As the Blu-ray backers went against HP's demand to include iHD support, Hewlett Packard has announced that they will join the HD DVD Toshiba-led group; however they will continue to support Blu-ray also. HP has made the move to support both in an aim to deliver the most user friendly and cost effective solution to its customers, as well as to be on top of development costs due to the potential price variations between both formats.
The Blu-ray backers originally went against iHD in an aim to prevent the Blu-ray launch from being possibly being delayed in order to add iHD support. However, they have agreed to support "Mandatory Managed Copy", which gives the ability for consumers to copy their movies onto their hard drive as well as stream them throughout their home network, while at the same time preventing unauthorised copying elsewhere.
When it comes to costs, HD DVD will initially be at an advantage of being able to reuse existing DVD replication equipment as well as being based on the existing DVD format, thus leading to cheaper replication costs. Blu-ray on the other hand has the advantage of being backed by more studios and offering higher disc capacity, however at the drawback of requiring new manufacturing equipment and more expensive material. Thanks to both adderal and Gil T Pleasure for letting us know about the following news:
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In response, the computer maker said Friday that it would continue to support Blu-ray, but would also join the Toshiba-led group working to promote HD DVD. "Because HP wants to deliver the most user-friendly and cost-effective solution to our customers, we have decided to support both formats," said Maureen Weber, general manager of HP's personal storage division, in a statement. "By joining the HD DVD Promotions Group and continuing work with the Blu-ray Disc Association, HP will be in a better position to assess true development costs and, ultimately, provide the best and most affordable solution for consumers." The full source article can be read here. |
As HP has decided to add support for HD DVD, this is actually better for them than just supporting one group as not only will it mean doing away with the risk of joining a format that could potentially be beaten by the competitor, but it will also mean that they will not be going against consumers who prefer the competing format. On the other hand, it will mean that HP will need to offer PCs and drives in a choice of both formats, at least until the time when hybrid drives start becoming widespread.
adderal wrote: Who didn't see this one coming. HP wasn't bluffing apparently. Gil T Pleasure also wrote: HP threatened to jump ship if iHD and mandatory managed copy are not included in the BD specs. Since only one of the two features have been accepted by BDA, HP figures it's not completely gonna jump ship to HD DVD and instead support the two formats. How nice :p
Feel free to discuss about Blu-ray and HD DVD on our Satellite, HD-TV, Blu-ray and HD-DVD Forum.
Source: c|net news - Digital Life
