META seeks to push HD DVD / Blu-ray formats, features
Considering that some retailers are already implementing larger floor displays for HD DVD / Blu-ray discs, and the wee fact that we've already got a combo player out on the market to appease the fence-sitters, we suppose it follows logic that an off-the-wall group be formed to push the formats and their all too controversial features into public acceptance. The recently-formed Media Experience Trade Association (META) is hoping to "improve consumer acceptance of emerging formats" by slapping "META Seals" onto discs that clearly inform consumers of certain usability benchmarks and by "creating digital media standards" that would help the falteringiHDAdvanced Navigation and BD-Java features blossom. Interestingly, the group's purpose is to simplify things and make the user "feel less intimidated," but we're not so sure that tossing extra labels and probably a few hidden dollars in the pricetag to compensate for "their work" is the best approach. Still, it looks like yet another tag will be hitting high-definition discs "by the end of 2007" if this all pans out, but if we end up getting a bit more functionality in our next-generation flicks, we won't grumble too much.
