Lens That Writes on Both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray

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Lens That Writes on Both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Sunday July 9, 2006 @06:24AM from the one-lens-to-rule-them-all dept.

morpheus83 writes "Ricoh claims they have developed an optical component that reads and writes all disk formats -- Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD, as well as DVD and CD -- with one pickup and one objective lens. The component is a 3.5-mm diameter, 1-mm thick round diffraction plate with minute concentric groves on both sides which function as a diffraction grating. Based on disc information the drive can identify which format disk is loaded, Ricoh's optical diffraction component adjusts the laser beam with its diffraction grating for each format and passes it to the objective lens."

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well, now that that's settled by yagu · 2006-07-09 06:26 · Score: 4, Insightful
Phew! I thought there'd be no solution to the format wars.
Oh wait, there's still:
- cable wars (HDMI, component)
- DRM wars (broadcast flag and more)
- HD wars (DLP, LCD, Plasma, i vs p, etc.)
- provider wars (comcast, DISH, DirectTV)
- DVR wars (comcast (ick), DISH (ick), DirectTV (ick), TIVO (yea!))
- did I mention DRM wars? (it's worth mentioning more than once)
- compression wars (have you looked closely at the quality of a comcast HD broadcast?, and/or their OnDemand?)
- price wars. (players, recorders (if you get permission to record), media (if you get permission to play))
But, at least now we've gotten that pesky dual-compatible use-a-single-object-lens issue out of the way. Now I can tell all my friends and family the hurdle has been cleared and to let the floodgates of new consumers open.
Not.
I'm going out for a bicycle ride.
1. Re:well, now that that's settled by AnyoneEB · 2006-07-09 07:09 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I think the point is what happens if it breaks in 20-30 years or so (or sooner?) when the format is no longer supported (but the discs are still protected by copyright/DMCA)?
  
  --
  Centralization breaks the internet.
2. Re:well, now that that's settled by John+Miles · 2006-07-09 07:42 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  And you should be able to do that because...?
  
  Because copyright law in the US is constitutional only insofar as a work is protected for a "limited time." DRM violates the limited-time clause, so the DMCA and any other DRM-promoting legislation is prima facie unconstitutional.
  
  --
  Dahlmann tightly grips the knife, which he may have no idea how to use, and steps out into the plain.
3. Re:well, now that that's settled by Wordsmith · 2006-07-09 07:49 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  In a free society, we're only barred from doing the things we -shouldn't be able to do, rather than only let do the things we -should- be able to.
  
  We should be able to take media, aquired legitimately, and come up with our own means of accessing it. We transfered from records to CDs - but it's still perfectly legal to make your own record player, which you might want to do if no one will sell you one. It'll be a real shame if we transfer away from some DRM-encumbered format and can no longer access legitimately aquired media from the time when that format was in popular use, because the content providers (if they're still around) are no longer interested in making players.
  
  Usage licenses are nonsense and nonintuitive. Ford doesn't get to tell me whether I can tinker with my car's engine or what hours of the day I can drive the car; Maytag doesn't get to tell me I can't replace a broken part with one I've reverse-engineered; Sony (or whomever) shouldn't get to tell me I can't play there CDs (or whatever) in anything other than an authorized player. They're free to apply the DRM and make it difficult for me, but I'd better be free to try and crack it.
4. Re:well, now that that's settled by Firehed · 2006-07-09 07:55 · Score: 5, Insightful
  cable wars (HDMI, component)
  
  DRM wars (broadcast flag and more)
  
  HD wars (DLP, LCD, Plasma, i vs p, etc.)
  
  provider wars (comcast, DISH, DirectTV)
  
  DVR wars (comcast (ick), DISH (ick), DirectTV (ick), TIVO (yea!))
  
  did I mention DRM wars? (it's worth mentioning more than once)
  
  compression wars (have you looked closely at the quality of a comcast HD broadcast?, and/or their OnDemand?)
  
  price wars. (players, recorders (if you get permission to record), media (if you get permission to play))
  
  You're either comparing apples and oranges or standard competition on really all of these.
  
  cable wars (digital, analog)
  
  DRM wars (they're all just added to each other, not which one's the best)
  
  HD wars (each has its own pros and cons)
  
  provider wars (market competition)
  
  DVR wars (market competition)
  
  did I mention DRM wars? (did I mention they're stacked, not competing?)
  
  compression wars (again, tradeoffs, though all avoid fixing the actual problem)
  
  price wars (you're complaining that competition lowers prices?!)
  To be fair, the so-called DRM war is a valid point, just not with the examples you used. It's more of an iTunes M4P versus PlaysForSure protected WMA thing. DVDs have macrovision, CSS, region coding and more, not one or the other, and the HD formats are or will be the same way. Likewise for cable wars, but it would be HDMI vs DVI vs that new HDMI-esque thing for computers that doesn't have the crazy licensing fee. Aside from that, it's either two separate entities or market competiton (which is a good thing, unless you LIKE monopolies).
  
  Now back to cleaning out my room.
  --
  How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
5. Re:well, now that that's settled by MyLongNickName · 2006-07-09 08:13 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I hate to respond like marx did when he gave a speech on free trade here but I fear it is the only option... we should support DRM, make sure that it becomes as intrusive as possible, make sure that at every turn every legitimate use of people's own products becomes difficult and when something like the Sony Rootkit happens (which it will, again and again...) then we seize on it and show the world that this makes the situation worse for everyone...
  
  Yes! Then our privacy and openness ideologies would be just as successful as Marxism is right now! It is so on the Move in The U.S., Europe and China! The free trade thing has just totally been repudiated.
  
  Thank you for bringing this option to our attention!
  
  --
  See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Read only....for now by LoverOfJoy · 2006-07-09 06:34 · Score: 5, Insightful

From the article:
Although the diffraction device works for both reading and writing modes, Ricoh will initially offer the device for disk players only. Because some laser beam energy is lost at the grating, using the diffraction device for recording will require a blue laser with higher power than those used in conventional recorders.

It's a good start. Legal issues may end up being the biggest hurdle.
Re:Oh dear by aiken_d · 2006-07-09 08:47 · Score: 4, Insightful

Seems to me that this makes it more likely that the survivor will be the one with the lowest disc manufacturing costs. So this development may make it take longer for a clear winner to emerge, I don't think we'll see both formats go on forever. And once one format gets the upper hand in mindshare and shelf space, cheaper players will appear that only play that format (cheaper because they will only pay licensing fees for BD or HD, not both [as the combo players will have to do]).

Me, combo players seem like a good step towards standardization.

-b

--
If I wanted a sig I would have filled in that stupid box.
Re:They shouldn't be owned by mctk · 2006-07-09 09:47 · Score: 3, Insightful

Companies should not be allowed to "own" formats.
Why not? Let's review. Because:
Eventually, they will be broken anyway.
Likewise, people shouldn't be allowed to own cars. Eventually, they stop running anyways.
Microsoft should not be allowed to monopolize the market by locking in users to their Office formats
Locking in users to their formats? Sorry, the consumers have done that themselves.
the media industries should not be allowed to screw over their own customers by creating formats that are designed to be combative against those customers.
Consumers shouldn't buy from those companies in the first place. Anyways, historically screwing over your consumers has been a pretty unsustainable business plan.
Just imagine how many decades we'd be ahead in technology if things worked this way.
Business does not exist to further technology. It exists to generate revenue.

--
Paul Grosfield - the quicker picker upper.
Re:You PC users by pomo+monster · 2006-07-09 14:17 · Score: 4, Insightful

Clue for you: Ford didn't invent the assembly line. The Wright brothers didn't invent the airplane. Wanamaker didn't invent the department store. Edison didn't invent the light bulb.

All these people derived inspiration from their contemporaries. All they did was "steal" ideas from others and make them better.

Steve Jobs' saying, that "real artists ship," is right on the money. Production, after all, has a more lasting impact than theory and prototype. Now let's hear from you an example of Linux community innovation even by the diminished standards set by the aforementioned inventors, or fail.