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v1.0 of HD-DVD Physical Specs Approved
Repran writes "The DVD Forum this week approved HD-DVD 1.0, a specification that will compete with Blu-Ray which is not yet approved for the future of the DVD disc format. This effectively gives manufacturers a green light to begin producing devices.
In related news Microsoft's VC-9 codec has been included in the official HD-DVD specs."
now all we need are better and faster computers to display the movies.
By the sounds of the article Microsoft has submitted their VC-9 codec as an open standard, does that actually mean that OS encoders/decoders can be developed free from MS lawer related hassle, or are there still strings attached?
Sooner than you'd expect. Don't forget: pr0n producers are the early adopters of tech, man. Serious - video tapes, web commerce, streaming video, and so forth. The first plain ol' DVD I ever saw (actually second to the the Dolby demo disc) was pr0n.
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I researched long and hard to find out if my current DVD player was most compatible with DVD+R or DVD-R. It's an Apex 500w model. Turns out it's not compatible with either standard, although some online reports conflict with my findings. I eventually had to buy a new dvd player to play anything that I burned in my Liteon DVD+/-RW drive.
I can't imagine that all these new standards will work with many existing DVD players. Everyone is always playing catch-up, although all DVD movies rented from Blockbuster will always work in older models. Just getting a new DVD writer for the latest and greatest standards will result in having to buy more electronics equipment for the house. Hell, even the current +R and -R standards haven't been hashed out.
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I have a high definition TV and I get a few HD channels. I also watch pseudo HD DVDs (DVDs only display at 480p, while "true" HD is 720p), but overall HD content offerings are pretty slim. What I'm wondering is when everyone expects that the TV/movie industries will start filming exclusively with HD cameras instead of the traditional cameras that most are still using.
The absolutely highest quality HD content that I can receive is from Discovery Channel HD, which films all of its content using HD cameras exclusively, and believe me, it shows. It's the channel I use to "show off" my equipment, because none of the other channels even compare. Having TNT and ESPN is HighDef is nice, but it seems that they're not taking the same efforts to ensure the crystal-clear quality that Discovery is with their channels.
Having a higher density DVD format should help to prod movie makers into putting more "oomph" in their output because they'll be capable of higher resolutions on a single disc, but when do you all think the film/tv producers will start filming using HD digital equipment exclusively? Anyone have any thoughts on this?
I was in the park the other day wondering why frisbees get bigger and bigger the closer they get - and then it hit me.
you don't understand - the pr0n is as vital to us as air, water, food. you can think of it as the food buffer of the octospiders - when it's gone, we have but seconds to live. without it we are less than human, we are no better than an ape diddling himself in a jungle with a fruit for inspiration. anything which allows us to increase our pr0n buffer is much appreciated and worshipped as a glowing green vessel to the gods.
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Just wondering if the MPAA managed to force non-backwards compatibility into the standard or not so they would get people buying all the favorite movies all over again in the new format in 2-3 years...
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
Backwards compatiblity is the driving factor for any new purchase in my mind. From the article: The only Blu-ray recorder currently available in Japan is the Sony BDZ-S77 Google for "Sony BDZ-S77" and hitting I'm feeling Lucky takes you to here: http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/blu-ray/ And within that article (Decent review by the way) is this: The drive can record only blu-ray media, but it supports reading of blue-ray, DVD-Video, DVD-RW, DVD-R, CD, CD-R and CD-RW discs. So to answer your question, yes they are backwards compatible.
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I don't understand your problem with new disc formats. The great thing about them is that disc players are generally backwards compatible. DVD players can play CDs, for example. So, your DVD collection doesn't really lose any value because you can play them on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray players.
This is different from VHS tapes, that are completely obsolete and unplayable on modern hardware. Plus discs are much smaller and more convienient for storage purposes.
I'm all for better disc formats as long as the hardware can continue to play the old ones.
-- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
Movies, for the most part, are already "HD" or better in their original film formats. All that will be required to make true HD versions of these will be to go back to the reel and re-digitize them to 1080i or 720p, instead of to 480p.
Not all HD content is filmed with HD digital equipment, either. Alias, for example (which broadcasts at 720p) is filmed with, well, film.
35mm movie film is significantly better in effective resolution than 480p, and anything filmed that way will have little trouble making its way into the HD world.
One thing that really spooks me is that I've had enough trouble with fingerprints messing with dvds. The pits are too small. This is going to be worse, right?
I *really* hope they have the sense to put these in some sort of caddy. I know that won't be a popular idea here, but it really bugs me that the mere act of handling a disc puts it at risk. And since the movie industry won't let me make backups....
"Derp de derp."
Looks like on2 and their vp6.2 codec didn't make the cut. I guess they could still implement a codec based on the open standards . Time will tell, but MS is positioning itself out of the PC world and into the DRM revenue one.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
IMO, far more important than the physical format is the capabilities of the HD-DVD spec. The HD-DVD spec need to be dramatically more powerful than the current spec which has virtually no RAM (16 variables), no processor, no permanent storage etc.
Interactivity, Interactivity, Interactivity
HD-DVD will NOT take-off in a big way unless the format supports a greatly expanded level of interactivity. Interactivity that requires much better hardware. I'm talking a REAL computer-level components inside the box; a fast CPU, memory, permanent storage, web connectivity and a 3D GPU. The HD-DVD spec should also support and understand (but not necessarily include) tuners and PVR functionality. And all HD-DVD players should be recordable.
Just simply being HDTV video will not be enough to get most people to buy all new hardware and software... mark my words, I'm not wrong about this! Why? Read on...
DVD is Great Enough
In the vast majority of consumer's eyes, DVD is already the holy grail of quality. As was already pointed out, it was both the quality of the format and the value-add of extras (and low cost of software) that caused DVD to be the success that it is. However as far as quality goes we've reached the "great enough" level for the vast majority of consumers. An anamorphic DVD on a well calibrated HDTV is nearly as good as HDTV (especially from film-sourced materials). In fact if you were to conduct a poll and ask people if DVD is HDTV quality, I predict a large majority of people would say yes. Again, to most consumers DVD is "great enough". No HDTV/DVD side-by-side is going to change that. Most people simply can't see the or don't care about the difference.
Value Add (Did I mention Interactivity?)
We are going to have to offer the customer much larger value-add. I'm talking interactivity only possible today on a computer or game system. Menus with 24-bit real-time 3D generated graphic "overlays" (think X-Box game menus), interactive viewing experiences (think infinifilm on steroids), interactive timelines, interactive maps, documentary level behind the scenes, "extras" presented in context with the show while you are re-watching it, searchable script-to-screen. All this and much more would be possible if the player actually had some decent hardware and the spec supported it.
Better Compression
MPEG-2 is looking a little long in the tooth, support for modern codecs is a must. MPEG-4, AVC, H.264, QuickTime and WiMP, should all be supported. And since we have a CPU, we should be able to come up with new codecs in the future that can be "loaded" on the fly. Better codecs open the door to applications we haven't even thought of yet. Like searchable video. Imagine releasing not just a few episodes of TV show on a single DVD, and not just an entire season. Imagine being able to create an "interactive episode guide" that included the entire 7 year run of Buffy on a SINGLE DVD, all searchable by script, subject, character, and much more. With a modern codec and 28 gigs of space, this is possible (I've done the math). In fact with reduced frame sizes (think of the video as being in a corner with interactive elements around it), you could fit the entire history of Star Trek, every episode of every series and the movies all on ONE disc, all searchable, all obsessively interactive.
** This is the kind of interactivity that will sell a new format. **
Forwards Compatibility
Figure out a way to make the HD-DVD format both backward AND forward compatible. People love DVD; they are invested in DVD, both financially and emotionally. The transition between SD and HD needs to be as painless and invisible as possible, otherwise it simply won't happen. That means that tomorrow's HD-DVD discs must play on today's SD-DVD players. This way the industry can start releasing HD-DVD discs immediately, and wait for the hardware penetration to catch up. It won't be easy, but it is possible. We are smart people around here, we can figure out a way. (Perhaps
I don't want interativity, I just want to watch the movie. I seldom watch the outtakes, cut footage, commetaries, etc., I'd rather see a couple of bucks knocked of the price. I would like to see all those movies that I can only get in the directors cut, have the original theatrical release on the disc too. Often there is really good reason why that scene the director was so fond of was pulled.
Profit had everything to do with it.
/. predicted, USB rules the roost and Firewire is only used in video niches.
That's because Apple essentially torpedoed 1394 adoption -- the cost being one reason Intel dropped it from the chipsets found in 70% of PCs. And now, as
What Intel offered up as alternatives to IEEE-1394 were two technologies, Serial ATA and USB 2.0, both of which were developed by Intel and produce a revenue stream for Intel, and neither of which was really a suitable replacement for the superior IEEE-1394.
Besides, do you really think that Intel is going to willingly let Apple get a toehold into the enormous PC motherboard chipset market? I think not...
"I mean, given a 40 or 50 inch flat-screen HDTV (whether LCD, Plasma, DLP, or whatever), a decent dolby-supporting sound system, and HDTV-quality DVDs... is it enough to give a theater-quality experience?"
From my experience at a higher-end consumer electronics store, generally no. The key is a front projection system. The sound system isn't even that important as long as it's Dolby Digital. There's no comparing even a 70" widescreen Grand Wega (which you shouldn't buy, stay tube or wait for OLED) to a 110" screen.
The size of the screen is the critical factor that seperates a nice setup from a home theatre. I'd say it needs to be at least 90" to start to get the feel of one. Of course, you'd also need a good LCD (more likely DLP) projector to go with it. A dedicated room is also a must. This kind of setup is surprisingly not that expensive, however. You can get a very decent project for 2 grand that can do quality HD and a 120" motorized screen for another 1000. You're still paying much less for a much less capable plasma TV.