HD-DVD 

 

Laser Blu ha perso la lotta?  

TOKYO --(Business Wire)-- Nov. 29, 2004 -- Toshiba Corporation disclosed today that the company has received separate commitments of support from Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Warner Bros. Studios, respectively for the next-generation, high-definition DVD disc format, HD DVD. HD DVD is the newly developed high definition DVD disc standard being developed at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies. HD DVD innovations include higher resolution video and audio available on a suite of disc capacities adaptable for longer or shorter programs - along with advanced navigation, web connectivity, and new consumer options. HD DVD supports such essential features as advanced content access and robust content security technology, which are critical to the studios. A single, dual-layer HD DVD ROM disc, which has a 30-gigabyte capacity, can hold as much as eight hours of high-quality, high definition movie content. HD DVD is based on the same physical disc structure as DVD, which secures easy backward compatibility with today's DVD, and enables manufacture of highly reliable hardware and discs at a reasonable cost. Mr. Tadashi Okamura, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation, said: "We are delighted that the HD DVD format has been independently endorsed by Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Warner Bros. Studios. We sought to contribute to development of the format through a close dialogue with Hollywood studios and extensive technical discussions within the DVD Forum, an approach that has been validated by these endorsements. "HD DVD offers the necessary combination of picture quality, content security and advanced features, including interactivity, plus reasonable manufacturing costs. We believe this is why HD DVD is gaining broad acceptance and has won the support of each of these four leading studios," Mr. Okamura continued. "Endorsement of HD DVD by these leading Hollywood studios is a great impetus to assuring the timely launch of HD DVD and to assuring that consumers have a range of attractive choices in both hardware and software. Major Hollywood studios are expected to release a number of movie titles, including new releases, to support the smooth progress of HD DVD in its initial year. Hundreds of other titles will also be available from other international content holders." The DVD Forum has been working on the fine details of the HD DVD specifications for almost two years, including physical, file format and application specifications for recordable and ROM discs. The DVD Forum approved the version 1.0 physical specifications for HD DVD-ROM in February 2004, followed by version 1.0 of the HD DVD-Rewritable format in September 2004. Completion of the HD DVD-R, a one-time recordable format, is also expected by year end. "Every facet of HD DVD development is on track," said Yoshihide Fujii, President and CEO, Toshiba's Digital Media Network Company. "As we enter the age of high-definition broadcasting, consumers increasingly want HD content for their high definition, large-screen displays, and HD DVD naturally fits in with this trend. HD DVD will open up new horizons in visual entertainment." "With the emergence of a wide range of advanced digital devices, assurance of robust content protection is of primary importance to the sound development of both the hardware and software industries," said Mr. Fujii. "We intend to reinforce close collaboration and dialogue with other hardware manufacturers, content holders and software distributors to meet this objective." The HD DVD format will enable the most advanced content protection technology; AACS (Advanced Access Content System), currently being developed by major international CE, IT companies and Hollywood studios, is expected to be selected. HD DVD players are expected to become available in late 2005 and widely available in 2006. Toshiba plans to launch its first HD DVD products, a CE player and recorder, in the fourth quarter of 2005. The company also plans to release notebook PC with a built-in HD DVD drive at the end of 2005.  

 

Quindi ill prossimo anno sono annunciati dalle Major cinematografive gli HD-DVD,che con nuovi lettori potranno essere letti in alta definizione e con un NUOVO dolby di maggior qualita'.Il decoder attuale nell'ampli e' totalmente inutile sara' inutilizzato.I nuovi lettori universali ed i futuri HD-DVD hanno/ avranno il decoder nel lettore:soldi sprecati averlo in ampli HT integrati peraltro malsuonanti in relaione al loro costo. 

Sono inoltre stati annunciati (per il 2005)HD-DVD ibridi:quindi nello stesso disco ci saranno sia le tracce normali,lette da un normale lettore dvd, che quelle HD-DVD che richiederanno i nuovi lettori.Lettori che leggeranno sia dischi dvd che i nuovi hd-dvd con la nuova decodifica dolby.Questi dischi non potranno essere decodificati dagli attuali decoder dei HT integrati.Peraltro il decoder sara' nei lettori,inutile averli in nuovi ampli HT integrati.Ora si comprende meglio l'assurdita' di avere i decoder associati agli amplificatori. 

Gli amplificatori sono tra i prodotti meno soggetti ad obsolescenza, integrandoli con i decoder come hanno fatto con gli integrati Ht vuol dire renderli periodicamente obsoleti. 

 

 

By I-net 

Kralizec writes "PC World reports that Memory-Tech has developed a dual DVD, HD-DVD disc, which stores DVD content on the upper layer and HD-DVD content on the lower. The DVD data can be read by standard DVD players, giving customers the incentive to buy now, and reap future benefits by buying an HD-DVD player at a later time. Blu-ray suffered a heavy blow when HD-DVD gained the support of four major movie studios; could this be the knockout punch?" (The format was developed jointly with Toshiba.)  

 

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So, why do so many Hollywood studios want their HD-DVD? Probably because they're a whole lot cheaper to manufacture 

 

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The current specification version for HD-DVD-ROM and HD-DVD-Rewritable is version 1.0. The specification for HD-DVD-R is currently at 0.9. The first HD DVD-ROM drives are expected to be unveiled by Q4 2004, with mass production to start in Q1 2005. 

 

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The four Hollywood studios are Warner Bros. Studios, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and New Line Cinema. Support from U.S. film studios is seen as vital in this format battle, just as it was when the VHS standard prevailed over Sony's Betamax two decades ago.  

They represent about 45 percent of Hollywood's prepackaged DVD sales in the United States, Toshiba said.  

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The discs contain two layers, an upper DVD layer with a capacity of 4.7GB and a lower HD-DVD layer with a15GB capacity, says Masato Otsuka, general manager of Memory-Tech's engineering department. 

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Memory-Tech has already produced prototypes of the new type of discs and tested them in about 200 DVD players, including DVD recorders and PC drives. But it will take up to six months for the specifications for the discs to be completed, says Otsuka. 

 

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Toshiba, together with NEC and Sanyo Electric which are also backing the HD-DVD specification, all plan to have hardware on shelves at about the same time at the end of next year. These products include a sub-$1000 HD-DVD player by Toshiba and hard drives for PCs coming from NEC. 

 

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The three-format drive supports playback of read-only (ROM) and rewritable versions (RW) of HD-DVD and read-only, write-once (R) and RW versions of CDs and DVDs.