OPINION: Blu blues
FEB. 22 | I’VE COVERED the high-def format battle longer, perhaps, than any other reporter. I started writing about it sometime back in 2002, when JVC came out with its tape-based D-VHS format, and I had to fight to get stories about it in the paper.
Paul Sweeting is editor of Content Agenda
From there, I followed the development of what became Blu-ray Disc, first as an MPEG 2-based recording format and later as a prerecorded format, as well as HD DVD from its earliest days as the Advanced Optical Disc format.
And now that the format war is well and truly over, I have a strangely empty feeling inside, as if I don’t know what to do with my life…
Just kidding! Thank God that’s over. No one was more tired of writing about that mishugas than me. And it’s to everyone’s benefit that the industry has finally settled on a single, high-def format, particularly the consumer, who can now make a rational decision about whether to upgrade to high-def.
Still, it has been a remarkable story to cover, not least because it’s a story of how individual companies, pursuing narrow, often parochial interests, led to the industry’s adopting what—I’ll now confess—I’ve always believed is the wrong format.
I don’t say that lightly; I have many friends and sources at Blu-ray-affiliated companies whose judgments I respect, who appear sincerely to believe in the benefits of Blu-ray over HD DVD. And as a reporter and analyst, it wasn’t my role to take sides. But I never did buy Blu-ray’s alleged benefits, and I think the industry will pay a price for getting it wrong.
Read the full column at ContentAgenda.com.
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| Submitted by: | Mark Olsen (molsen@cignalsys.com) 2/28/2008 9:30:02 AM PT |
| Location: | Saint Louis, Missouri |
| Occupation: | Systems Engineer |
Just a quick correction, I meant VC-1 not AVC. Got my acronyms crossed. VC-1 being the Microsoft incarnation that is the standard of HD-DVD, AVC being MPEG-4.
| Submitted by: | Mark Olsen (molsen@cignalsys.com) 2/28/2008 8:21:27 AM PT |
| Location: | Saint Louis, Missouri |
| Occupation: | Systems Engineer |
In your full column you mention MPEG-2 and too many options as being negatives with Blu-Ray. I see how some formats have suffered from a plethora of options (say HDTV with too many resolution formats to count) but I submit that sometimes flexibility can be of value too. I think one thing missed in this column is that Blu-Ray allows studios to compress in AVC and all of the same encoding Codec''s HD-DVD offered as well as MPEG-2. After a few mistakes the studios learned quickly what worked and what didn''t, and that it changes depending on what type of content it is (hence the reason for BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF, PSD, etc. in the world of digital media). So whatever reason prompted the greater capacity is now moot with a Blu-Ray encoded in AVC, MPEG-4 etc. Now that capacity can be used for an uncompressed audio track which to me is a great advantage. As for how menus and features are managed, whether it is HDi or Java or BD-live there are always royalties involved. The Microsoft vs. whoever argument will never end. I program using Microsoft''s VB, C# and ASP as well as Sun''s Java and JS and each has it''s strengths and weaknesses.
| Submitted by: | Desiree Blanc (desireeblanc@yahoo.com) 2/25/2008 4:13:47 PM PT |
| Location: | Los Angeles |
Wrong choice? Blu-rays have more storage capacity and can deliver a lengthy high-def movie in full 1080p with uncompressed sound. Try to cram that all on an HD DVD and see what happens. HD DVD was ahead of the curve with features like PiP and Internet connectivity, but it''s nothing Blu-ray can''t do. It''s already happening. HD DVD was like a souped up DVD, but it just didn''t have the capacity for the uncompressed picture and sound high-def enthusiasts would desire. Imagine Lord of the Rings on HD DVD: "Please flip disc now." No thanks.
| Submitted by: | Robert Smith (rsmithjr@covad.net) 2/24/2008 11:53:58 AM PT |
| Location: | Palo Alto |
| Occupation: | software engineer |
Now that you have told us that you had a preference (which was always easy to see by the way), could you please tell us why you preferred HD DVD to Blu-ray? It's not just academic because your reasons may have relevance in the future. Blu-ray had better specs, especially for the long-term; more support from CE vendors and studios; and the PS3 has sold 10M systems so far and is really starting to roll. In contrast, the only thing that HD DVD had was lower prices, which of course were subsidized. What about this is appealing?
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