The new HD format is here.. it looks bloody good!

blink3times wrote on 10/10/2007, 7:42 AM

I have been saying for a long time now that the longer this format war goes on, the better the chances of BOTH bd and hd dvd losing out to a faster, better format.

Well... HD VMD is here and Amazon has started carrying it. I think it's listed for something like $189.... pretty bloody good for an opening price!!

It is said to have better bandwidth and higher bit rate than BD and is cheaper than HD DVD..... AND.... word has it that the disks can be played back in a normal PC dvd drive with a simple FW upgrade. It's all based on red laser technology which is cheaper than the blue laser and fits in better with our present systems. (I can see the price dropping pretty fast with this one because the is no blue laser, which is the expensive part of the HD/BD players).

Is there enough here to dethrone the blue laser kings.... we'll see.... but it's being taken pretty seriously by both BD and HD DVD supporters.

http://www.nmeinc.com/index.aspx

Authoring software does not exist yet but it said to be coming soon and will be cheap and affordable. I don't know about others... but if this is true... I'll be saying goodbye to BOTH blue laser formats!!

http://www.nmeinc.com/technology_authoring.aspx

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Comments

Terje wrote on 10/11/2007, 8:17 AM

farss

This is an interesting little device, but how does it differ from the PS3? Apart from the fact that it is twice the price? A few more formats perhaps?

bigrock wrote on 10/11/2007, 8:58 AM

From the heat pespective, two things to keep in mind. For commerical production, lasers are not used, the disks are stamped, one layer a time and then glued together with reflective material between the layers so laser heat is irrelevant. Also while it is using the same red laser as a regular dvd, the materials in the disc are quite different, therefore one cannot apply assumptions about laser heating, not comparing apples to apples there.

Still I doubt if it goes anywhere but you never know. Looking at the company they probably survive just making their DVD stamping machines so they may not go poof like so many others have.

BigRockies.com Your Home in the Rockies!

apit34356 wrote on 10/11/2007, 10:41 AM

bigrock, big volume commercial production in CDs and DVDs are pressed. But with a small funded technology like HD VMD, most "capital dollars" in media development will go to the mostly likely market, which will be assembled blank media. The question of upgrading an old stamp to press out media will require "capital ". So a weak funded technology will probably burn the first couple of limited production runs to demonstrated that they be cost effective or until someone offers more "capital"..

farss wrote on 10/11/2007, 2:04 PM

You touch on a very good point, the one that's always been the killer for BD. It's very expensive to put into production. Pretty much you're talking greenfield plant. The competing technologies only require new stampers in the old presses and stampers are pretty cheap, that's why you can get replicated DVDs made for the same price as blank media in SD land.
One issue identified to me is that the replication business is not exactly awash with capital, prices are at rock bottom, I've had quotes for replicated DVDs with printing at under USD 1.00 and that includes setup costs. So for BD at least you're looking at a massive injection of capital and that has to be recovered. The question really isn't whose going to win the current battle but can anyone win the real war, making a return on their investment.
If you turn your gaze to HD VMD, that player price of AUD 299 was achieved from a very small production run and they're still making a profit selling at that price. I believe the whole thing is built from existing components so there's no massive R&D costs to recover. Now I really don't imagine it poses a serious threat to either HD DVD or BD however it can be a serious spoiler for them and if they (VMD) can do it and make a modest return they can hang around for a long time.

Bob.