"It won’t be simple but you’ll see our solution in the coming year," he added. "Consumers will be too confused otherwise." Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are battling it out currently for support to become the next generation DVD standard. Both formats use blue lasers, which have shorter wavelength than red lasers allowing data storing at high densities. Both formats have heavy backing from tech firms and movie studios, so right now it appears that the future market for next generation formats is already split in two.
The real fight is not simply to fulfil ego's either, it is to fill bank accounts with potentially billions of dollars as both these formats offer much greater storage capacity than standard DVD discs. This extra capacity is needed for high definition material and next generation video games. Samsung is making a wise choice in offering players for both formats, but there are also still some complications to making a player for both.
Firstly the main question that is asked is whether the player would require just one drive to play both formats, or two separate? "If it's one drive, it's going to be a step in the right direction," said Josh Martin, an analyst with IDC. "But if you're talking about putting together two devices into one, it's kind of a stop-gap arrangement." Also, a detail that is very important to consumers; how much will a player compatible with both formats cost? Currently, next-generation disc players are expected to be priced at around $1,000 at launch. Josh Martin pointed out however that if these two format players can be sold for about $1,500 it would be cheaper for consumers than having to buy two separate players.
Source:
Red Herring
Written by: James Delahunty @ 7 Sep 2005 4:11
