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Laser Shortage to Stall High-Def Disc War?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the supply-and-demand dept.

An anonymous reader writes "DigiTimes reports that several major vendors, including Sony and Matsushita, have suspended shipments of the blue laser diodes that drive both high-def disc formats. The rumored laser shortage could result in shipment delays for new models of Blu-ray and HD DVD players and drives past the upcoming holiday season, cooling the next-gen DVD format war until 2007."

8 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. meanwhile... by legoburner · · Score: 5, Funny

    meanwhile somewhere on the outskirts of Tokyo, the head of Microsoft's XBOX division and the head of Nintendo's Wii division are shaking hands whilst laughing as their lackeys bolt the doors on a warehouse full to the roof with blue laser diodes.

    --
    Warhammer forums
  2. This just gets better all the time by Nice2Cats · · Score: 5, Insightful
    First they do the two-format-thing all over again. Then they keep all kinds of crap that pissed people off with DVDs such as the Regional Code. After that, they tell us that there will be draconian DRM. The prices are simply sick. And in the end, the added quality just doesn't change my life. Cool, yes, impressive with computer generated films, of course, but worth the price, the loss of control and the hassle? No way.

    This is turning out to be all stuff and nonsense, and I think I'll just skip HD-DVD and Blu-ray one and wait for the next next generation, when maybe somebody with half a brain is involved. DVD is perfectly good enough for me, thank you very much.

    1. Re:This just gets better all the time by JanneM · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This is turning out to be all stuff and nonsense, and I think I'll just skip HD-DVD and Blu-ray one and wait for the next next generation, when maybe somebody with half a brain is involved. DVD is perfectly good enough for me, thank you very much.

      Agree with the sentiment.

      It is quite unlikely for there to ever be a next generation, though. The lead time is, oh, ten years or so, and by that time it seems more than likely that using a physical carrier for video is not going to be a mainstream technology anymore. There's going to be physical data carriers, of course, but not aimed at selling video.

      What might happen, though, is that these two formats both end up stillborn - laser discs of the 21st century - and pushes the major manufacturers to quickly (as in within a year or two) replace them with a common format that avoids the most egregious mistakes of these two. But that would be replacement, not a generation shift.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
  3. Those who do not learn from their OWN history.. by PhakeDC · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ..are doomed to repeat it!

  4. Re:PS3? by travisco_nabisco · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It will do nothing to the PS3, the article said that Sony has suspended shipments of Blue Laser Diodes to other manufacturers, aka they are keeping them for their own products.

  5. I think "war" might not be the right word.... by ProppaT · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't exactly see anyone chomping at the bit to buy into HD video at this point, especially seeing that the movie selection is low and most DVD afficienado's already have a very large collection of discs at this point. This war is being aimed towards gear heads and gadget collectors. There is no real compelling reason to switch formats, especially if it means paying more for media. I think DVD is good enough for the population now and that people realize that. Especially seeing that the adoption rate for HD is well under where everyone speculated it would be years ago. This "war" is going the same way the surround sound cd war went. No where. No one really felt like investing money rebuying cd's, which sound good enough. On top of that, the music nuts that would normally be into this kinda thing have invested enough money in their "stereo" rig where they don't always want to invest twice again that much money in a surround sound system. It's very rare that you'd get a chance to listen to music in your livingroom (where your surround system is probably set up to begin with) with family around anyway. I guess the point to this rant (and common theme throughout this rant) is the word "enough." I think society as a whole is suffering technology burnout. Things change so quickly that the general population wants to sit on the sideline, see where all these rapid advances eventually take us, and then buy in. Then again, seeing our current political situation, maybe war is the right term for this. A fight that no one wants but big brother insists on.

    --
    Wise men say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
  6. just in time by User+956 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The rumored laser shortage could result in shipment delays for new models of Blu-ray and HD DVD players and drives past the upcoming holiday season, cooling the next-gen DVD format war until 2007.

    Great! That's just in time for me to NOT BUY ONE.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  7. Re:Animal Cruelty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have had ENOUGH of these motherfucking lasers on these motherfucking sharks!