The Blu Ray / HD-DVD war
SONY STEPS UP
Sony has revealed a few more details on the BDP-S1, its first stand-alone Blu-ray disc player:Price: $1000; ship date: Now pushed back to August (4 months ahead of PS3?); 1080P HDMI output (GREAT! And a real advantage over HD-DVD players which won’t offer this – or at least so far they won’t.) Standard DVD discs will be upconverted to resolutions up to 1080p!
Sony Pictures and other studios also recently announced that none of their Blu-ray discs will downconvert the analog component-video outputs, so tens of thousands of owners of HDTVs that lack HDMI inputs will still be able to enjoy the Blu-ray movies at full HD resolution via the BDP-S1 and other forthcoming Blu-ray players.
So – score one for Sony. But no TVs input 1080P yet… hmmmm. (Wait till fall 2006!)
Sony whispersthat due to ship in the second half of 2006, “there will be various models with 1,920 x 1,080 display resolution and some products capable of 1080p input" and that the "newly designed SXRD line will offer screen sizes from 50 to 70 inches." Newly designed?
But there were some leaks from dealers, apparently, dealers who had been told of what to expect. Here’s the leakage:
There will be two series of 2006 SXRDs, one designated S2000 and including 50-, 55-, and 60-inch models, and the other the traditional Sony step-up XBR line, with 60- and 70-inch models. The leaks say that suggested pricing for the S2000 line will be $3,000 to $4,000, depending on size, and that all five SXRD models will accept 1080p sources via HDMI . It isn’t official, but it’s fun to dream.
Early Adopters get bad babies!It appears the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) for the new HD DVD will compromise resolution for early HDTV adopters! The specs were released in late February.
The rules clearly show the major movie studios are determined to thwart potential piracy, but those with older HDTVs will suffer!
AACS says the new players won't output a full-HD signal from their component-video connections, since those jacks are analog instead of digital and thus have no copy protection. The "down-rezzed" signals will be limited to a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels — exactly one-quarter the 1,920 x 1,080 pixels that you'll get through the copy-protected digital connectors on the players. But the only HD inputs on a lot of older HDTVs are component video. Estimates suggest 3 to 6.6 million such displays are in U.S. households.
And after Dec. 31, 2013 AACS-licensed players can't be made or sold with any analog video outputs, including the familiar yellow composite-video jack.
THE FIRST UNIT SOLD!
Toshiba HD DVD Player, Model HDA1 (available at $499 from ABT, click on logo at bottom of page) (Introduction March 1 2006)
Features:High Definition DVD playback via HDMI™ interface at 720p/1080i resolution Standard DVD upconversion to 720p or 1080i through the HDMI interface Multi-Format Compatibility: HD DVD, DVD, DVD-R/-RW, DVD-RAM, CD, CD-R/-RW Onboard Dolby® Digital, Dolby® Digital Plus, Dolby® TrueHD (2-ch), DTS and DTS-HD Decoding with 5.1 Analog Audio outputs Multi-Channel 24-Bit/192kHz audio DACs Pre-programmed Remote Control with TV Controls
Advantage Toshiba:HD DVD playback delivers outstanding resolution, bright, vivid colors and stunning sound from the next generation DVD standard adopted by the DVD forum. Backwards compatibility of standard DVDs allows you to enjoy your current collection of DVDs on the player. Video Up-conversion via the HDMI interface scales the standard DVD video to output resolution of 720p or 1080i, matching the resolution of the HDTV. Built in multi-channel decoders for Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD (2ch), DTS and DTS-HD will bring improved fidelity and sonic realism to the soundtracks.
Technology and Benefits:
HD DVD PlaybackHigh Definition video requires a tremendous amount of space on a disc, thus a new Blue laser (versus a Red Laser for DVD) is utilized for HD DVD. The blue laser, with it's shorter wave length, allows for information to be stored more densely on the disc, thus improving storage capacity by about over 3 times compared to that of a red laser technology. Additionally, more accurate and efficient video compression like MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 (based on Microsoft's Window Media) compress information to achieve file sizes that are less than half of the current standard DVD's MPEG2.
High Performance Disc DriveHD DVD not only provides a deliverable HD media format to the home, but does so with the potential of greater performance than you have experienced with HDTV. The HD-A1 disc drive has an astounding 36.55Mbps transfer rate. To put that in perspective, standard DVD has an average bit rate of less than 10Mbps and HDTV's maximum rate is 24Mbps.
High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI)HDMI is the first industry-supported all digital Audio/video connection providing the transmission of uncompressed digital video and multi-channel audio on a single cable. When matched with a compatible HDTV, this single cable connection ensures that all signals remain in their pure digital form. The HD-A1 will output HD content through the HDMI interface in the native format of the HD DVD disc content of either 720p or 1080i.
Backward CompatibilityEnjoy backwards compatibility and play your collection of standard DVD's on the player. In addition, via the HDMI interface, the standard definition DVD picture resolution can be upconverted to near HD quality, with output resolution of 720p or 1080i to match your HDTV's performance. Not only does this output the video in HD standard resolutions, but because the conversion takes place in the player, the signal remains free from excessive digital-to-analog conversion artifacts.
Built-in Multi-Channel DecodersThe HD-A1 has built-in processors to handle the multi-channel decoders for Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD (2 ch), DTS and DTS-HD . It employs the use of four DSPs to decode the multi-channel streams of the wide array of audio formats. These 32-bit floating-point DSP's are world renown for their high accuracy and are employed in many high quality audio solutions in the home theater market.
Specifications:
Video
Disc Playback: HD DVD, HD DVD-R, DVD, DVD-R/-RW/-RAM, CD, CD-R/-RW
HD Content Output via HDMI (Disc Native Resolution)
11-bit / 216MHz Video DAC
Video Up-Conversion for SD DVD (720p/1080i)
Enhanced Black Level (0IRE / 7.5IRE Selection)
Letterbox / Pan & Scan Support
Audio
Built-in Dolby® Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS® and DTS-HD Decoders
Dolby True HD Compatible (2 Channel)
Four 32-bit Floating Point Digital Signal Processors
Multi-Channel 24-bit/192kHz Audio DACs
HDMI Audio support up to 5.1 L-PCM
Multi-Channel Signal Management
Dynamic Range Control
MP3 and WMA Playback
Convenience
Pre-programmed Remote Control w/ TV Controls
Tri-Lingual OSD (English, French/Japanese)
Bit Rate Display
FL Dimmer
Fast Forward
Fast Reverse
Slow Play
Step Play
Time Search
A-B Repeat
Screen Saver
Parental Lock
Connections
Front Panel:
2 USB Terminals
Rear Panel:
1 High Definition Multimedia Interface (ver. 1.1)
1 ColorStream Pro® Component Video
1 S-Video
1 Composite Video
1 Stereo Analog Audio
5.1 Multi-Channel Analog Audio
1 Coaxial Digital Output
1 TosLink® Optical Digital Output
1 Ethernet 10/100 Port
SAMMY straddles the fence?Samsung Electronics Co. will bring out a DVD machine this year capable of playing both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD if backers of the rival standards fail to agree on a unified format, a newspaper said. This hasn't happened. Instead, WB has announced it will come out with discs which are HD-DVD on oone side and Blu-Ray on the other.
Competition between the two camps has hampered the launch of the next generation of optical disks, which will have greater capacity and higher definition, as movie studios hesitate to commit to printing disks on either standard.
Samsung's head of consumer electronics, Choi Gee-sung, told the Financial Times Deutschland: "We would welcome a unified standard but if this doesn't come, which looks likely, we'll bring a unified solution to market."
"It won't be simple but you'll see our solution in the coming year (ed note: that was a statement in 2005). Consumers will be too confused otherwise," he added in the interview. Partially true. Sales of players are pretty robust. Of title, Blu-Ray is passing HD-DVD which had the lead in rollout.
Samsung is a backer of Blu-Ray, which promises higher capacity than HD-DVD and better interactivity and security.
Success has been ridden to the BANKThe success of DVD may lead to a major problem with the next generation of the technology, one that can hold High Definition films. Because DVD has been the fastest-adopted technology in consumer electronics history and has generated billions of dollars/euros in royalties for the inventors, a broad base of consumer electronics companies are now divided over its successor.
Blinded by GREEDChances look slim that consumers will be spared a DVD format war, as the backers of one of the standards say there is no common ground for a unified format and it is on track for a market launch within a year.
BLU-RAYBlu-Ray (named after the laser color) promises higher capacity DVD disks (up to 50 Gigabytes) that can store high definition films with better interactivity and security. Blu-Ray is backed by the majority of electronics makers, including Sony, Matsushita, Samsung, Philips, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Apple and Hitachi . Hollywood movie studios have publicly split on support for the two formats: 20th Century Fox, ESPN, MGM, Miramax, Sony Pictures, Touchstone, and The Walt Disney Company are behind Blu-Ray.
NO HACKINGBut consumers can expect punishment for tinkering with their Blu-Ray players, as many have done with current DVD players, for instance to remove regional coding. The new, internet-connected and secure players will report any "hack" and the device can be disabled remotely!!!
HD-DVDHD-DVD claims it has a cheaper technology compatible with current DVD and CD players. The HD-DVD camp consists of Toshiba, NEC Corp and Sanyo Electric as main hardware vendors. HBO and New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, and Warner Brothers are behind HD-DVD. Further complicating the matter: None of these studios has an exclusive agreement with the camp they've backed.
Media manufacturers step into the equationHD-DVD media is less expensive to manufacture than Blu-Ray. HD-DVD only requires modification of existing DVD disc production lines. This has been critical in making HD-DVD the preferred choice of media companies. Existing DVD media is playable on HD-DVD drives with only minor modification of the optical pickup.
Pirates of Pirates of The CaribbeanThe big issue for Hollywood is rampant piracy, because the initial DVD standard created 10 years ago had been rushed to market and lacked features to prevent unauthorized copying and playback.
In China in particular, many films are reproduced on DVDs illegally and sold at the equivalent of a dollar a piece on street corners.
Surveys show that based on name alone, people prefer the NAME "HD-DVD" because it relates to what they already know.
And that people clearly prefer a format that will hold a regular DVD on one side and the new enhanced version on the other. Either camp says that will be a feature of their hardware and software.
The battle between the two camps has become intense after a failed attempt this spring by several of the main Japanese electronics companies to bring together the two standards.
The Bottom line And so, the progress, or lack of it, is driven by those wanting THEIR slice of the pie - the manufacturers, patent holders, the studios in their quest for copy-proofing, and the media manufacturers who don't want to spend on new replication gear.
Driving for compatibility - so far unsuccessfully, are those who realize a divided non-compatible format will benefit no-one, as the public holds back from buying either, waiting for a standard to emerge victorious AND the stores and rental locations which don't want to have to stock twin versions of incompatible software.
Sony held a recent demo in which they showed participants their Blu Ray against a standard DVD on a split screen. Most folks in attendance came away... just blown away. One said it perhaps best - 'like wiping a layer of grime off the windshield.' If you are happy NOW, you'll be happier soon.
Thoughts on Blu Ray, 1 year from first impressions, 6 months (at least!) to go.... By Sam Posten, Guest CorrespondentIn the summer of 2004 I was fortunate enough to accompany a large gathering of HT enthusiasts from www.HomeTheaterForum.com to visit many of the Hollywood studios and get some great behind the scenes insights from all of them. Going in, I was intrigued by what we might see at the Sony lot, as it was strongly hinted that we might get a glimpse at a real BluRay demo.
The demo, in a word, rocked.It rocked my HT perceptions like nothing else I had seen, and frankly blew my expectations for the HD era into the stratosphere. We got to see Lawrence of Arabia, a 40+ year old movie, transformed into glorious 1080p and shown on a Sony Qualia projector onto a 20' screen. You could count individual motes of dust rolling across the desert in one battle scene. Even cooler, Sony had a special split screen presentation where the showed 1080p on one side of the screen and 480p (i.e. DVD resolution) on the other. It was a literal transformation of the video from a 'nice' looking set to the absolute most beautiful projected image I have ever seen. The modern movie trailers and demo of possible interactive features that followed were just gravy, I was sold at 1080p.
Looking back at my report back to the HTF, I see that most of my expectations and opinions remain the same:
"1- 1080p - YES! We've gone for nearly a hundred years living with the silliness of interlaced signals, why make our lives more difficult? The very idea of having interlaced signals when 50 bajillion computer monitors give a clear lesson in why we got past it is incomprehensible.
2. It's damn impressive that PS3 will be launching with Blu Ray in the box.
3. What the hell can HD-DVD offer that Blu-ray isn't? That question was asked and there was no suitable response. Bluray has all the bullet points locked down with better tech than HDDVD on EVERY point that I can see as a consumer. Either they have something big planned or they should just give up now, because as a consumer, I am JAZZED about Blu-ray. GREAT demo. I said it before and I'll say it again: Going to Hollywood I figured the Blu Ray demo would be a footnote, coming home it is my very foundation of excitement for the future of this hobby."
Today, 1080p displays are a reality. Sure they are a $4k+ reality, but a reality none the less for those willing to pay the premium. It's very disappointing to me that so many of these displays can SHOW that many pixels but not actually accept a true 1080p signal (say from a PS3 like we should see in the spring), but it's a start. Seeing the rollout of Sony's SXRD sets including the Qualias and the Ruby projector only reinforce my belief that Sony is the company who 'gets' this technology best. Spring and PS3 can't come soon enough for me. I suspect that the vast majority of first BluRay players' consumers buy are going to have the letters Playstation 3 stenciled on them in Spiderman style letters, and my pre-order is ready to go.
Still, I'm still chomping at the bit to get a 720p front projector for my home, since it will be years before real 1080p, both display and signals, will be at a price I can afford. I'd hate to miss all that great programming (including Xbox 360, I'm no one system fan boy!) in the meantime. And that's a message that has been lost on a lot of people. The wait isn't really over, but that shouldn't stop you, the quality out there is soooo far beyond SDTV that making this jump in two steps is not unreasonable, heck it's twice the excitement in my book.
Despite Microsoft and Intel's admission that they strongly back HD DVD over BluRay, there still does not seem to be any win for consumers in that proposition. Sure it's cheaper to gear up for HD DVD, especially for the manufacturers, but we don't want cheap, we want the best we can get!
That said, we still don't know enough about BluRay to call it a slam dunk for consumers yet... The DRM system sounds pretty draconian and if there is any one facet of BluRay that can be its downfall, that is it. Tell ya what; if I have to have my player 'Phone Home' to ask permission to play a disc, I'll be skipping that technology. I avoided DIVX (Circuit City's abysmal technology Frankenstein, not the awesome video Codec) and Microsoft's "Big Brother" Windows Media disks. Don't know what I'm talking about? Check out the Ultimate T2 DVD to see the ridiculous system requirements, which include a phone home check AND ties your viewing habits to account info. I'm no digital privacy zealot, but I have to draw my line there somewhere, and I'll be damned if I will ask my TV permission for anything, or give up my viewing data to any company that demands it for THEIR protection.
So, 2006 is going to be very interesting on the HD front. We will continue to see companies line up behind both technologies and jockey for your attention. And the loser will probably fail dramatically, not just a little bit. You already know where I feel those chips will fall... Not only that but we will continue to see competing technologies come closer to reality, such as the Chinese HD format and holographic storage media, and even simple web transactions. Apple's Video Ipod is due any day and PSP UMD are selling like hotcakes, both should explode in 2006. HD is a reality today, but the real battle comes next year, it should be a blast.
High definition DVD will include greatly improved sound. Here’s why.
Each of the two competing high definition DVD formats have specs built in for two new surround sound formats: Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD.
Today’s DVDs have enough space for an audio stream of 448kbps (448,000 bits per second) – By comparison, DTS has a rate of 1.5Mbps. (1,500,000 bits per second.)
Confused yet? Just know that compression is the scheme where the audio is deconstructed and reconstructed in a way that uses less space. Certain ways of doing that are superior to other ways, but are “lossy” in that some material is, uh, lost, in the process. One method offers a perfect reconstruction, and is called “lossless.”
Dolby Digital Plus:This has better more efficient coding for the compression, higher bitrates, more channels of audio (up to 13.1). The higher bitrate means better sound quality. Dolby Digital Plus will be backwards compatible with (old) Dolby Digital if that’s what your receiver can handle, but even that will contain about 30% more bits than the old way.
Introducing Dolby TrueHD: another advance.While Dolby Digital Plus throws away some bits in the compression scheme, Dolby TrueHD has what’s called a “lossless” compression scheme… which reconstructs what was heard in the studio. Exactly. If you see a High Definition DVD with Dolby TrueHD on it, you will know you can hear what the studio did (provided your system is good.) New receivers are just starting to show this feature in 2007. I believe this may be THE audio feature to have.
THX:(now renamed THX Ultra… see below.) Now, about soundtracks: movie soundtracks are equalized for movie theaters. Ah ha. Movie theaters are generally dead acoustically and even more dead when filled with high frequency-absorbing human bodies. Plus, high frequencies fade with distance (as in: to the screen) The THX specification for home theater (developed by Lucasfilm) does 4 things:
It cuts high frequencies some. Why? Because they were boosted for the movie theater dead – absorbent – environment. Without THX your soundtrack at home would be shrill.
It adds a sense of spaciousness to your surround channels. Many DVD soundtracks’ surround channels (rear speakers) are in mono, not stereo. If in stereo, the circuit recognizes that and does nothing.
It rolls off bass to the main speakers at 80 cycles and routes bass to the subwoofer.
It certifies amplifier power and performance as sufficient.
But, there’s more. There’s ALWAYS more.
THX SELECT:does the above but lowers amplifier standards. So it can be in cheaper gear. But then they decided to rename ‘standard’ THX to “THX Ultra.”
Think we’re done? Cue Jack N: “You can’t handle the truth!”
Now there’s THX Ultra2,which addresses the VIDEO switching circuitry, creates 7.1 channels from 5.1 sources, and compensates for when the speakers are right up against the walls.
DTSwill be mandatory on Blu-Ray discs. DTS-HD will be optional and backward compatible. DTS will be at 2.5 times the data rate of Dolby Digital.
DTS-HDdoes 7.1 with zero loss.
What it all mean?
The new High Definition DVDs will sound better than you’ve heard from any DVD so far.And if you got through this section, obviously, you do NOT have A.D.D.
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