AfterDawn: News

Disney is unhappy with 50GB Blu-ray Disc delay

At a Blu-ray Disc press demo held on November 29th, Andy Parsons, senior VP advanced product development for Pioneer announced the delayed readiness of the 50GB disc but downplayed it saying that it was something the industry would grow into over time. However, Buena Vista Home Entertainment president Bob Chapek said Disney was expecting the 50GB disc "from the get-go." The 25GB standard single layer Blu-Ray discs will be launched in the first half of 2006.

It is believed however that the 50GB disc will not be available until late in 2006. Chapek's reason for discomfort is understandable; he envisions packing a disc completely with high definition movies and extra features, which would require the bigger 50GB disc. He also envisions releasing Blu-ray/DVD hybrid discs for consumers who want to buy a movie but wont have a Blu-ray player for some time - another possibility that will probably need a lot more time to be available.



Blu-ray Disc currently is ahead in the format war with HD DVD, a rival next generation format developed by Toshiba Corp. Blu-ray has most major Hollywood movie studios on its side. Concerns about production costs of Blu-ray have also been growing however, especially from manufacturers who will require completely new equipment to produce BD discs, whereas HD DVD discs can be produced with tweaks to the existing equipment used for DVDs.

Sources:
Video Business Online
CDFreaks

Written by: James Delahunty @ 3 Dec 2005 15:39

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• 7 comments

• ZeroTech

  First half of 06 for 25gb ain't so bad. I wonder how much it'll retail at...

  3.12.2005 15:51 #1

• six.6.six

  Well let's see multiply the cost of a double layer disk by five and you'll be close. LOL!

  3.12.2005 19:01 #2

• A_Klingon

  Another problem too, is that the RootKit-Company-Of-Japan has announced that it's initial release of Blu-Ray Hi-Definition movies will only be encoded in standard, present-day mpeg-2 (DVD) format encoding.
  
  Boy, I think this is dumb!
  
  Their arguments to the contrary, the far more advanced and powerful mpeg-4 AVC (Advanced Video Codec), which is a core part of the blu-ray spec, will not be used in their first movie releases.
  
  _Damn_, Sony needs to smarten up, you know?
  

  3.12.2005 19:45 #3

• Jasper44

  Quote:Their arguments to the contrary, the far more advanced and powerful mpeg-4 AVC (Advanced Video Codec), which is a core part of the blu-ray spec, will not be used in their first movie releases.Thats so they can sell a whole bunch of mpeg2 blurays and then come out and sell a whole bunch of mpeg4 blurays so people will have to buy 2 of each movie. And people will!!!

  3.12.2005 22:41 #4

• esrever

  ^ He's right. It's all about money money money. Companies don't really give a crap what we want, but what they can profit off of.

  3.12.2005 22:46 #5

• holoman

  I wouldn't expect too much from Blu-Ray.
  
  Sandisk Flashcard Solid State Drives will Cost $ 90.00 a Gigabyte versus the Hard Drive < $ .50 a Gigabyte ( $ 500 drive ) versus Blu-Ray / HD-DVD $ .012 a Gigabyte ( $7,500 drive ) versus Inphase / Optware Worm Holographic $ .50 a Gigabyte ( $ 15,000 drive ) versus Atomic Holographic Drive < $ 0.0004 a Gigabyte ($ 750 drive ).
  
  http://colossalstroage.net
  
  

  4.12.2005 05:59 #6

• ireland

  hello klingon this just might fit in..even blue ray
  
  Turn all your video's into a format you can go mobile with!
  
  A reader of this website pointed me to the referenced article on Boing Boing. Before I get into a lengthy rant let me say this first and foremost. Any company that stands behind consumer rights and fair use gets my "Attention". Neuros is one of those companies and has produced a device that could very well be one of the hottest tech tickets this Christmas season.
  
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  You all know I am very pro Fair Use and I will do everything in my power to give companies that not only publicly say the care about consumers rights but are also creating products that exemplify consumer rights every opportunity to have their message put forth. You will be hearing more about Neuros from me! [BoingBoing] [Neuros
  
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  • Can play back from Recorder 2 through TV’s and home theatres. Pocket-sized device is small enough to use as a portable VCR.
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  4.12.2005 06:08 #7