Editorial: Next Generation DVDs - Not So Great?

[Audioholics]

The DVD Insider once again throws in his opinion on the competing high definition DVD format, but looks at it from a tongu-in-cheek perspective taking into account what we really are looking at in terms of technology and what it will take to get it to market. Are consumers prepared for the potential for incompatibility, DRM issues, and "self-destruct" codes that are sure to hitch a ride on these formats? Read on to find out...

[Read the Editorial]

 

[racquetman]

The home theater world is already too complicated for the common man (or woman). None of this DRM stuff is going to help that any. Confusion will be at an all time high - until the next thing comes along and it is even higher. HTIBs dumbed down the whole home theater setup and allowed people with low budgets and minimal knowledge to get into "the game." This has allowed DVD to prosper, but it will only hinder the growth of these formats as they will certainly not easily integrate themselves into this type of setup.

This research report, http://www.tekrati.com/T2/Analyst_Research/ResearchAnnouncementsDetails.asp?Newsid=5602, says that there is minimal interest in either of the new formats (in a round-about way). It also says that people want low prices and backwards compatibility. Blu-ray camp better make sure that their player can read a regular DVD!!

I'm getting a sinking feeling in my gut that says we few at Audioholics are getting too far ahead of ourselves with these formats. What we see as new and exciting, others may see as overpriced and unnecessary. VHS went pretty quietly, but it was time to phase that format out. DVD isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Heck, DVD has only been around for 8 years or so.

I wouldn't be surprised if these formats ended up in limbo like DVD-A and SACD. I think this stuff is getting pushed on the "average joe" a little too quickly (picture Homer Simpson scratching his head).

 

[BMXTRIX]

I don't know... While I don't agree with Self Destruct codes or anything like that, more advanced copy protection doesn't bug, and shouldn't bug, any law abiding HD disc owners. It should NEVER interfere though.. we'll have to see what happens with that.

I do think the technology may be a bit advanced for most homes, but I think it corresponds nicely with the direction things are headed. If someone is in Best Buy, purchasing a HDTV, odds are pretty good it'll have HDMI on it now. How do you make your HD player work with your new TV? Simply hook it up with a HDMI cable! What about sound? It's already there! How is picture quality? As good, or better than ANY of your options!

Exactly how many types of flash memory cards are currently in your local store? Consumers can remember... Blu-Ray Disc... Blu-Ray Disc...

 

[nav]

Exactly how many types of flash memory cards are currently in your local store? Consumers can remember... Blu-Ray Disc... Blu-Ray Disc...

If my sales experience is any indication, consumers can't tell the difference between memory cards. There's the ever present people that call every memory card the same thing ("I need a SD Memory Stick"), the (pseudo-)acronym impaired and all out dyslexics ("SD, XD, what now?"), and the victims of market-speak ("So, these are all flash based but I need the 'big' one that is known as 'Compact Flash'?"). Honestly, I can see the source of their confusion, heh; I'm just a touch of a camera junkie...

But that's all off topic .

 

[agarwalro]

Hit the nail on the head

Very well written article. No nonsence, only the facts. Loved it.

 

[Audioholics]

I'm getting a sinking feeling in my gut that says we few at Audioholics are getting too far ahead of ourselves with these formats.

I am inclined to agree. In addition, and I've said this before, I think the first generation players will likely spend all of their time wowing people with resolution and all but disregard adequate deinterlacing and jaggie/noise reduction. In essence, they will be just like the first DVD players to hit the market - a majority of which are outclassed by even the most basic progressive scan layers today.

But we can always hope for the best.

 

[Nomo]

I wouldn't be surprised if these formats ended up in limbo like DVD-A and SACD. I think this stuff is getting pushed on the "average joe" a little too quickly (picture Homer Simpson scratching his head).

It's hard for me to imagine them going less into limbo than DVD-A and SACD. Unless Toshiba and/or Sony find a way to properly market the new formats, as they did not with the previous formats, no one is going to know about them or care once they do.
I've been some what excited about Blue-ray. I've simply hoped to limp my DVD-A capable player through another year or two, 'til the dust clears. At this point my feeling is that these guys are gonna completely screw up a perfectly good idea.

 

[BMXTRIX]

...but disregard adequate deinterlacing and jaggie/noise reduction....

One of the few times I gotta disagree with Clint.

The new players are not supposed to do ANY jaggie/noise reduction. They are supposed to pull the digital signal off the disc and provide it to the display device as it is presented on the disc. This DVD crap of having to make things a new format, or upconvert, is completely whacked.

Now, if you buy a film that has been encoded at 720p, you will send it to your display AT 720p. The jaggies will only be there if they were encoded onto the disc that way. Likewise, there should not be noise issues as it comes off the disc digitally and goes digitally (as required) to your display device.

The most noise and jaggies will be introduced by the display devices, not the players.

Well - that would be my opinion at least. As you know... we'll really have to wait and see.

 

[Zer0beaT]

What we see as new and exciting, others may see as overpriced and unnecessary. VHS went pretty quietly, but it was time to phase that format out. DVD isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Heck, DVD has only been around for 8 years or so.

I wouldn't be surprised if these formats ended up in limbo like DVD-A and SACD. I think this stuff is getting pushed on the "average joe" a little too quickly (picture Homer Simpson scratching his head).

This is exactly the way I've been thinking about HDDVD/BluRay these days.

I really have trouble seeing either of these formats making much of a dent. It's too little too soon on the heals of the DVD craze. Isn't there only 10 million HDTV owners in North America right now? These new formats can't even be anything more than niche for the forseeable future.

I think it's going to be another 5 or so years before the mainstream consumer is ready for a new format. And that format will have to offer something truly revolutionary like DVD did over VHS.

There's already better formats out there such as those holographic discs, which are really a substantial step forward, which is what is needed to become a new standard. A subtle evolution like HDDVD/BluRay isn't going to do it in my opinion.

About Holographic disc technology:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/19/toshiba_optware_investment/

"Optware's proposed Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) is the same size as a DVD but holds more than 1TB of information - more than 200 times the capacity of a typical DVD. HVD is faster too, Optware claims, reading data at 1Gbps, 40 times DVD's throughput.

HVD uses a colinear system - essentially the reference and read laser beams are projected along the same axis rather than at an angle through a single objective lens. The upshot is a much simpler system that's better suited to disc media, is smaller and more compatible with DVD and CD.

It's that compatibility which attracted Toshiba's interest, according to the company's HD DVD Promotion Division chief, Hiroharu Satoh, in a statement."

Now THAT sounds like something to get excited about TeraByte!