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1. Comment - Unified Next-Gen DVD Format Unlikely

   (May 28, 2005 - 12:16 PM)

   “HD-DVD discs will play in older DVD players”
   
   No, it won’t. HD-DVD discs will NOT play in older DVD players.
   
   Read what you posted man!!! This is a “hybrid ROM disc” containing HD-DVD and standard DVD layers, not simply a HD-DVD. It is essentially a DVD and a HD-DVD glued back to back with the DVD on one side and the HD-DVD on the other. A standard DVD player can only read the standard DVD side. It cannot read the HD-DVD layers and will not read or play a HD-DVD disc.
   
   To say a hybrid ROM disc will play in older DVD players is correct as it’s the same as saying a DVD will play in a DVD player. To say a HD-DVD will play in a standard DVD player (which is what you keep saying) is absolute and total nonsense.
   
   It is physically impossible for a HD-DVD disc to be read by a red laser DVD player. It is impossible for a MPEG2 DVD player to decode VC-1 or H.264. A HD-DVD will not play in older DVD players!
   
   As I’ve mentioned JVC demonstrated a four layer hybrid disc which has two blu-ray layers and two DVD layers, which would play on a standard DVD player. It is equally possible to produce hybrid DVD/blu-ray ROM discs as DVD/HD-DVD hybrid discs. However unlike the Toshiba disc you have mentioned which is double sided with two layers on each side the JVC hybrid disc is single sided with four layers on one side. I hate double sided discs since it's hard to get them out the box without touching the data side, so I'd much rather have the single sided blu-ray solution. I also think double sided discs are more expensive to make than two single sided discs which is why you always get two disc packs instead of a single double sided disc
   
   In conclusion then:
   
   1) HD-DVDs will not play on a standard DVD player as you repeatedly claim.
   2) Hybrid discs have been demonstrated for both formats that can be played in a standard DVD player, but the Toshiba disc only has 30GB HD-DVD + 9.6GB DVD capacity and has the inconvenience of being double sided, while the blu-ray disc had 50GB blu-ray + 9.6GB DVD all one side.
   
   Therefore Blu-ray offers superior backward compatibility if that is the way the industry had to go to make the change more gradual. Personally though I think we’re more likely to see separate releases in favour of hybrid discs of either format.
   
   Regardless, for there end consumer HD-DVD offers substantially less than blu-ray, but sadly in most cases the end consumer is as clueless as yourself and unable to make an informed decision.

2. Comment - Unified Next-Gen DVD Format Unlikely

   (May 27, 2005 - 6:14 PM)

   A HD-DVD will NOT play on a standard DVD player. Current DVDs are read with red lasers. Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray use blue lasers to read the disc. Blue light has a smaller wavelength than red light, which allows for the greater density of data storage. A red laser could not physically read the data on a HD-DVD or blu-ray disc because the wavelength of the light in the red laser is too great.
   
   “We have not seen any tests of Blu-ray discs in traditonal DVD players.” The reason we haven’t seen any tests of blu-ray disks in a traditional DVD player is because anyone with a most basic knowledge would know it would not work, and neither would a HD-DVD. The only way either disk would play in a standard DVD player is to have standard DVD layers on the disc. It is physically impossible for a HD-DVD or blu-ray disc to be read with a red laser.
   
   But let’s just ignore the electromagnetic spectrum for a minute and assume that the red laser in current players could read HD-DVD discs; there’s still the problem of the codecs. Most current DVD players only support MPEG2 while the HD-DVD standard also encorporate VC-1 and H.264. Since MPEG2 is over ten years old and rather inefficient for encoding HD video most releases will be encoded in VC-1 or H.264. Since the majority of current DVD players lack the software and processing power to decode VC-1 or H.264 video there is absolutely no chance of you playing a HD-DVD on a current DVD player.
   
   So, either Toshiba have mastered the art of some form of black magic that changes the wavelength of light, increases the processing power in the player and universally adjusts the firmware of any DVD player to add two additional video codecs (not to mention the audio codecs) or you’re talking nonsense.
   
   It seems the only people supporting HD-DVD are those without a clue, and they’re supporting it with inaccurate or completely false information. It just amazes me that people come out with nonsense statements from thin air with seemingly know knowledge of what they’re talking about.

3. Comment - Unified Next-Gen DVD Format Unlikely

   (May 27, 2005 - 2:22 PM)

   Explain to me how blu-ray is inferior to HD-DVD? The highest capacity disc we’ve seen from Toshiba is a 45GB three layer disc, which is still smaller than the dual layer 50GB blu-ray.
   
   TDK recently a four layer 100GB 2x (72Mbit/s) disc which they’ve submitted to the blu-ray disc association for approval as standard. While that might not be showing up until 2007 dual layer blu-ray discs are still 11% larger than three layer HD-DVDs.
   
   The two formats support the same codecs so it just comes down to the physical media and with a substantially greater capacity and higher data transfer rate exactly how does Blu-ray look “a little bit inferior” to HD-DVD?
   
   It seems to me that your opinion is entirely based on a dislike of Sony than any real information. I'm not a huge fan of Sony myself, with the poor reliability their products have offered in recent years, but I want the highest quality audio and video possible on the next generation optical movie disc standard and in that respect I’m fully behind blu-ray.

4. Comment - Unified Next-Gen DVD Format Unlikely

   (May 27, 2005 - 11:19 AM)

   HD-DVD is no more backwardly compatible than Blu-ray as neither format can be read by a current DVD player. Backward compatibility is achieved by adding a standard DVD layer to the disc, which is equally achievable on either format.
   
   Up until recently HD-DVD could only have two layers, which leaves only 4.8GB for the DVD movie and 15GB for the HD movie, which isn’t enough for either. Toshiba did demonstrate a 3 layer disc last week, but that still leaves insufficient space for either the standard definition or the HD movie.
   
   JVC demonstrated a blu-ray disc with two DVD layers and two blu-ray layers giving 9.8GB for the DVD movie and 50GB for the HD movie, making blu-ray superior for backwards compatibility.
   
   There is a misconception that HD-DVD is cheaper, though there is no data to back this up. Even if it were cheaper it would make no difference to the end consumer and both formats will have the same retail price. The manufacturing costs for VHS tapes are far higher than that of DVD and yet they sell for significantly less, because studios set their price point based on the market and not on the media cost.
   
   Players of both formats will play current DVDs, both support the same three video codecs and both will be priced at the same level. Ultimately it comes down to storage capacity and HD-DVD does not have sufficient capacity for HD movies with lossless HD audio, nor is a single layer sufficient for a standard definition movie. HD DVD will have to use a higher level off compression leading to low quality, artefact ridden video and audio. Blu-ray has sufficient storage for HD video and audio without the need to compress them aggressively, so is the only sensible choice.