DB7

DVD is history: get ready for next video format

· High definition television sparks new revolution
· Sony and Toshiba battle it out with rival products

Bobbie Johnson in Las Vegas
Friday January 6, 2006
The Guardian


It will come as a shock to film fans who have spent Christmas stocking up on their movie collections, but the technology industry is in agreement: the DVD is dead.
Consumer electronics companies have begun to show off what they believe will be the next generation of home video technologies. But despite the common belief that the DVD is history, the industry is split over what the next step should be.

Two warring factions each believe their product should become the standard that takes over from the DVD, and both sides have been using the huge Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show this week to confront each other directly.

In one corner stands Sony, which has gathered a wide spread of support for a new format known as Blu-Ray. In the other is Toshiba which is championing HD-DVD, a cheaper, less advanced option.
The fight has been precipitated by the worldwide growth in high-definition TV (HDTV), which offers far clearer images than traditional television pictures. It is already popular in the US, and satellite broadcaster Sky is expected to launch services in the UK this year. Ordinary DVDs, say both sides, are not big enough to cope with HDTV's memory-intensive images.

The first concrete blow was struck this week when Toshiba said it would be launching its first commercial HD-DVD player in March at $499 (£284) - a price that analysts say is highly competitive. "HD-DVD is destined to be a key driver for progress and the development of the consumer electronics, IT and entertainment industries," said Yoshihide Fujii, a senior vice president of Toshiba.

HD-DVD fits three times more information on a disc than DVD techniques - but because the manufacturing process is similar to existing ones, they will be inexpensive and quick to produce.

Blu-Ray is struggling to keep up despite backing from Hollywood studios and a wider support base among electronics firms. Companies, including Philips and Panasonic, announced new players at CES, but they are not due in shops until at least the second half of this year and are likely to be much more expensive.

Another blow came when Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates, confirmed his company would be making a plug-in HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 games console.

Sony's rival format does away with traditional red lasers in favour of more efficient blue ones. This enables a single disc to store five times more than a DVD.

So is it really curtains for your DVD player? Not necessarily, say some experts. The HD-DVD standard will offer compatibility with the discs you already own, and telly addicts will need to splash out on expensive HDTV sets before the difference is noticeable. But if a winner does not emerge soon, observers predict a rerun of the VHS-Betamax video battle of the 80s, with many left seething after their Betamaxes became obsolete almost overnight.

"HD-DVD is clearly treating this is as a loss leader," said Ted Schadler, an analyst with Forrester Research. "For Toshiba, it's less risky to lose money on the players than it is to lose the war altogether."

Some, however, suggest both options could be bypassed by other technologies. Google is planning an online video service that will allow users to pay to download films and programmes over the internet. It could do for videos what iTunes has done for music and could quickly make DVD-style formats seem old hat.

Technology casualties

Betamax
Sony's video cassette format lost in war with JVC's VHS tapes in 1980s.

Digital Compact Cassette and MiniDisc
Pitched as a successor to the humble analogue tape, DCC was introduced in 1992 by Philips but lost short-lived format war with Sony's MiniDisc. Sony's own system suffered from the availability of cheap recordable CDs and the rise of digital MP3 players.

Sinclair C5
Launched in 1985, the three-wheeled, battery vehicle was quickly a commercial disaster.

Segway
The motorised scooter was meant to revolutionise city travel. People found it easier, and cheaper, to walk.

David Brent

Ah well, seems like I'll have to start saving my money again.
Seems a never ending story. Just when you think you're up to date with modern technology - it changes.
TOO quickly for my liking.

Dave.

arty-dave

Too right - I'm sticking with DVD and will wait until they all become cheap to buy, just like vinyl lps and videocasettes

Ascoyne D'Ascoyne

Have you looked at the price being asked for out of print videocasettes on Amazon, Arty Dave? (Some Lps also go for a small fortune on ebay).
I couldn't agree more that technology changes far too quickly these days making our equipment obsolete. it all begins to seem like a ruse to get us to part with our cash. The quality I get from dvd is quite good enough for me,and in fact if you can get hold of an LP in near-mint condition the sound is often more satisfying than you hear on cds.

arty-dave

Sound is definitely warmer, richer and more musical on vinyl

DB7

The cynic in me imagines a new format ensures that Sony etc will make a fortune by releasing their back catalogues once more. They struggle to fill a standard dvd with extras as it is.

lostintown

I can't imagine everyone suddenly abandoning dvd just yet.

Most are just getting around to replacing their old vhs collection!

Look at CD's ...around for 20 years, they tried to replace them with minidiscs,microcassettes,dvdaudio and no-one took the bait.

I reckon Dvd has a good few years left in it.

If I'm wrong,feel free to pm me in 5 years and say "I told you so"

Jack Gurney

Of course it's a ruse to get us to part with our money...that's all anyone cares about these days!!

Money for old rope. I work in a hideous job, writing schpiels for record retailers on the basis that people will want to buy an album that was crap in 1976 because it now comes in a slipcase or digipack with some photos and shitty live demos added. And people are so stupid- even my mate Mark Lewis, who posts on this site, is obsessed with 'spangly reissues' as he calls them- that they fall for it. My last girlfriend asked me why I hadn't upgraded all my videos to DVD with a DVD recorder. I said to her, (a) do you want me to come round and make love to you or spend all night sat indoors pressing buttons, and I like videos. I also like DVDs- but the two of them can coexist quite happily without one eclipsing the other, in my opinion. And anyone who's foolish enough to replace all the films they've just bought on a new shiny format just because people tell them to deserves no sympathy from me!! Nor do people who constantly upgrade their phones. It's just another macrocosm of the dumbing down of society in general.

Trust me, hold on to what you've got. You will always find a use for it. Don't become an adman's dream- use the brains you were born with.

"Whatever happened to Fay Wray?"

Harbottle

As long as the new technology does not render all our existing DVD’s obsolete I’m generally in favour of “HD-DVD”. The current recordable DVD is limited by only being able to record at good quality for 2 hours. From what I have read “DVD-DL” does not look like a problem free solution to this issue!

Wolfgang

I think these new formats will invariably be restricted to enthusiasts with DVD projectors - which I suspect is where high density formats come into their own.

MarcMorris

It will take time, but they will gain in popularity when HD TV broadcasts begin in the UK later this year. Sky and the beeb will be first.

Nucleus Films:
DVD Releasing + Extras Production

Harbottle

Not tried DL myself as media is still @£2 each! Plus a lot of DVD players seem unable to play them! Using the VBR function on my Panasonic DVD recorder you can squeeze a bit more than 2 hours in decent quality but the LP (4 hr) setting is not good IMHO.

ollie

Agreed, i tried the lp setting once,way too grainy for archive,but the FR mode is really usefull if a film or prog goes over the 2hrs.

cheers Ollie.

"Bullseye !!"

arty-dave

I'm still getting to grips with my computer

ted11

Nevermind HD DVDs its surely a matter of time before everyone just downloads their films, right? There are already companies out there offering this service, but until the tecchnology gets sorted out who wants to watch films on their PC?
In the meantime I've given up buying DVDs - just rent them from DVD rental-by-post companies. Better still, I've been renting them for months for free because they all seem to offer free trials (see uk-dvd-rental-guide.com)
We're thinking about buying a new TV soon and have been reading a lot about the new plasma screens that are already HDTV and contain an integrated free view box - supposedly 'future protected'. Question is, I guess, if we wait a year longer will things have changed yet again - a bit like trying to stay ahead of the crowd by getting a video recorder but landing yourself with a betamax?