Fix-It Forums - Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD

11-15-2005, 03:57 PM

#21

jester22c

Level 3 Support

Join Date: May 2004

Location: TN

Posts: 948

Updates to the format war

I came across a rather good article today with some updates on the two formats. It's too much to completely paraphrase but here are a few excerpts:

Quote:

...Warner's announcement means that five out of the six major studios are supporting Blu-ray--Paramount, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Company, and Warner--or 80 percent of the market. That's in addition to ESPN, Miramax, MGM (which announced its support earlier this month), Lions Gate Entertainment, and Touchstone; gaming giant Electronic Arts; and music powerhouses Sony BMG and Universal Music Group. In short, quite a spate of content providers have lined up now behind Blu-ray Disc--far more than HD-DVD has gathered at this juncture...

Quote:

"We wanted the player to be capable of playing back a [9GB] high-definition red-laser disc, which we call BD-9," says Cardwell. "[The disc] would have a high enough capacity for our movies, and it would have a lower cost than the [25GB] BD-25. The advantage would be lower costs to manufacture the disc, because it could be manufactured on existing [DVD production] lines.

Quote:

n October HP issued a statement requesting that the Blu-ray Disc Association make two changes in its draft spec. First, that Blu-ray back what's referred to as "mandatory managed copy": the guaranteed ability that people who buy Blu-ray Discs be able to make legal copies of content to other devices and media. (Competitor HD-DVD has already touted this consumer-friendly capability as one of its strengths.) The second change that HP asked for was that Blu-ray Disc adopt Microsoft's Interactive HD, or iHD, as the programming language that will govern the disc's menu creation and other interactive capabilities.

11-16-2005, 05:55 PM	#22
Low Roller Level 2 Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 454	Yeah, Blue-ray has all but locked up the format war. There is hope that mandatory managed copy will be incorperated in BR before all is said and done. PC and CE companies within the BR camp are pushing for this. However, many studios that support BR are doing so primarily because BR is more restrictive on what consumers can do with content compared to HD-DVD. At this point, BR publishers can implement managed copy if they wish, as managed copy is part of the AACS DRM scheme both upcoming formats use. The difference is the 'mandatory' part. Managed copy is mandatory for HD-DVD disks. However, don't get too excited over managed copy, because studios can charge users whatever they want for use of this feature. To use the managed copy feature requires an internet connection to get the studios permission to make a copy. Anyone remember Divx? In addition to AACS DRM, Sony also tacks on another DRM scheme to BR called BD+. Sony always seems to feel the need to flex its DRM penis. M$ and Intel are supporting HD-DVD because of its managed copy policy. Without managed copy, it won't be possible(I'm not getting into the piracy mess here) to rip an HD-DVD movie to a PC and stream the content across a network. M$ needs such capability for next gen content to work with WMCE and the media center capabilities of the Xbox 360. Gates was recently quoted saying M$ could back BR if it incorporated mandatory managed copy. BR has the momentum in this race, forcing Toshiba and the HD-DVD group to resort to desperate measures. It appears the HD-DVD group will turn to Chinese manufacturers to flood the market with dirt cheap HD-DVD players. Both HD-DVD and BR will be DRM whores, with BR taking the crown. If anyone is interested on the history of the HD-DVD vs. Blue-ray format war, check out the Business Week article titled Daggers Drawn Over DVD's: How Sony gained an edge in its fierce battle with Microsoft over video formats. Last edited by Low Roller : 11-16-2005 at 05:58 PM.

11-17-2005, 05:12 PM	#23
Low Roller Level 2 Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 454	UPDATE: BR has agreed to support mandatory managed copy, but HP continues to get cold feet over its support of BR.

12-09-2005, 02:34 PM	#24
jester22c Level 3 Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: TN Posts: 948	Panasonic begins production Well Panasonic began production of BluRay in 25GB / 50GB dual layer flavors. It seems their first production lines have an 80% quality success ratio (which is pretty darn good). Another interesting note is a protective coating for the new media, as well as for DVDs. That's an idea I've been suggesting for years...

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