Blu-ray movie disc format unveiled

Quakester2000

August 12, 2004

GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that the Blu-Ray Disc Association (BDA) has now approved the full version of its read only disc specification BD-Rom. The approval of the disc format now means that the format can now go up against the other next generation DVD format HD-DVD. The only major movie company that has said it will support the BD-Rom discs are Sony Pictures Entertainment at the moment. Sony Pictures Entertainment will be offering high definition BD-rom movies in Japan in the future.

Sony's disc production wing has been promoting the BD-Rom format heavily in the US and also plans to equip the Playstation 3 with a blu-ray drive which is likely to strengthen the blu-ray format among consumers. BD-Rom players are set to ship late next year with content being released within the same time frame.

Manufacturers can now licence the blue ray technology for an undisclosed royalty fee and according to the Blu-Ray Disc Association, production of the discs costs no more than current DVD production. Manufactures will need to replace existing production hardware to produce Blu-Ray discs where as HD-DVD production only requires some changes to the production hardware.

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has approved the first full version of its read-only disc specification, the organisation said this week.The move paves the way for the format"s adoption as a content distribution system to rival the next generation of the DVD format, HD-DVD. BD-ROM players are set to ship late next year, the BDA said, with content coming through in the same timeframe. At this stage, the only major content provider to have publicly confirmed its willingness to off BD-ROM discs is Sony, which has said its Sony Pictures Entertainment will offer BD-ROM high-definition movies in Japan. The company"s disc manufacturing wing is, however, promoting BD-ROM to studios in the US.Sony Computer Entertainment recently revealed it plans to equip the PlayStation 3 with a BD drive, which is likely to strengthen Blu-ray as a consumer format.

With the BD-ROM 1.0 specification now in place, media manufacturers can now licence the technology - for an undisclosed royalty fee - and begin to prepare Blu-ray production lines. The BDA claims that Blu-ray disc production costs no more than DVD production does. However, manufacturers will need new duplication equipment. That contrasts with HD-DVD which simply requires a re-tooling of existing production lines, the DVD Forum claims.

Full story over at The Register. With the way this is going, it could be Betamax vs VHS all over again with two different formats on the market at the same time. This will definately cause confusion and I'm sure consumers would not be happy to buy a player for one format and find out a year down the line, their format has been knocked out. Looks like another format war is on the way, who do you think will win?

Source: The Register