DVD format war's David

A format war is shaping up for high-definition DVDs between Blu-Ray and HD DVD. But a cheaper contender is already in the market.
The New York Times

The story "DVD format war's David" published January 20, 2005 at 6:34 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[lavacentral]

Divx a good alternative to high priced blu-rays or HD DVD

I think this is a brilliant move! I am sure when Sony and others come out with their Blu-rays and HD DVD's, they are going to cost a fortune.

However it would be inevitable that in the future we would eventualy be forced to get blu-rays when they make it dirt cheap for everyone.
A combination of Blu-ray and DviX would even be sweeter.

But wait, what about all these other formats that are floating around such as Xvid and ogg, of course not forgetting the microsoft versions? There are a ton of them and you need a different codec for each one.

Major manufacturers already on-board

At least one major set-top DVD manufacturer currently makes Divx compatible players. Philips makes the DVP-642 and not only does it support all forms of DVD/CD formats (+/- R and R/W, CD and CD-R(W)), it also plays SVCDs, XVCDs, VCDs, and data discs with .avi files in them. It's also pretty inexpensive.

I think this hi-def Divx might be the wave of the (near) future. At least until blu-ray comes down in price (if it does at all).

[NWLB]

It is all moot.

In the end, I think Blu-Ray wins, or at least should. HD DVD might be cheaper now, but it remains a lower capacity format. The entire reason the new formats are coming, is in the fact that current CDs and DVDs are too small. So why I'd want to invest in HD DVD equipment, only to have to dump it again two years later is beyond me. (For the DVD producers and consumers like.)

The Divx format has its upside, but I could see it being used in video games, or discount DVDs. The thing that makes me think it can and may well survive into the future, is in the fact that DVD players could simply add compatibility.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter if it is HD DVD or Blu Ray that wins out. For most people, myself included, there is no purpose to look at either. I'm still buying standard DVDs, don't plan on getting a HD TV or monitor anytime soon, and will wait until the new stuff becomes cheaper.

This isn't a battle for today, this is a battle for five years from now, if then.

Besides, we'll all be buying High Def DVD burners long before we buy set-top boxes.

NWLB
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http://www.nwlbnet.blogspot.com

This just proves...

This just proves that the only reason all of these companies are pushing Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is so they can suck more money out of our wallets and pocket books.

The hardware makers want you spending $600 to $800 on a new DVD player and Hollywood wants you to rebuy all of your current DVD's on the new format. Beyond that it will offer nothing worth while for the consumer and this article proves it.

Everyone involved with these new formats have said that they were needed because you can't fit a full length HD movie on the current DVD because of its size. Apparently now that is bull.

As for the other interactive features that they have been touting, that is also bull. Current DVD has many interesting features like multiple angles that Hollywood has never even used and trust me they won't be using the new interactive features on the new formats either unless they can get away with charging you $40 for disc instead of the current $20.

Now for computers and maybe video game consoles these two new formats could be useful. Right now there is really no good way to backup a 200GB hard drive except to another hardware. Not really cost effective. As for video games well I can see the extra space being used for more in-depth games with better graphics. But, for movies and TV it is bull.

Robert

[Andrew J Glina]

DTS

What this story does not mention is that with additions like DTS and multiple soundtracks it is not possible to fit a 2hr+ movie with extras on a standard disc. A DTS track for a movie takes around 700MB per language.