DVD's & MPEG-4 coming.....

[Dr Mordrid]

11 of the 17 DVD Forums Steering Committee members voted to accept low bitrate encoding for HD-DVD, moving away from blue laser (405 nm) technologies because of the high cost. The other 6 members abstained.

The most likely candidates: MPEG-4 or a yet to be defined MPEG-2 variant.

More info here;

http://www.eet.com/sys/news/OEG20020301S0091

Hmmmmm.....sounds familiar

Dr. Mordrid

[Brian Ellis]

Looks like these guys, or at least 11/17th of them, have their feet on the ground. I feel this is a wise decision, especially as HDTV is still vapourware until another committee get their act together to avoid a repetition of the NTSC/PAL/SECAM debacle.

[Dr Mordrid]

I agree, especially in light of makers like APEX (the #2 deck seller in the US) stating that they're supporting low bitrate technologies in their future products.

APEX comes out with WMA is their models for Q2 release while WMV comes this fall. MS Corona to follow when its released.

Dr. Mordrid

[wkulecz]

Who's #1?

Will the WMV WMA Corona etc. be firmware updates or is everyone supposed to buy new players for these "improvements".

Given that HDTV is still pretty vaporous, I'll be cheap, stick with what I have and wait for "blue laser" or whatever.

Personally, I want Bill Gates out of TV/DVD and Hollywood out of computers.

--wally

[Dr Mordrid]

Sony is #1.

WMedia will be in a new generation of decks. If the older ones have large enough flashroms for the new firmware is up for grabs and likely will have to be addressed on an individual basis.

Given APEX's DVD deck pricing structure they will be selling them dirt cheap anyhow.

Looks like they're becoming a commodity item.

Digital TV transmissions will be the rule and not an option in 2006 by law in the US, supporting both SDTV and HDTV. Until 2006 broadcasters can transmit both digital and standard signals.

My guess is that if folks are going to buy new TV's to receive the broadcast digital signals anyhow they'll opt for the higher standard.

The broadcasters are already choosing up sides. CBS, NBC and PBS have chosen the higher 1080I format, while ABC and FOX have chosen the 720p progressive scan format.

HDTV compatable digital TV's are already commonplace here in the Detroit area and priced in the $1800-2500 range (or less). By 2006 I'm sure they'll be quite competitive since many quality SDTV sets now run close to $1000 (32" Sony Vega etc).

Dr. Mordrid

[wkulecz]

Isn't there a major fly in the HDTV ointment? I recently read about a loophole the broadcasters managed to get into that law saying they don't have to switch unless HDTV has something like 80% market share!

I don't think this has a snowballs chance in hell of happening in the next 3-4 years.

--wally.

[Dr Mordrid]

The markets moving that way anyhow. Competitively priced 16:9 tv's are in the stores & selling and broadcasters are beginning to use widescreen in production of their programming.

I think it'll go faster than most expect, especially now that APEX is coming out with their own 16:9 HDTV projection set that supports all three HD formats: 1080i, 720p and 480p;

APEX 16:9 HDTV

I can't wait to see the price on it. If they follow true to form THAT should put some downward price pressure on the HDTV market

Dr. Mordrid