Ένα νέο DVD υπόσχεται να δώσει τέλος στον πόλεμο των formats

[cnemo]

Πολλοί καταναλωτές δείχνουν να είναι ακόμη μπερδεμένοι σχετικά με την αγορά μιας συσκευής αναπαραγωγής DVD, λόγω του πολέμου των formats ανάμεσα σε Blu-ray και HD DVD. Η Warner Bros., μια εταιρεία που συνέβαλε στην υιοθέτηση του DVD πάνω από μια δεκαετία πριν, σχεδιάζει να ανακοινώσει την ερχόμενη εβδομάδα τη δημιουργία ενός videodisc που θα μπορεί να αναπαράγει ταινίες και τηλεοπτικές σειρές τόσο σε Blu-ray όσο και σε HD DVD.


Το Total HD, όπως θα ονομάζεται, θα παρουσιαστεί από την Warner Bros., τμήμα της Time Warner, την Τρίτη, στο Consumer Electronics Show, στο Las Vegas. Τα στελέχη της Time Warner και της θυγατρικής της πιστεύουν ότι με αυτόν τον τρόπο θα δώσουν νέα ώθηση στις πωλήσεις των DVD players, καθώς επίσης και των κινηματογραφικών και τηλεοπτικών παραγωγών, αφού σε ένα μόνο δίσκο θα είναι δυνατή η εγγραφή και των δύο formats. Έτσι, το ότι υπάρχουν δύο διαφορετικά formats στην αγορά δε θα είναι μειονέκτημα για τον καταναλωτή.

Επίσης, η λύση αυτή θα είναι πιο οικονομική από αυτήν που προτείνουν κατασκευαστές ηλεκτρονικών συσκευών, οι οποίοι επίσης αναμένεται να παρουσιάσουν στο CES players που θα μπορούν να παίξουν και τα δύο formats, αλλά το κόστος αγοράς τους θα είναι μεγαλύτερο. Πάντως, δεν είναι λίγοι και όσοι εκφράζουν την αμφιβολία τους για τα αποτελέσματα της κίνησης της Warner Bros., μια και δεν είναι βέβαιο πόσες εταιρείες θα δεχτούν να διανέμουν τις ταινίες τους και στα δύο formats τη στιγμή που ήδη έχουν συνάψει συμφωνίες με κάποια από τις δύο πλευρές, ενώ άλλο ένα εμπόδιο είναι η ενσωμάτωση Blu-ray και HD DVD players σε κονσόλες βιντεοπαιχνιδιών.

Πηγή: The New York Times, e-pcmag.gr

 

[ak1s]

A shotgun marriage for Blu-ray and HD DVD?

By Michael Kanellos
http://news.com.com/A+shotgun+marriage+for+Blu-ray+and+HD+DVD/2100-1041_3-6147442.html

Story last modified Fri Jan 05 04:09:04 PST 2007

The key number in the battle between the Blu-ray and HD DVD camps is 250,000.

That is the number of players for both formats that the Computer Electronics Association has said likely shipped in 2006, the first year of global sales. Earlier, the organization had anticipated 750,000 players would ship for the year.

Consumer fears about buying the wrong piece of equipment--combined with high prices and other factors--have crimped sales of the next-generation movie players and prompted the beginning of a thaw in the standards battle. Earlier this week, for instance, South Korea's LG Electronics formally announced it would release a combo Blu-ray/HD DVD player after months of flip-flopping on the issue. It plans to provide details on Sunday, the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Component manufacturers such as NEC and others have begun to prepare parts that could be used in combination players. Hitachi, which has announced a Blu-ray camcorder said in October that it wants to look at the issue again.

Meanwhile, Time-Warner has said it will promote an alternative format called Total HD that can be used in either Blu-Ray or HD DVD players.

"There have been gradual signs of a thaw from the hinterlands," said Stephen Baker, an analyst at NPD Techworld. "Sales have not met expectations. Even the early adopters, who you would think would storm the beaches on something like this, have said 'Ehhh. I'm not going to do this.'"

Blu-ray and HD DVD are high-definition, high-density optical disks. Blu-ray disks can store more data, which will allow studios to add more behind-the-scenes information, say backers. HD DVD advocates, however, say their technology better leverages the DVD infrastructure. Thus, the players will be cheaper.

Taking sides
Sony, Philips, Panasonic and others back Blu-ray. Microsoft, Intel and Toshiba back HD DVD.

Various studios have lined up behind one format or the other. Some have agreed to support both, but the customer confusion angle continues to exist. Consumers have to remember to buy a particular disk for their particular format.

Make no mistake: the arguments and competition continue. Last month, Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow said that combination players can be technically difficult to design and that a combination player would likely be prohibitively expensive.

In October, Kazuhiro Tsuga, an executive officer at Matsushita, which backs Blu-ray, characterized the possibility of a combo player as "stupid", largely because of the high price tag such a device would have.

Engineering one-upsmanship aside, combo DVD players will likely be costly, at least initially. Standard Blu-ray players cost $600 or more, and HD DVD players go for $400 or more. The lasers used in Blu-ray players also remain in tight supply. That limitation played a role in Sony's PlayStation 3 shortage as the game consoles--which contain a Blu-ray player--went on sale late last year. A combo player would have duplicative or more specialized parts and thus cost even more.

Another factor adding cost is royalties. Manufacturers that build combo players have to pay fees to both the Blu-ray and HD DVD organizations. Although LG has said it will ship its combo player in the first quarter, it won't reveal the price until Sunday, a spokesman said.

The Total HD disc likely faces similar barriers to acceptance. Studios would have to agree to adopt it and many have already invested in Blu-ray or HD DVD.

Still, history shows that resolving standards issues helps sales. The DVD world had to contend with different recording standards. Sales for recordable DVD drives accelerated and prices declined after multiformat technology emerged.

A lingering standards war would also likely create more headaches than normal for consumers. PC makers are starting to bundle the drives with computers and, predictably, many are taking sides.

As a result, some consumers may not want to buy a particular brand of PC because the manufacturer supports Blu-ray and the consumer owns an HD DVD player, or vice versa. Returns and customer service calls would become inevitable.

NPD Techworld's Baker, though, added that not all of the problems can be attributed to the standards war. Many of the early high-definition players have had problems. Many potential customers also have older TVs still that can't showcase the benefits of the new players.

"This has been a difficult transition," said Baker.

 

[marvin]

Τα Universal/combo players είναι λύση, ακριβή μεν αλλά πραγματική.
Τα υβριδικά δισκάκια το μόνο που θα κάνουν θα είναι να επιτείνουν τη συγχιση κατά τη γνώμη μου. Θα βγάλει κανένα αλλο studio εκτός της Warner?
Τουλάχιστον με το universal player ξενοιάζεις, τα σκας και το χαίρεσαι

 

[ak1s]

No ceasefire in DVD format battle
By Darren Waters
Technology editor, BBC News website, Las Vegas

The high definition DVD format war will continue until a winner is declared, technology watchers have heard.
Blu-ray and HD-DVD are battling to become the pre-eminent hi-def format to replace the slowing DVD market.
The two formats are incompatible with each other and so consumers are being asked to choose both the player and the system when moving to high definition.
There is also no sign of the two camps working on a unified format, the Consumer Electronics Show was told.

'Wasted opportunity'

Some believe the industry at large is being damaged by the war due to consumer confusion.
Ben Keen, chief analyst with Screen Digest, said: "There is an awful lot of people in the US and Europe who have HD displays and no hi-def content.
"That's a wasted opportunity at this point. The industry is not exploiting that opportunity."
"The growth of the industry is much slower than it could be," agreed Dr H G Lee, chief technology officer of LG Electronics, which has announced the first player to accept both formats.
"We recognise that the two formats are here to stay."

But the backers of Blu-ray are much more bullish and are predicting victory.
Blu-ray has more backing from film studios and more makers of the players, but HD-DVD has sold equally well in the first year of release.
But the Blu-ray camp believes a library of exclusive titles and the power of PlayStation 3 - which has an in-built Blu-ray player - will see the format pull ahead in the next 12 months.
Mike Dunn, president of worldwide home entertainment for 20th Century Fox, said: "I really believe the format war is in its final phase."
Supporters of Blu-ray believe that the late arrival to the market in 2006 of new next generation Blu-ray DVD players has given a more even picture than is true.

Studio backing

Currently there is an even number of titles available for both formats but most analysts predict there will be more content available for Blu-ray than HD-DVD next year.
Seven of the eight major US film studios back Blu-ray and five of them are exclusive to the format.
Andy Parsons, chairman of the US Blu-ray Disc Association, said: "It comes down to content and selection of content. No-one is going to buy any player without good array of content.
"As title population grows consumers will quickly see which platform has the titles."
In an ominous sign for HD-DVD, the backers of Blu-ray revealed that of the 20 biggest selling DVDs of 2006 the vast majority were from film studios supporting Blu-ray.

Toshiba and Microsoft, the principal backers of HD-DVD, see the future very differently.
They believe that the cheaper cost of HD-DVD - both in terms of hardware and the ability of firms to produce content on HD-DVD disks gives them the advantage.
Amir Majidimehr, corporate vice president of consumer technology at Microsoft, said the dual format player by LG - originally a Blu-ray only backer - was proof of the vitality of HD-DVD.
"LG are recognising there is a thriving market for HD-DVD. That's the most positive thing for me.
"It's going to show the way to other Blu-ray exclusive companies. LG is saying that HD-DVD is not dying.
"You can wish it goes away but I'm here to ensure that it doesn't."
Microsoft has sold more than 175,000 and says that they sold out as quickly as they were made.
Toshiba has said that it plans to sell more than 1.8m HD-DVD players in 2007.
Mr Majidimehr predicted that the lifespan of both formats would also be less than the current DVD format.
It has lasted 10 years with great success but Mr Majidimehr said the technology would be superseded by developments in online delivery of hi-def content.

Future technology at the Consumer Electronics Show 2007
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/6243383.stm

Published: 2007/01/09 04:43:15 GMT