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Lens That Writes on Both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
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."
Phew! I thought there'd be no solution to the format wars.
Oh wait, there's still:
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.
It's a good start. Legal issues may end up being the biggest hurdle.
I wouldn't mind a drive that burned all formats.
In fact, I wouldn't mind a drive that burned anything at all. My last one 'cookied' about 12 discs before it fucked up and my computer wouldn't start if it was connected. Being able to burn any format would certainly be useful though.
So, if Blu-ray players are expensive as hell, and HD-DVD players are also expensive (though not quite as much), wouldn't a player that combined the capabilities of the two be even more expensive? Unless these things can be produced relatively cheaply, then this isn't going to be the answer to the format war.
...COST ONE MILLION DOLLARS!
In other other news, the Sony spokesperson in the previous story was just hired by Microsoft as Director Of Public Relations. A Microsoft spokesperson was quoted as saying, "His previous experience at the Iraqi Ministry of Information is what clinched it for us. This guy thinks like we do."
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
This kind of multi-numerical aperture diffractive lens has already been used in several DVD players for CD compatibility. As an example, check out this link.
Notice that you do not only need different numerical aperture lenses to read every format, you also need to generate lasers of the proper wavelengths. There are several solutions for this, but the easiest is to use three different laser diodes.
This is only going to make it more likely that both formats will survive. I would really rather prefer that one of the next-gen formats dies off - I don't really care which one.
Actually, dispite what the misleading headline would like you to believe, this isn't the first to read both HD and BluRay, and TFA doesn't make that clam... It's the first to read both, and read CDs and DVDs too with a single head. That's the tricky part, as CDs and DVDs use a different wavelength than HD-DVD and BluRay. Prior to this, if you wanted backwards compatability, you needed a second lens.
A couple. Most are riding the fence, committing to nothing.
Which will only be important if people feel the PS3 is worthwhile, and if it doesn't cause other Blu-Ray manufacturers to jump ship because Sony is taking away their sales with the PS3 loss-leader.
It's worth noting that while all the currently available next-gen disc players available so far have problems, the $1,000 Samsung Blu-Ray players seems to be the worst of the lot. It's also fairly important that both Toshiba and RCA are already selling their HD-DVD players for half the price of the Samsung unit and the forthcoming Sony Blu-Ray player. Finally, there are more HD-DVD titles on store shelves than Blu-Ray so far.
Personally, I'm still in wait-and-see mode, but your assertion that HD-DVD is already dead is premature at best.
Virtual monopolies are needed (especially in formats) to help consumers eventually.
PCs took off because Windows provided an equal format for everyone.
Apple thrives in spite of this monopoly by maintaining its own monopoly through its OS, regulating everything in order to keep quality high and survive as a 'niche' demographic just as concerned with design and appeal as they did utility. Having a virtual strangehold on internet music helped too.
The only place where these 'format wars' have had even minimal success have been in game consoles, because they were largely seen as competing factions to a toy, instead of a 'universal medium' like office software or movies. If we get back to the point where we only have a couple of key consoles (I predict Nintendo will successfully splinter off, leaving the main war between MS and Sony), so much the better for game programmers.
Reprased: Watch as sales of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players go from approximately 0 units to approximately 0 units
My Systems
At least now there's one LESS remote for you guys to hog!
Let's call it what it is, Anti-Social Media.
reads and writes all disk formats
Cool - my 5-1/4" floppies aren't obsolete after all! Arkanoids, anyone?
It's no surprise, which is why I don't even care about digital format wars. Eventually, somebody ALWAYS starts combining them all together, so a few years after adoption, everything supports everything. DVD players that you can get in the grocery store for $49.99 play audio CD's, MP3 CD's, DVD single layer, DVD dual layer, DVD +R, DVD-R, DVD +RW, etc. Hell, My $100 PS2 does even better than that.! (I use My PS2 exclusively for entertainment. Love how easy it is.) As long as there's no physical difference in the format, the digital differences amount to just a few lines of code, which ends up being very cheap to combine on a tiny chip, even after those licensing fees. As long as the media doesn't physically change, there will be increasing convergence all of the time. Eventually, those cheap players that you can get at Wal-Mart will read HD, Blu-Ray, OGG, and WMA's. Just give it time. It'll happen.
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.
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.