DVD Forum to back Toshiba-NEC for next-gen DVD successor.

[Eug]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12908

http://www.eetimes.com/sys/news/OEG20031126S0034

 

[OddTSi]

Not exactly surprising since Sony never submitted Blu-Ray to the DVD Forum.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: OddTSi
Not exactly surprising since Sony never submitted Blu-Ray to the DVD Forum.

Yeah. Some of them are pretty hostile to Philips in particular, but Sony as well.

 

[Pariah]

Wow, that's great news. I mean look how the DVD Forum's endorsement of one DVD writing standard created a wonderful homogenous market for the consumer.

 

[SickBeast]

Anyone got some specs? Which format can store more information? I trust Sony with optical storage more than anyone else, but who knows, maybe the specs will prove me wrong.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I trust Sony with optical storage more than anyone else

Why? Or are you a fan of SACD?

Originally posted by: Pariah
Wow, that's great news. I mean look how the DVD Forum's endorsement of one DVD writing standard created a wonderful homogenous market for the consumer.

Yeah. I guess that's one reason why the DVD Forum isn't particular fond of Philips (of DVD+RW fame) these days.

It was going well with DVD Forum formats with DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, (and even DVD-RAM for data use initially), until the + guys came. Now we're all confused. 😛

 

[Pariah]

Sony and Philips were the main contributers to the original CD and the + DVD formats. Along with SuperCD and minidisc, Sony's optical track record is pretty good.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: Pariah
Sony and Philips were the main contributers to the original CD and the + DVD formats. Along with SuperCD and minidisc, Sony's optical track record is pretty good.

Agreed, which is why I'm a bit upset they chose AOD over Blu-Ray. If I'm stuck having to buy a new DVD player anyway, why would you half-ass the format? As an end user, I would rather have had the 25GB per layer dics offered by the Blu-Ray consortium.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Anyone got some specs? Which format can store more information? I trust Sony with optical storage more than anyone else, but who knows, maybe the specs will prove me wrong.

AOD
15 GB - single layer
20 GB - single layer rewritable
30 GB - dual layer

Blu-Ray
25 GB - single layer
50 GB - dual layer


Base purely on the storage specs, you can see why some people are upset they're "approving" the AOD standard. Not that it will stop Sony anyway, as they fully plan to back the Blu-Ray standard without the DVD forum's approval. They have a player available in Japan that supports Blu-Ray Dics ROMs (BD-ROM) that retails for around 3500 USD.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: Pariah
Sony and Philips were the main contributers to the original CD and the + DVD formats. Along with SuperCD and minidisc, Sony's optical track record is pretty good.

Yeah, they have a good track record, but it doesn't mean others are bad.

DVD and DVD-Audio are fine optical formats.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: KnightBreed

Base purely on the storage specs, you can see why some people are upset they're "approving" the AOD standard. Not that it will stop Sony anyway, as they fully plan to back the Blu-Ray standard without the DVD forum's approval. They have a player available in Japan that supports Blu-Ray Dics ROMs (BD-ROM) that retails for around 3500 USD.

Some people are upset, including myself. It doesn't make sense that an inferior technology would be made "standard". Sounds to me like the decision was made purely for money, and I'm guessing that whoever ratifies/votes in this standard is corrupt. Such a shame. I suppose all will be good if/when the Sony drives make it to mainstream. That would make such an amazing backup tool. I would imagine that the performance would be quite impressive as well. The one flaw that I have read about the blu-ray discs is that the media is prohibitavely expensive at the moment.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Eug

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I trust Sony with optical storage more than anyone else

Why? Or are you a fan of SACD?

Who would you suggest as a company with a superior optical storage track record? I know nothing of SACD, and AFAIK it's not the "standard" for music. DVD-Audio is set to replace the CD for music to my knowledge. I'm not saying that everything that Sony touches turns to gold, but you have to admit that they are an amazing company. Look at the Playstation2: the GameCube was released over a year after it's release and provides inferior graphics. Many games released today have better graphics on the PS2 compared to even the XBOX. The newer NFS games come to mind...

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: KnightBreed

Base purely on the storage specs, you can see why some people are upset they're "approving" the AOD standard. Not that it will stop Sony anyway, as they fully plan to back the Blu-Ray standard without the DVD forum's approval. They have a player available in Japan that supports Blu-Ray Dics ROMs (BD-ROM) that retails for around 3500 USD.

Some people are upset, including myself. It doesn't make sense that an inferior technology would be made "standard". Sounds to me like the decision was made purely for money, and I'm guessing that whoever ratifies/votes in this standard is corrupt. Such a shame. I suppose all will be good if/when the Sony drives make it to mainstream. That would make such an amazing backup tool. I would imagine that the performance would be quite impressive as well. The one flaw that I have read about the blu-ray discs is that the media is prohibitavely expensive at the moment.

The AOD spec was approved in part because manufacturing will be extremely similar to current red laser DVD discs. This saves big bucks since facilities won't have to completely retool their fab lines. AOD spec makes up for the lack of space by using a better encoding/compression algorithm (H.264, Windows Media9, MPEG-2 or a hybrid of MPEG-2 and H.264) - compared to current DVD and Blu-Ray discs, which will continue to use MPEG-2.

As a consumer I want a product that has the best possible technology for my money. I want a product that will last through the generation without worrying about "S-VHS"-type products after a few years. The DVD forum approved the AOD spec because it would ease the migration to HD-DVD. How is that going to benefit the consumer? As it stands, Sony already has a Blu-Ray product available for sale in Japan, and several other companies will have products available very soon. With there being a distinct probability of the Playstation3 including a Blu-ray player, I think this will be quite the uphill battle for the DVD forum.

If the Blu-Ray spec is altered to include an encoding scheme other than MPEG-2, it would be nearly perfect. Manufacturing costs should not be the primary consideration when deciding a future standard - especially compared to current DVD levels. How expensive were DVD players and discs when they were first available? And now?

With all that said, I have a feeling Blu-Ray will be the dominate technology for writeable storage media, while AOD will continue to be the HD-DVD standard for preprinted content delivery (movies).