Sony willing to compromise on Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD?
posted March 24th 2005 11:07AM
Is Sony opening the door to some sort of truce between Blu-ray and HD-DVD? It's seems way late in the game to be talking about unifying the two warring high-def disc standards, esp. considering how much HD-DVD and Blu-ray hardware is already in the pipeline, but incoming Sony prez Ryoji Chubachi said an interview earlier today that they "haven't totally given up on the possibility of integration or compromise," and that Sony, which is backing Blu-ray hardcore, understands that having "two rival formats is disappointing." (You can say that again, brother.) This is actually the second time this year that a top Sony exec has indicated that they're willing to work things out with the companies that are backing HD-DVD (like Toshiba and NEC), but the question is, what are they going to do to make it happen? If there was an easy or obvious compromise to be found it probably would have happened already. Where was all this conciliatory talk two years ago?
The "compromise" would be over the patent issue. One of the main reasons Sony got behind Blu-Ray so hardcore was because of its continuing anger over having to pay patents to Time Warner and Toshiba for the DVD format when they themselves compromised back in the day to have a single unified successor disc to VHS. Sony probably wants some type of equitable swap. That and dropping AV-1 from the list of supported codecs.
Sony's been banking hard coin for every CD produced, getting a percentage of every pressed disc, and they'd like to continue more of the same with the next HD video disc.
Going from an analog vinyl or tape-based format to digital disc was more enticing to consumers than a move to either DVD-Audio/SACD or Blue-Ray/HD-DVD. They've got the convenience and decent sound/picture on current digital media. I think it's going to take alot more than a little more resolution to get anyone to replace their entire media again. What else will it take? I haven't heard of anything yet. But as long as it's backwards compatible, and if it starts getting into all new players (like progressive scan) and there are enough being sold that video stores actually begin to stock the new discs, only then will it get to the point of being "adopted."
What must be remembered, and we have short memories, the Japanese do not behave as portrayed by the media, digital[internet;CNET,ZDNet, etc] or print[PC World, PC Mag, Wired, etc]. Toshiba invented the slant azimuth spinning video head system used by all video makers, Sony invented the "M" load system then sold the rights to JVC, along with the "U"
used in the "U"matic and Beta systems.
Toshiba, Philips, Sony and others worked on the DVD system, then Toshiba along with others including Warner jealous of Sony/Philips jumped off to develope further a system incompatible to the original. Toshiba and Warner had a previous "marriage" of sorts.
BUT, hey we overlook fact that Sony, IBM & ,whoa, TOSHIBA are colabbing on the "Cell" chip for PLAYSTATION 3. A BIG GOLDEN EGG if you ask me. So, who needs who? I would think they all do...behind the scenes the Japanese arent what the media have us believe.
who cares, as it is now the prices for dual layer DVD-r media are retarded, imagine what Blu-Ray or HD-DVD will cost...... either way it's the consumer who loses.
Just correxion and further comments to my prev comments. Add.."...sold to JVC and used in VHS system..."
Hollywood would be foolhardy to back one system and must insist as did on original DVD that manufacturers unify a ROM system. Recordability matters not as evidenced now by the proliferation and iterations of DVD R+/R-/RAM. So, to conclude ROM is the decider for films, NOT the recordability.
Anyway, Ble-Ray having more backers means more hardware/software availability at short lead times. With only NEC and Tosh making the hardware, who's going to make the media...ROM or otherwise, to meet the demand?
ROGRAS