The new generation of DVD technology: "Blu-Ray" DVD's

[Moviebuff_Mike]

Here's an article from thedigitalbits.com

we DID catch the big news today. A group of several companies in the DVD camp (Hitachi, LG Electronics, Matsushita, Pioneer, Royal Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and Thomson to be exact) have just announced that they've jointly established the basic specifications for a next generation, large capacity optical disc video recording format called "Blu-Ray Disc". This would be the basis for the much talked about HD-DVD format (and you'd better believe this announcement was motivated by a desire to steal some thunder from the recent D-VHS "D-Theater" news). The disc can record and play back up to 27 gigabytes of data using a blue laser. The nine companies plan to begin licensing the new format as soon as specifications are completed (sometime this spring). You can read the full press release on the Matsushita website.

Now... this is pretty preliminary. But it iIS significant, because getting all these companies to agree on a basic spec will help to prevent the kind of format wars that have plagued the first generation of DVD-recordable devices (Toshiba and Mitsubishi are notably absent from this group - when and if they'll get on board is yet to be seen). Still, "Blu-Ray" (as it's being called) has a long way to go before we see it in stores. The matter of digital copy protection is still of great concern. The advantage to the recently announced D-VHS "D-Theater" scheme is that video tapes can't be played in computer DVD-ROM drives (thus making them harder - but not impossible - to hack). Since these discs probably will be computer usable, any copy protection scheme will have to be VERY robust to convince Hollywood to get on board (particularly after DVD's CSS encryption was cracked so easily). All that said, this announcement is good news for the vast majority of serious video-philes who, like us here at The Bits, believe that digital disc (and not tape) is the future of home entertainment. We'll keep our eyes on the development of "Blu-Ray" you can be sure.

This is great news! but Im still contented with todays DVD's... for now! http://www.joblo.com/ubb/wink.gif

[[SD] Bob Plisskin]

don't get so worried about DVDs yet here in the UK they have grown massivly and while there's a huge demand for them the studios won't replace them.

There have been a total of 3 million DVD players sold in the UK, 2.4 million of these were sold last year. It took seven years for CD players to sell 3 million units, and it took video players 10! in 2000 16.6 million DVDs were sold, in 2001 37million were sold.

as you can see the sales of DVDs are rising so they aint just gonna stop, any new technology will need to be backwards compatible to sell because loads of people will have a huge back catalogue that they don't want to be obselete. Take a look at the Dreamcast by SEGA it was twice as powerful as the Sony PlayStation yet it flumped, why? because of the massive fanbase which DVD also has going for it.

<OB>

[inglourious basterd]

Eh...im not really looking forward to the new technology.

Honestly, that is just going to cost me and you a whole lot more cash. If they want to convince buyers that this is technology that is worth buying they need to prove to us that it is worth more bang for its buck. Is this simply going to be what MD was to CD and what LD was to VHS? Will it be able to play "normal" DVD movies? Yes...there is 3 times more space, but will that really be worth it for the average consumer?

When this comes out, these will be what most will be asking...

[dellamorte dellamore]

They are going to need a new format with more storage space eventually,for the simple reason that images in films are becoming much more sophisticated and the soundtracks more complex(eventually dvd's will have 7.1 DTS).


As far as backward compatability goes,i don't think it will be a problem because the blu ray discs will probably be the same size as current dvd's ,and there is no reason the blue laser can't read what a red one can.The opposite will not be true, it has something to do with the light spectrum and wavelength.


Of course the first generation of blue laser dvd players will be expensive,all new technology is(HDTV,VCR,LD,DVD),but they will eventually come down in price.I'm on board,i'm sold,you can fit an entire trilogy on one disc.