DVD format talks lean to Blu-ray, source says

Talks between Sony and Toshiba to unify next-generation DVD formats are leaning toward the technology supported by Sony, a source says.

The story "DVD format talks lean to Blu-ray, source says" published May 10, 2005 at 5:59 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[QuietStormX]

Blu-ray all the way!

I prefer "Blu-ray" over "HD DVD" because of the Storage size. I'm tired of people pushing the other just because it might be out sooner. I'm waiting too buy a Blu-ray burner to record my Adobe Premiere HD movies...

Storage and capacity is the way to go in my book.

[bobby_brady]

Just more DRM

I prefer the current approach. Hollywood wants a new dvd format to force new DRM restrictions on us.

[lavacentral]

blu ray will cost more money

It is amazing how the media rarely reflects on what really matters to the consumers. They love to report fights between big corporations and what they are interested in.

A few facts that I have recovered from reading hundreds of these articles is that Sony's format has only one advantage, the slight increase in storage vs the HD DVD format.

Other than that HD DVD is best value for the consumer.
1. It is more durable becuase of the two protective layers it gets. Therefore you dont have to keep buying new movies or new DVD's everytime one gets messed up.

2. It will cost less for two reasons: a) It will cost less becuase it will not require a a cassete type encasing. b) Everything Sony I have ever seen has a mark up value or you can call it propriotary value. Whether it is SONY LCD's, Sony anything.. they are selling it 20 to 50% more than competition and I doubt they are that much better..maybe in somethings.

3. The difference in storage is not that big of a deal. so what if one is 30GB and the other is 50.
MOST HD content will be less than that and even now with exception of a few movies, I hardly have any use for the 4.5GB of storage that comes on a regular DVD.

In the end I dont care which one wins as long as I wouldnt have to pay $20 for a single disk. I would rather both of them compete and see prices of about a $1 per disk in a year or so.

[Tex Murphy PI]

Not necessarily correct

You make a lot of bad assumptions in your argument.

The first is that the extra 20GB won't be critical to Blue Ray's success. What you fail to realize here, is that Blue Ray will also be used for data storage as well as Media storage. At the rate data has been growing, the "useless" 20GB is eventually going to be needed.

The second is the assumption that if two formats compete, then that will drive the overall price of the media and their players down. This one is EXTREMELY FLAWED on two accounts:
1) Consumers will wait out to see who wins the format wars. This will result in a slower rate of adoption, and lower volumes = higher manufacturing costs = higher prices.
2) If some manufacturers do decide to support both formats in their players, the extra circuity will also cost more money = higher prices.

I agree that the packaging of HDDVD is superior - since it is less prone to damage, however, the success of HD on video will really hinge upon a common standard, rather than a fractured one with the DVD-rewriteables (which continues to confuse the life out of consumers to this day).

[C.Schroeder]

Size does matter

Maybe you have trouble filling a 4.5 GB DVD, but I don't. I would much prefer adopting the format with the most storage space for long term growth potential.

The one thing we don't want is another disc format war. Witness the struggle between DVD-A and SACD; both are now fading from view, even though there are now some combo DVD players that can play both formats.

Both HD formats include _uncompressed_ multi-channel music data, which will blow the doors off both DVD-A and SACD. In comparison, standard DVD audio is more highly compressed than CD audio.