Alleviating worries that mere format war irrelevance had gotten our friends in the VMD camp down, a statement was issued today regarding stories "emerging" on the internets alleging EU officials had confiscated money from Microsoft and/or Sony, and given to NME to subsidize its fledgling red laser HD disc (Hadn't heard about it? Neither did we.) NME, the backers of HD VMD, would like everyone to know that not only is that completely false, it also did not have sex with Brad at Cabo San Lucas, as had been reported. With that rumor smashed we can go back to eagerly anticipating our pre-ordered Lazy Town HD VMDs, just 499,999 more to go!

Just when the members of the Blu-ray Disc Association were settling down to enjoy the fruits of victory, another challenger has entered the ring -- oh wait, it's just NME, makers of VMD, so it's really more like "remained in the ring and basically ignored." The company just issued a press release saying "All indications are that VMD can fill the void left by HD DVD," and that "The way is now clear for VMD to be embraced by the industry." We suppose that's true -- the Asian bootlegging industry really hasn't weighed in with a format choice yet, has it? In any event, VMD players have apparently been shipping to the US for a month now, so all you HD DVD fans out there looking to back yet another losing horse can probably find one -- start at the shadiest retailer you can think of, and then move downwards.

[Thanks, Chris]

If you missed out on (read: forgot, don't feel bad, we did too) Global VMD Day last month, allow VideoBusiness
to bring you up to speed on the plucky red laser HD format. NME thinks with its low production costs and movie prices -- about the same as a standard DVD -- it can move 500,000 of the 1080p standalone players worldwide this year. The company has had some success dealing with international distributors, resulting in high profile movies like Apocalypto available on the format in Australia. In the U.S., the only studio noted is Anthem Pictures, which plans to release three titles a month. With HD DVD prices plunging and Blu-ray's expectations soaring its tough to see HD VMD competing with the big boys.

Still not sure if HD VMD is a viable or even notable contestant in the next-gen disc wars? Find out more during "Global VMD Day", January 22nd, hosted at NME's first manufacturing line in The Netherlands. For the price of one transcontinental plane ticket (or intra-continental for our European friends) attendees can enjoy a celebration of all things HD VMD, learn about new supporters of the format and experience tech demos. You're an HD enthusiast right? Be a pal and hop the next Concorde to Europe, then let us know if VMD is a contender or pretender.

[Via CNN Money]

In case anyone is still awaiting the entry of a third competitor into the HDM fray, HD VMD announced today at CES that it is finally shipping. At the no longer unprecedented $199 price point, we can order one of PCRush's 10,000 players or from NMEStore.com. All orders in January come with two free movies, Mother Ghost and Cutting Room. With limited retailer and content provider support, we're not sure HD VMD will find a foothold in the HDM market, unless despondent red fans are already looking for a new 30GB flag to march under. The multiple-layered red laser underdog has an ETA of January 15th, who wants to jump in?

New Medium Enterprises has been trying to get its VMD platform for high def optical discs out the door since late 2004, but we haven't heard much solid. In the grand tradition of vaporous, cut-rate consumer electronics, NME's publishing some puffy PR with terms like "The New Definition of High Definition" and "True High Definition". What are they offering? Well, supposedly a budget player's in the works that will play 1080i/p video for €179 ($250), upscale DVDs, and offers 45Mbps video (codecs go unmentioned) and 7.1 surround, region-free media, and a totally blockbuster lineup of Bollywood and Hollywood titles, including Mel Gibson classic "Apocalypto," and "Passion of the Christ". Color us totally impressed. No, really.

If you're looking for an alternative to the Blu-ray and HD DVD format war, don't forget VMD, which has just announced it's first distribution deal with a U.S. retailer, PC Rush. NME plans to make two players available in the second quarter of this year, the HD VMD Player Duo for $199 and the HD VMD Player Quattro for $249. The 40GB multilayered, red-laser based format hopes to bring HD content home for prices similar to standard DVDs, but we still have to see what kind of content will be available when players hit the shelves.

Everyone's favorite third high definition disc format got a boost today as it announced deals with six Indian film distributors. When the first HD VMD player launches in January of next year, it will be available with a bundle of 10 high definition Bollywood movies for $299 through various Indian retailers. New Medium Enterprises has already secured deals for content in Germany and China, now with the addition of the booming Indian film market VMD hopes to provide high definition content at prices HD DVD and Blu-ray won't be able to match.

That other high definition disc format, VMD has announced some of the content customers can expect at launch in 2007. German independent distributor VCL is launching with familiar titles like Sleepy Hollow, Paparazzi, Reefer Madness and Hostage in January. No word on price, specific dates or features are available yet. The company behind VMD, NME Inc. has previously indicated it plans to support the low cost format with Bollywood titles and Broadway shows. Using older red laser technology and a multilayered structure, VMD aims to provide HDTV content at a much lower price than Blu-ray or HD DVD. We'll likely find out more about the company's plans at CES 2007 and get a look at the first player.


[Via Home Media Retailing]

NME, the same company that recently claimed to solve the Blu-ray / HD DVD debate by creating a disc that holds both, has now specifics of, and hardware for, its alternative HD format. VMD is targeted as a low cost high definition DVD, using red lasers -- just like DVD and CD -- instead of the blue lasers in Blu-ray and HD DVD. Much delayed, the standalone player is now expected to launch at CES in January, with a price of just $175, compared to the $500+ price of competing formats. With all the major studios backing Blu-ray and/or HD DVD, we hope you like Bollywood's greatest hits and old Broadway performances, as NME is targeting Eastern markets first. Unlike the US, Video CDs and other delivery options have flourished alongside DVD internationally and VMD hopes to take the same route for HD. No word on if it has achieved the multilayer 100GB+ discs promised, but at this price, we'll keep an eye out for NME in Las Vegas.

The end of the HD DVD / Blu-ray format war has been declared again, but from a most unlikely source. Recently Warner patented an all-in-one disc to contain a movie in both competing formats plus DVD, and now New Medium Enterprises has followed that up by claiming it's patented a technology capable of actually manufacturing it. Making its claim even more incredible is the fact that NME is the architect of a third competing format, Versatile Multilayer Disc (VMD), that already consists of multiple DVD layers. It claims the discs will cost 9 cents apiece to make, compared to 6 cents for standard DVDs -- of course that doesn't include the potential licensing cost for three versions of a movie and three different disc formats, along with the new players NME indicates you may also need to read these multilayer discs. The company still hasn't gotten its 100GB VMD to market after many exhibitions, but with prototypes slated for availability in the first quarter of 2007, we should find out soon enough if this is just hype or if we can finally buy high-def DVDs without picking the next Beta.

It's clear to us now, even the manufacturers don't know what is 1080p and what isn't. Well, maybe they just don't care. TWICE's report from SINOCES (Chinese CES) indicates many manufacturers are putting the 1080p tag on everything they can, if a TV can accept a 1080p signal but not display it, and even on displays that don't do 1080p at all. As they note, it's not such a big deal yet in China because until HD DVD and Blu-ray launch there won't be much at that resolution to watch. They also mentioned Chinese manufacturers looking at the US market as a hard one to enter because of low-priced 1080p displays like the Westinghouse LVM-47w1. Hisense, who manufactures the Best Buy house brand and HP televisions, was showing a 71-inch 1080p plasma based on the LG one we've seen before, maybe you'll be getting an in-store demo sooner than you think.

Conspicuous in their absence apparently are EVD and VMD based players, targeted as low cost alternatives to HD DVD and Blu-ray using old school red laser technology.

[via Home Theater Blog]

If HD DVD and Blu-ray aren't your style, don't forget that there is plenty of red-laser high definition DVD loving to be had. VMD, which claims to be able to use up to 20 layers and hold as much as 100GB of data is still on it's way. NME has announced that more than 100 titles will be released this year for the format, however no information on what those titles are is currently available other than that they will include several Broadway shows.

They also say the price of the players and the media will be comparable to current DVDs. That all sounds well and great, but with all the studios supporting copy protected blue-laser formats we'll see if VMD is the little disc that could.

Just when you thought there weren't enough disc formats (HD-DVD, Blu-ray, VMD, EVD, HVD, and you might have missed VCDHD yesterday), here comes one more, PH-DVD. Apparently, by "exploiting the polarization element contained in all current DVD formats", Dr. Oron Zachar, founder of Polarizonics Corp believes he can triple the capacity of DVDs, HD-DVDs and Blu-ray discs, without changing the disc structure, replacing mass reproduction equipment and providing a new layer of protection against piracy.

We have no idea what any of that means, but apparently it adds up to disc capacities of over 100GB, which we do understand because it adds up to a-whole-freaking-lot of high definition content. Of course the real question is whether this technology exists, is feasible and will ever be relevant to HDTV owning consumers, but it seems way too early to tell.  Information on Mr Zachar and Polarizonics Corp is pretty limited, although he apparently is or was a professor at UCLA and they are hiring. Still, this sounds a lot like polaronics (yes, that is a /. article from 1999 and no, no such product exists).

Any HD Beat tipsters willing to take a job as an optical engineer and get us the inside information?

It seems that everyone wants a piece of the next home movie industry. There are far more formats than any normal person could keep track of, but that's why we are here. Last week we talked about EVD, a red laser based technology that is more like DVD than Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. This week at CeBit a company named NME has announced yet another optical disc named VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) which is simply a multi-layer DVD with 10 layers instead of 2, which means it can hold about 47GB of data. The biggest benefit is that the players only cost  $150 rather than $500 or $1000 like the other standards. I don't think we need another standard considering one is enough and at this point we have three. Does anyone else wonder what the point of this is?