Neowin.net

If you look at the specs, Blue-Ray has a higher capacity. HD-DVD has the advantage of backwards compatability with existing Red-Laser DVD-Readers.

As for the big decision on what will be used, look to the Porn Industry and Hollywood. What Sides they choose will decide the winning format.

*imo the world needs to move forward. blu ray is teh better replacement. plus, backed by more influential companies.

As it says in the article it will come down to whoever has the best copy protection idea, but as more people use and understand digital technology now, a lot more than when the DVD format came out there protection could be very short lived.

so later this year/early next we are supposed to see the players or burners?

for every copyright measure taken, counter measures are taken to circumvent them.

throwing new copyright algorithm challenges at the crackers again?

"On the market for a mere few years, the format is not very much taken into account when it comes to store and deliver video and audio content."

Can't really agree, looking in the nearest video store

All major films are in DVD format, the only that aren't being usually crappy old films never re-released as DVD

But, of course, it's not very much use for surround sound on DVD Audio discs, and that's nothing Blu-ray or HD-DVD will change either.

"DeCSS and DivX came as major surprises, and lessened the DVD enthusiasm."

To me, it increased it. I would be much less interested in DVD if I couldn't play US import DVD's for example. If you're talking about circumventing copy protection to spread them and people not having to bother with actual DVD's, just DivX movies, well, again that's nothing I can say Blu-ray or HD-DVD will change. There'll always be ways around that, so if the same logic is applied to those discs, they'll fail miserably. It just takes a single cracker to circumvent a protection mechanism for millions to download it.

" The DVD+R/RW vs. DVD-R/RW battle, born, all in all, still in the entertainment area, generated a lot of confusion and lead to a much lower than expected PC technology implementation ratio."

This I can agree with, although you have Blu-ray with BD-ROM / BD-RW / BD-R in dual/single sided variations, and then HD-DVD with HD-DVD-R and HD-DVD-Rewritable in dual/single sided variations... Well, let's just say that DVD will look better, since at least the discs aren't as incompatible with each other. It will probably take a longer time for combo-recorders to arrive than before, as these discs weren't even designed to be similar, with different aperture sizes and all. This is nothing that will improve -- it has actually become worse, since DVD-R / DVD+R is physically more compatible.

" Combining both technologies in combo devices was a last resort solution, unable to generate much enthusiasm either."

But combining Blu-ray / HD-DVD will generate more enthusiasm, and won't be seen as a last resort solution? What's the difference? I personally believe combining DVD formats DID generate a whole lot of enthusiasm. Why wouldn't it? I'm sure the producers see signs of that as well, as they've switched exclusively to combo drives.

"The future of DVD is still unclear, but what is certain is that a replacement is already needed and looked upon."

Yes, but hardly for any of the reasons I've commented above; more for space reasons for e.g. HDTV support, etc. If they indeed are designing to solve these problems above, there have so far been no signs they're succeeding with tons of formats only repeating the DVD story, this time with physically incompatible discs and new protections. Ooh, the accessibility! :p

And the future of DVD is as clear as CD's to me. So many have and use them by now that they won't disappear in a foreseeable future.

Last edited by 21023 on 14 Mar 2005 - 14:33

I still say that until they make CD/DVD's scratch proof, it is everyone's right to be able to make backups of software/videos that they have purchased or been given as gifts (purchased by someone else for them)

I just hope HVD makes it out before Bluray and HD make it out, I think consumers will just waste more money if we get another format war.

It's really sad companies want to replace DVD so soon. And with a format that is only 30 or 50 gigabytes. They should really hold out another 5 years and give us all something really worth upgrading to. Something at 500 or 1000 gigabytes of storage. So that we don't have to worry about format limitations for the next 10 to 20 years.

More ideally though we should be replacing discs with some type of flash cards. A solid state, scratch proof, shock resistant, writeable, multi codec, template based A/V/Data medium. That way there is never a cap on how much data the format can hold, it all depends on the card itself. Maybe something the size and thickness of a credit card. Not as small as SD cards where you might lose them, but no as big as CD/DVD’s.

When I say template based I mean that the players should be able to accept new codecs and the cards should each come with the codec to play that type of video. That way we don’t end up with our current DVD player situation where certain players can play MP3 and VCD and DivX while others can only play DVD’s and CD’s.
Then if a new better quality smaller file size format is introduced 5 years down the line the old players can still play it.

Why can't we just jump both these lousy formats and go to those holographic dvds which are projected to hold about 1 Terabye???

I'm willing to wait until 2010 with just DVD if that's how long it'll take them. Infact, in the mean time, why don't we get rid of all those cds and start putting music on dvds, get those TVs upgraded so that they're ready to accept the nice high resolution of the new holographic dvds preferably atleast 2000 lines I'd say. Cuz those 60 inch tvs really look like crap with only 1000 lines.

And as far as solving the problem of crappy looking dvds, why not either a) video compression on dvds (xvid has come a long way, and it's not like you have to compress it lots, a video with a 1400 lines would weigh in around 3.7 gigs for a hidef compression [this is based off a 900 meg 700ish line compression]), OR b) some form of software antialiasing or something to just clean up the jaggies... I know some tvs already have that, but from what I've seen, none of them even do a very good job of it yet.

For option a) some dvd players are already equipped to play such files, but the majority would have to be upgraded. Option b) is just for those people in the market of buying new tvs anyways. No changes would have to be made to dvd formats AND additionally, you could maybe even include a small info file on the dvd that a dvd player could read in order to optimize the picture for a tv with such software.

Last edited by 44827 on 14 Mar 2005 - 22:26

These drives will be $800 and then fall to $50 in 18 months


Go BluRAY...might as well get the most storage possible...life is short !!!!!!!!!!!