engadget.com — Microsoft wants both Blu-ray and HD DVD to lose. You see, before Microsoft and Intel backed HD DVD, Toshiba was just about the only major consumer hardware brand backing HD DVD. Now, since Microsoft and Intel have hopped on to the HD DVD bandwagon and at least dragged HP part of the way there, HD DVD has become a much more viable option.
Feb 16, 2006 View in Crawl 4
washleyFeb 16, 2006
If you don't like DRM then HD-DVD is the way to go. Not having DRM simple won't happen because the movie studios won't sell media without it. At least HD-DVD lets you rip to your hard drive, Blu-Ray does not.
a1programmerFeb 16, 2006
50GB compared to 30GB, why would anybody prefer HD-DVD ?
oepapelFeb 16, 2006
"HD DVD has the potential for 300GB discs and it wont be long before we see them."Really? Where's your info on that? Won't be long? "Does Microsoft honestly think digital distribution is in the near future? Who has the bandwidth to dl a 50GB movie?"You won't need to download the movie. You only need the bandwidth to stream the movie. MPEG2 has a MAXIMUM bitrate of 10Mbps for 720x480 DVD (NTSC). It usually averages half that. That means that anyone who today has 6Mbps service could stream DVD quality video (a buffer would take care of any spikes).A 1080p movie has 6.75 times as many pixels. A 720p movie has 2.6 times as many pixels. Just by changing from MPEG2 to a more modern codec (WMV9/VC-1, h.264, DIVX) you can get a 2-3x efficiency boost allowing for streaming 720p. To get to streaming 1080p, you need ~15Mbps service. There are many countries that today have 45Mbps service. They theoretically have the bandwidth for 3 simultaneous 1080p streams!
smartitguyFeb 16, 2006
Although none of this speculation is provable, I can believe it...The content industry already wants to control WHEN and HOW MANY TIMES you watch something. Since Movie/TV-show and music companies can't charge you for each and every viewing or hearing of a work, they want to destroy the storable media formats (and other methods of 'keeping' media) so that you will have to pay each and every single time you hear or watch something.And Microsoft with it's DRM and content viewing software will help them achieve this, and collect a cut of the profits and royalties.THIS is what it's all about!!!(It will take government intervention once again in the form of antitrust action to FORCE Microsoft to allow and license others the use of their DRM so that others can also produce content viewing mechanisms and software.) ...Just wait and see...
oepapelFeb 16, 2006
"Just focus on something like a 50 gig SD card. SD are small and compact to go anywhere, do not take that much time to put data onto it compared to buring a CD, also they are still big enough to hold no matter how big your fingers are. "...and they don't exist! While we are at it, you can use my nonexistant iBuddy. It fits in a childs palm, holds an infinite capacity, transfers data at light speed, gets it's power from the aether, has a wireless neural interface and can project holograms 100 feet high and in 360 degrees wide. And it runs linux.Seriously, by the time SD holds 50GB, discs will hold a terabyte. It's not reasonable to compare the future of one technology to the current state of another and make a value judgement.
obkenobiFeb 17, 2006
One of the few rare (very rare) good things MS has ever done.
gerz1219Feb 17, 2006
This is bad news. No matter what ridiculous draconian measures the movie studios place on HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, those products are still being sold as heirs to the DVD throne. Therefore, when people buy the discs, they'll expect to *own* them, which means playing them whenever they want. Digital distribution accomplished by streaming from a central server means pay-per-view. iTunes has already caused consumers to accept limitations on digital media purchased online, and pay-per-view is the next logical step.I honestly don't think the studios want the HD disc formats to succeed, either. They've made such an effort to piss off potential consumers for what will initially be a niche product that I can't see it any other way. The problem for the studios is this -- Sin City was shot on a 1080p camera. You can project that image onto a movie screen and it looks good (debates over its relative quality to film notwithstanding). Therefore, for all intents and purposes, this is the last time the studios get to sell you their back catalog. And the way they see it, once its out, it's out, in a format comparable -- if slightly inferior -- to 35mm projection.The studios would rather make sure that nobody buys the discs than release all those movies, only to have a small percentage of consumers Netflix four a week and rip/burn them. Then, when the formats fail due to inevitable consumer confusion, and later outrage, they can push the pay-per-view digital distribution model. Seriously, most consumers have trouble understanding 720p/1080i. You're going to add confusing HDCP standards as a requirement, and make the discs unplayable in pretty much any current PC? Nobody's going to buy these discs, and they're not meant to.
oepapelFeb 20, 2006
"Then it shouldn't be on Digg. Now please, don't play again."This isn't the nightly news. Digg is more than straight facts. You can get facts anywhere. This is a SOCIAL news bookmarking site. Note the emphasis. It's people being social, sharing and debating ideas. A forum of ideas, if you will. And if you can't be bothered to read comments posted by others before you post questions that have already been answered, then it is YOU who do not belong as you are being anti-social."And the title and description should NOT be written to suggest that it is a fact."It doesn't suggest it. The description reads as opinion. The title is obviously opinion (who besides Bill Gates himself knows the REAL reason they do anything at MS). Since it wasn't posted by BillG or quoting BillG or his minions, it can't possibly be fact.I'm afraid we've run out of time. There are no parting gifts. Leave the game now. Loser.