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They announced that in January. Still nothing.Originally Posted by go
There has been speculation that there could be compatibility issue with current players. That could explain a delay in utilizing 51 GB discs. Of course, it could've just been a PR move. They're in what could be described as a desperate time for them. Pulling punches now wouldn't help their cause.
Nobody seems to know. I've read that they are researching them, but there's no guarantee that current players will be able to view data on them. Blu-ray is working on a 200GB disc as well, but it is being designed for data storgage purposes only, not for home theater usage.
I agree wholeheartedly with the opinion of this writer.
http://www.contentagenda.com/article...632119574.html
I don't download music or movies, I don't purchase anything online. I like to talk to or look real people in the eye when I buy something and always want to have product in hand vs. sight unseen buying. Real media appeals to the neo-luddite in me. The computer is already too invasive a need in our lives, I sure the hell don't want to give it another hook into it.
There's no way that VOD can come anywhere CLOSE to meeting the demands of the consumer by the time this format war comes to an end.
And trust me . . . compression will be a much more important issue in the Video format that it is in the audio format. The average person cannot detect various levels of audio compression, but it is MUCH more apparent in the world of video. Watching an HD movie over broadcast/cable/SAT versus watching one on next-gen disc is a huge difference.
Music also benefitted greatly by the need to take it on the go - while you walk, in your car, etc. Movies, on the other hand, are designed for sitting at home.
How many movie collectors are there?
How many just watch that movie they bought once?
My wife is content with Amazon Unbox on our Tivo. On our little TV in our bedroom it looks fine. And yes it does download fast. The biggest problem in my eyes is the 24 hour thing. A lot of people are saying this. Hopefully they will change soon.
The only movies that I buy now are for my kids. DVD is perfect being mostly animation and making backups does not take that long.
This is where the VOD and "format war" lines blur, as the download "future", that some are getting behind, effects SD and HD content.
More folks are buying vehicles with rear entertainment systems in them, so the "portable" need for video is changing a bit. To not be able to burn that downloaded VOD title would suck greatly. Obviously, this is not a consumer-friendly non-feature.
The gear that will be required by the consumer for VOD/Downloading is probably more than they want to spend or want "cluttering" their living room. On top of the fact that not everyone has high-speed net access, so that "acceptable" download time becomes a larger factor.
HD discs, whether it's HD DVD or Blu-ray, are in the same position DVD was 10 years ago. Some folks see the value in their dollar for greatly improved audio and video, and some don't. Just as VHS consumers did 10 years ago when people were buying DVD players and movies.
Does VOD/downloading have a future? It's very probable. Will it be successful in the near future? I don't think so.
Judging by DVD being the most successful home media format of all time - I would say there are plenty.
An interesting question - and there are certainly titles on my shelf that I haven't given a second viewing. It's certainly not out of the question, though. The thing is . . . for a new release that sells for say $15, it's still cheaper for two people to buy a movie, take it home, watch it at their own convience and leisure and then OWN IT that to go to the theater down the street - and that's without a visit to the concession.How many just watch that movie they bought once?
Having just seen Oceans 13 on Sunday, I've gotta say that HD media has almost ruined my theater experience. I found myself very distracted by subpar film elements that have been very much absent on most HD home releases.
As a major HD disc support, I'm not sure the boats are exactly the same. For someone like myself, and I suggest probably you, we can appreciate the quality difference and act on those factors alone.
DVD did offer so much more over VHS than we're seeing in this transaction. Non-deteriorating shelf space, easy storage, quick access/no rewinding, etc. provided the average consumer MUCH more that they are going to get over this next step. Mathematically, quality is actually even MORE improved this time around, but public education is such that it's hard to demonstrate it. Remember, there are a lot of people with HDTVs in their homes that believe they are watching High Definition by just turning on their regular satellite dish or SD-DVD, because it "fills the whole screen", so it must be HD. I asked a friend of mine how he liked his new TV and he was like "It's nice and all, but I just don't think HDTV looks all that better, especially on a bigger screen." I went over to his house and, even though he had an antenna hooked up, he was watching plain old channel "7". I grabbed the remote and entered "7.1", and his eyeballs almost fell out of his head.
I won't even get into some of the more advanced audio formats, which are still in their infancy stage in regards to people actually being able to hear them. Fox included several DTS-HD Master Audio tracks despite absolutely no home receivers capable of decoding them, and in fact most players not even being able to output them.
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