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Toshiba May Delay HD-DVD Launch to 2006
Mictian writes "According to Reuters Toshiba may be delaying the launch of it's HD-DVD players that was originally slated for the end of this year. One of the reasons cited was that talks with Hollywood and major studios about the timing are still ongoing. It now seems that the players may not be shipped to retailers before 2006, at least not in the US. The Japanese might still get their hands on 'em by christmas. In any case it looks like a setback for the HD-DVD camp (Toshiba, NEC & Sanyo) if one of their few advantages over the Blu-ray camp (Sony & Matsushita), an earlier product launch, is essentially eliminated. Sony has been rumoured to consider a Q1 2006 launch for Blu-ray in the form of the PlayStation 3 console. There was an earlier Slashdot story about the rivals giving up on a unified format."
Maybe next Slashdot history could be: Duke Nukem Forever delayed
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it all depends on what will be cheaper first, beta was better but more expensive for longer
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Without time advantage HD-DVD is dead. BluRay will be the standard.
I mean, would you buy inferior device now (HD-DVD/February), when you will be able to buy better one is just a month (BluRay/March-April)?
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Should be Duke Nukem, Forever Delayed
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It's really a shame that one of the groups can't swallow their pride and agree to a compromise. In my personal opinion, the perfect compromise would be HD-DVD with Blu-Ray sized layers and data storage. I think people will be disappointed at how fast HD-DVD discs will fill up. Regardless of what format becomes popular, though as of now, I would say Sony as the edge because of PS3, I'm sick of the whole "we didn't include a DTS track to the lack of space" argument. All HD discs should contain stereo, DD, and DTS tracks for both the video, and all extras. All content should maximize the bitrate, no more 5 MB per second or less... To stay on topic...I think this is both a great decision by Toshiba (primarily because I don't think the consumer is quite ready for HD discs yet) and a really bad decision because it eliminates, or at least greatly lessens, one of its major advantages - that it is being released first with a great list of available titles (Sopranos, Forrest Gump, Batman Begins, etc.). I hate to wait, but I either want the format war to conclude or for dual format players to launch before I venture into the HD movie world!
How will this damage the XBox360 in the long term? Microsoft has already said that the initial models may ship with just a standard DVD drive with later production models being shipped with a HD DVD drive. But if they have to further delay the HD DVD enabled XBox360 will this just simply cause even greater confusion for the two model market they have already created with their Core and Premium systems?
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Blu-ray (BD): backed by Sony and Philips, 22Gbytes capacity, expensive, 54 Mbit/s read speed. [ Wikipedia article ]
HD-DVD: Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo and Microsoft, 15Gbytes, cheaper. [ Wikipedia article ]
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When trying to decide on competing standards, I have a simple rule that almost always works... always choose against Sony. :)
This is true. Sony usually makes it almost impossible for anyone else to license their technology, and then it fails due to market pressures brought on by more reasonably licensed competing technologies. Observe the fate of memorystick, mini-disc, sony's audio file format and portable digital player, even i.link (sony's extension to IEEE1394)
Stop intellectual property from infringing on me
You are forgetting that this is not just Sony behind BR-D , IIRC Philips is also in on the development. .Playstation/2 , walkman , TVs etc. ,Beta etc.
You know Philips , the company behind cassettes and CD's.
Sony also had a large stake in CD technology as well.
Sony are often a hit or miss company , though they often hit
When they do miss , it often is not because of inferior technology , Minidisk
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
For me, this is a wait and see. It was only this last year I bought a DVD player and DVD-RW. Why? Cheap and they now work. When the CDRW first came out more coasters were made than working images. I know, I made a few coasters but don't have that problem today.
For most of us, we will wait and see. But part of the reason I bought my first DVD-RW was that I could get programs like DVD Decrypter. The only program I know that can burn DVD_ISOs of Linux and Solaris reliably.
That was short lived as the article at http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/11914 will show how this industry is doing.
So this person will opt out until less restrictive and functional tools are available. I will be quite content to let someone else break this in.
Do we know what the DRM tech is on the blu-ray, and is it bypassable for legitimate fair-use backups?
Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
...Mostly because 1) we will soon see a new generation of Blu-Ray media that doesn't need a caddy to protect the disc itself and 2) Blu-Ray's higher storage capacity in recordable form is highly-desirable for computer users who manipulate a lot of multimedia data (large-sized digital still images and full-motion video in digital format).
By the way, in many ways the whole Dolby Digital versus DTS arguement is kind of moot, mostly because if properly mastered Dolby Digital sounds just as good as DTS (ever hear the sound quality from the Star Wars prequel DVD's?).
I was at Fry's the other day and I looked at DL blank media. FIFTY DOLLARS for 15 blanks.
15 blanks at 9 GB per blank is 135 GB for $50. Seems very competitive to the price of a hard drive to me.
Well technically it is a miss if it doesn't hit mass market appeal, but you are correct in they are usually technically superior products.
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
Sony is pretty smart. While the guys pushing competing technology are held up with the usual industry standardization delays, just release your version as a stand-alone product. Having a marketing lead like that is the kind of advantage money can't buy.
HD-DVD has exactly the same problem.
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A compromise between Bluray and HD-DVD is impossible like you suggest. The very difference between the two is the thickness of the protective media. THAT IS ALL.
A compromise "hybrid" format would merely be one format winning over the other and the two camps splitting the royalties. Obviously realizing this Sony and Toshiba et al could never agree on A) which format bites the dust and B) How to split the royalties.
Toshiba wanted its format to win because they represent the DVD manufacturers that did not want to switch to a new media format. Thereby saving money on new equipment.
Sony wanted its format to win because they're Sony. And they've had a stick up their ass to win with one of their gay ass proprietary formats for over 30 years.
Sony probably wouldn't agree to giving up another format with the confidence that the PS3 would trump HD-DVD anyway. Not to mention giving up Bluray would totally fux the PS3 and give advantage to an HD-DVD Xbox360.
There you have it. HD-DVD has an instant manufacturing base. Every DVD factory in the world can make HD-DVDs today. Maybe one or two can press Bluray. Why should Toshiba give up? Sony has PS3, the successor to PS2 which caused the DVD revolution. Why should Sony give up?
And that's what they both thought when they walked away from the negotiation table.
Nope, HD-DVD too uses different media and manufacturing lines still need to be converted (though easier and cheaper).
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I think the real kicker might be how affordable recordable blu ray is. Ignoring DRM, size is the is the most important factor. Of course just because blu ray is technically better doesnt mean it will win.
Delay? Blu -Ray recorders have been out for a while here. Saw it like 4 months ago at Bic Camera. http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/BD/
" If they're smart enough to know about high definition TVs and DVDs, 'HD DVD' is not a tough concept to grasp."
You just proved my point. The majority of consumers who've bought TVs in the last 5 years, including my Dad who just dropped big bucks on a huge Sony, had no idea that their new TVs weren't high-definition. They don't even get the difference yet.
Have you noticed how when a movie comes out on DVD, the commercials still say "available now on DVD and Video"? They say Video because the average person never got the hang of the acronym "VHS" and found it easier to refer to those black tapes as videos.
Exactly what is the average clueless appliance buyer's threshold for meaningless acronyms? 5 random letters? 6? Do you, a technology geek, even remember what PCMCIA stands for, or do you just call it a "PC Card"? Exactly.
He who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.
It's funny to hear that HD-DVD *may* be be delaying the launch...since NEC has already announced that they will be selling HD-DVD burners in November of this year. And at a fairly reasonable price, $600. Not bad for a first-gen hi-def burner. Not to be outdone, Pioneer has also announced a BluRay burner. A shame that there is no source for either formats media. (permalink here)
On the data storage side: double-layer DVD blanks are still hideously expensive. Can you imagine how much Blu-Ray blanks will cost? By the time they come down to a reasonable price, Fry's will be selling 800 gig hard drives for $50.
always choose against Sony. :)
Yes, it's bound to be a failure, just like the previous horibly failed Sony/Philips standard, Compact Disc.
The DRM is hacked...... otherwise whats the point? I have a dvd recorder I can do pretty much anything I like with, (provided I'm willing to mess about a bit with programs/disks etc
From http://www.i4u.com/article4108.html
... Also, no HD-DVD movies will be released in 2005 so you can play nothing on it in this year. Duh.
The NEC HD DVD Drive HR-1100A will be shipping in limited numbers in November. The HD DVD drive can play HD DVDs with 2x speeds.
and if you believe that, i have a bridge to rent/lease you.
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Until you realize how volatile the data on a dvd is. I mean, I've lost data on hard drives, but that was only after using them daily for years. If I were to use a Hard disk strictly for backup, it would probably last 20 years. DVDs die if you scratch them, or if you leave them in the sunlight. especially without a jewel case. I'm not even going to get into the advantages of having to use 1 hard drive over managing 50 seperate disks. Hard drives are a much better storage option.
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