Next-gen DVD standard battle heats up

[Vanderlow]

TOKYO - Toshiba and its partners on Monday raised the tempo in the battle to determine the next-generation DVD format, saying they are on track to launch next year a DVD recorder capable of storing more than eight hours of high-resolution content on one DVD disc.

At the same time, Pony Canyon, Japan's largest distributor of pre-recorded DVD titles, announced it would launch movies in the Toshiba alliance’s HD DVD format “at an early stage next year."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5518344/

[Madz]

Doesn't it sound like VHS vs. Beta all over again? History repeats itself!

[handyguy]

Ive been waiting for hd dvds. But how much information do we really need? Are we going to start watching our tvs with magnifiers just so we can see minute details?

[ViRaL1]

No, we'll buy bigger TVs; the minute details won't be so minute then.

[lenti_75]

it's all about $$$$$$$$$$$$ in reality the diferrence between HD and regular is not so big....

[Nilfennasion]

it's all about $$$$$$$$$$$$ in reality the diferrence between HD and regular is not so big....

Translation: "I've never seen a HD broadcast on a HD-capable unit in my life and have no idea what I am talking about..."

Between 480i/576i and 1080i (or better yet, 720p), there exists a difference like that between a 35-year-old eight-track tape and a brand-new MiniDisc. I just wish they'd get their head out and make the standard progressive, because then we'd be dealing with something akin to the introduction of colour.

Funny thing is, the new Doctor Who episodes will be filmed digitally. If they are filmed in HD, they will put to rest the moronic notion that HD is no different forever.

[hudsonf]

I remember television when all we had for an antennae was rabbit ears and all we got was 2 or 3 stations. Then came UHF; a bow tie antennae and a signal that would fade in and out when ever the wind would blow. One nice thing UHF had very few if any advertisements. I can live with standard TV until my TV's die or the price drops. :P

[RottenFoxBreath]

[quote="Nilfennasion"]

Funny thing is, the new Doctor Who episodes will be filmed digitally. If they are filmed in HD, they will put to rest the moronic notion that HD is no different forever.

i dont think that digital film,and HD will make doctor who anything special,its IS going to be rubbish.
the day for doctor who is over by many years,and the notion that it will be anything special is a sad one,IMO
there are no good actors to play that part-the time for somebodies to play it,is a non starter,as there all thowaway actors nowadays.

[ViRaL1]

Looks like it's going to be Christoper Eccleston (Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, 28 Days Later).

[Nilfennasion]

Can we say "straw man"?

I was throwing out the new Doctor Who in order to counter this stupid notion put forth that HD is some kind of charging more money for something that isn't any different. If you can't see a difference between 576i and 1080i, you're legally blind. I defy anyone not to notice the difference between whatever the next DW serial is called and one that was shot nearly 40 years ago (Tomb Of The Cybermen for example).

Having said that much, however, I'm sure I can trust someone's judgement of a series before they have even seen the first episode. With the ad nauseum clones of Who-Cares Non-Event Survivor and American Idiot that pollute television nowadays, a good piece of storytelling would be a welcome relief right now. Whether we get that from the new DW is up to its makers, but considering some of its best stories were produced in 1988, to say its time is over by "many, many years" is really stretching credibility.

I still have my doubts about Christopher, having only seen him in Gone In 60 Seconds, but then, I had the same doubts about Sophie Alrdred when she first appeared, too.

[yadda]

it's all about $$$$$$$$$$$$ in reality the diferrence between HD and regular is not so big....

OK Lenti I don't know if you have a HDTV yet or you are just winging it. I have 57" Hitachi and I'll never the first time I saw a full HDTV broadcast on it. It was during Monday Night Football about 7 months ago and the clarity is astonishing. OK u say I am not a football fan.... The first movie I saw was an ABC Saturday night movie. Not a very good one called "I'll be home for Christmas" I am telling the movie just comes alive and sparkles using full 1080I resolution. I think these are baby steps but you will see more and more things made in full HD resolution. I could go on and on.

Y

[Nilfennasion]

I think these are baby steps but you will see more and more things made in full HD resolution. I could go on and on.

Indeed. I have seen a news broadcast that contained helicopter footage of a Sydney coast, which followed a route into the Sydney harbour bridge. On a 576i display that was right next to the plasma 1080i display, it was a case of "count the visible interlacing artefacts". 576i display = a few dozen. 1080i display = three.

No difference, my cornhole.