new hd-dvd format approved

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 2007-09-12 03:18am

DVD Forum gives three-layer, 51GB HD DVD the thumbs up
By Tony Smith [More by this author]
11th September 2007 09:33 GMT

The DVD Forum, the organisation that oversees DVD and HD DVD technology, has approved Toshiba's proposed triple-layer, 51GB disc structure. The move paves the way to exceed - for now, at least - the 50GB capacity of a two-layer Blu-ray Disc.

Toshiba's 51GB HD DVD

Toshiba revealed the three-layer disc back in January 2007 before formally submitting the medium to the Forum in April.

Standard single- and dual-layer HD DVDs offer 15GB and 30GB of storage, respectively. Adding a third layer would have taken the overall capacity to 45GB, still less than a 50GB BD, so Toshiba's boffins worked to get an extra 2GB onto each layer of the three-tier HD DVD.

What's unclear at this stage is whether today's HD DVD drives and players will be able to read the new disc. However, with such a small number of HD DVD devices out there - relative to DVD players - only a limited number of early adopters are likely to be affected, and these are the kind of folk who are generally happy to upgrade in any case.

The Forum is also investigating a further format, one that fits a standard, single-layer DVD to the back of a two-layer HD DVD in order to allow standard definition content to be included for ordinary DVD players, effectively future-proofing the disc. The format is expected to be approved before the end of the year.

More salt in the format war

bilateralrope · Post by **bilateralrope** » 2007-09-12 05:23am

I view this as another reason to avoid the HD formats until one has clearly won against the others and is looking to be able to defeat DVD's. Not only is it hard to predict which will win, its even harder to predict a new format showing up and stomping the current ones.

apocolypse · Post by **apocolypse** » 2007-09-12 09:31am

From what I've heard (take it with a grain of salt), the 51 gig HD DVD should be compatible with most if not all players. It was the 45 gig disk that was causing some issues.

And bilateral, I was avoiding the HD formats as well before. However, I got the 360 add-on for a present, and the movies are pretty fucking gorgeous. I didn't know what I was missing till I saw it.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2007-09-12 07:05pm

bilateralrope wrote:I view this as another reason to avoid the HD formats until one has clearly won against the others and is looking to be able to defeat DVD's. Not only is it hard to predict which will win, its even harder to predict a new format showing up and stomping the current ones.

This isn't a new format, it's just a tri-layer HD-DVD disc. It'll play in all existing HD-DVD players.

Hawkwings · Post by **Hawkwings** » 2007-09-12 07:08pm

When do we get the holographic storage that looks like a floppy disk but holds 1 MILLION GIGABYTES!!!

Yeah. Just plain DVD is good enough for me right now. It's also the most cost-efficient way to backup data.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-09-12 08:30pm

Praxis wrote:
bilateralrope wrote:I view this as another reason to avoid the HD formats until one has clearly won against the others and is looking to be able to defeat DVD's. Not only is it hard to predict which will win, its even harder to predict a new format showing up and stomping the current ones.
This isn't a new format, it's just a tri-layer HD-DVD disc. It'll play in all existing HD-DVD players.

HD VMD, however, is a proposed third new format:

The Digital Bits on Monday wrote: Finally, in the "You've Got to Be F-ing Kidding Me!" category, it seems that there's a THIRD high-def disc format on the way. According to this story at Yahoo, a company called New Medium Enterprises is soon to launch HD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) at Amazon and Radio Shack stores. HD VMD discs hold 30GB of data and feature a data rate of 40 mbps using MPEG-2 and VC-1 (AVC may be added later). The main selling point is that the cost to consumers is much lower than either Blu-ray or HD-DVD. Their player will sell for just $150. If I had to guess, I'd guess this will be a non factor. What studio is going to want to sell their movies on a THIRD HD format? It sure doesn't make decisions any easier for consumers. Ugh.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa143.html#avi

Personally I don't really expect that any of the major studios will even bother to commit. They might just ignore it outright.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2007-09-12 09:46pm

Hawkwings wrote:Yeah. Just plain DVD is good enough for me right now. It's also the most cost-efficient way to backup data.

In terms of gigabytes per dollar, sure, although above a certain point they become unwieldy.

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 2007-09-12 09:46pm

Praxis wrote:
bilateralrope wrote:I view this as another reason to avoid the HD formats until one has clearly won against the others and is looking to be able to defeat DVD's. Not only is it hard to predict which will win, its even harder to predict a new format showing up and stomping the current ones.
This isn't a new format, it's just a tri-layer HD-DVD disc. It'll play in all existing HD-DVD players.

I don't see any source saying it will play in older machines, just sources saying it is unknown to work.

Sriad · Post by **Sriad** » 2007-09-13 12:47am

Hawkwings wrote:When do we get the holographic storage that looks like a floppy disk but holds 1 MILLION GIGABYTES!!!

Yeah. Just plain DVD is good enough for me right now. It's also the most cost-efficient way to backup data.

It'll happen eventually.

Ultimate Physical Units to Computation
Seth Lloyd

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2007-09-13 01:07am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote: HD VMD, however, is a proposed third new format:

Does Microsoft have anything to do with that format?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-09-13 01:16am

No. Jesus Christ, did you even bother to read what I quoted from The Digital Bits?

New Medium Enterprises seems to be just some no-name Euro tech company, and VMD is literally their only flash-in-the-pan product.

Starglider · Post by **Starglider** » 2007-09-13 02:46am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:New Medium Enterprises seems to be just some no-name Euro tech company, and VMD is literally their only flash-in-the-pan product.

It screams 'stock scam' to me.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2007-09-13 02:55am

Hawkwings wrote:When do we get the holographic storage that looks like a floppy disk but holds 1 MILLION GIGABYTES!!!

That's quite a bit of porn (if one would chose to use it for that

)

Davis 51 · Post by **Davis 51** » 2007-09-13 08:40am

wautd wrote:
Hawkwings wrote:When do we get the holographic storage that looks like a floppy disk but holds 1 MILLION GIGABYTES!!!

That's quite a bit of porn (if one would chose to use it for that )

You know it's going to happen.

I'm staying out of the format wars for a while. DVD quality works for me, and while it would be very fucking sweet to watch all of my movies in hi-def, it's better to wait than to buy the losing format.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2007-09-13 09:06am

Davis 51 wrote:
wautd wrote:
Hawkwings wrote:When do we get the holographic storage that looks like a floppy disk but holds 1 MILLION GIGABYTES!!!

That's quite a bit of porn (if one would chose to use it for that )
You know it's going to happen.

All achievements are made because of porn. To quote Steve from Coupling:

Jill: [about the film "Lesbian Spank Inferno"] How could you possibly enjoy a film like that?

Steve: Oh, because it's got naked women in it! Look, I like naked women! I'm a bloke! I'm supposed to like them! We're born like that. We like naked women as soon as we're pulled out of one. Halfway down the birth canal, we're already enjoying the view. Look, it's the four pillars of the male heterosexual psyche. We like: naked women, stockings, lesbians, and Sean Connery best as James Bond. Because that is what being a bloke is. And if you don't like it, darling, join the film collective. Look: I want to spend the rest of my life with the woman at the end of the table here. But that does not stop me wanting to see several thousand more naked bottoms before I die. Because that's what being a bloke is. When Man invented fire, he didn't say "Hey, let's cook!" He said: "Great! Now we can see naked bottoms in the dark!" As soon as Caxton invented the printing press we were using it to make pictures of - hey! - naked bottoms. We've turned the Internet into an enormous international database of... naked bottoms. So, you see, the story of male achievement through the ages, feeble though it may have been, has been the story of our struggle to get a better look at your bottoms. Frankly, girls, I'm not so sure how insulted you really ought to be.