TV on DVD Buzz

Another DVD format will join Blu-ray and HD-DVD in the high def race. Is this really necessary?

New Medium Enterprises (NME) has announced that is is coming out with a new low-cost red-laser high-definition optical disc format, called HD Versatile Multilayer Disc (HD VMD).

The company plans a formal launch in October of its first NME-branded HD VMD players. A top-of-the-line model will have a suggested retail value of $199.

When it launches, DVD titles for the United States will be limited to a handful of releases from independent producers and international studios offerings, including a large catalog of popular Bollywood titles. NME executives said they are “in talks” with Hollywood studios to produce titles in the format for U.S. releases in the near future.

Source

TV on DVD, High def, HD-DVD, Blu-ray, HD VMD, New Medium Enterprises, NME

I had heard these were on the way!  Samsung, previously a Blu-ray supporter,  has unveiled the first DVD player (the BD-UP5000) to support both HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs. Maybe this is the best answer to the whole issue. No word yet on how much this will cost.

TV on DVD, Samsung, HD-DVD, Blu-ray, BD-UP5000

In light of Paramount & DreamWorks announcement, the Washington Post’s Rob Pegoraro published a good article last week with his opinion on the whole issue. Here’s Rob’s take on the debate:

Here’s what I know:

* Blu-Ray discs can store more data, but until I can record TV programs on a Blu-Ray recorder, it’s a meaningless attribute to me as a customer. Not a single electronics manufacturer seems to have noticed that people like to record TV shows, not just watch them live since only players have reached U.S. stores, even though recorder models have been available in Japan for years. In the meantime, both formats have enough room to accommodate a movie and plenty of interactive hoo-ha (deleted scenes, director’s commentary, making-of features and so on).

* HD DVD’s single most appealing feature is its hybrid-disc option, in which a single disc can contain both a DVD and a high-def version of the movie, meaning you don’t have to buy one copy of the movie for viewing at home and another to watch on your computer. But it’s been half-ignored in practice, with studios either failing to support it at all or reserving it for new releases.

* HD DVD media is supposed to be cheaper to manufacture, but that cost advantage has yet to show up in retail prices.

* Blu-Ray has the more restrictive copying restrictions, but HD DVD’s copy controls are nothing to applaud either. Computing experts cringe at what it will take to incorporate them into new computers. (Of course, these digital locks have already been cracked.)

* Blu-Ray is an extraordinarily lame product name (even if it’s no “Xohm”).

The only safe move continues to be DVD. Get an “upconverting” player and connect it to an HDTV with high-def video cables, and you’ll have a risk-free solution with video quality that falls short of what’s capable, but which should also be good enough for most people.

If enough customers do this, the entire format war might end in the most fitting manner possible: a nothing-nothing tie, with lots of injuries on both teams.

I tend to agree with Rob. Right now, there is too much at stake to invest in one format over the other. I’m waiting this one out. If you’d like to read more, you can find the entire article here.

TV on DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray

Just when I thought I could make a decision and go with Blu-ray in the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD race, Paramount and DreamWorks have thrown me a curve ball. They announced today that they will now exclusively support HD-DVD. Here’s the press release:

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) and DreamWorks Animation SKG (NYSE: DWA), each announced today that they will exclusively support the next-generation HD DVD format on a worldwide basis. The exclusive HD DVD commitment will include all movies distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films, as well as movies from DreamWorks Animation, which are distributed exclusively by Paramount Home Entertainment.

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Are you as confused as I about these new DVD formats? Which one should I pick? Which has better features? Will one of these go the way of the Sony BetaMax and leave me hanging?

I did a litte research on the two formats, and while I still don’t know which one to choose, I’m a little more informed. Here’s a table comparing the info I found:

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