Panasonic kicks off 50GB Blu-ray Disc production

[dvdguy4]

http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prModelDetail?storeId=11301&catalo...52005020534716

[rumplestiltskin]

Great...maybe AOL will start using them and spam the country with Blu-ray. Then I can throw those discs out, as well.

Prediction:Blu-ray goes down in flames.

[yoda313]

Blu-ray is Sony's baby. I wouldn't bet against sony too often. Look at what happened to Nintendo when they ditched their snes cdrom for the n64 - big mistake and now sony is the defacto leader in video games - with microsoft in a catchup race for second.

[rumplestiltskin]

ATRAC - dead but slightly twitching.
Betamax - dead (for consumers).

I don't bet against Sony very often but Blu-ray is an answer to a question no one has asked.

In order to take advantage of Blu-ray, you need:
1. Blu-ray player - $49? Try $490.
2. Blu-ray disc - Blockbuster rental? Heck; they're sucking wind and ready to go under. NetFlix? Doubt it.
3. HDTV - got yours? Ready to buy for $2000 or more? Not me, buddy.

Digital distribution of TV and movie content will make Blu-ray moot.

Keep an eye on what happens when the "analog-to-digital" broadcasting switch is fully publicized and Mr. & Mrs. America understand what their choices are: Buy a $2000 digital TV or a $100 digital-to-analog converter. (Broadcast or cable; makes no difference.) So when the big changes takes place and we're all watching digital signals through an analog converter on our analog TV, where will the "improved quality" of Blu-ray fit in? Oh, yeah. Sony has decided to use MPEG2, yesterday's technology. There won't be any improved quality. So what, besides the movie and all the "extras" that no one watches, will be on the other 40GB of the disc? Biographies of the key grip and best boy?

See what I mean? Sony doesn't "think different". If that provides a clue about who I think understands what the public wants, you know where to point your browser.

[RottenFoxBreath]

what will be the killer app for sony,is the ps3,it WILL sell by the bucketload,and thats got the blu-ray player embedded as part of its tech,so i guess thats a few million players in homes straight away..
movie companies have signed up for it as well,so thats them too.
then theres microsoft,playing not second,but third fiddle,nintendo will always be more popular than them,nintendos consoles are in second place to sony worldwide,also they have the handheld market all but sewn up,and those damn pokemon keep raking in the cash.
360 owners have been shafted,as there the ones who will have to buy new drives,and players(if microsoft at some time use hd as a medium.-if not,goodbye to them---remember megacd,or 32X anyone-addons dont sell well)--heck,news is that some games for the 360,use 4 dvds.
even putting it down to movies,it still comes back to sony vs microsoft,and well,sony has the backing now,and pretty much owns the movie industry.
unless holographic medium takes over,its a no brainer.

[lordsmurf]

Video games do not control the video market. I don't recall watching movies on cartridges or CD-ROMs. If anything, using a Blu-Ray drive instead of a mainstream DVD drive means that player is worthless for movies. So that's a negative, not a positive. The gaming nerd world is very small and very insignificant to the much larger video buy/rent scene.

[SCDVD]

I wouldn't bet against sony too often.

Bought any BetaMax tape lately?

[RottenFoxBreath]

lordsmurf,in all honesty,you could say without too much inaccuracy,that sony will sell at least,10million units at a rough guess.(thats for starters,god knows its probably going to be a hellofalot more if its to be compared to the ps2 sales and what they did for dvds)
thats 10million more than the competitors,so far(and i mean that as its real,whereas the HD toshiba players/media is still not a finality-no release dates,not really any new exciting info lately),as the ps3 could be unleashed on the public as early as spring,if announcements are to be believed.
media prices so far are just speculation,and not final,neither will be the price of the players/roms.
and like i say,with the movie industry in there pockets,its a pretty achievable goal for them,being in a different way than the days of betamax,more studios,more aliases than imaginable,and a huge games division that i cant see giving up this easy.
with the movie studios they own,and the ones that are siding with blu-ray,and the games divisions vs microsoft with toshiba HD,no HD in the new console,lack of studios in there pockets,i can see it being a one horse race,for a while.

but still,im not too happy with the ps3 looking like a freaking lean mean fat reducing games playing machine ala george foreman grill

[lgh529]

Video games do not control the video market.
...
The gaming nerd world is very small and very insignificant to the much larger video buy/rent scene.

That may be true, but it is the gamers that push technology to better speed and resolution. While small compared to the video market, the gamers are a large enough crowd that the manufacturers can't ignore them. That will spill over into other related technologies soon enough.

I belive that the winner will be the company that makes the first recordables. When people can make videos of their kids birthday parties and store in in HD on a BluRay/HD-DVD recordable disk, the format will take off.

Just my $0.02

[BJ_M]

I wouldn't bet against sony too often.

Bought any BetaMax tape lately?

yes -- lots of it ... it is used for beta sp , an industry standard tape for broadcast use

[yoda313]

I belive that the winner will be the company that makes the first recordables. When people can make videos of their kids birthday parties and store in in HD on a BluRay/HD-DVD recordable disk, the format will take off.

Yep once a "practical" recordable hits the market it will be a bonanza. Imagine keeping top quality hdtv video resolution with no need to downconvert! That would be special. (I'm just getting my first hdtv capture card but I don't have hdtv so I'll have to make do with dvd).

[edDV]

I'm impressed when it said dual layer. That is more difficult than double sided so 100GB dual layer, double sided is implied in that press release.

As Martha would say, 100 GB is a good thing.

Added.
On second thought, this has all gone on long enough! Where is the beef? !!!

While 4.3GB DVD-5's have turned into something like AOL floppies, near free but way too small and obsolete. These days hard drives are offered well below $0.50 per gigabyte and the $200 TB drives ($0.20 per Gigabyte) are just around the corner.

Blu-Ray recordable seems way late to be taken seriously and will likely be driven to low prices quickly by the market. I saw SONY's XDCAM Blu-Ray camcorder at NAB long ago. Was it 2004 or 2003 or earlier than that? Again where is the beef?

This format is so late it may last only a year or two.

[dvdguy4]

While 4.3GB DVD-5's have turned into something like AOL floppies, near free but way too small and obsolete. These days hard drives are offered well below $0.50 per gigabyte and the $200 TB drives ($0.20 per Gigabyte) are just around the corner.

Blu-Ray recordable seems way late to be taken seriously and will likely be driven to low prices quickly by the market. I saw SONY's XDCAM Blu-Ray camcorder at NAB long ago. Was it 2004 or 2003 or earlier than that? Again where is the beef?

This format is so late it may last only a year or two.

Icant live without my 4.7GB dvd-rs yet. Not ready to invest in something like blu-ray or hd-hd. I dont like the idea that you'll have to register your movies and the player. Thats what Ive read and the price is gonna be to steep to think about for a couple of years.

[jntaylor63]

Lordsmurf, why do you think a Blu-Ray drive won't read/play a DVD?
The PS3 will play DVD's and Blu-Ray's. This device will be the cheapest way into the new format.

[ROF]

I wouldn't bet against sony too often.

Bought any BetaMax tape lately?

Several as a matter of fact. My Betamax has outlived all my VHS Recorders and still going strong.

[ROF]

Video games do not control the video market. I don't recall watching movies on cartridges or CD-ROMs. If anything, using a Blu-Ray drive instead of a mainstream DVD drive means that player is worthless for movies. So that's a negative, not a positive. The gaming nerd world is very small and very insignificant to the much larger video buy/rent scene.

I disagree. The gaming market is mammoth when compared to the video industry. Video games are even now included on quite a few DVDs for this very reason. The convergeance of both is also seen in video games where cutscenes have gone on to become a central piece of most single player games. I think next gen tech will benefit both industries and further complement each other.

[jhotmann]

Before the ps2 came out, i had only watched a handfull of dvds. Then i got a ps2 and many other people did and i havent touched a vhs in well over 2 years. The consoles helped start the dvd revolution because they were cheaper than most dvd players when they first came out, so my guess is that the ps3 will do a similar thing for blueray....Even though i would love to see it fail and smile as sony wallows in self pitty.

[lordsmurf]

Most people over their mid 20's won't be buying video games, and the main demographic is 18-35 for movie buyers, especially with the end of that spectrum in terms of income. Teenagers have the next level of disposable income, but only so much is used on games.

Indeed, the shift to DVD from VHS did not happen until players were under $50, and it had a lure away from VHS tape not found on these supposed next-gen formats. They are too early. BluRay and HDDVD are before their time if they hope to replace DVD, not gonna happen. It'll be a fad like VCD or Laserdisc or daresay even S-VHS.

When the PS2 came out, you could buy a decent DVD player for less than half of what that console cost. Nothing about video games is ever cheap, and everything takes backseat to the gaming aspect. Just look at how much PS2 and XBOX suck as DVD players, collectively compared to true DVD players.

Video games are a mammoth to movies/videos only by price, because who would be a big enough dumbass to pay $50-60 for a DVD movie?

[edDV]

I hope they get the cost of rewritable BluRay media down 10x before the burners arrive. Currently $29.50 for 23GB single-sided.



http://www.tapestockonline.com/xdcam.html

[ROF]

That's pretty cheap considering the rising costs of new release media. Of course, the price will drop so seeing 23GB for $29.50 isn't bad. Some people still pay more than that ratio for hard disk space.

[harrisonford]

Lordsurf I hate to say that from what I have read in research and some marketing documents, HD-DVD will play CD, DVD, and HD DVD, and are considering also including Blu-Ray Crap by the sony Retards. The last part, Blu-Ray was only experimental so far, HD is similiar to Blu, included in this was burning also. There is also another experimental HD-DVD going around. But a new movie next year and it could include both regular DVD and HD-DVD at a slight cost more than a regular DVD, they are test marketing the feature and price structure to see if such a high-bread disc would sell and the interest in it at a price point. So for those looking for old DVD and new HD-DVD in the same player and move to the new technology without buying that new release DVD twice, this is a considered option in the market place for the new HD-DVD.

[yoda313]

it could include both regular DVD and HD-DVD at a slight cost more than a regular DVD, they are test marketing the feature and price structure to see if such a high-bread disc would sell and the interest in it at a price point

Well I don't see that happening too easily. Hybrids are ripe for problems. The dvd spec is very specific (no pun intended ). This would be probably bad on older players and who knows about newer players.

And besides why should we have to pay a premium for content we can't play yet???? (unless next gen players for the pc become dirt cheap I don't see getting one - since I don't have a hdtv I don't have a need for the extra res just yet).

[jhotmann]

since blue ray is going to be in mpeg-2 format, would it be possible (if you had a blue ray reader) to rip it to the hard drive and shrink just the movie a lot and back it up on a dvd9?

[yoda313]

Not likely. I would imagine the entire dvd structure for the bluray disc would be unreadable by pc dvdroms. The data would be much more compressed on the physical disc and would not be detectable.

EDIT - if you had a bluray dvdrom then yes once "rippers" are made for bluray it should be the same principle - just not on current dvd rom drives

[BJ_M]

not more compressed -- and not a big diff in structure --

but the wrong laser for one thing ......

[edDV]

BluRay is just another storage media. Commercial HD BluRay will be highly encrypted and won't play to anything that doesn't decode HDCP.

As a writable media it will just look like a 25-50-100 GB drive.

[shelbyGT]

Most people over their mid 20's won't be buying video games

Don't necessarily agree with that one there. True, "most" people is probably correct as it relates to the entire population. However, as a percentage of total video-game players, the median age of players is constantly getting older. Those of us who started over 10 years ago with Genesis still enjoy it to this day.

[ROF]

Actually, most people I meet in online games are older than their 30's. I'd say that the majority of online gamers are older.

[SCDVD]

I wouldn't bet against sony too often.

Bought any BetaMax tape lately?

yes -- lots of it ... it is used for beta sp , an industry standard tape for broadcast use

That is not the point I was making. Despite the fact that Sony's Betamax tape is better than VHS, it isn't a consumer product. They lost the market positioning game. VHS became the consumer "choice" by default. I realize there are some niche markets where the superiority of Betamax tape is demanded.

Sony has had a tendency to play the role of the Imperial Sony who expects their self-perceived dominance to give them the keys to any market they aspire to. But sometimes it isn't enough to lay claim to being the best at any given product. Even when that is true, sometimes that isn't enough. In the case of Betamax versus VHS, I feel the consumer lost. I blame Sony for this because they didn't do the rest of the job and lost the market positioning game. Just saying that a product is technically superior isn't enough.

[ROF]

What does Sony have to do with Panasonics production line? Sony is only one player in a large field that is Blu-ray.