eetimes.com — A company named Ricoh has developed a 3.5-mm diameter, 1-mm thick round diffraction plate that detects what kind of disc has been inserted, and adjusts to change the laser beam as necessary for the format. Via HDBeat.com
Jul 9, 2006 View in Crawl 4
isewiseJul 9, 2006Submitter
I don't understand your comment about it being doomed to fail. Wouldn't a player that played all the formats benefit to the consumers, because the consumer wouldnt have to take a chance on either format?
mjrparanoidJul 9, 2006
Ok, whay are poeple bringing up DRM? Yes, it sucks.The article is about a hardware based standard and solutions.... right?Am I missing something?
sophiaperennisJul 9, 2006
Dual-format (Blu-Ray and HD-DVD) capable is the only way to go.
goggleboxJul 9, 2006
Simply refuse to buy media covered with a DRM you don't agree with. iTunes will change their DRM if people stopped buying their crap.I know lots of people that don't use iTunes because of this,you can still get CDs you know.
jooloop__Jul 9, 2006
I believe the phisical size is the same (correct me if I'm wrong), but, BR can hold more data per layer than HD-DVD, but it is also more expensive.
modernpixelJul 9, 2006
Other than Sony and Toshiba, I don't see why hardware developers would hesitate to embrace this solution wholeheartedly (unless licensing fees are outrageous). It doesn't benefit them to have to chose sides or develop two different machines any more than it benefits the consumer. Both manufacturers and consumers are being asked to invest money in a format that may or may not be obsolete.I think everyone but Sony and Toshiba wins in this situation, and I think we can all agree that they both deserve to lose as much money as is possible for being too arrogant to solve this situation the correct way.
cal01Jul 9, 2006
There's one important thing that everyone's missing here: by essentially making a lens capable of writing Blu-Ray and HDDVD, the cost of both writers will drop dramatically because they don't have to make one lens for each specific technology!
ldmaJul 10, 2006
I'm certainly not investing in either format unless either one comes out on top into mainstrem acceptance or some technology is developed like this that plays all formats. Until then I'll stick with DVDs.Even if Ricoh doesn't get it licensed there are lots of dodgy consumer electronics firms in Asia who will manufactire such devices if it's possible regardless of licensing.
gillsJul 10, 2006
And who is this "Sony" ppl keep talking about?