Posted by Allan on 09/29/05 13:14

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/78143/microsoft-explains-its-decision-to-back-hd-dvd.html

Thursday 29th September 2005

Microsoft explains its decision to back HD DVD

Microsoft has explained its decision to back the HD DVD format for
high-definition optical discs rather than the rival Blu-ray
specification.

Jordi Ribas, Microsoft's director of technology strategy for Windows
Digital Media told Tom's Hardware Guide that the company's previous
neutrality had been abandoned because Blu-ray failed to meet six key
criteria.

'A year and a half ago, both format organisations had very similar
goals, and to some extent, the story of Blu-ray was actually very
powerful,' he said. 'It had higher capacity, it had what we would
consider benefits at the time. But then as time went on, and we'd seen
what's the reality of both formats today, and what were promises
versus what's proven and what's real, that's when we decided to make
the decision.'

The six features that Microsoft and Intel require are: the ability of
the consumer to make authorised copies of their discs so that they can
store content on a hard drive and stream it around the house; support
for hybrid discs that can be read by both current and future players;
low production costs; low replication costs; and storage capacity.

On the last point Ribas explained that although on paper Blu-ray has
the advantage, there is no evidence that 50GB discs exist anywhere
outside the lab and nor does it look like happening.

Microsoft's decision to throw its considerable weight behind HD DVD
coincided with a similar commitment from the equally weighty Intel.
Until recently it looked as if Blu-ray had seized the initiative in
what promises to be a mighty tussle to capture the high-definition
market in 2006 and beyond. It now seems that HD DVD has grabbed it
back.






"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

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