The looming format war
Not so long ago we were all excited about the prospect of the Visual compact disc format.It came it saw and certainly did not conquer .What happened was not just a case of a sub-standard technology but it was overtaken by the essence of time and invention.Roll back the years and we remember efforts like the Sony betacam VCR, or the more succesful VHS format adopted by some other firms.
Last week,i went window shopping in town and stumbled into Dixons the high tech shop.I have heard about high definition TV but i had not set my eyes on it before .There i was ,mouth almost open and in awe of HD-TV.The picture quality is refreshingly brilliant and dare i say close to perfection.Everything about the graphics i can say is picture perfect and i could boldly say that i could see the beads of sweat on the musicians face and even the tiniest of spots i did notice.What am i driving at ?
I cant believe that after this brilliant piece of innovation from these manufacturers,the only snag is the format of the discs to run with these equipments of wonder .A fraction of a millimetre is what seperates Sony and Toshiba .In Sony`s blue ray format,it is 0.1mm thick while Toshiba`s format is 0.6mm.I gather that both firms cant come up with a compromise that would alienate not just the major hollywood studios as to what format it is to shoot its productions but it will also put us consumers in a quandary.
Sony along with Philips and Pioneer have persuaded Dell,the worlds largest pc maker and most of hollywood`s major studios to back its blue ray format which will go on sale in a few months and cost twice as much as Toshiba`s HD-DVD format which is being backed by software giants Microsoft.Toshiba is expected to steal the lead though with it s lauch due before Sony`s blue ray .
The blue ray though is expected to come on strong with the release of the their playstation 3 console in November even thogh Toshiba have announced thatthey will make portable drives for the microsoft X box.
I understand that the blue ray discs would have a 25gigabyte storage while the more conservative HD-DVD would have 15 giabytes of storage.
To cap things,if the situation continues,we the consumers might be the ones to pay the price as the shops will stock up on both formats and we will be the ones to make the choices that decide the future and destiny of these brilliant works of innovation.
And lets hope that before we do that,they are not phased out of the market by a newer and more interesting product.
Last week,i went window shopping in town and stumbled into Dixons the high tech shop.I have heard about high definition TV but i had not set my eyes on it before .There i was ,mouth almost open and in awe of HD-TV.The picture quality is refreshingly brilliant and dare i say close to perfection.Everything about the graphics i can say is picture perfect and i could boldly say that i could see the beads of sweat on the musicians face and even the tiniest of spots i did notice.What am i driving at ?
I cant believe that after this brilliant piece of innovation from these manufacturers,the only snag is the format of the discs to run with these equipments of wonder .A fraction of a millimetre is what seperates Sony and Toshiba .In Sony`s blue ray format,it is 0.1mm thick while Toshiba`s format is 0.6mm.I gather that both firms cant come up with a compromise that would alienate not just the major hollywood studios as to what format it is to shoot its productions but it will also put us consumers in a quandary.
Sony along with Philips and Pioneer have persuaded Dell,the worlds largest pc maker and most of hollywood`s major studios to back its blue ray format which will go on sale in a few months and cost twice as much as Toshiba`s HD-DVD format which is being backed by software giants Microsoft.Toshiba is expected to steal the lead though with it s lauch due before Sony`s blue ray .
The blue ray though is expected to come on strong with the release of the their playstation 3 console in November even thogh Toshiba have announced thatthey will make portable drives for the microsoft X box.
I understand that the blue ray discs would have a 25gigabyte storage while the more conservative HD-DVD would have 15 giabytes of storage.
To cap things,if the situation continues,we the consumers might be the ones to pay the price as the shops will stock up on both formats and we will be the ones to make the choices that decide the future and destiny of these brilliant works of innovation.
And lets hope that before we do that,they are not phased out of the market by a newer and more interesting product.
posted by ejiro itobore at
9:11 AM
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