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Whither Blu-Ray and HD-DVD?

Many of the regular readers of this forum have commented on the lack of commercial success of SACD and DVD-A, and have looked forward with anticipation to the launch of the new Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD formats.

The Saturday issue of The Seattle Times carried an article on the technology page, written by two of its reporters covering the CES in Las Vegas, that raises questions about whether either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD will become successful as "hi-def" formats.

According to the article, a company called InPhase (located in Longmont, CO) has announced that is has begun distribution of a new holographic storage disc called the H-ROM. This new disc, which is shipping years ahead of its expected debut, has a storage capacity of 300 gigabytes (5-10 the capacity of HD-DVD or Blu-Ray), and is read by the same type of red laser used for CD's and DVD's. The data transfer rate for the H-ROM is 20 MB per second.

InPhase is currently shipping the discs to to companies that are developing consumer devices that will use the H-ROM, and it anticipates that professional systems using the H-ROM to go on sale later this year.

So, this poses an interesting dilemma for both the entertainment industry and for aduiophiles and early adopters of new technology: support Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, or simply wait just a bit longer for H-ROM to leapfrog both of these formats?

Opinions and commentary welcome...
sdcampbell
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
BTW, there was a very nice article on Blu-ray & HD-DVD in the latest The Absolute Sound. It had all the transfer rates in a vignet that was part of the article. I recommend that you guys (esp Kennyt) read this one as well (if you haven't already). Your local Barnes & Noble bookseller should have the latest TAS issue on the stand.
FYI.
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
Back a year ago I was enjoying Voom's 40 chs. of HD.-- That be the VaVaVoom package.-- We all know what happened there. No service provider has added much HD-content in the last year. At Directv they added one ch,; that being ESPN-2-- big deal; ESPN 1, isn't even 24/7.---Most TV retailers don't sell much over 27" that ISN'T HD capable.----Still not much HD content for all these new sets.---IMO the general public doesn't have "our" appetite for content____ The tie-in??___ I think the new dvd formats will take much more time catching on--for the general public. DVD itself, caught on faster than any format---the new formats will take 1/2 a lifetime.---You guys think about going down to BB to rent "Starwars Ninteen" in Blueray in 2050???
leedistad
104 posts
 
Now this IS interesting! I will watch this thread with great interest.
leedistad
104 posts
 
Here in Canada at least, the cardinal selling feature for HD channels is Hockey on CBC-HD, plus the Movie Channels. Regarding the major networks, I've been ranting for years that the networks don't have the imagination to make use of the format's potential. Seriously, who wants to watch Leno in HD? Even ER and CSI don't justify being in HD, it's not like the shows are better that way! The best contender so far has been PBS with nature and documentary shows that actually make use of the higher resolution.

But hey, it's a Winter Olympics year, and I'm looking forward to watching skiing, hockey, and curling in HD.
robm321
932 posts
 
The Absolute Sound also raved about SACD/DVD-A being the next big thing and tried to help promote it early on as well.

So, is Blu-ray or HD for home theater only or does it have anything to do with music and making music sound better? How many years will it take to get music releases on it?

I'm not trying to work against it, just wondering if it will be relavant any time soon. I'm an LP guy, but enjoy SACD and if one of the new formats sounds better, I'll go for it assuming there will be enough software to make it worth it.
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