backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 38 comment(s) - last by cubby1223.. on Jan 10 at 8:19 PM

THD packaging colors match well with Superman's costume - Image courtesy Engadget

Same disc, but now accepted by HD players of all sorts - Image courtesy Engadget
Two formats, one "Total Hi Def" disc

Warner Home Video today unveiled its “Total Hi Def” disc, which plays the HD DVD format on one side and the Blu-ray Disc format on the other. DailyTech originally reported on this development prior to CES, but things were not official until Tuesday’s presentation hosted by Warner Brothers Entertainment Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Warner Brothers representatives said that discs in Total Hi Def will be available in the second half of 2007, and titles will be announced in a time frame consistent with the company’s standard trade announcements for home entertainment titles. The physical structure of the disc is the same as DVDs, HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. The Total Hi Def disc has the ability to contain both single layer and dual layers for both formats enabling either 15 GB or 30 GB on the HD DVD side and 25 GB or 50 GB on the Blu-ray side.

Until now, consumers have been forced to choose one high-definition format—not knowing if their favorite titles would be produced in their specific format or how long that specific format would survive.

“The Total Hi Def disc is about giving consumers complete choice, providing creators and artists the greatest possible distribution of their work, and helping retailers thrive in the marketplace,” said Kevin Tsujihara, President of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. “By eliminating potential apprehension over formats, we believe this new disc could help consumers fully embrace the greatest home entertainment experience available.”

The Total Hi Def disc would also simplify point of sale issues for retailers by reducing the shelf space required to carry two versions of the same content.

“The research clearly shows that people are thrilled with high-definition devices and the stunning home entertainment experience they provide,” said Ron Sanders, President, Warner Home Video. “Now Total Hi Def provides the complete package with all the benefits of HD DVD and Blu-ray on a single disc.”

Sanders emphasized to the media after the announcement that a small increase in cost would pay for the licensing fees for both HD DVD and Blu-ray formats, but Warner will not be charging a fee for its method. 

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Whats the point?
By mkruer on 1/10/2007 5:00:04 AM , Rating: 2
I don't see how this is a "cheaper" option because now they have to master two formats. I wish one side would just give up. In the grander scheme of things this will end up being nothing more then a novelty. However this does prove one thing, the price delta between both formats is so miniscule that they are willing and able to manufacture a hybrid disc. So I guess the HD DVD camp cant claim that their media is "cheaper" anymore.




RE: Whats the point?
By therealnickdanger on 1/10/2007 8:49:46 AM , Rating: 2
If you read the article or the press briefing, this won't cost consumers anymore money. WB is absorbing the extra cost. Consumers FTW.

I hate dual-formats just as much as everyone else, but until the masses choose a victor, we're going to be stuck with this. Keep in mind that we're still very early in the battle and neither format is even close to the penetration of DVD. High costs, loose standards, confusion, and compatibility issues are the high price of being an early adopter.


RE: Whats the point?
By michal1980 on 1/10/07, Rating: -1
RE: Whats the point?
By marvdmartian on 1/10/2007 9:41:44 AM , Rating: 2
What's even funnier is, by the time a format war is finally over, it's highly likely that newer technology will exist, that will soon make it obsolete!! ;)


RE: Whats the point?
By Souka on 1/10/2007 3:02:47 PM , Rating: 2
We've heard about Blu-Ray and HD-DVD for what...2+ years now, and its just beginning to become available now...

So what new technology is even in the works to replace these two formats???



RE: Whats the point?
By peldor on 1/10/2007 4:13:19 PM , Rating: 2
Direct downloads will crush them all when the pipes get fat enough.


RE: Whats the point?
By timmiser on 1/10/2007 4:40:36 PM , Rating: 2
Only problem with that analogy is the HDTV resolutions/file size will keep going up just as fast as the pipes widen!


RE: Whats the point?
By Oregonian2 on 1/10/2007 3:03:27 PM , Rating: 2
Possibly, but not likely. These new formats are "driven" by the move to HDTV which is something that's taken about 60 years for the upgrade to happen (even with a government push to make it happen so "fast"), and it's not complete as of yet. About the only other alternative would be network driven distribution instead. Download the 60Gb and keep it on a (something) or download it every time you want to see it (that fast network will of course be very very reliable and not subject to backhoe's taking them out from time to time). But I suspect the HD format war will be over before then.


RE: Whats the point?
By FoxFour on 1/10/2007 4:10:48 PM , Rating: 2
Um, the consumer ALWAYS absorbs the cost at the end of the day. One way or another, we pay for it.



RE: Whats the point?
By timmiser on 1/10/2007 4:43:17 PM , Rating: 2
That's a popular analogy but really its not true. The movie companies will charge as much as they can get away with and keep the rest as profit. In this case, they wouldn't get away with it soley because most people would not buy into it, they would just buy the BR/HD-DVD individual format for what they have.


RE: Whats the point?
By Araemo on 1/10/2007 10:28:50 AM , Rating: 2
The mastering differences aren't as great as you might think.

The main movie and extra scenes can be encoded 100% identically between HD-DVD and blu-ray, and they just have to do different indexes and menus between the two. I bet they could even write some 'middleware' that uses a custom menu language, and has an interpreter that runs under HD-DVD or Blu-Ray so they only have to write the menu once... Then you just have the extra pressing costs of doing a double-sided disk - which isn't too horrible, many DVDs did similar things when they got too long and didn't want to pay for a second physical disk.


RE: Whats the point?
By masher2 (blog) on 1/10/2007 11:41:36 AM , Rating: 2
> "I don't see how this is a "cheaper" option because now they have to master two formats..."

It's cheaper because they'd have to master both formats anyway. Pressing them onto a single disc as opposed to two means less inventory to maintain, less SKU numbers to support, etc.


RE: Whats the point?
By Oregonian2 on 1/10/2007 2:54:06 PM , Rating: 2
Sony and Toshiba both agree 100% with you! Toshiba thinks Sony should give up, and Sony thinks Toshiba should give up. Everybody, including the companies involve think one of the camps should give up. Complete harmony. If you had a lot of your money invested in one of these systems, would you be willing to voluntarily toss it away for harmony's sake?

As to Warner, if they're going to sell disks in both formats anyway, the mastering issue is a non-issue. And it's probably a non-issue anyway, I suspect it's not so great a big deal, being only a one-time charge (especially if mastered by the same folk, just output rendering two ways). Having the dual disk lowers inventory costs for them (only ONE item to inventory) and lowers their risk in terms of picking the winner -- their discs are always the winning format. No dead inventory to send to the dump.


Nice but...
By Souka on 1/10/2007 4:40:01 AM , Rating: 5
Two problems....

1st: Album graphics are gone... Now when flipping through my binder I can't glance at the disc to see what it is. (very minor gripe...can be fixed with lables on binder sleeve.

2nd: The whole premise of HD vs BR really really irritates me. Consumers should NOT have to choose what player they want... I guess with this combo disc, you're ok regardless if BR or HD wins the "war". But then again, if my disc is double-sided, I'd rather have more unique content...not just the same data in two different formats.

I can bet you almost anything that a player will come out eventually that plays both formats.
Kinda like the DVD +R vs -R recorders....at first you had to choose, but now its hard to find just a +R or -R burner.

My $.02 of 2am rant.... nite all.




RE: Nice but...
By Shark Tek on 1/10/2007 6:06:05 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I can bet you almost anything that a player will come out eventually that plays both formats.



LG has the solution ;)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6230925.stm


RE: Nice but...
By hellokeith on 1/10/2007 9:55:30 AM , Rating: 2
LG's player cannot be HD-DVD certified in its current state, because it does not meet the minimum requirements set by the DVD Forum.


RE: Nice but...
By exdeath on 1/10/07, Rating: 0
RE: Nice but...
By timmiser on 1/10/2007 2:03:55 PM , Rating: 2
Well since it has been officially announced, I am sure that all legal requirements have been met and accounted for.


RE: Nice but...
By VooDooAddict on 1/10/2007 2:08:50 PM , Rating: 2
Since the device isn't fully HD-DVD certified ... i think that's how they got around the BRD license issue. I'm wondering if Sony will still try to put up a fight.


RE: Nice but...
By Souka on 1/10/2007 2:59:56 PM , Rating: 2
Heh...duh..silly me on that point... I had heard on NPR about the LG player just earlier that day.

Price was stated on NPR.... $1200 OUCH.....



RE: Nice but...
By masher2 (blog) on 1/10/2007 11:40:02 AM , Rating: 2
> "Consumers should NOT have to choose what player they want..."

Choice is always good. I'd rather be able to choose my own format, than to have some standards body (or worse, a government agency) dictating what I must buy.