RSSToshiba Shows Prototype That Records High-Def to DVD
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published October 4, 2007, 5:41 PM
On the very same day that the president of Matsushita Electric, the parent company of Panasonic, proclaimed at the CEATEC electronics show in Chiba that the format war for high-definition recorders was already over in Japan and customers there had already overwhelmingly chosen Blu-ray, Toshiba showed a prototype of an HD DVD recorder capable of burning up to two hours of 4 Mbps MPEG-4 high-definition video. That video is apparently being burned using a red laser -- not blue -- to an ordinary DVD-R, DVD-RW, or DVD-RAM disc.
As first reported in English by CDRinfo, Toshiba's RD-X7 would not be the first high-def recorder to support DVD - Sony has a handful of Blu-ray recorders planned for this holiday season. But it would be the first to support a new file format adopted just three weeks ago by the DVD Forum, caretaker of the HD DVD format, called "HD Rec."
Based on preliminary information, Toshiba is probably achieving that two-hour span of 1080p red-laser recording using dual-layer capacity DVD-Rs (8.5 GB), not single-layer (4.7 GB). Still, it's a head-turning feature that could take advantage of some latent similarities between DVD and HD DVD mechanisms that Blu-ray consoles cannot exploit.
But it doesn't appear that product will be ready for Christmas, although two other Toshiba models without the HD Rec feature remain scheduled for release in Japan for the holiday season.
As news continues to emerge from CEATEC, there doesn't appear to have been any sighting of Samsung's BD-UP5000 dual-format player. Earlier this week, one enthusiasts' blog cited an unnamed source as stating the dual-format player would be delayed from its intended October release, and that another high-end Blu-ray model would be cancelled.
Several other sources appeared to confirm that information to BetaNews throughout the week, though as it turned out, they were getting that information from the same blog, or from other blogs citing that blog.
Samsung has never officially confirmed any delay, though members of the AV Science Forum have given mixed reports, some saying they expect to see shipments later this month as originally planned, others expecting early November.
With so much interest in the very idea of dual-format players, you would think there might be more potential customers than just two -- LG and Samsung -- for dual-format "system-on-a-chip" chipsets. Earlier this week, Israel-based Horizon Semiconductors joined Broadcom and NEC in this market, for a total of three suppliers for a total field of two manufacturers. Horizon's value proposition is built around the ability to handle 1920 x 1080p resolution at a full 60 frames per second.
But yesterday, according to TWICE Magazine, Matsushita President Fumio Ohtsubo reiterated his company's stance that it "would never introduce such a stupid product." In response to a question about whether LG's or Samsung's success could make the Panasonic parent change its mind, Ohtsubo reportedly said bluntly he would never take the suggestion of "those stupid companies."
Apparently, HD DVD camp are having trouble making recorders, so have to resort to abortion solutions like this.
OhDear..
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|"Apparently, HD DVD camp are having trouble making recorders, so have to resort to abortion solutions like this."
- You really are an ignorant moron.
Clearly you don't even know the specs of your own 'beloved'.
X30 and recording to regular DVD5 & DVD9 has always been a part of the HD DVD specs.
It gives the HD DVD buying public additional options and choices and will work on all HD DVD players sold to date.
.....and even tho it would appear that the Blu-ray side have resolutely decided not to bother with it they too have something similar (BD9) in their specs (at the insistance of Warner).
Idiot.
"OhDear..
"
- Yeah I'd be saying 'Oh dear' too if I was guilty of such ignorant & ill-informed obvious partisan shill-trolling.
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|As opposed to an infinished format that doesnt play new releases?
Now they need a quick firmware fix. How are they going to update the players without an ethernet?
Most people don't know anything about making a formware update disc.
Blu-Ray suck a fat ass.
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|That's not igrorance. It's jealousy.
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|hmmm, too long to wait...
but I might be one of the no-siders to take up HDdvd if this recording format is above decent. I can then burn my HD home movies...cheaper that is...hopefully, maybe...who knows, lol
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|"Matsus***a President Fumio Ohtsubo reiterated his company's stance that it "would never introduce such a stupid product." In response to a question about whether LG's or Samsung's success could make the Panasonic parent change its mind, Ohtsubo reportedly said bluntly he would never take the suggestion of "those stupid companies."
- LMAO
How dumb are these guys, as if BD doesn't have enough troubles right now.
With these kinds of arrogant and highly insensitive comments (think fairly recent Japanese/Korean history) we have a recipe for Samsung & LG do drop BD altogether.
What a jerk.
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|Bits are bits. You can put HD-DVD format video on any digital storage device you wanted. Be it a BluRay disc, HDD, DVD, CD, flash drive, or even a floppy disc provided you had one large eonugh.
This is NOT news. Such formats have been used for many years in the movie piracy scene. However it is neat that such a format would be officially supported.
Oh and Alex Stevens. This is NOT full quality HD-DVD video. Your comment shows exactly how little you know about the stuff you comment on.
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|Sounds like a Blu-Shill has gotten a bit defensive...poor thing.
Toshiba does something: It's not news
Sony does something: It's miraculous!
The news is this recorder, not the ability to put bits on any format. Do try to keep up. Yes this is just 4mbps but it's a standard DVD. My point was for the Blu-Ray fanboys that still try to claim that HD DVD isn't big enough, which is a trememdous load of crap.
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|boy did you miss he point. But then the only thing you focused on is the fact I called you out on yer lamer comment though didnt you?
Democrats b**** about Republicans
Republicans b**** about Democrats
HD-DVD morns b**** about BluRay morons
BlueRay morons b**** about HD-DVD morns
YAWN....
For the record I couldn't care less about Sony.
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|"This is NOT full quality HD-DVD video".
- You're right, no it's not.
But that still doesn't alter the fact that with a nice X264 encode even at 4mbps I can end up with a very nice quality and very acceptable HD movie which is visually obviously totally superior to regular DVD.
IMO this is a nice addition to the HD DVD format.
(I just wish they'd hurry up and add Divx/Xvid support & .mkv container support to the format)
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|"For the record I couldn't care less about Sony."
Yeah, I hear that a lot from you guys when things are going bad for you. What is your usual handle by the way? Dave? Steve?
Yawn indeed.
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|It's excellent quality I'm sure. My only point was if Toshiba didn't do it some movie piracy group would have. None standard video formats that use disc formats they were never intended to run on is very common. Even burning HD-DVD content onto a BluRay disc and taking advantage of the extra space to further boost HD-DVD video quality is VERY feasible and is likely to happen in the future in some way or another. I think to many people associate the physical disc with the actual contents possible on that disc and they should not.
My additional point was certain people shoudlen't have used this as an excuse to further fanboy up an issue thats already full of enough fanboys. The last time I checked the point was to watch movies not stair at corporate logos stamped on discs. I don't think I have to name names.
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|"My only point was if Toshiba didn't do it some movie piracy group would have."
- What do you mean 'would have'?!
Where have you been?
The net is awash with excellent encodes & rips of HD DVD & Blu-ray movies.
"None standard video formats that use disc formats they were never intended to run on is very common."
- Yeah but this is where folks are getting it wrong.
This isn't a 'non-standard' format, the use of DVD5 & DVD9 has always been a part of the HD DVD standard (and there is also the X30 method which isn't 'encoded down' to become available too as a standard part of the HD DVD specs).
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|Yea those are valid points. I'm aware of the many HD-DVD and BluRay rips but am not aware of any of them being striped down to fit on DVD-R.
I am aware of DVD video being part of the HD-DVD standard but I have only herd of it as DVD format video on an HD-DVD disc. The 3x format. I haven't herd of it the other way around. You could be right though.
I just don't consider it "news" other then the fact it is officially supported so unlike most of those hacked formats it will work on console players. Cool just not news. Thats honestly irrelevant though.
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|Typical xenophobic statements from Ootsubo against Korean companies...
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|Yeah, that guy sounds like a d***.
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|But, but Sony told me we need more gigabytes! HD-DVDs weren't supposed to be big enough and now Toshiba can put HD movies on regular dual layer DVDs? Impossible!
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|I don't think 2 hours is enough to cover off all the variations of HD audio and 'interactive' content that is supposed to 'wow' us with HDi... not to mention the movies that are more than 120 minutes long. You still need a new player, and with HD and BD making their way down the price ladder, is their really room for yet another format that needs a new player? Since HD is stamped on DVD machines, it doesn't even save money there... It just seems like they are re-inventing the advantages HD-DVD already claims...
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|Normal DVDs are CHEAP, that is the point. No one said these will work on regular players, and they don't have to be used for a two hour movie. Since they are recordable I believe they would be targetted more at user created content. Now you can record your home movies in full HD on a regular dual layer DVD. They certainly aren't meant to replace or compete with standard HD discs either, just an additional perk.
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|That's just the thing, you CAN'T record anything without the new drive, or play it back without the new drive. Why not just save H.264 on whatever you want, or just stream it to your PS3/Xbox360/AppleTV and skip the whole 'Hey mom, you need to buy a new player' thing altogether? Might as well buy the HD or BD burner...
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