Remember when we had three video formats? We had Betamax (Sony), VHS (Video Home System, by JVC) and Video2000 (Philips). VHS became a standard format for consumer recording and viewing in the 1980s and 1990s after competing in a fierce format war with Sony’s Betamax and, to a lesser extent, Philips’ Video 2000. Since none of the systems worked with each other, millions of consumers that didn’t choose VHS initially, wounded up with a non-standard product (and loads of shitty videos). In short: it sucked. When the DVD came out in the mid-90’s, at least every DVD player was compatible with one another (except for being able to play self-recorded DVD’s). Well, it’s 2006 and we are at the beginning of another format war: Blu-ray against HD-DVD. And guess what: once again the consumer will be the looser. Or so it seems.
It is very frustrating to see the big, money-hungry corporations going at it again. Not wanting anyone else to get a piece of the cake they are in an all-out battle to win the consumers over for their side. The stakes are high: a billion dollar industry for movies and other multi-media. The problem with this attitude is that the consumer is going to be the big looser. Nobody wants to invest in a technology that becomes obsolete, just like with Betamax or Video 2000.
As Engadget reports:
There may not be a lot we can do to fight back — apart from refusing to adopt either format out of sheer spite of their pigheadedness — but no matter what we might as well at least arm ourselves with the knowledge necessary to understand the nature of the situation at hand.
Nevertheless; it is very frustrating. Why give consumers this kind of bad treatment? As Softpedia reports:
Blu-Ray promises 25 GB for single-layer and 50 GB for dual-layer, compared to HD-DVD’s 15 GB for single-layer and 30 GB for dual-layer, and it’s backed by the most important audio-video entertainment and IT companies, so we have a winner… Then why is there a battle, and, most importantly, is it really necessary?
The answer is yes! The battle is inevitable, and it’s not necessary about who is going to sell more units or who is going to get more popular, it’s about information control.
The final stake: movies
One of the data broadly available on the Internet is the maximum supported resolution: an amazing 1920×1080 pixel. In brief, the movies offered on such a support would have incomparable image clarity, judging against DVD’s present capabilities. And whoever wins the battle dictates the format for the new big movie, and, financially speaking, will control a hundred, maybe thousand billion dollar industry. And the sale increase of TV and other compatible displays adds to this.The big award for the winning format has so many zeros as even the companies used to astronomic figures would get dizzy with the taste of unlimited success.
On the other hand, the two formats are incompatible with each other, so it’s certain that a similar solution to that adopted in the case of DVDs is not feasible, since a device able to operate both technologies would require separate reading lasers and mechanisms, and would be, in the end, too expensive and bulky for the average user.
The battle is hazardous and, if the industry won’t settle soon for a direction or the other, the adopting of a format will be delayed and all the experts analyzing the phenomenon cite the end of another battle, the ’80s confrontation between VHS and Betamax. And we all know how that ended.
Blu-Ray is presently supported by its inventor, Sony, and Dell, Hitachi, Hewlett-Packard, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung and other IT equipment producers. But, as the format will have a big word to say in the movie industry, the movie studios supporting it are also important. So far, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Walt Disney declared their support for Blu-Ray. The format had also two of the major game companies announcing their support: Electronic Arts and Vivendi
Overall, the figure behind this association, with Apple the most recent joining member, is around 450 billion USD. But things are not very clear. The movie studios support is not exclusive, so if the rival format manages to get ahead sooner, we may witness important forsakings.
Ok, but what about HD-DVD?
Blu-Ray’s direct competitor, HD-DVD (High-Density Digital Versatile Disc) didn’t gather in its corner so many IT producers: only Toshiba, the inventor and main supporter, and NEC, but, on the other hand, it’s backed by more movie studios: Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros and New Line Cinema.
The sum behind it is of only 221 billion USD, but the involvement of the four major movie producers could definitely make a difference.
Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD).
Now here’s an interesting thought: both HD-DVD and Blu-ray may be obsolete already! There is a new kid on the block: the Holographic Versatile Disc or HDV. While Blu-Ray and HD-DVD use the same laser, other producers thought of combining the two lasers (red and blue), in a single ray and thanks to Optware , on a disc the size of a CD or DVD, 1 TB of data could be stored (20 times more than on a Blu-Ray disc), with a transfer rate of 1 Gbit/s.
The format is developed by the Japanese company Optware, in collaboration with Fuji Photo and CMC Magnetics. The three companies allied with Nippon Paint, Pulstec Industrial and Toagosei and “HVD Alliance” is a fact.
Backwards compatible
So what else is there to say? Well one good thing: both Blu-ray and HD-DVD manufacturers have promised that their players will be backwards compatible with the DVD. So at least you do not have to worry (too much?) about your precious collection so far.
