What's new

Toshiba and NEC HD-DVD (AOD) accepted (1 Viewer)

David_Moechnig

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 10, 2002
Messages
122
I read today (11/25/03)on The Digital Bits that the HD-DVD (formerly known as AOD) was accepted by the DVD Forum as the next generation optical disc. However, Sony and friends will still be working on Blu-ray. What does everyone else think about the decision made by DVD Forum? I, personally am pleased that the HD-DVD was accepted as I think it is a better format.
 

Kristoffer

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 8, 2002
Messages
460
I don't know any of the specs for this format compared with Blu-ray. I know it is a blue laser format, but why is it better than Blu-Ray, which is alreaady being sold in Japan?
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
Messages
40
It was just voted AOD, nothing means that it's better. Last time they voted it was a 8-8 tie, but since they haven't count people that weren't there this time (i assumed 2 of them), it was 8-6 so the choice was made.

NEC released a press release about that a while ago, I know it can hold 36 gigs but that's it
 

DaViD Boulet

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 24, 1999
Messages
8,826
Even though bluray has a little more absolute storage room, at this point *in practice* AOD is a better platform for our HD-DVD because:

1. AOD will incorporate newer, more advanced video compression codecs to more efficiently compress video with less artifacting at lower bitrates than used for MPEG2 (BluRay is still an MPEG2-only system).

2. AOD will likely incorporate provisions for high-quality-multi-channel audio playback with full motion video. In other words, you could get your U2 music-video DVD with 24/192 6.1 surround sound (or something similar). BluRay is still a Dolby-Digital (DTS?) only format that doesn't take us beyond the audio capabilities of today's standard DVD-video.

Want to put an end to the DD vs DTS debates? Try 24/192 MLP :D :D :D :D

3. Because of the better video codecs on AOD, there will be much more room for special content material (like high-res audio, multiple audio tracks, extras etc) that we won't have room for on BluRay...without sacrificing picture quality. MPEG2 just can't give you that bandwidth for special feature content on BluRay without something having to compromise.
 

David_Moechnig

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 10, 2002
Messages
122
With the research that I've done into this subject I understand that with BlueRay the end user would have to have an internet connection to access materials on the disk. With AOD everything is already on the disc and does not use an internet connection to unlock the contents. Now they need to come up with an encryption that is "unbreakable". I say good luck, there will be someone out there that will be able to make a bootleg copy of anything within a short amount of time after its release.
 

Jeff Jacobson

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2001
Messages
2,115
With the research that I've done into this subject I understand that with BlueRay the end user would have to have an internet connection to access materials on the disk.
Where did you hear that from? I've never read anything like that about Blu-Ray before.
 

Joshua Clinard

Screenwriter
Joined
Aug 25, 2000
Messages
1,837
Location
Abilene, TX
Real Name
Joshua Clinard
I read about this several days ago on DVDTalk. I was wondering when it was going to pop up here. I think they made the best choice, and I am very glad they chose a blue-laser standard, instead of going with a higher compression red-laser format, as had been rumored. So it's a little less capacity than a Blu-Ray disc. It's only 7 GB's less per side. AOD is 20 GB's per side, and Blu-Ray is 20 per side. Not much of a difference, and I appreciate the advanced compression this will have. I wonder if WMA or AAC will be part of it. Maybe MPEG=4 on the Video side.
 

Wayne Bundrick

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 17, 1999
Messages
2,358
Where did you hear that from? I've never read anything like that about Blu-Ray before.
I've only read that it's capable of downloading additional stuff from an Internet connection, not that it's required for playing the contents on the disc. Blu-Ray will use encryption based on 128-bit AES, and the closest thing to any kind of locking/unlocking is some vaguely described system for "key revocation".

Anyway, it's good that AOD is on its way under the banner of the DVD Forum. AOD's advantages are that it's not so radically different from DVD. The numeric aperture of the lens is the same and the disc substrate thickness is the same, meaning that the new players won't require expensive new optics and the existing DVD manufacturing plants can start making the new discs after a retooling that is short and inexpensive compared to Blu-Ray. HD-DVD discs will be cheap enough to produce that they will reach the market with quickness and quantity, while Blu-Ray disc manufacturing ramps up much more slowly.
 

Paul McElligott

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2002
Messages
2,598
Real Name
Paul McElligott
As for Blu-Ray, I'm sure that Sony will sustain the format as they seem to with a lot of their media formats that don't get adopted by the mass market (MiniDisc, Digital 8, MicroMV, Memory Stick). It will probably continue as a recordable format, but now that the DVD Forum has adopted AOD, its future as a mass-market format for pre-recorded movies goes, it future is probably limited. The only downside is that early Sony-Columbia HD releases will be on Blu-Ray until Sony caves into the realities of the marketplace.
 

Travis Hedger

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 24, 1998
Messages
695
Heh, I thought I was on the up and up on HD-DVD format, know quite a bit about BluRay but today was the first I had ever heard about AOD. Is there an official site for this, or any site that has good specs on what it is supposed to do?
 

Neil Joseph

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 16, 1998
Messages
8,332
Real Name
Neil Joseph
I have been following this for the last little while and echo the sentiments that this is welcome news. Bring it on.
 

Travis Hedger

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 24, 1998
Messages
695
My Google Skills must be failing me, I can't find the official site, or anything about a recent press release or announcement of this, nor can I find detailed specs either. This is really frustrating!
 

Alistair_M

Second Unit
Joined
Oct 11, 2002
Messages
276
I wonder if its time the HTF had a dedicated forum to discuss HD-DVD. I think its going to be an exciting next 12 months in this field as the final specs are decided upon. Home theatre fans in this forum could help shape the future...
 

Joshua Clinard

Screenwriter
Joined
Aug 25, 2000
Messages
1,837
Location
Abilene, TX
Real Name
Joshua Clinard
All I can find are old articles, mostly the ones that I have found are the same article that is being reprinted on various websites. The articles are all abut Toshiba and NEC presenting the spec to the DVD-forum, and about it's competition with EVD and Blu-Ray. No sites on AOD itself that I can find.
 

Norm Lalonde

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 8, 1998
Messages
181
I'm happy to hear about this. I was beginning to worry that they would go with a red-lazer version of HD-DVD, which would have been a big disappointment.
 

Pete Lee

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Nov 11, 2001
Messages
71
I dislike Blu-Ray because the disc is stored in a cartridge. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm not aware of plans to get rid of the protective cartridge, which means Blu-Ray drives would have been a pain, if not outright unsuitable, for notebooks or other portable devices. In this day and age, what kind of insular, myopic company introduces a new format that increases bulk?

Both eetimes.com (in the system & software section) and videobusiness.com have news articles about HD-DVD.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,815
Messages
5,123,851
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top