Well, that about wraps it up for blu-ray.

[BlueTsunami]

What a zanny mess up!

OMG wrong thread....errr.....

Blue Ray should really be cool and ummm...yeah...

OMG wrong thread....errr.....

Anyone state Greg the Bunny? That show is genius...i'm happy they brought it back on IFC.....even though each episode is only like 15 minutes and airs once ever Friday.

*damnit..I can't delete!!!!11 Abort Abort!!!

 

[seismologist]

This will push Sony to get the PS3 released in all markets as quicky as possible.

 

[expletive]

OMG wrong thread....errr.....

Blue Ray should really be cool and ummm...yeah...

OMG wrong thread....errr.....




*damnit..I can't delete!!!!11 Abort Abort!!!

lol

 

[London Geezer]

BlueTsunami you're hilarious

 

[aaronspink]

No one wants MS to dominate actually.If this manages to get their hands into this I am rest assured they'll implement lots of stupid stuffs such as DRM and software level anti counterfeit stuffs that could make your life harder.

Um, if your worried about that, then blu-ray should be your target to complain about. I mean Disney is supporting it and disney is all about eroding consumer rights (Divx, the Disney copyright extention act, etc).

Apparently one of the reasons that MS is heavily supporting HD-DVD is that it has built it capability for generational copy protection that will allow things that media-shifting that works well with MS concept of the media connected home. Being able to copy the HD-DVD to a video server/media center, etc.

The main media company behind HD-DVD, Time Warner, is supporting it because of the infrastructure costs. WB believes that there is a vast market to sell movies at reasonable prices leveraging their large back catalog. They currently sell DVDs of popular but older movies for ~$5 which has made them a lot of money and made a lot of consumers happy.

Aaron spink
speaking for myself inc.

 

[aaronspink]

Well they both use the same video codecs. Audio codecs may be slightly different.

They both use the same raw video codecs but using a different data encoding format along with different DRM mechanisms. The actual codecs used in a lot of .qt and .wmv files is the same but how the data is formated is different.

Aaron Spink
speaking for myself inc.

 

[Titanio]

sony to create new OS , how much capital spending shall be needed for that

Zilch, it'd be Linux

Seriously, though, non-native support for Bluray is hardly a hammer-blow? Specific drivers will be used, that's all that means.

 

[g35er]

Question. Is HD-DVD fundamentally backward compatible with regular DVD? What about Blu-ray?

 

[wco81]

Question. Is HD-DVD fundamentally backward compatible with regular DVD? What about Blu-ray?

All HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players are expected to play back DVDs.

HD-DVD is closer but even it will have to have a red laser in addition to the blue-laser in order to read DVDs.

I believe someone has developed a single optical pick-up assembly for Blu-Ray which will read and write CDs, DVDs (DVR +R, +RW) and Blu-Ray.

Regarding codecs and copy-protection, both formats are expected to use AACS. Blu-Ray hasn't formally signed onto AACS yet (which will allow the managed copy feature) but is expected to. However, Blu-Ray has an additional copy-protection layer called BD+. Some fear that this additional layer, which involves a virtual machine, could trump or override AACS.

 

[Natoma]

Bluray will succeed if they offer things like Season Box Sets on a single disk. Stargate SG-1 Season 1 - 9 in a 9 disc box set, rather than 45 discs over 9 box sets. Or Buffy. Or X-Files. Whatever.

Trilogies? Same deal. HD-DVD can't offer that storage capability. The Mass Market-TM will wonder, imo, what the big deal is. Where is the generational leap?

This is coming from an individual who is not really interested in Bluray or HD-DVD from a gaming perspective. Merely a home movie perspective. Not counting Box Set totals, I have 290 DVDs at home. Including the Box Set discs, that'd be probably around 400. hehe.

If I could shrink that down to 80-100 with Bluray, I'd be all over that.

 

[expletive]

Hadnt considered that, its a good point. With Windows MCE apparently taking off now, Imagine Vista version of MCE require HD-DVD, talk about an installed base...

Too bad for HD-DVD the timing was wrong for xbox 360, install base for the 360 and WMCE may have actually worked.

J

Ok what happens if HD-DVD is required for Vista Media Center Edition, and Dell is in the bluray camp, what do they sell?

J

 

[Magnum PI]

As a somewhat movies lover I would prefer BR to win, as it is a bigger increment to DVD than HD-DVD.

The space not only allows for more content but it allows the same content with an higher fidelity, and that is more important for me.

Microsoft will do everything they can to weaken Sony, it includes backing HD-DVD.

 

[Acert93]

Microsoft, Intel support for HD DVD may be limited to promotion, not standards

However, as Tom's Hardware Guide has learned, Intel and Microsoft did not join or back the DVD Forum, the consortium responsible for producing the HD DVD standard, as well as the current DVD standard. Rather, the companies have signed up as members of the HD DVD Promotion Group, which in a mission statement published on the Group's Web site, clearly distinguishes itself from the DVD Forum. The statement outlines the Promotion Group's purpose as "to exchange views and thoughts to help promote the HD DVD format based contents and products into the marketplace," as well as to share responsibility for certain joint promotional activities.

 

[Natoma]

As a somewhat movies lover I would prefer BR to win, as it is a bigger increment to DVD than HD-DVD.

The space not only allows for more content but it allows the same content with an higher fidelity, and that is more important for me.

Microsoft will do everything they can to weaken Sony, it includes backing HD-DVD.

As a fan of Superbit, for example, I'd rather get more crammed into the same space rather than higher fidelity. At least for the short term.

Superbit is great, but if I had to choose between that and the dvd features, i'd go with normal res/audio and the features.

 

[Lysander]

arslink

 

[avaya]

Likely that will also have to pony up for software to read/write/play blu-ray as well.

Who said anything about discriminate. All MS is doing is adding support for HD-DVD. If blu-ray works the same as HD-DVD then it will work. You aren't going to see the various FTCs forcing MS to build support for blu-ray.

Aaron Spink
speaking for myself inc.

Microsoft is being charged by the EU for having Media Player pre-installed with the OS.

Same for IE.

It's not discrimination, but with their monopoly it can be seen as anti-competitive.

To play Blu-Ray movies on the PC you'll have to pay money for the software. Sure, that's a given.

Any company with desktop software to push will already fall over itself to have limited versions of its software pre-installed on Dell and HP PC's, why would this change for Blu-Ray?

Furthermore the OEM could bundle the full software with the PC and make a tidy profit from that too. To the consumer an extra $20 for a PC will not be significant.

 

[expletive]

Microsoft, Intel support for HD DVD may be limited to promotion, not standards

Does this mean they are any less inclined to do everything in their power to ensure the format's success?

J

 

[scooby_dooby]

Microsoft is being charged by the EU for having Media Player pre-installed with the OS.

Same for IE.

It's not discrimination, but with their monopoly it can be seen as anti-competitive.

I don't see how it matters since HD-DVD is not a MS product, like IE or Media Player.

Since they're not pushing their own product, how can they be punished for simply adding support for a 3rd party technology?

 

[Dave Baumann]

Microsoft, Intel support for HD DVD may be limited to promotion, not standards

This would be to be expected for Intel and MS - they are putting their stall behing a camp, not trying to develop the format; MS didn't push the development of any particular CD/DVD write standards but they did pick a format to support natively within Windows XP, etc.

 

[hongcho]

Microsoft, Intel support for HD DVD may be limited to promotion, not standards

This has been already corrected by the VP of Windows Media Division at Microsft (amirm) at AVSForum. Both Microsft and Intel have been members of Steering Committee at DVD Forum for several years.

Anyway, even if Microsoft had decided earlier on its position on HD-DVD, I doubt it would have made into Xbox 360. The way it stands, it would be too costly (price-wise) and too risky (schedule-wise).

As for the VC-1 (WMV9) licensing, they have a third-party organization that deals with the licensing and the distribution of the licensing income. Although Microsoft did contribute most on VC-1, there are quite a few other companies involved since the codec also employs existing techniques. Microsoft alone does not get to decide on the licensing fees.

I think the key player here is actually Intel. We already know that Dell is in BD. What if Intel "demands" Dell to support HD-DVD? Samsung has already announced a dual-format player.

Well, personally, neither will win for me because I wouldn't invested in either until a clear winner emerges.

Hong.