- Joined
- Jul 3, 1997
- Messages
- 66,794
- Real Name
- Ronald Epstein
When we were putting together the itinerary for
our Home Theater Forum 2004 National Meet we had
talked to the folks at Sony/Columbia about doing
something special for our membership.
Imagine our excitement when they offered to give
us a demonstration of their upcoming Blu-Ray Disc
technology. I have to admit, of all the things we
had planned to do that week, this demonstration was
something I was most excited about seeing.
....it did not disappoint.
I wish that we could have brought all of you out
to Sony to see what we experienced. You folks have
no idea how dramatically this format is going to
change in the next two years.
We met with Victor Masuda (Vice President Blu-Ray
Disc Group) and Don Eklund (Senior VP Advanced
Technologies Columbia/Tri-Star) who gave us a little
background on the Blu-Ray format.
I am going to give you a few excerpts from the Press
material that was provided to all of us.....
* Instead of simply equaling the broadcast HDTV
data rate of 19 Megabits per second, Blu-Ray
far exceeds it. At supporting data rates of 36
Megabits per second, it's the highest data rate
of any consumer medium, delivering the ultimate
picture quality: full 1920 H x 1080 V High Definition
video.
* Thanks to the blue-violet laser and other advanced
technologies, the single layer BD exceeds the capacity
of five DVDs, while dual layer BD holds even more.
* Blue-Ray already has the support of 13 major
manufacturers including Dell, HP, Hitachi, LG,
Matsushita, Mitsubishi. Pioneer, Royal Philips,
Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson.
If I remember correctly, the opposing HD DVD group
is backed only by Toshiba and NEC.
Though the two consortiums are fighting to become
the most widely accepted format, it is my early
opinion that based on the manufacturer backing,
upcoming Playstation support and Sony's recent
acquisition of the MGM library that Blu-Ray will
probably be the dominant format.
So how good does Blu-Ray DVD look? It looks incredible!
Nearly 60 members of Home Theater Forum were ushered
into one of Sony studio's private screening rooms
last week to get a first-hand look at this new format.
We were treated to scenes from [/i]Lawrence of Arabia[/i]
that were split-screen so that we could see side-by-side
the difference between the DVD and Blu-Ray. As the
split screen moved from right to left you could see
the smaller detailed blurry images of the DVD suddenly
come to a razor-sharp realization that became so
incredibly defined.
...and mind you, these are images projected on a
20' screen. Imagine how they will look on consumer
televisions.
Personally, I think the difference between Blu-Ray
and DVD are more dramatic than what we saw going
from VHS to DVD.
I'm going to give the opportunity for the members
that attended this event to give their reactions to
what they saw. Better to hear it from a group of
people than just one individual.
Stay Tuned!
our Home Theater Forum 2004 National Meet we had
talked to the folks at Sony/Columbia about doing
something special for our membership.
Imagine our excitement when they offered to give
us a demonstration of their upcoming Blu-Ray Disc
technology. I have to admit, of all the things we
had planned to do that week, this demonstration was
something I was most excited about seeing.
....it did not disappoint.
I wish that we could have brought all of you out
to Sony to see what we experienced. You folks have
no idea how dramatically this format is going to
change in the next two years.
We met with Victor Masuda (Vice President Blu-Ray
Disc Group) and Don Eklund (Senior VP Advanced
Technologies Columbia/Tri-Star) who gave us a little
background on the Blu-Ray format.
I am going to give you a few excerpts from the Press
material that was provided to all of us.....
* Instead of simply equaling the broadcast HDTV
data rate of 19 Megabits per second, Blu-Ray
far exceeds it. At supporting data rates of 36
Megabits per second, it's the highest data rate
of any consumer medium, delivering the ultimate
picture quality: full 1920 H x 1080 V High Definition
video.
* Thanks to the blue-violet laser and other advanced
technologies, the single layer BD exceeds the capacity
of five DVDs, while dual layer BD holds even more.
* Blue-Ray already has the support of 13 major
manufacturers including Dell, HP, Hitachi, LG,
Matsushita, Mitsubishi. Pioneer, Royal Philips,
Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson.
If I remember correctly, the opposing HD DVD group
is backed only by Toshiba and NEC.
Though the two consortiums are fighting to become
the most widely accepted format, it is my early
opinion that based on the manufacturer backing,
upcoming Playstation support and Sony's recent
acquisition of the MGM library that Blu-Ray will
probably be the dominant format.
So how good does Blu-Ray DVD look? It looks incredible!
Nearly 60 members of Home Theater Forum were ushered
into one of Sony studio's private screening rooms
last week to get a first-hand look at this new format.
We were treated to scenes from [/i]Lawrence of Arabia[/i]
that were split-screen so that we could see side-by-side
the difference between the DVD and Blu-Ray. As the
split screen moved from right to left you could see
the smaller detailed blurry images of the DVD suddenly
come to a razor-sharp realization that became so
incredibly defined.
...and mind you, these are images projected on a
20' screen. Imagine how they will look on consumer
televisions.
Personally, I think the difference between Blu-Ray
and DVD are more dramatic than what we saw going
from VHS to DVD.
I'm going to give the opportunity for the members
that attended this event to give their reactions to
what they saw. Better to hear it from a group of
people than just one individual.
Stay Tuned!