Recent Comments:
Sony signs up to support tru2way {Engadget HD}
May 30th 2008 4:14PM UnnDunn, you're already forced to use the application suite provided by the cable operator, it's just that today you're forced to do it on their box as well. With tru2way you can choose the device, and in addition to whatever application suite the cable operator provides, you'll potentially be able to use whatever application suite the CE vendor provides, or even third-party suites (if so enabled by the CE vendor or the cable operator).
Put another way, today the cable operator has 100% control of the hardware and software. Tru2way eliminates the hardware lock-in and creates a competitive environment which may well eliminate the software lock-in as well.
Toshiba's Qosmio G40 now with world's first HD DVD-RW drive {Engadget HD}
Dec 17th 2007 2:02PM I see Toshiba finally managed to get rewritable HD DVD support out. Or at least announced. Of course, you still can't even buy an HD DVD-R burner unless it comes packaged in a laptop, so don't hold your breath waiting for external HD DVD-RW burners. Meanwhile there are at least half a dozen companies selling unique Blu-ray burners (with both writable and rewritable support - imagine that!). Oh, and where's that 51GB HD DVD burner? Oh, right, that format has only been approved for ROM.
WinDVD gets Blu-ray Profile 1.1 certification, whatever that means {Engadget HD}
Nov 30th 2007 4:38PM It's really not that commplicated. The next version of WinDVD has passed the 1.1 tests. It'll be made available to consumers as an update in early 2008. What's so difficult to understand?
Disney's CEO reaffirms commitment to Blu-ray {Engadget HD}
May 20th 2007 5:36PM Sorry, Symbyant, every Blu-ray player has BD-J support. The only significant things lacking in many current players (PS3 probably excepted) is secondary video support (one way of achieving picture-in-picture) and network support. There is far less difference in the cost of manufacturing the players than current prices suggest. Toshiba's primary weapon is price in the face of overwhelmingly inferior vendor and studio support. Losing a few $100 per player times a few 100K players is still cheaper than losing the war, at least if you actually think this strategy can eventually result in a viable format. I'd call it "throwing good money after bad".
Meet the Venture SHD7000 HD DVD player {Engadget HD}
Mar 27th 2007 11:00PM Paul, there's no evidence that Microsoft can't produce enough HD DVD add-ons. They barely sold 100K; many WalMarts have discontinued them due to low sales (they were clearance priced at $130). They can't sell that many because it's a poor product - no HDMI support, glitchy audio with no lossless support, and loud device.
Blu-ray players get a new standard set of features this October {Engadget HD}
Mar 27th 2007 9:11PM As usual, Kevin Collins is only giving half the story. Even though HD DVD may require support for TrueHD, only about 10% of the releases include it. Meanwhile nearly 50% of Blu-ray titles include a lossless PCM track, which provides the same quality, and all Blu-ray plsyers can support it. Further, there's no guarantee HD DVD players can output TrueHD - the Xbox 360 HD DVD addon reencodes the TrueHD as plain old Dolby 5.1, losing all the benefits of lossless.
Further, the features which become mandatory on new players released post-October primarily only affect PiP (which can be done without them, as shown by The Descent). There are all kinds of other interactivity which aren't affected, and Blu-ray's interactivity is far more capable than HD DVD's (though current titles haven't even scratched the surface yet).
MikesOnline, using the hard drive for A/V storage this isn't the same as virtual memory. The spec just requires a place to store data - the hard drive will provide no speed penalty compared to using flash memory. HD DVD only requires 128MB of storage, enough for only a few minutes of HD video. Blu-ray's requirement for 1GB for network-connected players at least offers enough space to do something meaningful...
HD DVD and Blu-ray releases on February 6th, 2007 {Engadget HD}
Feb 5th 2007 7:23PM MikesOnline, you're full of misinformation. Blu-ray does not equal Sony. Virtually the entire CE industry supports Blu-ray with the exception of Toshiba. Virtually the entire studio community supports Blu-ray with the exception of Universal. Virtually the entire IT community supports Blu-ray with the exception of Microsoft.
HD DVD does not support 51GB. Toshiba claimed they have made 51GB discs work in the lab. It hasn't been standardized, and more importantly there is no guarantee the discs, if they do work and are economically justifiable, will work on existing players.
Yes, MPEG2 is an older codec than VC-1 and AVC. Yet most of Paramounts titles have been released on VC-1 on HD DVD and MPEG2 on Blu-ray and the reviews state that picture quality is identical. Meanwhile, most Blu-ray discs include lossless audio, while a small percentage of HD DVD discs do.
The only reasons there is a format war is because Toshiba wanted to hold on to the lions share of royalties they receive from DVD and because Microsoft doesn't want any optical format to win, they want everyone to have to download their movies to a Windows PC running Windows Media played back on a Windows Media Extender. I see no win for the consumer in either of those company's motivations...
LG BH100 HD DVD / Blu-ray hybrid player reviewed {Engadget}
Jan 30th 2007 7:40PM There are more BD-J discs than that; Speed, League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Crank, The Guardian, and others have BD-J as well.
iHD, HDi? Nope it's called Advanced Navigation {Engadget HD}
Jan 27th 2007 3:13AM Not only does BD-J provide a much greater degree of flexibility than HDi, it's also based on the same technology that the cable and broadcast industries have standardized on (OCAP and MHP). All the US cable operators are in the process of rolling out OCAP set-top boxes, having the same standard means Blu-ray content can show up via cable Video on Demand (VOD) and interactive television content can show up on your Blu-ray discs.
Don't confuse the current lack of maturity of authoring tools and player implementations with future capability. BD-J is capable of far more compelling content than HDi, which is one of the reasons why it was strongly supported within the BDA in spite of very strong pressure personally applied by Bill Gates to sway the BDA to use HDi.
Where are the official HD DVD vs Blu-ray sales numbers? {Engadget HD}
Jan 19th 2007 11:01AM Farshad, there have been many MPEG-4/AVC releases on Blu-ray, from Fox, Disney, and Lionsgate. Casino Royale will be Sony's first AVC title, but far from Blu-ray's first.
Also, recent MPEG2 releases have been every bit as good as VC-1. Paramount released several movies on VC-1 for HD DVD and on MPEG2 for Blu-ray (i.e. MI:3) and the reviews of PQ have been identical.
