High definition DVD war over? HP formally asks Blu-ray group to add Managed Copy, iHD to spec
Is this the move that could bring Microsoft and Intel in from the cold and end the format war before it starts?Maybe, more updates as available.
HP Drives Format Compatibility for High-definition DVDs; Issues formal request to Blu-ray Disc Association to add two technologies to its format
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 2005--HP (NYSE:HPQ)(Nasdaq:HPQ) today announced a significant step toward bridging the differences between the two competing high- definition (HD) optical disk formats by supporting two new technologies to be part of the next-generation standard.
The company has formally appealed to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) to include the technologies -- mandatory Managed Copy and iHD -- as part of its format specification. Both technologies are currently supported in the competing HD-DVD format.
The move reflects HP's desire to ensure that customers are not forced to choose between competing HD formats for DVDs.
More info after the jump.
-- Managed Copy: Unlike with today's conventional DVDs, this feature allows consumers to make legitimate copies of their HD movies and enjoy this content around the home or across their networks. Making this feature mandatory will ensure a consistent consumer experience across all next-generation DVD content.
-- iHD: Next-generation HD movies will provide a level of interactive experience well beyond that of today's conventional DVDs. iHD technology provides a broad foundation to enable new interactivity with standards-based development tools and technologies. It will provide consumers with enhanced content, navigation and functionality for HD films. Furthermore, Microsoft plans to implement iHD support in its Windows(R) Vista operating system, which will help ease implementation and provide a cost-effective solution for consumers.
"HP is committed to delivering rewarding consumer experiences, and we see format compatibility as critical to making technology accessible and easy to use for consumers," said John Romano, senior vice president, Consumer PC Global Business Unit, HP. "As a leader in the development and promotion of the Blu-ray Disc format, HP expects these moves to help ensure that the format provides the best possible experience for customers."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
steve @ Oct 19th 2005 6:50PM
woooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! (crosses fingers)
Alan Foral @ Oct 19th 2005 9:32PM
Thank you HP! I hate format wars passionately... clearly Blue Ray is a superior format....I want one in my pc.
bob @ Oct 19th 2005 11:36PM
The writer of this article is an idiot. So HP has asked the BDA to include managed copy has it? Well gee golly gosh, maybe I could pick up the phone and do the same thing, would you write an article about that too? I can guess what the BDA said to HP, something along the lines of "HUH?" Managed Copy is one of the key issues seperating the two formats. Just because HP has asked the BDA to include it, that's supposed to mean that they will? I repeat the writer of this article is an IDIOT. As copy protection is at the heart of why most of the film industry is backing Blu-Ray, and Microsoft the only entity interested in network sharing movies (so they can sell xbox 360) It is hard to believe that the BDA will do anything other than tell HP to "F**K OFF" anyone with more than 2 brain cells can see that, obviously the writer of this piece has less than that.
bobslyer @ Oct 20th 2005 12:04AM
bob, your the idiot. Get the hell outta here.
Obsydian @ Oct 20th 2005 12:05AM
I can't beleive the industry is choosing Blue-Ray. Sony has always been disgustingly greedy in prices for their proprietary formats, and now they just handed it away. Watch how expensive this stuff will be.
Shawn @ Oct 20th 2005 3:04AM
We have to all admit that 'bob' didn't need to blow up that bad. I also admit that 'bob' did a good job at stating his opinion with many truths but didn't need to run off on an idiot tangent.
Oh Well.
Richard Lawler @ Oct 20th 2005 3:12AM
I think Bob has a point in that, right now it's just talk from one company. But even talk, from one of the companies involved, is a pretty big jump over the nothing we've had so far. As I mentioned earlier in my post about Intel,
http://www.hdbeat.com/2005/10/05/intel-to-blu-ray-do-u-like-me-check-yes-or-no/
I wondered how serious they might be about supporting Blu-ray, and now we've got someone from the Blu-ray side if not exactly sticking an olive branch out, at least advancing the possibility.
Bob may have also failed to note that this is not an article, but a press release from HP (plus my comments at the top), so all information in it came from them, and not journalistic speculation.
If bob is a member of the Blu-ray Disk Association, and for all I know he may be (ha) then I would definitely make a post about him calling for a compromise, drop a line in the tips form.
Nobbin Sunar @ Oct 20th 2005 7:45AM
One thing you forgot to mention though Richard - BlueRay *already has* an interactivity layer. A extremely robust and mature one too: BlueJ - i.e. Java for Blueray. So no big guesses guess why MS want iHD... The problem is iHD is brand new, and completely unproven in the field.
I think there is some shady behind-the-scenes deals going on between MS and HP here.
RayMetz100 @ Oct 20th 2005 1:49PM
Bob is right. The movie companies are the ones that like Blu-Ray because you can't copy it(yet). The hardware/software companies like HD-DVD because it lets them sell more tech gear to people who want to copy.
Microsoft and HP won't make a dime on movie sales. But they'll do well if people upgrade to media center PCs and xbox 360 so they can drop a movie they bought in once and watch it anytime later on any tv in the house without the hassle of finding and maintaining the physical disk.
The movie companies are worried they won't make as much if the above scenario comes true. They want you to lose and scratch your disk and have to maintain each physical copy. They're hoping their sales will be higher if it's locked up so tight that you can't copy or stream the content.
devol @ Oct 20th 2005 7:25PM
Each side has its reasons of course. But at the end users will determine who thrives. And if we compare the all encompassing and open Internet of today to the old gone private/closed networks by CompuServe and even the original America OnLine, you will understand that users today will most rather have the freedom of HD-DVD. Another example, MP3s to WMA/ACC file formats, etc. When it comes to computer technology and consumers, freedom means a lot. Unless the specs of Blue-ray give customers a compelling reason, I see HD-DVD taking most of the market. MS's Xbox 360 with its media center and networking prowess is the first salvo and an important one.
And Bob is quite ignorant for such an outburst from a piece that was NOT an opinion, but an obvious press release.
Patrick @ Oct 20th 2005 10:54PM
Actually I agree with Bob, Blu-ray is better off not including iHD, I dont like that people steal movies now and I dont think it should be allowed with High def dvd's. If they use iHD then it will be to easy to steal and pirate movies, which is what movies are fighting now and alot of the reason movies are as high as they are, You can disagree if you want but if you think you dont pay for theft in alot of businesses and products your out of your mind, Everyone honest pays for those that are dishonest, they just mark up product prices to make sure they dont lose any money on it. Stick to your guns Blu-ray. I know alot of people that will back you up. HP, grow some disc and quit cowarding from Microsoft.
Scot @ Oct 21st 2005 2:27AM
Patrick wrote >> "I dont like that people steal movies now and I dont think it should be allowed with High def dvd's. If they use iHD then it will be to easy to steal and pirate movies, which is what movies are fighting now and alot of the reason movies are as high as they are, You can disagree if you want but if you think you dont pay for theft in alot of businesses and products your out of your mind, Everyone honest pays for those that are dishonest, they just mark up product prices to make sure they dont lose any money on it."
Movie prices are higher {more expensive} because of Piracy?? WTF are you Smoking, and please pass it to the left. What country are you talking about? Please be honest with yourself and others when I ask you to think about what you have paid for Media over the last decade or 2. In the USA, store bought commercial movies have ALWAYS been around $20.00. Even when they were VHS tapes they were $20.00; unless they are special editions with extra features more video etc... CD production is another Very good example of this. They have always been, and will always be $20.00. Because teenagers, usually have a 20 spot on them. According to your modus of thinking though, CD's should currently be around $50.00 per commercial disk, due to the prevalence of Music Swapping and file sharing. Which is done on par, way way more than movies due to file sizes? But, nice try to misinform the public. I bet you work for the RIAA dont you? Spreading lies where ever you can. :-) Now how much does it cost to make a CD? I dunno what Molester you get your blanks from, but it only costs me 1 cent to legally back-up my audio disks, and only .25 Cents to legally back-up my Movies. By LAW you are entitled to 1 copy of everything you own. PERIOD! Furthermore, do you think that when the technology got cheaper for the RIAA or ANY Label {Music, Movie, etc...} for that matter; that we would see a price break? Absolutely not. Why not you may ask? Because these companys are GREEDY!! Thats a Capital G. They are currently as I write this; attempting to lobby congress to make the next generation DVD and CD players charge you, the consumer for each play of the disk. Anyone remember DIVX?? NO not the codex, and AVI Encoding format. DIVX the Circuit City / Movie Industry backed DVD format that charged you for each play of the disk. If you dont remember it, theres a reason for that. The Consumers that were in the Know said Heck no, we will NOT pay you, for every viewing of your movie. Where in Hades do you think that format came from? Who do you think was the brainiac that thought that one up? Well it wasnt Circuit City, thats for sure. They {The Movie and Audio Industry} will try anything and everything to get more money out of you. Not because they need it, but because they can. It truly is, JUST THAT SIMPLE. Need another example? Go fill your car up, with Gas. As to your argument that we as consumers pay more because of Piracy?? Why then Patrick, did we still have to pay 20.00 for any piece of media back in 1995, before the commercial Internet?? IOW, before Piracy. You state this as if it were fact, and its not!! HAVE you checked the price of a theatre Movie lately??!?!? I assume that your statement is all encompassing into the Theatre Movies as well? Here and here ONLY, you might have a Point. As Theatre Movie prices seem to increase disproportionately to the rest of the market. I cant seem to get my girl and me out of ANY Theatre Movie for under $30.00. The movie industry will ALWAYS charge you just as much as they think they can get away with. Dude, thats just THE AMERICAN WAY. Its not due in small nor large part, to piracy. Yes if I was an artist, and I knew someone was pirating my media, Id be quite miffed. But to say that the Media giants are charging us more due to Piracy is just asinine. Even if Piracy had never happened, they would still TRY to charge us more, under the guise of Inflation, or Gas Prices, or some other Bull Fecal Matter excuse. It all boils down to the same sludge, Companys will do whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want, until we as consumers force them to change, or force the lawmakers to make a law against it. This too, IS THE AMERICAN WAY.
>>Sorry for the book, Patrick's naivety touched a nerve.
Patrick @ Oct 21st 2005 6:47PM
Yep, your right, everyone against you and every company is out to screw you, You must be the type of person that likes to pirate movies. You can believe it or not, but its true that the Honest people pay for the dishonest people. I can remember when a new dvd was 15 or 16 bucks, but since then they have gone up, and it went up around the same time piracy became such a big issue and its just gotten worse, the only reason prices havent continued to rise is because they can only go so far and actually continue to sell. I am not including theaters cause they have always sold items for to much. And back when VHS came out piracy wasnt that big cause the internet wasnt that big and it wasnt as easy and cheap to copy them. Now see the thing is that dvd's are cheaper to produce than tapes and for that reason they should be less than a dvd, why arent they? good question, Because of Piracy. If you were the one's making movies you wouldnt want anyone to steal them either. We all pay for piracy, and your stealing if you do. Be honest, buy it yourself. sounds like a comercial huh, but its not. Its called HONESTY.
devol @ Oct 23rd 2005 11:11AM
If piracy would not exist consumers will still be playing the same prices. Studios are a business there aim is to make as much money as possible...not bring fair prices, entertain the world, or create art, etc. They are here to make money and will charge as much as possible. All piracy is doing at the moment: cutting down on their enormous profit. I am not justifing piracy, but it is just not realistic, to think it will bring studios to their financial knees.
Generation X, Y, Z, etc. are technology savvy and they will continue to grow in importance as a target consumer segment, therefore taking content on the road, manipulating, and being able to back it up will not stop being of great importance. The big guys better find a way for us to do that with our legal copies, because whoever doesn't surely will be in trouble.