Posted by asjbiotek on 01/17/07 16:18

SP Goodman wrote:
> This reads like a transcript from a Scientology pep rally! No facts and a
> lot of information left out, but lots of ENTHUSIASM! And EXCLAMATION
> POINTS!
>

http://www.mybroadband.co.za/nephp/?m=show&id=5345

Experts quizzed by the FM this week say they expect the DVD will have
gone the way of the VHS cassette by 2010. They also predict a bleak
future for HD-DVD and say that Sony will emerge triumphant with
Blu-ray.

A single-layer HD-DVD disc stores about 15GB of data; a single-layer
Blu-ray disc about 25GB. Dual-layer HD-DVD and Blu ray discs store 30GB
and 50GB respectively. A single-sided DVD, by contrast, stores only
4,7GB, so a dual-layer Blu-ray disc has about 10 times the capacity of
a DVD. That's enough to store 50 copies of the Encyclopaedia
Britannica on a disc that weighs a couple of grams!

But do we need all this capacity? The answer is a resounding "yes".
The limitations of DVD as a computer storage technology are already
becoming apparent.

The battle between HD-DVD and Blu-ray is reminiscent of the standards
war in the early 1980s between VHS and Betamax. Betamax, developed by
Sony, was trounced by JVC's VHS. Consumers preferred VHS, even though
it was the inferior technology, because it offered a longer recording
time than Betamax (the original Betamax tapes could not record a
full-length movie).

Now, as the world moves to a new format, Sony looks set to get its
comeuppance. Though HD-DVD has some powerful backers - they include
Microsoft, Intel and Universal Studios - Sony has secured the backing
of Korea's consumer electronics giants, Samsung and LG Electronics,
as well as Panasonic, Hitachi, Apple Computer, Dell, Twentieth Century
Fox, Warner Bros and Disney

Mark Lu, CEO of local IT distributor Rectron, which sells computer
products for both Sony and Toshiba, thinks Blu-ray will prevail. "I
do not see that HD-DVD has much chance. Blu-ray is going to
dominate." He says Blu-ray has the performance and capacity
advantage, and, like HD-DVD, offers full backward compatibility with
DVDs and CDs.

Jean Victor, senior product manager for audiovisual solutions at
Samsung SA, which introduced its first Blu-ray player in SA last month
(retail price: R14000), agrees with Lu. HD-DVD, he says, is doomed.
Though some manufacturers, such as LG Electronics, have already said
they will manufacture equipment capable of playing both HD-DVD and
Blu-ray discs, Victor expects that Blu-ray will become the standard.
Products capable of playing both formats will cost more because
manufacturers will have to pay additional royalties, he says. They will
also be more expensive to produce.

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