DVD Truce Between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD? 255
An anonymous reader writes " Reuters is reporting that Toshiba and Sony are in talks about reconciling the two next-generation DVD formats. Ideas floated in the article include a unified DVD arch which could use "Blu-ray's disc structure and HD DVD software technology" (Sony's idea) or "HD DVD disc structure and employing Sony's multi-layer data-recording technology" (Toshiba's idea)"
It's about time (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Does format matter? (Score:5, Interesting)
My guess would be that they want a BlueRay more widely accepted for their broader media goals, like movies and music and so forth. UMD doesn't really have that much market potential in those areas, I guess. This is pure speculation, but it's a possible answer to your question.
Re:Does format matter? (Score:5, Interesting)
Too bad they didn't put VideoCD support in the PS, although I hear that you can get a plug-in module to do that (and play mp3s.)
Blu-Ray all the way! (Score:1, Interesting)
They're wasting their time (Score:3, Interesting)
Perhaps not immediately, but within a few years a system will exist which will allow the streaming of any movie ever made via broadband instantly. Why would you want to bother keeping an anachronistic collection of shiny discs, when you could have anything you want, instantly.
These format wars will all look quaint in a few years when the bandwidth for home delivery of such a system is widely available.
Color me skeptical (Score:5, Interesting)
So it sounds like they're both saying "Be reasonable, do it my way".
I care. (Score:3, Interesting)
I want to watch my movies with more definition and I realize that's not 100% reliant on the media but they will release higher def video on this new media.
Blu-Ray wins! (Score:5, Interesting)
With a paltry 15mbit per second, HD-DVD's disc would not have a high enough data rate to encode 1080p video in MPEG4 (or any other codec) at any reasonable quality, essentially crippling HD until the next generation. (For comparison, the highest bitrate allowed in DVD video is 10mbit. D-VHS allows 30 mbit, Blu-Ray allows over 50mbit (section 3, bottom of page 5) [blu-raydisc.com])
Of course, more space per disc is always nice. Whether you're just trying to cram the Janitor's Commentary track into the extras, or providing Star Trek with a Klingon subtitle track, every little bit helps. More space also allows for movies to use that 50mbps data rate for longer periods of time. Fans of superbit DVDs would drool all over the promise of superbit Blu-Ray discs.
Interesting Thought... (Score:2, Interesting)
Microsoft will most definately hold off releaseing the next xbox if the new DVD standard's release is impending. That'll give Sony a nice window to get caught up.
It's a bold move, but I think it could help Sony immensely if the timing is right.