
  HD-DVD is based off of current DVDs. because of that, manufacturing costs will be way less. End result, way cheaper for us. This is only speculation here, but HD-DVD is also uses mPEG-4 compression... so it'd probably be way easier to archive our divx/xvid movies and still play them on any HD-DVD player. Eat me Sony.
  

  22.6.2005 08:08 #5

• AvsFan19

  whats the point of an hd-dvd if blu-ray can play HD and hold more data. toshiba is making a triple layer hd-dvd that holds 45 gig, blu-ray holds more with 2 layers

  22.6.2005 10:16 #6

• ToxicFish

  What are 5 gigs to you, even 20? Sure, the storage space is going to be real nice, but be realistic. They have dual layer burners right now for 8.5GB... How many people do you know who religiously burn on 8.5? Not many. You know why? Because they are way to expensive.
  
  Sony does have an alternative to their Japanese produced Blu-rays that came in caddies. It is called DURABIS a super hard coating developed by TDK that is said to even resist scratches from steel wool... sounds great right? Well great if you want to spend more money. http://www.tdk.co.jp/teaah01/aah14600.htm
  
  How many TV episodes of whatever you watch do you think will fit on a 1 layer HD-DVD? That’s 15GB that you have to work with. The average consumer will be more than happy with that. Regular 1 layer DVD media is way cheaper than dual layer. I don't see any reason for that to change.
  
  Even the Blu-ray burners are going to be more expensive. Do you think 25GB per layer is easy to do? Those are 10 more gigs that Blu-ray has to burn. To burn files at that compression takes a lot. Can you imagine backing up files and to have a disc read error... There goes 2 bucks.

  24.6.2005 06:01 #7

• mlvideo

  Pioneer has demonstrated, yes demonstrated, a DVD based on an infra-red laser, a DVD with 500 Gig capability. I'm waiting!

  26.6.2005 04:46 #8

• djscoop

  yes, but you'll be waiting for quite a while

  26.6.2005 14:26 #9

• mlvideo

  true, but then we will be waiting for the electronics giants to bury their hatchets and agree to a standard. I'll wait until the dust settles and then buy the survivor. Actually I believe Pioneer was talking about an ultraviolet laser, the military government people will rush that one along. Until then, just dream!

  26.6.2005 15:27 #10

• dexterity

  VHS Vs Beta max, I reckon the better product (blue Ray) might lose again if this news has as much of a bearing on things as the evil empire hope : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062700152.html

  29.6.2005 03:20 #11

• ToxicFish

  Quote:dexterity (Newbie) 29 June 2005 7:20
  VHS Vs Beta max, I reckon the better product (blue Ray) might lose again if this news has as much of a bearing on things as the evil empire hopeWhy again is BLU-ray the better product? The only thing that Blu-ray has on HD-DVD is capacity. That news you posted is great. Now many other companies will follow, and hopefully kill the Blu-ray standard. Money talks, just wait for when both standards come out. How much are you going to pay for those extra 5 gigs?
  
  Sony is going to be way more expensive, and for you guys waiting for PS3, be prepaired to pay way more than the XBOX guys. PS3 is going to support Blu-ray, and because Blu-ray is going to tank, guess where they are going to plug their new product... I have always been uber pro-playstation, but this might make me switch to an F-ing XBOX. I could also shoot my TV.
  
  btw, betamax was superior to VHS except for one little thing... PRICE! The VCR for VHS was almost $300 cheaper than betamax http://tafkac.org/products/beta_vs_vhs.html. I also reckon it might lose again.

  29.6.2005 10:48 #12

• dexterity

  I would glady pay more for a product which offers more starage, more potential, and has nothing to do with Microsoft. Xbox might well be cheaper, but Playstation 3 will be up to twice as fast! It is history repeating it's self all over again, and we all know it is about money, not which technology is superior or easy for the masses to work with.
  
  Beta was only so expensive because those figures were based on predicted uptake. Had beta been manufatured in the same quantities as VHS it would actualy have been cheaper. Sony incorporated its developemnt costs in the inital product price, where as VHS had many ways of covering it's losses, by taking a bigger gamble on the supply rate.

  30.6.2005 03:46 #13

• utube

  go sony!! yea and put the whole blue ray thing in the bin! does anybody remember that disk umm what was it called ime just jogging my memory?? oh yes UMD where the hell has umd movies gone? big flop. more ppl who dont know much about modern gadgets do know what a dvd is but most probley never even heard of blue ray, and will have more confidence buying HD-DVD!! meaning they know what they are getting

  3.1.2007 08:08 #14