HD Distribution

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FiL

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this is actually pasted from imdb's news of all places...looks like a good thing, a single standard is great news, i'd worried about blu-ray v HD-DVD, thankfully this format war might never happen now.


"Hybrid High-Definition DVD System in Works

After spending three years trying to gain support from the major studios for their rival high-definition DVD systems, Sony and Toshiba are close to agreeing on a universal standard, published reports said today (Thursday). Sony has developed the so-called Blu-ray system; Toshiba, the HD DVD system. The Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun and the Kyodo News Service reported that the two rivals are expected to announce as early next week that the incompatibility of their two systems would pose a problem for the industry and that they therefore have decided to jointly develop a hybrid next-generation DVD system. Analysts had seen the possibility of rival high-definition DVD systems hitting the market as a reprise of the Beta vs. VHS rivalry that vexed consumers in the early days of videocassette recorders. "
 
Man, I sure hope so! Sony has twice alluded to their openness to combining the standards. This was also reported on another site, a gaming site, and they raised the question that the new PS is supposed to include blu-ray, so is Sony going to manufacture blu-ray for only the PS, and then adopt the hybrid standard for everything else? Or delay the PS?

In any case, I view this as great news, and hope it's accurate! The consumer can only win.
 
it does raise another issue for me.

DVD was MPEG2 720x480 @60i and 720x576 @50i

what codec/fps/res will consumer HD-DVD's run on? of course until a disc format is finalised worrying about codecs etc is not worth it.

i guess it'll be some MPEG4 derived codec, probably at 720p with 50p and 60p
 
This would be wonderful! Heck, a lot of us had trouble with the whole DVD-R vs DVD+R when they first came out. Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD had the potential of being very confusing, and expensive, for the consumer.
 
FiL said:
it does raise another issue for me.

DVD was MPEG2 720x480 @60i and 720x576 @50i

what codec/fps/res will consumer HD-DVD's run on? of course until a disc format is finalised worrying about codecs etc is not worth it.

i guess it'll be some MPEG4 derived codec, probably at 720p with 50p and 60p
Click to expand...

According to Apple, Blu-Ray will use the H.264 codec which Quicktime 7 is all about.
 
blu-ray all the way, since it can hold so much more than the hd dvd, if they don't join to make a new medium. But, HD blu-ray would be amazing.
 
The problem is hollywood studios have contracts and deals set in place indicating they are going HD-DVD. That is kind of a problem for Sony, you know. Considering Sony has considerable support in the tech industry, it is clear people in the know realise it has higher capacity and is better in that way, but how does that help filmmakers distribute their movies when the American home movie venue has a Toshiba system in it. Well, frankly, it doesn't. That is why they are making a move to collaborate and establish a standard. It is is nobody's interest to compete on something so crucial as THE distribution format for HD. A battle only hurts everyone in the industry, including all of us, if the public becomes confused and irritated that their square disc won't play in a round hole. This recent move is definitely in the best interest of everyone.

brian wells
 
FiL said:
it does raise another issue for me.

DVD was MPEG2 720x480 @60i and 720x576 @50i

what codec/fps/res will consumer HD-DVD's run on? of course until a disc format is finalised worrying about codecs etc is not worth it.

i guess it'll be some MPEG4 derived codec, probably at 720p with 50p and 60p
Click to expand...

Not quite. DVD is certainly 720x480 (NTSC) and 720x576 (PAL), but to my knowledge, neither format has a single, set framerate determined by the dvd. Most motion pictures, for example, are encoded at 24p. All US DVD players can perform a 3:2 pulldown to display on 60i systems in the US, and if you've got a progressive scan system, then they won't even do that. I don't know if that's the case for PAL. It's good not only in preserving 24p for those with progressive sets, but also because a 24p MPEG2 uses up 80% of the disc space used for 60i, allowing for greater quality.

I expect any forthcoming standard would at least have concessions for a 24p option.

Will
 
H.264 looks unbelievable. I was tinkering around with QT7 at the apple booth, where they were showing all the new full sized trailers (Batman Begins, F4, etc) that were encoded. They had taken 2 minute HD trailers that came in a little over 8 gigs, and turned it into 15megs. It was incredible. I have a new found respect for the HD-DVD/HD-BD/H.264

-CJ
 
I really love the MPEG 4 H.264codec. (Also called MPEG-4 Part 10.) As I understand it will be used in many different formats - HD-DVD, Blue-ray, HDTV, 3GP (mobiles) and the new PSP video format, UMD™ (Universal Media Disc). That`s one big platform.

And by the way - Barry or somebody else ... do you know when and where you can make your own UMD movies. And what about copyright - is the UMD format something that only belongs to Sony?!
 
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