Warner to unveil Total HD hybrid Blu-ray HD DVD discs at CES

People love to continue to characterize Blu-ray and HD DVD as VHS vs. BetaMax -- but it's vaguely reassuringly quite different. This time around we aren't contending with physical cartridge incompatibilities and differing analog tape types, thankfully now it's blu-laser based optical discs which do operate differently, but are at least different in the same physical form factor. Enter Warner's finally-commercialized Total HD discs, the hybrid double-sided Blu-ray HD DVD discs we originally heard about being patented are now being commercialized and introduced at CES next week. Of course, so long as some studios don't release in both formats on the same disc (say, for example, Sony Pictures Entertainment), this disc actually hinders the unwitting user who buys content that isn't double-sided, thinking that Blu-ray and HD DVD formats are no longer relevant in day to day buying decisions. We know this is indeed a great stopgap for all those crossover movies released in multiple formats, but we really think it's the hybrid players, not discs, that are going to save the day during this format war.

[Thanks, Ezra]

[Graham @ Jan 4th 2007 6:12AM]

The Cheapest Really....I've just bought myself a lightscribe cd worth more than a normal dvd and I swore...
I loved the Dual DVD 8GB but Till now only bought 2.
I just bought 100 DVDS

THE CHEAPEST WILL RULE THE WORLD!

[sumdum gai @ Jan 4th 2007 6:25AM]

Double sided discs? Ugh! Seems like a pretty ghetto solution. So one side is Blu-Ray, the other HD-DVD? I especially like the inset photo, as if this disc is some sort of scientific breakthrough.

[Saurabh Minni @ Jan 4th 2007 6:36AM]

This can actually stop the war by reducing 2 formats to 2 different DVD players

[nivz @ Jan 4th 2007 6:37AM]

I have a solution! make double sided players.. HDDVD's on one side, turn the player upside down and it it's Bluray player.. kinda like a 360 HDDVD drive superglued to a PS3.. :D

[_man1c_ @ Jan 4th 2007 6:49AM]

SOny and Toshiba am owned..

[embee @ Jan 4th 2007 7:14AM]

Brad Pitt works in a DVD fab plant? WTF?

[lupinstel @ Jan 4th 2007 8:41AM]

Thats not Brad Pitt, its a young Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller).

[Jason - GorillaSushi @ Jan 4th 2007 7:16AM]

I seem to be the only person who thinks combo players are a horrible idea. Every time I bring it up, I get trashed but if anyone's interested here's my reasoning...
http://gorillasushi.com/?q=node/133

[thumbs @ Jan 4th 2007 7:38AM]

its really too bad, now sony will profit from another attempt to lean on consumers with a proprietary format. I was really hoping blu-ray would go down in a ball of flames

[Johnson @ Jan 4th 2007 9:25AM]

yeah thumbs...screw sony and their proprietary format. they should be like toshiba and make their technology open source and free to use and distribute to everyone. tool.

[Chris @ Jan 4th 2007 7:49AM]

Is anyone else annoyed by this Blu-Ray and HD-DVD crap? I find it interesting that the powers that be don't want us lowly consumers (the one's driving their paychecks) downloading from say, iTunes or any other online store (if Walmart and Amazon join in, that would be good, too). They are so concerned about their profits that they don't want downloadable movies to ruin their bottom line. However, did they once consider that having two competing formats would make consumers throw their arms up in the air and decide to just stop buying DVD's all together. Which would then would drive us to downloads, or On Demand, or some other method that bypasses this BS?

[Mike @ Jan 4th 2007 9:31AM]

I don't want downloads or on-demand. Why? Because prices aren't that much less and your downloads have NO resale value.

Tired of that album you downloaded from iTunes. Tough shizzle. You can't drive down to your local CD Warehouse and trade it in for a few bucks. Same goes for video downloads.

I DO like having the option of downloading an occasional TV show that I missed and being able to take it on the road, but that's not something I do often. If those downloads could be burned to DVD, it will be a little more enticing, but I want the best quality. Right now, it comes on pre-packaged media.

People don't realize the rights they are giving up when they go with the on-demand/digital download route.

[Mike @ Jan 4th 2007 8:11AM]

I think this would be a good idea *IF* the price was low. DVD/HDDVD combo discs are obscenely expensive... how much will these cost?

[Nate @ Jan 4th 2007 8:13AM]

Did you just ask If anyone was annoyed??

[thumbs @ Jan 4th 2007 3:04PM]

It doesn't need to be open source, but sony has had tendancies to try and leverage formats against consumers. Beta max, memory stick, umd. all of these put up barriers and ultimatly give us, the consumer, less choice. Blu ray is not about provididng the best product for us, its about locking down revenue for a decade.

[Flip Sasser @ Jan 4th 2007 10:18AM]

Didn't the MPAA decide that two formats meant two copies which meant two prices? Like, didn't they say that content-shifting from a DVD to a PSP was illegal because you had to buy it on the PSP, too? By that logic, will these discs cost twice as much?

[Vince @ Jan 4th 2007 11:03AM]

I don't like this idea. I'd rather not pay Sony royalties when I buy an HD-DVD disc. I'd rather have a standard DVD on the other side so I can still play it in my laptop or loan it to buddies. Oh, and I hate Sony.

[Thomas Trautman @ Jan 4th 2007 11:18AM]

I think the dual sided disk idea is to help the common consumer to be less confused. We are in a time where home entertainment is moving quickly to HD content.

Many people just cannot understand the change. My girlfriend's parent just bought a 52" HDTV and really think they are watching HD shows just because the local news says it's being broadcast in HD. I tried to explain they needed a new cable box, but you know those older folks...get off my lawn.

The Blue Ray/HD DVD duality may be here to stay simply because of how complicated it can become to understand.

Not everyone reads engadget.

http://www.vequalsir.com

[Nephlet @ Jan 4th 2007 1:39PM]

Hi,
Does anyone know how I can send in a HOW-TO to Engadget?

Thank You!

[Rick wilson @ Jan 4th 2007 5:48PM]

ENGADGET: Your example of a movie company only supporting one format should have been Universal only supporting HD-DVD because that is the only company supporting HD-DVD, using Sony as the example for supporting blu-ray would leave you with a long list of companies that only support blu-ray, not only one (seemingly picking on Sony, when Universal is the only one sticking with a loosing format).

Your statement should have read:
Of course, so long as some studios don't release in both formats on the same disc (say, for example, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney, MGM, and Lions Gate)

OR it should have read:
Of course, so long as some studios don't release in both formats on the same disc (say, for example, Universal)

Once its in that perspective, everyone should be trying to figure out why Universal is the only company trying to force HD-DVD down our throats? Everyone else is with Blu-ray.

[NM_Bill @ Jan 5th 2007 1:43PM]

We can't ignore the influence/pressure to be applied by Microsoft being committed to HD DVD.