BLU-RAY WIN!

[PC-Engine]

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_05/pr1001.htm

Toshiba believes a single format for next generation DVD is most beneficial for consumers, and we are actively participating in talks towards format unification. At this point however, nothing has been decided, and absolutely no decision has been made for unification on any basis. The indication that a unification agreement on the basis of a 0.1mm disc system is imminent is unfounded and erroneous. Given this, Toshiba does not intend to make any proposal on unification to the members of the HD DVD Promotion Group.

We recognize that the key factors for a unified format are large capacity, reasonable cost, and backward compatibility with DVD that maximizes consumer benefit.

Toshiba will present a new higher capacity HD DVD-ROM disc at Media-Tech Expo 2005 in Las Vegas, USA, the optical disc manufacturing industry's leading annual trade show.

Toshiba will continue to be engaged in the dialogue on format unification.

 

[one]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23133

[Toshiba] said that a unification agreement on the basis of a 0.1 millimetre disk system is "unfounded and erroneous". It also said it will show a higher capacity HD DVD ROM at Media Tech Expo 2005 in Las Vegas. And it added that it will "continue to be engaged in the dialogue".

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_05/pr1001.htm

It basically led to this article Shifty Geezer posted in this thread. Again from the article,

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun has had breaking news stories denied and then proven correct many times before. Is this a case of Toshiba and Sony trying to take control of a bit of hot information that leaked out ahead of schedule, or have there truly been no advancements in negotiations for a single format next generation DVD? We expect more details to surface shortly (and be subsequently denied).

 

[PC-Engine]

Yes but it's coming from the horses mouth in the form of an official Toshiba press release, that's why I posted it.

Then you have this which pretty much cements it toward unfounded speculation from some reporter.

Toshiba will present a new higher capacity HD DVD-ROM disc at Media-Tech Expo 2005 in Las Vegas, USA, the optical disc manufacturing industry's leading annual trade show.

That puts them at an advantage, so them adopting the physical disc structure of BR seems even more remote.

 

[London Geezer]

Personally i don't care what disc structure or what software tech they use, as long as i won't have to choose between 2 versions of the same movie i'm happy.

 

[-tkf-]

That puts them at an advantage, so them adopting the physical disc structure of BR seems even more remote.

Hmm but didn't we see this before? as in this is meant only for Computer use, wouldn't a change in spec so late, for example 15 --> 25 GB require a hell of alot of work?

 

[London Geezer]

Toshiba will present a new higher capacity HD DVD-ROM disc at Media-Tech Expo 2005 in Las Vegas, USA, the optical disc manufacturing industry's leading annual trade show.

The Sony-Toshiba hybrid?

 

[Carl B]

Yes but it's coming from the horses mouth in the form of an official Toshiba press release, that's why I posted it.

Then you have this which pretty much cements it toward unfounded speculation from some reporter.

Toshiba will present a new higher capacity HD DVD-ROM disc at Media-Tech Expo 2005 in Las Vegas, USA, the optical disc manufacturing industry's leading annual trade show.

That puts them at an advantage, so them adopting the physical disc structure of BR seems even more remote.

Well, I'm not sure- just because it's an official press release.. doesn't mean it's true. Companies go on strict, 100% denial routines all the time when in important talks with one another. Happens all the time for mergers, acquistitions, and I guess standard unification. We'll see how it all ends up - but as long as I the consumer am happy with the end result, well there ya go. 8)

I have to say, I doubt the Nikkei got their information out of thin air - so *somethings* happening right now, and regardless of what it is, it seems we'll more or less know by E3.

 

[PC-Engine]

Toshiba will present a new higher capacity HD DVD-ROM disc at Media-Tech Expo 2005 in Las Vegas, USA, the optical disc manufacturing industry's leading annual trade show.

The Sony-Toshiba hybrid?

That would suggest they've already agreed on a unified format, which the press release contradicts. I doubt they'll be showing a Blu-ray disc with a HD DVD logo.

Well, I'm not sure- just because it's an official press release.. doesn't mean it's true. Companies go on strict, 100% denial routines all the time when in important talks with one another. Happens all the time for mergers, acquistitions, and I guess standard unification.

While that's true why would they follow up in the same press release saying they're going to show a higher capacity HD DVD-ROM? Doesn't add up...

 

[London Geezer]

Sony/Toshiba kept making press releases to tell us that they were not going to use the EE on PS2, until one day they announced that the EE was going to be the PS2's CPU.

So, anything can happen. I'm very excited, it's like being a kid, this is a MAJOR thing, this format is going to be around for a loooong time and it's very interesting to see how things will pan out. As long as i won't have to choose between 97 different formats, much like the whole DVD+/-/R/RW/RAM mess, i'll be ok.

 

[PC-Engine]

Sony/Toshiba kept making press releases to tell us that they were not going to use the EE on PS2, until one day they announced that the EE was going to be the PS2's CPU.

Sure but it made sense to deny the EE was going to be in PS3 ie they had competitiion. Why would Toshiba deny the deal is done then say they'll show a higher capacity HD DVD-ROM in a couple of days in the same press release? Makes no sense at all. Sure anything could happen just like being struck by lightning. I'm actually looking forward to seeing what Toshiba will show in Las Vegas.

 

[London Geezer]

Sure but it made sense to deny the EE was going to be in PS3 ie they had competitiion. Why would Toshiba deny the deal is done then say they'll show a higher capacity HD DVD-ROM in a couple of days in the same press release? Makes no sense at all.

I left all rational thoughts behind a long time ago, trying to comprehend what the hell these huge corporations are doing, when Sony and Toshiba started developing their own freaking standards, when they could have just collaborated from the beginning. We'd have the new format and affordable players out by now...

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Sure but it made sense to deny the EE was going to be in PS3 ie they had competitiion.

Huh? What competiton was there for a processor for PS2? Sony built it for that yet denied as much, didn't they.

Why would Toshiba deny the deal is done then say they'll show a higher capacity HD DVD-ROM in a couple of days in the same press release? Makes no sense at all.

The higher capacity HDDVD showing is added to confirm that work hadn't stopped on HDDVD because an agreement was reached.

"No we haven't finalised anything. In fact we've been working on an improved format of our own." They might well do this to leverage a better deal for themselves. "Well we don't REALLY need to go with Sony's frmat as we've got higher capacities of our own," to which Sony say "here, have an extra 15%" to avoid a format war.

Bear in mind Press Releases are there for marketting, business dealings, keeping shareholders comfortable. If they didn't serve an ulterior purpose companies wouldn't waste time releasing them. Every word will have been considered for imapct regards whatever message they want to convey.

 

[PC-Engine]

Sure but it made sense to deny the EE was going to be in PS3 ie they had competitiion. Why would Toshiba deny the deal is done then say they'll show a higher capacity HD DVD-ROM in a couple of days in the same press release? Makes no sense at all.

I left all rational thoughts behind a long time ago, trying to comprehend what the hell these huge corporations are doing, when Sony and Toshiba started developing their own freaking standards, when they could have just collaborated from the beginning. We'd have the new format and affordable players out by now...

This would've been avoided if SONY had submitted BR to the DVD Forum for consideration. The DVD Forum wouldn've only chosen one format by picking one of the two or a merged format. We can thank SONY and the BDA for this format war.

Huh? What competiton was there for a processor for PS2? Sony built it for that yet denied as much, didn't they.

The competition was called DC which was still in development. They didn't want SEGA to do a Saturn where they threw in an 2nd CPU at the last minute when they found out about PS1's internals.

The higher capacity HDDVD showing is added to confirm that work hadn't stopped on HDDVD because an agreement was reached.

"No we haven't finalised anything. In fact we've been working on an improved format of our own." They might well do this to leverage a better deal for themselves. "Well we don't REALLY need to go with Sony's frmat as we've got higher capacities of our own," to which Sony say "here, have an extra 15%" to avoid a format war.

That would make sense, but Toshiba is going to show it in two days. You don't think SONY can hold out for two days to see if Toshiba is bluffing???

 

[Carl B]

This would've been avoided if SONY had submitted BR to the DVD Forum for consideration. The DVD Forum wouldn've only chosen one format by picking one of the two or a merged format. We can thank SONY and the BDA for this format war.

Yeah, but BR was never elegible for submission, due to the entry requirements for the formats.

 

[KnightBreed]

There were reports saying that Toshiba was looking to incorporate Blu-ray's multilayer technology into HD DVD. The "merger" might have been the capability to have more than 2 layer HD DVD discs. Seems ironic that HD DVD has been toting manufacturing as the reason to adobt HD DVD, then they push higher layer discs, which would inevitably drive up manufacturing costs.

Hopefully, these "higher capacity discs" will have higher density per layer, rather than just more layers. If so, I will firmly be a HD DVD adopter. I've said before that my support of Blu-ray was based purely on capacity. The logical formats are nearly identical anyway.

 

[PC-Engine]

This would've been avoided if SONY had submitted BR to the DVD Forum for consideration. The DVD Forum wouldn've only chosen one format by picking one of the two or a merged format. We can thank SONY and the BDA for this format war.

Yeah, but BR was never elegible for submission, due to the entry requirements for the formats.

The entry requirements? Care to elaborate?

 

[Carl B]

The entry requirements? Care to elaborate?

I'm trying to find a past article that explicitly states the reasons, but the Internet is too cluttered with crap on the format war for me to be easily successful.

Anyway, so from memory, I believe blu-ray was considered to be a non-starter with the DVD Forum in general due to it's lack of backwards compatability with existing DVD manufacturing.

I'll post something once I find something appropriately legitimate.

 

[Pugger]

I knicked this from the GA forums, sorry if posted already. Any 45GB, well maybe blue ray will have to bow to HD-DVD!

Universal Studios Home Entertainment Endorses New HD DVD Discs
Tuesday May 10, 11:15 am ET

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Studios Home Entertainment (USHE) today announced its endorsement of two new types of HD DVD ROM (read-only) discs, which were announced today by Toshiba Corporation.

Toshiba has just announced a triple-layered, 45GB disc, and a double-sided, double-layer hybrid ROM disc that can store 30GB of high-definition content on one side and 8.5GB of standard-definition content on the other.

The new discs reinforce an already powerful next-generation HD solution that offers a potent combination of proven cost efficiency, superior performance and large storage capacity. In line with the launch of HD DVD players on the market, USHE will release a number of selected titles in the HD DVD format sometime in the fourth quarter.

HD DVD, the next-generation DVD, already has established two types of ROM disc: a 15GB version (single-layer, single sided) and a 30GB disc (double-layer, single-sided.) Both of these disc formats have been approved and standardized by the DVD Forum.

"This impressive hybrid technology breakthrough by Toshiba allows consumers the unique experience of purchasing one disc that will play both on the new HD DVD player as well as on their current DVD device," said Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment. "The addition of the new versions to the HD DVD disc line up will allow USHE to further broaden its market potential by providing a wider variety of HD content for future generations of consumers as well as encouraging current DVD owners to transition to the HD format."

 

[Megadrive1988]

whoa

from sonycowboy on gaf

HD-DVD strikes back - Jumps to 3 layers for 45GB of storage


Universal Studios Home Entertainment Endorses New HD DVD Discs
Tuesday May 10, 11:15 am ET

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Studios Home Entertainment (USHE) today announced its endorsement of two new types of HD DVD ROM (read-only) discs, which were announced today by Toshiba Corporation.

Toshiba has just announced a triple-layered, 45GB disc, and a double-sided, double-layer hybrid ROM disc that can store 30GB of high-definition content on one side and 8.5GB of standard-definition content on the other.

The new discs reinforce an already powerful next-generation HD solution that offers a potent combination of proven cost efficiency, superior performance and large storage capacity. In line with the launch of HD DVD players on the market, USHE will release a number of selected titles in the HD DVD format sometime in the fourth quarter.

HD DVD, the next-generation DVD, already has established two types of ROM disc: a 15GB version (single-layer, single sided) and a 30GB disc (double-layer, single-sided.) Both of these disc formats have been approved and standardized by the DVD Forum.

"This impressive hybrid technology breakthrough by Toshiba allows consumers the unique experience of purchasing one disc that will play both on the new HD DVD player as well as on their current DVD device," said Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment. "The addition of the new versions to the HD DVD disc line up will allow USHE to further broaden its market potential by providing a wider variety of HD content for future generations of consumers as well as encouraging current DVD owners to transition to the HD format."

edit: Puggar, you beat be my 1 min

 

[PC-Engine]

The war is over...HD DVD wins.