Talk Back: DVD Format Wars

[dang]

Checkout our latest Talk Back: DVD Format Wars (http://news.designtechnica.com/talkback43.html)

[Ioman]

I am sick of all the various formats too. I waited until DVD players that support both DVD-A and SACD came down in price before purchasing one. And I will probably wait for a new dual-compatible DVD player that supports HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

However by the sounds of it, Sony has struck out again with another technology of theirs. Toshiba Corp. said it had won support for the HD DVD optical disc standard from Warner Bros. Studios, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and New Line Cinema.

Of course, now that Sony owns MGM there is no doubt their movies will be coming out in the Blue-ray format (as well as the current DVD format) if you want to see it in high-resolution.

Sony technology, while argueably better than their competitiors has lost because of compatibility reasons. Betamax, Minidisc, Sony's memory sticks, ATRAC and now Blue-ray have all lost out. Isn't it time they stopped trying to make thier product proprietary? Why do they continue to do this?

[llbbl]

There is a good amount of discussion over at this thread :D

http://forums.designtechnica.com/showthread.php?t=5981

[Iron Chef]

I wonder if either new format will be widely supported...

In audio both SACD and DVD Audio are not very successful - 99% of people are happy with CD quality and see no reason to purchase additional copies of albums along with new equipment for a small improvement in sound quality.
MP3 - a lower quality sound format - is the audio success story, many have embraced this.

Now looking at the same people I cant find any of them too interested in buying their still newish DVD movie collections over again in HD. Their quite happy with DVD as they are with CD - they dont have HD tv's or audiophile stereos. Even the ones who do have upmarket gear are not too fussed and say that progressive scan or upscaling dvd players offer great quality and will not be changing formats.

[Ioman]

I wonder if either new format will be widely supported...

In audio both SACD and DVD Audio are not very successful - 99% of people are happy with CD quality and see no reason to purchase additional copies of albums along with new equipment for a small improvement in sound quality.
MP3 - a lower quality sound format - is the audio success story, many have embraced this.

Now looking at the same people I cant find any of them too interested in buying their still newish DVD movie collections over again in HD. Their quite happy with DVD as they are with CD - they dont have HD tv's or audiophile stereos. Even the ones who do have upmarket gear are not too fussed and say that progressive scan or upscaling dvd players offer great quality and will not be changing formats.


What has surprised me is the amount of announcements we have received from companies like Thomson and Toshiba stating they will have HD-DVD players out soon. I am not sure it’s just the high-def quality that is going to compel people as much as it is the amount of storage space both of these formats are capable of. Imagine both Widescreen and 4:3 formats on one side of the disc.

I think if the image quality is there people will upgrade. It’s like going to HDTV 1080i, once you go there, you won't go back to regular cable or satellite -the quality is that impressive.

[ECA]

Im sorry,
It still comes down to WAIT..
Iv jumped ont eh band wagon before, and been Screwed with incompatible formats.

In the END, most audio formats will be based on PORTABILITY.
If you can wear a headset, and hear the music is ALL they wish, they will get it.

Video is abit different, but STILL. what do you need and want.. A decent pic, and a format you can watch. Much more is a waste.
Think about what 25 gig could do compared to whats out there. They dont what the extra room. that can make it easier to copy the movie formats. You want it TIGHT, VERY tight.

as a computer format, 25 gigs would be GREAT. But I cant see it on Video. Its not needed, unless you want 16 formats of the same movie on 1 DVD.
Even with the highest video quality, a 2 hour movie Just fills a DVD now. And medium Quality you can get 4 hours easy.

Im waiting for someone to take, CD MP3, and use DVDs for a portable player. NOW that would be cool.
Bulky, and power consuming, but 1 weeks music on 1 DVD..and talk about directories...

[LGT1]

If a picture is worth a thousand words is it worth more in any of these formats . There should be a law of standards lets face it even mac and PC have been getting along and the new 64 bit processors will run 32 bit applications . As for now My 20 inch 10 year old RCA and my non progressive scan DVD player will do me just fine . Its never a good time to invest in video products especially when the industry is run by morons

[ECA]

There is a STANDARDS law and group..
the only problem, is they MUST compare, and understand WHATS, WHAT..
they also let the big companies FIGHT it out to make the major decision.

The REAl problem is that in the US, we want to COPYRIGHT everything MADE...THEY WANT protection on the DEVICE and MEDIA.. When one of these formats PROVES it cant be copied, THAT will also decide the matter...NOT US/we.

[gary_hendricks]

Just some of my thoughts here. :rolleyes:

DVD-R was the first out of the gate, but it has a major disadvantage: It features write-once technology.

DVD-RAM is a rewritable format with a capacity of only 2.6 GB, but it also boasts double-sided disks, for twice the capacity.

DVD-RW is Pioneer's entry into the DVD arena, and a minor plus for this 4.7 GB format is its ability to play its disks on some home DVD players. And, as designated by the "RW," it can rewrite, too.

DVD+RW seems to me to be the most promising of all, and that's where I'm going to place my bets. First, it has the backing
of Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi, Philips, Ricoh, Sony, and Yamaha. The 4.7 GB disks can be played in any home DVD player.

Sheesh! Why does this have to be so complicated? Why can't there just be one format, and then everybody will be happy?

Well, that's not the best way to do things in a capitalist society, where survival of the fittest rules the day.

Even though this technology may be currently stumbling out of the starting gate, it promises to run like Secretariat before it's time to move on to the next storage format.

[ECA]

Not at all...
what its ALL based on, is IF they can MAKE a disk, and NOT make it able to be COPIED/reproduced.

All the new formats have to fight it out, even NEW formats have to jump into it, and join in the fight.
What the major corps want, is FIRST. They will buy into the format and the PRICE will come down.

[gary_hendricks]

Let's hope so. I still feel the prices of commercial DVDs are too high though.