BLU-RAY V.S. HD DVD. Here we go again.
07-15-2004, 09:59 AM
#1
2000 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,142
Well, my new issue of Game Informer just arrived yesterday and it had a nice article in it that caught my eye. Looks like more console and format feuding on the horizon!
Just thought I would post since I figured a few might be interested.
"There is a war being waged for the successor to DVDs to see who will deliver high-definition quality. SONY and it's partners back Blu-Ray Technology, while Toshiba, NEC, and others support HD-DVDs. What does this matter to gaming? Everything from which type of DVD drive the new systems use to whether the gaming industry utilizes these new formats for software.
SONY obviously putting Blu-Ray into it's Playstation 3, and it would be natural for Microsoft to shy away from SONY's format for the Xbox 2. Blu-Ray is attractive due to it's ability to download content directly onto the disc itself. Recent news may confirm that Microsoft is heading towards HD-DVD since it will support the VC-9 codec (among others), which is the basis for Microsoft's Windows Media Video 9. It is assumed that Nintendo will follow its trend of proprietary software formats and come up with something entirely new for the revolution.
Although HD-DVD has the approval of the DVD Forum (which formulates DVD specifications), how this war shakes out will largely depend on what Hollywood thinks is the better direction to go in, but that decision isn't expected until the end of the year. One factor influencing which way Hollywood will lean is in production costs. Whichever format is cheaper to manufacture is likely to get a huge boost. Regardless, it seems like SONY is charging ahead, leaving us on a DVD format collision course reminiscent of the old VHS/Beta war - which SONY famously lost.
BLU-RAY
- A single-layer disc can hold 23.3 GB, 25 GB, or 27 GB, while a dual-layer disc will be able to store 46.6 GB, 50 GB, or 54 GB.
- Allows recording, rewriting, and playback of high-definition television, and is backwards compatible with current DVDs.
- Blu-Ray recorders are currently on sale in Japan for around $3,000, and are expected to appear in the U.S. before the end of the year.
- Dell and Hewlett Packard will offer Blu-Ray drives in their PCs.
HD-DVD (also knows as AOD)
- Disc capacity ranges between 15 GB and 30 GB depending on whether the disc is single/dual-layer and if it's read only/rewritable.
- The format is expected in 2005, and is also backwards compatible.
Ohhhh fun stuff! Looks like we won't ever be seeing games that need two discs. Unless it is absolutely a freakin huge game!
[ July 15, 2004, 11:00 AM: Message edited by: MrEastSide ]
Just thought I would post since I figured a few might be interested.
"There is a war being waged for the successor to DVDs to see who will deliver high-definition quality. SONY and it's partners back Blu-Ray Technology, while Toshiba, NEC, and others support HD-DVDs. What does this matter to gaming? Everything from which type of DVD drive the new systems use to whether the gaming industry utilizes these new formats for software.
SONY obviously putting Blu-Ray into it's Playstation 3, and it would be natural for Microsoft to shy away from SONY's format for the Xbox 2. Blu-Ray is attractive due to it's ability to download content directly onto the disc itself. Recent news may confirm that Microsoft is heading towards HD-DVD since it will support the VC-9 codec (among others), which is the basis for Microsoft's Windows Media Video 9. It is assumed that Nintendo will follow its trend of proprietary software formats and come up with something entirely new for the revolution.
Although HD-DVD has the approval of the DVD Forum (which formulates DVD specifications), how this war shakes out will largely depend on what Hollywood thinks is the better direction to go in, but that decision isn't expected until the end of the year. One factor influencing which way Hollywood will lean is in production costs. Whichever format is cheaper to manufacture is likely to get a huge boost. Regardless, it seems like SONY is charging ahead, leaving us on a DVD format collision course reminiscent of the old VHS/Beta war - which SONY famously lost.
BLU-RAY
- A single-layer disc can hold 23.3 GB, 25 GB, or 27 GB, while a dual-layer disc will be able to store 46.6 GB, 50 GB, or 54 GB.
- Allows recording, rewriting, and playback of high-definition television, and is backwards compatible with current DVDs.
- Blu-Ray recorders are currently on sale in Japan for around $3,000, and are expected to appear in the U.S. before the end of the year.
- Dell and Hewlett Packard will offer Blu-Ray drives in their PCs.
HD-DVD (also knows as AOD)
- Disc capacity ranges between 15 GB and 30 GB depending on whether the disc is single/dual-layer and if it's read only/rewritable.
- The format is expected in 2005, and is also backwards compatible.
Ohhhh fun stuff! Looks like we won't ever be seeing games that need two discs. Unless it is absolutely a freakin huge game!
[ July 15, 2004, 11:00 AM: Message edited by: MrEastSide ]
07-15-2004, 11:42 AM
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
I don't think we will see the day it stops, we will always need increasingly bigger storage space. If the developers have it available, they will continue to use it up [img]smile.gif[/img]
Very interesting stuff though!! How many MP3s would that hold? [img]smile.gif[/img]
Very interesting stuff though!! How many MP3s would that hold? [img]smile.gif[/img]
07-17-2004, 07:14 PM
#4
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 197
'here we go again' is right. realisticaly, a regular 4gig dvd is huge! but as long as we still have storage drives that have mechanical movement, they're still going to be slow. they are the only thing left in a computer that actually physicaly moves (except fans i suppose), and we still measure their access times in milliseconds where everything else is in nanoseconds or less, generaly speaking.
