DVD OBSOLETE?!

[d1abolic]

Holy crap, what the hell?! I thought DVD wouldn't be replaced for a few more years, not until HDVD makes it's debut. And now i'm seeing this? High-definition VHS? Already supported by 3 major publishers? First titles scheduled to be released just months from now?

<< Four Hollywood film studios said Wednesday they will start selling movies in a new digital videotape format, D-VHS, designed for high-end home theater systems... called D-theater, is not made to compete with the lower-priced digital video disc (DVD) format... targeted to a relatively small group of home theater owners with new high-definition television sets... The studios expect to release the first D-Theater titles sometime in 2002. >>



Someone please tell me that no one is going to buy this trash and that the format will die before it's even born?

 

[amnesiac]

It will have a niche following among the obscenely rich. Then it will die.

 

[gopunk]

methinks this will be like laserdisc....

 

[Zim Hosein]

Forget laserdisc gopunk, remember Sony's BETA?

 

[exp]

ROFL $2000 for a freaking VHS player? $30+ per tape? What genius thought that one up?

DVD has nothing to fear from this crap.

 

[d1abolic]

Well it IS high definition. A lot of people out there aren't going to wait 2-5 years for HDVD.

 

[gopunk]

<< Well it IS high definition. A lot of people out there aren't going to wait 2-5 years for HDVD. >>



i dunno, maybe i'm going blind, but i think dvd is fine the way it is. how much higher definition do you need?

 

[chibchakan]

<< targeted to a relatively small group of home theater owners with new high-definition television set. >>



It'll never penetrate the market like DVD has or even like the regular VHS did.

 

[exp]

<< Well it IS high definition. >>



Yeah, but for TWO FREAKING GRAND?!? For that kind of dough it had better solve world hunger and bring peace to all mankind. Even then it's kind of a stretch.

Honestly, once a single format for recordable DVDs is agreed upon and DVD-Rs start hitting the market there is no reason for any form of VHS to stick around.

 

[bigshooter]

I remember DVD players costing well over a grand when they first came out. The main thing this format has going against it the lack of instantaneous gratification. People may get their HD picture, but who wants to rewind tapes again. I threw away my VCR after I got a DVD player and converted my star wars tapes to video cd.

 

[AndyHui]

You are NOT going to achieve scene selection, multiple angles, and all the other goodies that you can get on DVD with a videotape, no matter how high the definition is.

 

[Logix]

<< methinks this will be like laserdisc.... >>


I think so too. And, also for the reasons Andy stated.

 

[Jerboy]

<<

<< Well it IS high definition. >>



Yeah, but for TWO FREAKING GRAND?!? For that kind of dough it had better solve world hunger and bring peace to all mankind. Even then it's kind of a stretch.

Honestly, once a single format for recordable DVDs is agreed upon and DVD-Rs start hitting the market there is no reason for any form of VHS to stick around. >>




Two grand sounds reasonable for a high quality home theatre compoment. A DV tape player which plays and records DV and miniTV costs about $2,300. A D-VHS player is about $1,200. Currently, optical media can't beat the capacity of magnetic tape. I'm guessing digital VHS can hold 50-100GB of data per tape.

 

[d1abolic]

Actually, what am i thinking? This format is doomed. It does offer HD, but when HDVD comes out, it will kill HVHS just the way DVD killed VHS

 

[Jerboy]

<< Actually, what am i thinking? This format is doomed. It does offer HD, but when HDVD comes out, it will kill HVHS just the way DVD killed VHS >>




Not gonna happen until they succeed with blue to violet, possibly ultraviolet and use of UV transparent subtrate(the clear part of the disc). DVD is pretty much at the edge of red laser optical storage of that size.

 

[d1abolic]

Hmm i thought they already got the prototypes working?

 

[Nefrodite]

huh? it has nothing to do with the dvd market. its not meant for the masses, its for the early hdtv adopters that must have hdtv movies in some form or another, a kinda stop gap solution perhaps. hd-vhs is also meant to fit the void of recordable hd media. we don't have a good hd disc recording solution, dvdr simply has too little capacity, i forgot how many minutes, but it was less then 15minutes i think per dvdr. hd vhs would be great for recording tv, but lousy for watching movies if you want multiple soundtracks and special features you'll have to wait for hd dvd for that

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

d-vhs = sacd

You will see about that much market penetration.

 

[IGBT]

Tell me it ain't so. Friken mfg.cutting each other's throat at the expense of the consumer. :disgust:

 

[StandardCell]

I think manufacturers are grasping at straws considering that they are already losing the battle with DVD copying so rampant. Who knew that a coding mistake could've had such dire consequences for fair use rights? Seriously, D-VHS is a dead duck. Nobody cares about backwards compatibility when you can buy a good VCR for $200.

 

[kami]

The same people who got into Laserdisc will get into this, who said it was replacing DVD? HDDVD is still coming out and it's not going to make your old DVDs incompatible since the players will be backwards compatible.

Personally I could never get into rewind and sh*t like that again.

 

[b0mbrman]

<<

<< Well it IS high definition. >>



Yeah, but for TWO FREAKING GRAND?!? For that kind of dough it had better solve world hunger and bring peace to all mankind. Even then it's kind of a stretch.

Honestly, once a single format for recordable DVDs is agreed upon and DVD-Rs start hitting the market there is no reason for any form of VHS to stick around. >>



Yeah, but how expensive were DVD-players when they first came out?

 

[kgraeme]

This actually isn't even that new. We've had a D-VHS player at work for a couple years. They were pushed a few years ago, and then disappeared. If I recall correctly it was for rights management reasons. These appear to be slightly reengineered so that they can't tape HD broadcasts.

 

[MoobyTheGoldenCalf]

<< huh? it has nothing to do with the dvd market. its not meant for the masses, its for the early hdtv adopters that must have hdtv movies in some form or another, a kinda stop gap solution perhaps. hd-vhs is also meant to fit the void of recordable hd media. we don't have a good hd disc recording solution, dvdr simply has too little capacity, i forgot how many minutes, but it was less then 15minutes i think per dvdr. hd vhs would be great for recording tv, but lousy for watching movies if you want multiple soundtracks and special features you'll have to wait for hd dvd for that >>



Actually this is completely wrong, trust me I have an HDTV, I know. The real story with D-VHS is that it WILL NOT PLAY HIGH DEFINITION ON ANY CURRENT HDTV OR HD-READY TV! Any current HDTV owner will only see a downgraded 480i picture from one of these tapes. Why? Becuase the DVHS uses a new copy-protection mechanism which sends the picture out through an encrypted firewire port. There are no HDTVs available which include this port yet. So what does that mean? One of two things: 1) All people who dropped $5000 on an HDTV (like me) will be totally bent over and screwed because our shiny new HD's won't display high-def or 2) Class action lawsuits. I'm hoping for #2.

If you want to more of the gory details of this, visit the HD sections of: http://www.avsforum.com and DON'T SUPPORT DVHS!!!!

 

[rahvin]

Oh look, it even includes digital rights management. Nothing like having the MPAA telling you how and when you can watch your recordings!