news.com.com — Warner Bros plans to announce a new single videodisc, called a Total HD disc, that can play films and television programs in both Blu-ray and HD DVD. They hope to make the new generation of DVD entertainment easier on the consumer by making movies and television libraries available in BOTH formats on a SINGLE disc.
Jan 4, 2007 View in Crawl 4
jarbroJan 4, 2007
Sony really needs to get off their high horse and stop riding their Walkman "i'm the best" wave. The 80's are over Sony, quit it with your proprietary technology and start complying with more standards. You will make a lot of people happy and you may even make a buck without pissing off the whole world.Do something radical, come out with an affordable dual format DVD player and really shock us.
damageincJan 4, 2007Submitter
Stop spamming your poorly submitted story. It may have been first but it sucked...try writing your own title and description next time.
Closed AccountJan 5, 2007
Mostly loner nerds on here.
happyscrappyJan 5, 2007
AVC (H.264) is higher quality than VC-1.
adairnicJan 5, 2007
@MScripWhat do you really "Own" with a DVD disc today? You can't even back it up (for personal use) today if you live in the US under the MPAAs rules. I understand where you are coming from with owning physical media, but the law ultimately controls what you really own. Its actually a bit depressing that people voted with dollars for DVD, its shaping a new era of content control...
electrox3dJan 5, 2007
HappyScrappy: Theoredically h.264 can be higher quality than VC-1, but currently (and honestly, for at least a year or more) VC-1 will be the highest quality format. Right now, VC-1 can pull the same MB/s as MPEG-2 but have a higher quality per frame. h.264 will be the same quality as MPEG-2, but be a lower MB/s.EtherGnat: You can't get any game you want when a new system releases you have to wait for it to release, so should you be able to get any movie you want from a new format? But, when you want Star Wars in 1080p, it won't be with HD-DVD. If you look at the companies who are commited to the formats, you shouldn't view it as Sony vs. Microsoft, you should see it as Universal Pictures vs. the Rest of the movie industry (and then there's WB/Paramount who try to please everyone).
electrox3dJan 5, 2007
EtherGnat: According to your logic, DVD's aren't a total success because they didn't cover 100% of the things that were on VHS. Did you buy DVD movies or DIVX movies when both were releasing titles, but DIVX was cheaper and similar quality? Oh wait, the technology was quite expensive, so you didn't buy either. There were many reasons why DVD was a superior format, but DIVX was cheaper.... still, you have to look at it realistically, and those who did saw DVD's potential.Fact #1: High definition is the future and both formats can hold a movie.Fact #2: Blu-ray is backed by the majority of movie companies therefore the MAJORITY of the movies are and always will be Blu-ray.Fact #3: Blu-ray is future proof with a 200GB disc that is within spec of the current movie playback realm therefore you won't have to buy a new player to play the discs. Hold a movie. Hold the sequel. Hold the movie and all its special features or extended versions of the movie all on one disc.Is Universal Pictures really worth all these issues? If Universal went Blu-ray, would there be no doubt in which player you'd buy when you were ready? Then you could play every movie released by anyone because EVERYONE was blu-ray? Is this really hinging on Universal Pictures not being a Blu-ray backer? Seriously, why even think of HD-DVD when everything by everyone is Blu-ray (except Universal)?
ethergnatJan 6, 2007
"Did you buy DVD movies or DIVX movies when both were releasing titles, but DIVX was cheaper and similar quality? Oh wait, the technology was quite expensive, so you didn't buy either."That's right, and neither did 95% of the population. I waited until the players dropped to around $250 and still had a DVD player before pretty much everybody (the number of DVD players in homes didn't pass VCRs until last year). DIVX was dead (or on life support) by then. If there had been a format war I would have waited even longer. "Fact #2: Blu-ray is backed by the majority of movie companies therefore the MAJORITY of the movies are and always will be Blu-ray."That's a whopper. Things change. History is littered with formats and products that seemed promising but failed anyway, frequently without rhyme or reason. "Fact #3: Blu-ray is future proof"Nothing is future proof, and that trend is only accelerating. VHS ruled the world for 25 years. DVDs only 10. The technology to replace Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is right around the corner. "Is Universal Pictures really worth all these issues?"No. WTF does that have to do with anything?"If Universal went Blu-ray, would there be no doubt in which player you'd buy when you were ready?"Wait, I thought nothing ever changed. Does "the MAJORITY of the movies are and always will be Blu-ray" ring a bell? IF the format wars are settled, and IF the movies that I want are available, and IF the technology becomes affordable, and IF by that time it still seems unlikely that another format will soon take its place (requiring me to repurchase all the movies I bought on VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray), then yes I will probably buy a Blu-Ray player. "Is this really hinging on Universal Pictures not being a Blu-ray backer?"Um, no."Seriously, why even think of HD-DVD when everything by everyone is Blu-ray (except Universal)?"Once again, hardly anything by anyone is Blu-Ray at this moment in time. You're either intentionally being deceitful or an idiot to claim otherwise. Neither can you guarantee what will happen in the future. UMD looked awfully promising for awhile, with great support from studios and retailers, and now it's all but abandoned. If you had read a word I've said you're realize I'm not considering an HD-DVD player at this point either. The technology is pricey and immature and the format war just puts the nail in the coffin. There are a ton of reasons either or both formats might not succeed, but you're obviously not interested in any kind of rational debate. If you're interested in a costly gamble by all means buy a Blu-Ray player, but count me (and most everybody else) out until we see where the chips fall.