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[Agent Icebeezy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050608/ap_on_hi_te/japan_toshiba_dvds

TOKYO - Japan's Toshiba Corp. said Wednesday that it has developed the technology to mass-produce recordable high-definition DVDs

The advance is the latest step in a heated global race to establish a world standard for the next-generation of optical disks, which are expected to offer sharper images than current DVDs.

Toshiba said the new technology, developed jointly with Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co. and Hayashibara Biochemical Laboratories Inc., will enable the manufacture of single-recording HD-DVD disks with 15-gigabyte storage capacity.

Disc manufacturers, currently producing recordable DVD disks, will only have to make minor modifications to be able to produce the new higher-definition kind, Toshiba said.

Optical disc makers Hitachi Maxell Ltd. and Mitsubishi Kagaku said they will market the new HD-DVD-R discs next spring, when Toshiba plans to launch HD-DVD recorders.

In the battle for a high-definition successor to DVDs, there are two technologies competing to become the world standard.

Toshiba leads a group that backs the HD-DVD format, while Sony Corp (SNE.N). leads a rival group promoting the Blu-ray Disc format.

Blu-ray have more capacity with 50 gigabytes compared to 45 gigabytes for HD-DVD read-only disks, but proponents of HD-DVD say their format is cheaper to make because the production method is similar to current DVDs.

 

[sonycowboy]

Yeah, now they're only 2 years behind Blu-Ray

And it's only single layer?

I thought the compelling reason for Sony making Blu-Ray 23/25GB was that that's how much space it takes to store 2 hours of uncompressed High Def content. And I don't think any of these recorders are going to be encoding HighDef content on the fly are they?

 

[The Faceless Master]

and the war continues...

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

Yeah, now they're only 2 years behind Blu-Ray

And it's only single layer?

I thought the compelling reason for Sony making Blu-Ray 23/25GB was that that's how much space it takes to store 2 hours of uncompressed High Def content. And I don't think any of these recorders are going to be encoding HighDef content on the fly are they?

 

[bitwise]

seems like unification is truly dead.

 

[Stinkles]

They better figure this shit out and come to a compromise or a victory. I am happy either way, but I am not keen on the idea of doing a "wait and see" on my PS3 because a format war exists.

I prefer to buy my shit immediately in a haze of excitement and then maybe regret it months later.

 

[Ruzbeh]

So which one is the pr0n industry going to adopt? I assume the cheaper HD-DVD, because it's cheap.

SINGLE HIGH-DEF OPTICAL MEDIUM FOR PORN FUTURE!

 

[AB 101]

Is Toshiba actually going to ship something or are they just going to continue to up the specs?

 

[sonycowboy]

So which one is the pr0n industry going to adopt? I assume the cheaper HD-DVD, because it's cheap.

SINGLE HIGH-DEF OPTICAL MEDIUM FOR PORN FUTURE!

Porn in high-def is the absolute last thing I want to see. Every scar, every dimple of cellulite, all the blemishes, just do not seem to be asking for higher definition.

But, I'm sure it will be important to the war, nonetheless.

 

[Warm Machine]

Porn in high-def is the absolute last thing I want to see. Every scar, every dimple of cellulite, all the blemishes, just do not seem to be asking for higher definition.

But, I'm sure it will be important to the war, nonetheless.

Its already available in Europe on Windows Media 9 format. 1280 x720 porn.

 

[sonycowboy]

Its already available in Europe on Windows Media 9 format. 1280 x720 porn.

But is it shot in HD? Or can remastering of original analog video provide HD quality output?

 

[Ruzbeh]

Is Toshiba actually going to ship something or are they just going to continue to up the specs?

What did Sony ship?

 

[sonycowboy]

What did Sony ship?

Blu-Ray recorders (what this PR is talking about) have been shipping for over two years or so.

 

[jarrod]

Blu-Ray recorders (what this PR is talking about) have been shipping for over two years or so.

I thought it was just one $3000+ model released 2 years ago... and it's oudated, missing parts of the current BD spec, no?

 

[Nerevar]

Blu-Ray recorders (what this PR is talking about) have been shipping for over two years or so.

But it can't read all 4 layers of the 200 GB 4-layer discs Sony has announced!!

Face it, it's nothing but a spec war on both sides. I hope they both fail and the people responsible for not unifying die a fiery death.

 

[teiresias]

The BR-R spec is different from the BR-ROM spec.

 

[kaching]

That was the original Sony model, jarrod. Matsushita released a BD recorder last summer that conformed to spec and was cheaper, though still a couple of thousand in price.

 

[sonycowboy]

I thought it was just one $3000+ model released 2 years ago... and it's oudated, missing parts of the current BD spec, no?

Well, that's one more model than Toshiba has put out. Also, yes, it was released before the specs were finalized and thus you could characterize it as "outdated", and "missing parts" (strange wording) of the spec. But, they recorded High Def TV from day one with a capacity of 23GB using a Blue Laser and 0.1mm substrate (and 90% of the other Blu-Ray specs).

The response was to what has Sony shipped and I answered it. There, of course, a number of recorders out there now (and for well over a year).

 

[jarrod]

That was the original Sony model, jarrod. Matsushita released a BD recorder last summer that conformed to spec and was cheaper, though still a couple of thousand in price.

Thanks for the claification. So does Matsushitsa then have the only "viable" HiDef Blue Laser recorder on market today then? Or has Sony (or any of the BD Group) released another BD machine yet?

 

[kaching]

Not sure, jarrod. Haven't kept that close a tab on things.

 

[Kleegamefan]

I'll help you out Jarrod:

Sony
BRD recorder #1 was the Sony BDZ-S77 which shipped in April of 2003

http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/BD/products/BDZ-S77/

June 2004, Sony also released 3 ProData drives ( BW-F101/A,BW-RS101,BW-RU101) pro data disks are 23.3GB and based on BRD tech and is, in fact, physically identical to BRDs, but they are not compatatible with BRDs as they are marketed to the pro sector:

http://www.sonyburners.com/prodata/index.php

Here is a picture of a 23.3 GB Prodata disc....you may find it familiar:

Sharp

On November 11, 2004 Sharp introduced the BD-HD100 recorder which has a 160GB HDD and HDMI outs

http://www.sharp.co.jp/hi-vision/bd/

Matsushita

July 31, 2004, Matsushita introduced the Panasonic DMR-E700BD which is the first player to support 50GB dual-layer BRDs

http://panasonic.jp/dvd/products/bd/spec/01.html



Samsung

December 2004, Samsung introduced the BD-R1000 recorder

http://www.sec.co.kr/?SMSESSION=NO

In september LG will be releasing the LG BH-6900 (160GB HDD) and later this year Philips, Panasonic, Sony and Pioneer all say they are releasing BRD products, though I do not know the model # of any of these products...

Several companies offer Blank BRD media including Sony, Panasonic, TDK, Japan Victor and others....


Toshiba, Sanyo and NEC have yet to ship a single HD-DVD product, hardware or software....

 

[Warm Machine]

But is it shot in HD? Or can remastering of original analog video provide HD quality output?

Shot in HD. I'd send you a link but...