GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us about a story over at Businessweek, that is touching on a subject that we debate here every day. The fact is, a lot of people that are not extremely involved with optical storage, simply wont be up to speed on the requirements for enjoying blue laser content. How many Joe Six-Packs are going to know for instance, that the Toshiba HD-DVD player will only output in 1080i as opposed to the Samsung Blu-ray device that can pump the pixels at 1080p? Will he even know the difference? Is it important? Can he see the difference? What does it cost to go to 1080p? Is it worth the money? Will it hook up to his TV? Do I need an Internet connection as well?
How many
will not know about the High Definition Content Protection (HDCP) requirements? Will they even know the two formats, HD-DVD and Blu-ray, are incompatible and one may be lost in the end game? Which should they invest in now, Blu-ray or HD-DVD? Which is better? Why? Do they know they will probably need a new display to properly view the content? Are they ready to invest in a big screen? Businessweek suggests that some folks are going to be disappointed if they don't do some research.
| Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray players use blue lasers instead of red to read discs, and each disc offers more capacity than current generation players. That lets studios put high-definition content on the discs and, eventually, interactive features.Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD promise pictures with as much as six times more resolution than regular DVD players. But there"s a catch: First, you must have a TV with a resolution that meets high-definition guidelines. Sets that advertise resolutions of 720 progressive scan, 1,080 interlaced, or 1,080 progressive fit that bill. You"ll find plenty of 720p TV from the likes of Sony (SNE), LG, and Samsung at your local Best Buy (BBY), but 1,080p sets are more scarce. Those folks who snapped up so-called enhanced definition (or 480 progressive) TVs over the past few years and now want to spring for the new players should know that they will be essentially buying a very expensive, largely useless toy, since the display can deliver none of the benefits of a better picture.You"ll also get the most from your new Blu-ray player only if you have a 1,080p set, which is the highest of the HDTV resolutions available. |
In addition, it might be a while before it is smart to even shell out for a 1080p display, as the High Definition Multimedia Interface, or HDMI is being upgraded! I mean, you want "Deep Color" right...? Well, you can't get it until the end of the year. But, that's only 6 months.
If you are an enthusiast, like many that visit these pages, these technologies are very exciting. But for poor old Joe Six-Pack, who just came off a love affair with inexpensive, simple to use and foolproof DVD, this can drive him to visit his old friend...Jack Daniels!
To catch up with this newer technology at the pace it's going, is like trying to catch a running train. Coupled with the annoying HDCP copy protections (Psssst! -revenue streams. Shhhh!) that are piggybacked upon the blue laser format, you can see that many that don't use the Internet to help make decisions for these devices, will be lost. There is simply no way that a person that knows nothing of these formats, could go into an electronics store and make an informed decision after speaking with an associate for 30 minutes. And we are talking major investment this time around!
Start doing some research, you'll be glad you did. Then you will not get a surprise or be disappointed. Blue laser will bring entertainment into our homes at a level never dreamed possible in the past, let's just make sure we spend our hard earned dollars wisely! It's going to be an informed consumer vs. marketing blitz struggle for the next several months or even years.
Source: BusinessWeek
