DVD and HD-DVD on the same disc

[jntaylor63]

Looks like the HD Camp is working on keeping the cost down and consumer feelings up.

One disk with two layers. One DVD and One HD-DVD. Our standalone DVD can play them today, and the same disk can be played when you get your HD-DVD player. (From Doom9) He does have a point, can't see something Like Lord of the Rings looking too great on only 4.7 worth of space.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041208/ap_on_hi_te/japan_toshiba_dvds

[jntaylor63]

Now that I think about, why not do a double sided disk:

2 layers for DVD, 1 or 2 for HD-DVD. (Keep the bonus bs on another DVD)

[Skoorb]

Yep, it's silly, because 4.7 gigs is not enough for the movie alone (forget about menus and bonus stuff) if the movie is 2+ hours; you'll start losing quality.

And, as mentioned, now you lose all bonus features that many DVDs come with. Most of these are crap, but sometimes they aren't.

These dual discs are garbage.

[Nilfennasion]

Dual-sided discs have been resoundingly rejected by the consumer. They are the data equivalent of trying to make a sheet of porcelain more useful by shaving it down to less than a tenth of an inch.

[Tidy]

Just had to add my comment haha. I can't imagine any of the Lord of the Rings movies looking good or being a good movie even if I was in it in a star trek holodeck haha

[edDV]

Here's the way I predict it will go.

HD-DVD is based on current red laser technology and a HD/SDTV combo player could be cheaply made (in China) and existing DVD disc production technology can be used to mass produce the HD-DVD discs.

Currently, set manufactureres and cable companies are steering people into "cheap" entry level direct view HDTV "ready" CRTs or various intermediate resolution (720-1450x1080i) projection display HDTV sets using 1080i for distribution.

So where is the money? Maybe first in the HD-DVD 1080i rental market to fill the viewing demand for these low cost HDTV set early adopters. The first thing these early adopters discover is that "over the air" and cable HDTV offerings are in short supply and will remain so until a critical mass of viewers develop. If they like HDTV, they will seek rental HD-DVD discs to fill the void. Others will rely on rentals as their primary HDTV source.

I see deals at Blockbuster et. al. to bundle a cheap HD-DVD 1080i player into a pre-paid rental program (similar to "free" cellphones). The customer sees that he isn't risking too much on hardware and signs up.

Meanwhile Sony et. al. concentrate initially on the higher end plasma projection, quality sensitive market with 720p, 1080i and 1080p Blu-Ray player solutions that also play standard DVD and hopefully 1080i HD-DVD as well. These players can be expensive at first and the Blu-Ray DVD discs can include a price premium for "Super-HDTV 1080P" snob appeal (and future proof) capability.

This gives Blu-Ray disc manufacturing facilities room to steadily grow until, voila ! they absorb the HD-DVD market as those customers move up to 720p and 1080p sets.