Toshiba and NEC which both back the HD-DVD format have announced that they will launch HD-DVD compatible products from next year in Japan. Toshiba's work involves developing a standalone HD-DVD player and possibly a recorder while NEC is working on a PC version.
Currently Blu-Ray is succeeding with a Sony Blu-Ray drive and media already on the market and a Panasonic model launching later this week in Japan. Both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats are aiming to win support from the entertainment industries in an aim for consumers to take it on.
While HD-DVD has a lower capacity of 30GB, its advantage is cheaper drives due to similarities to DVD-ROM drives and existing DVD replication equipment can be easily modified to produce HD-DVD media. Blu-Ray on the other hand requires new manufacturing equipment. HD-DVD also offers longer recording time compared with Blu-Ray due to more efficient compression from its MPEG4 and WMV9 codec's, unlike Blu-Ray which relies on MPEG2.
The main problem HD-DVD is facing now is
working on a strong copy-protection system in an aim to prevent the same problem
that happened with the current DVD format. Androlight submitted the following news via our news submit :
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Toshiba and NEC announced their plans to launch HD-DVD hardware during 2005 at the opening of a three-day event here promoting the standard to Japan's entertainment industry. Toshiba is developing a home player and possibly a recorder, while NEC says it is working on a drive for use with computers. At the same event, Pony Canyon, Japan's largest distributor of DVDs, promised to release content in the format, naming the first eight discs it plans to produce. Format Battle The promotional effort aims to push HD-DVD toward victory in what has been until now a one-sided race to become the format of choice for high-definition video content. To date, demonstrations of HD-DVD have been largely confined to prototype models on show at technical seminars and some events. In contrast, recorders based on the competing Blu-ray Disc are already on the market. Sony shipped the first in 2003, and Matsushita Electric Industrial (better known as Panasonic) is releasing the second on sale in Japan this weekend. The HD-DVD group, which is mainly led by Toshiba and NEC, is using the technological differences between the two formats as the basis for its argument that HD-DVD makes more sense than Blu-ray Disc and hopes the entertainment industry, both in Japan and elsewhere, is listening. Read the full article here. |
TOKYO -- The High Definition/High Density DVD next-generation optical disc format got a boost when Toshiba and NEC announced this week they will launch compatible products next year, with a major Japanese content producer also backing the format.
While the HD-DVD backers may claim their products will be about a 1/3 the price of the current Blu-Ray drives, Blu-Ray media and drive pricing could easily make a massive drop before HD-DVD products make their launch. Finally, the shorter playback time for Blu-Ray applies to single layer media, which means dual-layer Blu-Ray media can easily handle longer movies.
Probably the main factor the movie industry would be interested in is how secure the copy-protection system is. They will certainly not like to see the same situation that happened with the DVD-Format. However, if consumers are happy downloading low quality camcorder recordings from the cinema, the movie industry would need to watch out that no matter how secure the encryption or authentication is, it will not stop determined pirates from pointing a camcorder at their TV.
Feel free to discuss and find out more about high definition optical media on our Satellite, HD-TV, Blu-ray and HD-DVD Forum.
Source: PC World - DVD Drives & Media
