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Kutaragi Confirms End to Blue-Ray Talks

Posted by Zonk on from the they-can't-get-along dept.

Ken Kutaragi, SCE President, confirmed that after a long period of talks Toshiba and Sony cannot see eye to eye on the next generation of DVD format. Blu-ray discs, then, will be the only supported format on the upcoming Playstation 3 console. From the article: "Negotiations began back in February, but the two companies failed to reach an agreement on storage capacities. Blu-Ray discs can hold 50GB of data while HD-DVD discs only hold 30GB, but the HD-DVD camp argues that lower manufacturing costs make for a cheaper, more consumer-friendly product."

12 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. What i never understood... by YellowCyclone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    is why is there a debate on this to begin with...

    blu-ray holds more, shouldn't that be the final blow? even though hd-dvd is cheaper and will save the companies money, if blue-ray is introduce,d costs will eventually go down.....i'm sure this is what sony is betting on (as it did with dvd for the ps2), but will somebody explain it to me why hd-dvd has lots of rich backers?

    1. Re:What i never understood... by crow · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's a matter of what's good enough.

      At 30GB, you have enough for over three hours of HDTV, which means most movies, even with special features, won't need any more than that. Why use a more expensive format when you'll hardly ever need the extra space?

      Of course, 50GB means each of the extended Lord of the Rings movies will fit on one disc, but the studios consider beaking movies of that length onto two discs to be reasonable.

      Personally, I want the higher capacity, but I understand the support for HD-DVD.

    2. Re:What i never understood... by Qzukk · · Score: 2, Funny

      Holds more, costs more.

      Lower costs make way for quicker acceptance by the public.

      Oh no! If movie studios used Blu-Ray they'd no longer be able to sell a $20 movie on a 50 cent disc with 50 cents of packaging, instead they'll have to sell it on a 2 dollar disc with 50 cents of packaging! How will they ever protect their 2000% per-item margin?!

      You can't see me, but I'm sitting here playing My Heart Bleeds for You on the world's smallest violin.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    3. Re:What i never understood... by egomaniac · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's a matter of what's good enough.

      At 30GB, you have enough for over three hours of HDTV, which means most movies, even with special features, won't need any more than that. Why use a more expensive format when you'll hardly ever need the extra space?

      I agree, and that's why not all blu-ray disks will be 50GB. A 25GB single-layer blu-ray disk holds almost as much as a 30GB dual-layer HD-DVD disk. Fitting the entire movie on a single layer both eliminates layer transition pauses and reduces the cost of the disk. Even a 50GB dual-layer disk will generally only use one layer for the movie itself (the rest for extras) and so not require a mid-movie layer transition.

      On top of that, it's not clear that a single-layer blu-ray disk will be more expensive to manufacture than a dual-layer HD-DVD disk. The HD-DVD group conveniently ignores the fact that their opposition doesn't have to use two layers to store a full-length movie.

      --
      ZFS: because love is never having to say fsck
    4. Re:What i never understood... by jensen404 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      CDs offer me about 90% of the audio quality of real life.

      DVD's offer about 1% of the visual quality of real life.... They have a lot more room for growth.

    5. Re:What i never understood... by KDR_11k · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But stratch resistant disks would mean the consumer would never have to buy an extra copy if his old one gets scratched! We can't have that!

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  2. Higher capacity != better by yotto · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't know much about blue-ray but just because they hold more data doesn't make them instantly better. A 4-point font can display more text on the screen, but that doesn't make it better than a 10-point font.

    --
    Pulp Audio Weekly - Geek News and Reviews
  3. Sony probably wasn't willing to budge by Drakino · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm betting with as late in development the Playstation 3 was, Sony wasn't willing to budge.

    For me, while I like that Blu-Ray holds more, I think HD-DVD is the way to go. DVD is still in the name because it is an evolution of existing DVDs, and many components on both the manufacturing and player side just need to be retooled slightly to support the new format. Kinda like jumping from 720k to 1.44 MB 3.5 inch floppies.

    Since the switchover to the next format won't be instant, it makes sense to go with the format that allows the manufacturers continue to crank out DVDs and newer HD discs on the same line.

    I'm just dreading a format war after the products hit the market here in the US. Odds are, I'll end up plopping down cash on a multi laser product to play either, and one will wither and die a year or two later.

  4. Re:well, this won't be the first time... by Nasarius · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Or the second.

    --
    LOAD "SIG",8,1
  5. Blu Ray Lasers by Seraphim_72 · · Score: 2, Funny
    Toshiba and Sony cannot see eye to eye on the next generation of DVD format
    Said a Sony spokes person, "We decided that we have had enough, and will heed the warning to not look into the laser with our remaining eye."

    Sera

    --
    Slashdot, where armchair scientists get shouted down and armchair theologians get modded up.
  6. Sony, Toshiba fire up talk of a compromise by Kn0w1 · · Score: 2, Informative
    http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/06/20/news_61278 15.html

    Despite Kutaragi's comments last week that it was "game over," Sony shake-up prompts chipmakers to sit again at the negotiating table.

    originally spotted on driverheaven.net

  7. They're talking again... and Blu-Ray shall win. by iamghetto · · Score: 2, Informative

    Ken Kutaragi, SCE President, confirmed that after a long period of talks Toshiba and Sony cannot see eye to eye on the next generation of DVD format. Blu-ray discs, then, will be the only supported format on the upcoming Playstation 3 console.

    That was news on Thursday the 16th, not Monday the 20th. The news as of today on Gamespot however is that the talks are back on. In the coming weeks both Sony & Toshiba top management are going to be reshuffled, the new blood may well find a new solution.

    Either way, I'm sure Blu-Ray is going to win, and here's why. Installed user base & storage capacity.

    The day HD-DVD players go on sale, do you think that there are going to be a million people drooling, cash-in-hand, ready to buy one? Because there will be a million people DYING to buy a PS3 this spring. And as we all know, the PS3 plays Blu-Ray discs, and that is why Blu-Ray will win out in the end. When I look at myself and my friends, 90% of us use our PS2's as our DVD players. And 99/100 a PS2 was the first DVD player we ever owned. When PS2's were $450 (CDN) DVD players were still $250 (CDN). It was like getting a DVD player for free, and that is exactly what's going to be happening with the PS3. Would we like a PS3 for $500 or a stand-alone HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player for $300?

    Originally the XBOX 360 was going to support HD-DVD, but since its being rushed to market ahead of schedule they can't afford to include the technology... Which is working out great for Sony.

    Additionally, we have the storage capacity issue:

    Blu-Ray Single-Layer:
    Storage: 25 gigs
    MPEG-4's H.264/AVC codec: 4 hours Hi-Def video
    MPEG2 codec: 2 hours Hi-Def video

    HD-DVD Single-Layer:
    Storage: 15 gigs
    MPEG-4's H.264/AVC codec: 2 hours 24 minutes Hi-Def video
    MPEG2 codec: 1.2 hours Hi-Def video

    You can just look at the HD-DVD storage numbers, so the math in your head, and see how paltry its real-world storage capacity is. Of course using a dual-layered disc somewhat alleviates that problem for HD-DVD, but when Blu-Ray is dual-layered it doesn't just become "good enough" as HD-DVD does, it becomes exceptional. All of a sudden you can store 8 hours of HD content on one disc. Not only is that great for us from a convience standpoint, but shouldn't the storage capacity of the Blu-Ray disc compensate for its higher price point? Things could fit on a 1 or 2 Blu-Ray discs where it would take 3 or 4 HD-DVD discs.

    I hope I've somewhat made my point. :)