Comments on: Dispatches from the format war: HD DVD vs. Blu-ray
Crave updates the HD DVD/Blu-ray format war, including recent events from CES 2007 and more.
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It seems USB drives could to it all. In the near future go to Blockbuster and use your pen drive to load a movie with a expiry code on it and head home. The same delivery over the net or for longer term purchase with a 'burn to dvd /per drive once' code built in.
If TV's came with a usb port there would be no need for dvd player.
Wouldn't it be nice to plug a usb drive into a tv and watch the movie? Talk about compact!
I think this WILL happen.
1. something tells me that it'll be some time before 16GB USB drives hit the sub-$100 range...right now, if you can find one, they likely cost close to an HD optical player! Now, you're assuming that people will want to re-use their USB drive and dedicate it for the purpose of HD content. Even at that, something tells me that downloading 10-20 gigs of content to own will merit the user wanting to store it somewhere, and even $50/drive will cost more than a disc now...and that's not accounting for content. So now we'll start needing terabyte hard drives to hold the growing libraries...And a computer to put it on...wow, we've EASILY spent four figures now just on hardware to store and view the stuff, plus time to manage it...Not even Steve Jobs could revolutionize that irreducibly complex task of storing and managing gigs and gigs of HD content...and then that drive develops a bad sector...now we get to call the studios and ask to re-download the movie...and convince them they're not pirates...I could keep going on this, but that's enough trouble for one point.
2. you alluded to it in your post, but the DRM on a system like that would be immense! And then we need to have a standard DRM, which means another cat-and-mouse game and updating the firmware of our HD set (more on that in a bit), getting it cracked...you think DRM is bad now? please! At this point the MPAA will basically require encryption every step of the way, meaning that you probably won't be able to get an off-the-rack Sandisk Cruzer Micro, you'll need an MPAA-approved one that reports every TV it goes in...so yeah that'll become more of a pain than it's worth...
3. HD sets aren't ubiquitous, but market share is gaining. So do we tell current owners of $5,000 TV's that they get to spend $5,000 again? 'course not! we have a special add-in that connects your USB drive to current HDTV's. Which is another place for DRM, another place for a serial number, and another investment for HDTV owners.
4. Netflix will face a whole new crop of challenges. The design of Netflix prevents time bombing of content, which means either re-syncing USB drives every month or having time-free drives. What's to prevent users from copying that to own? you can't attach a rental to any one set, and at that, what's to prevent a user from Ghosting a movie from netflix to a blank drive? Even if they DRM it up, it's analogous to Windows' corporate versions of XP. they couldn't have companies having hundreds of thousands of computers overloading their activation servers with individual keys, but those same versions are the ones you download off the P2P networks. It will defeat the whole purpose of the DRM.
I'm sure you could keep running with that with very little difficulty, so yeah...
Not to say that I think that the idea is a bad one, I think it's simply impractical as opposed to a disc based format. using USB drives works on paper, but with the way the system is now, it couldn't work. If it did, we'd be able to walk into FYE and plug our iPods in and just download the music in the store. But we still buy CD's. We have been for the last 25 years. Movies will come on disc. that's how 90% of the population will buy them. 9.99999% will do both. the last .00001% will move to exclusively electronic transmission.
Joey
It seems USB drives could to it all. In the near future go to Blockbuster and use your pen drive to load a movie with a expiry code on it and head home. The same delivery over the net or for longer term purchase with a 'burn to dvd /per drive once' code built in.
If TV's came with a usb port there would be no need for dvd player.
Wouldn't it be nice to plug a usb drive into a tv and watch the movie? Talk about compact!
I think this WILL happen.
1. something tells me that it'll be some time before 16GB USB drives hit the sub-$100 range...right now, if you can find one, they likely cost close to an HD optical player! Now, you're assuming that people will want to re-use their USB drive and dedicate it for the purpose of HD content. Even at that, something tells me that downloading 10-20 gigs of content to own will merit the user wanting to store it somewhere, and even $50/drive will cost more than a disc now...and that's not accounting for content. So now we'll start needing terabyte hard drives to hold the growing libraries...And a computer to put it on...wow, we've EASILY spent four figures now just on hardware to store and view the stuff, plus time to manage it...Not even Steve Jobs could revolutionize that irreducibly complex task of storing and managing gigs and gigs of HD content...and then that drive develops a bad sector...now we get to call the studios and ask to re-download the movie...and convince them they're not pirates...I could keep going on this, but that's enough trouble for one point.
2. you alluded to it in your post, but the DRM on a system like that would be immense! And then we need to have a standard DRM, which means another cat-and-mouse game and updating the firmware of our HD set (more on that in a bit), getting it cracked...you think DRM is bad now? please! At this point the MPAA will basically require encryption every step of the way, meaning that you probably won't be able to get an off-the-rack Sandisk Cruzer Micro, you'll need an MPAA-approved one that reports every TV it goes in...so yeah that'll become more of a pain than it's worth...
3. HD sets aren't ubiquitous, but market share is gaining. So do we tell current owners of $5,000 TV's that they get to spend $5,000 again? 'course not! we have a special add-in that connects your USB drive to current HDTV's. Which is another place for DRM, another place for a serial number, and another investment for HDTV owners.
4. Netflix will face a whole new crop of challenges. The design of Netflix prevents time bombing of content, which means either re-syncing USB drives every month or having time-free drives. What's to prevent users from copying that to own? you can't attach a rental to any one set, and at that, what's to prevent a user from Ghosting a movie from netflix to a blank drive? Even if they DRM it up, it's analogous to Windows' corporate versions of XP. they couldn't have companies having hundreds of thousands of computers overloading their activation servers with individual keys, but those same versions are the ones you download off the P2P networks. It will defeat the whole purpose of the DRM.
I'm sure you could keep running with that with very little difficulty, so yeah...
Not to say that I think that the idea is a bad one, I think it's simply impractical as opposed to a disc based format. using USB drives works on paper, but with the way the system is now, it couldn't work. If it did, we'd be able to walk into FYE and plug our iPods in and just download the music in the store. But we still buy CD's. We have been for the last 25 years. Movies will come on disc. that's how 90% of the population will buy them. 9.99999% will do both. the last .00001% will move to exclusively electronic transmission.
Joey
And so what if there are players out? The issue is the price (never mentioned); and whether they work smoothly and have a full, usable feature set (never mentioned).
Good thing people have figured out they don't need to think about BluRay or HD. Spend your money elsewhere.
And so what if there are players out? The issue is the price (never mentioned); and whether they work smoothly and have a full, usable feature set (never mentioned).
Good thing people have figured out they don't need to think about BluRay or HD. Spend your money elsewhere.
"...Apple (iTunes Store) are already offering movies and TV shows in DVD and true HD quality"
No. Apple is not offering either DVD nor HD quality movies. Apple sells what they call "near-DVD" quality movies. These movies are 640x480 maximum or when presented widescreen letterboxed (as most movies are) 640x360 or 66% of DVD resolution. (DVD uses 720x480 pixels.)
"...Apple (iTunes Store) are already offering movies and TV shows in DVD and true HD quality"
No. Apple is not offering either DVD nor HD quality movies. Apple sells what they call "near-DVD" quality movies. These movies are 640x480 maximum or when presented widescreen letterboxed (as most movies are) 640x360 or 66% of DVD resolution. (DVD uses 720x480 pixels.)
What I find shocking is that the corporate movie/music studios scream at the top of their lungs about piracy and force DRM on consumers, but are lining up to promote both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs. These large storage discs are really going to take piracy to the next level. Right now in China you can buy complete series of TV shows on one or two DVDs in compressed format. The storage on the next generation of discs will allow a complete series to be recorded in a high quality format on just one disc. Piracy will never have been easier, more convenient, or of such high quality.
What I find shocking is that the corporate movie/music studios scream at the top of their lungs about piracy and force DRM on consumers, but are lining up to promote both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs. These large storage discs are really going to take piracy to the next level. Right now in China you can buy complete series of TV shows on one or two DVDs in compressed format. The storage on the next generation of discs will allow a complete series to be recorded in a high quality format on just one disc. Piracy will never have been easier, more convenient, or of such high quality.
We have both the PS3 and the XBox360 with the HD add on. Both systems have their limitations. The XBox-360 has a switch on the power cord that must be used to play standard DVD's. The PS3 had problems with standard DVDs too. So, I accepted the fact that these play systems are aimed at the video game market and they are now used by my kids. They both work great for that. However, my kids and their friends prefer the XBox360. It has more to do with the games available than the graphics. The all think the PS3 lacks the better games.
So, I went out and spent another couple of grand, on a new Toshiba (XA2-1080P) HD-DVD player and the Samsung BlueRay machine. My advice, save your money and go with the HD-DVD player. At this time, there just isn't any difference between the two formats to make one worth more than the other. The toshiba does a great job upconverting your old DVD's and the latest Toshiba can play 1080P. I also experimented with 1080P, 1080i, and 720P. Again, once you get over true 720P you won't see a difference on the screens 60 inches or less. With my projector, the differences are barely worth mentioning.
In conclusion, you will get the most bang for your buck with the HD-DVD players. I wouldn't waste much time buying the game systems as I did and hope that they can double as your High Definition players. They just don't cut it for so many reasons that I won't even go into it. They know the problems they have and maybe XBox or PS3 will fix the flaws. I bought my Mom a standard (720P) 42 inch LCD HDTV and a Toshiba A2 HD-DVD player and it would more than meet the needs of 99% of the population. To be honest, I can't see the difference between my 1080p and her 720P. You really don't need to upgrade to the 1080p HD-DVD player. The 720 HD-DVD player will be more than adequate for most viewers. It would be interesting to run a test with 100 people to see if they can visually tell the difference. My money, would say that they can't. It would also be interesting to get input from someone in the medical field who specializes in optics and how the mind process that information. Perhaps, we have peaked out on our perception of visualization until it is offered in a 3-D format or holographic images. I think that peak is very close to 720P.
We have both the PS3 and the XBox360 with the HD add on. Both systems have their limitations. The XBox-360 has a switch on the power cord that must be used to play standard DVD's. The PS3 had problems with standard DVDs too. So, I accepted the fact that these play systems are aimed at the video game market and they are now used by my kids. They both work great for that. However, my kids and their friends prefer the XBox360. It has more to do with the games available than the graphics. The all think the PS3 lacks the better games.
So, I went out and spent another couple of grand, on a new Toshiba (XA2-1080P) HD-DVD player and the Samsung BlueRay machine. My advice, save your money and go with the HD-DVD player. At this time, there just isn't any difference between the two formats to make one worth more than the other. The toshiba does a great job upconverting your old DVD's and the latest Toshiba can play 1080P. I also experimented with 1080P, 1080i, and 720P. Again, once you get over true 720P you won't see a difference on the screens 60 inches or less. With my projector, the differences are barely worth mentioning.
In conclusion, you will get the most bang for your buck with the HD-DVD players. I wouldn't waste much time buying the game systems as I did and hope that they can double as your High Definition players. They just don't cut it for so many reasons that I won't even go into it. They know the problems they have and maybe XBox or PS3 will fix the flaws. I bought my Mom a standard (720P) 42 inch LCD HDTV and a Toshiba A2 HD-DVD player and it would more than meet the needs of 99% of the population. To be honest, I can't see the difference between my 1080p and her 720P. You really don't need to upgrade to the 1080p HD-DVD player. The 720 HD-DVD player will be more than adequate for most viewers. It would be interesting to run a test with 100 people to see if they can visually tell the difference. My money, would say that they can't. It would also be interesting to get input from someone in the medical field who specializes in optics and how the mind process that information. Perhaps, we have peaked out on our perception of visualization until it is offered in a 3-D format or holographic images. I think that peak is very close to 720P.
One huge thing to consider is some of the movies that come out on HD-DVD and Blue-ray, some are old and the conversion to HD just doesn't work right, however some of the newer movies that have actually been shot in HD look awesome.
One of the biggest things is the console findings.... blue-ray wins because of PS3. I have many friends with PS3 and the only blue-ray movie they have is Talledage Night's which came with the PS3. You can't count every PS3 as a blue-ray player even though it plays Blue-ray movies. On the other hand is the 360 add-on and the people who brought these have one thing on there mind... HD-DVD movies.
Bottom line is we will be stuck with both HD-DVD and blue-ray, however whenever a movie comes out for both I always pick HD-DVD over blue-ray simply because HD-DVD movies have better picture quality..... on my TV anyways.
The only thing I don't like about HD-DVD is there lack luster line-up even though I am picking up The Departed on HD-DVD Tuesday, can't wait.
One huge thing to consider is some of the movies that come out on HD-DVD and Blue-ray, some are old and the conversion to HD just doesn't work right, however some of the newer movies that have actually been shot in HD look awesome.
One of the biggest things is the console findings.... blue-ray wins because of PS3. I have many friends with PS3 and the only blue-ray movie they have is Talledage Night's which came with the PS3. You can't count every PS3 as a blue-ray player even though it plays Blue-ray movies. On the other hand is the 360 add-on and the people who brought these have one thing on there mind... HD-DVD movies.
Bottom line is we will be stuck with both HD-DVD and blue-ray, however whenever a movie comes out for both I always pick HD-DVD over blue-ray simply because HD-DVD movies have better picture quality..... on my TV anyways.
The only thing I don't like about HD-DVD is there lack luster line-up even though I am picking up The Departed on HD-DVD Tuesday, can't wait.
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^^^^^this is the bottom line^^^^^
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^^^^^this is the bottom line^^^^^
- I think Blu-Ray is winning so far.
- by dpescamilla March 24, 2007 12:43 PM PDT
- After watching CES 2007 on good old HDNET, it seems that Blu-Ray is killing the market right now. There was a lot more companies introducing Blu-Ray over HD-DVD. The only worthy HD-DVD was the LG multi format player. It?s nice to see that Sony finally made a right move and distributed the rights to other companies, and not falling into the Beta and UMD bad business strategy. As for the video game consoles providing the bulk of sales right now, I personally like the idea of not having an optional piece of equipment to buy, such as the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. One more note on the Xbox 360, I?m not an owner, but I not sure if the 360 has HDMI for the HD DVD player. I would think it does have HDMI if it wants to be marketed as true HD DVD. It will be a shame if it doesn?t.
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