BY MEGAZONE AT 12/06/07 11:04 PM
"It is also becoming typical for combo discs to be released with DVD on one side and HD DVD on the other, making them eminently more compatible. (Blu-ray can't do this.)"
This is doubly incorrect. The combo discs are actually falling OUT of favor, and most combo sets bundle a standard DVD with an HD DVD in one case now. The combo discs cost more to make than two single-format discs, because of higher failure rates. And they're less popular with both vendors and consumers because there is no place to print a label as both sides hold data. All the same reasons DVD18 died in favor of two DVD9 discs. And Blu-ray *can* do it. Dual-sided Blu-ray/DVD discs have been demonstrated. Since the substrate on BD is 1.1mm thick, and a DVD layer is only .6mm thick, it isn't an issue. On top of that, the BDA has shown *single sided* dual-format discs with a BD layer 'over' a DVD layer, so they can still have a label. But both of these suffer from the higher cost issue, and it is still more effective to just bundle a DVD - they have to print the DVD *anyway* for all the DVD-only sales. Driving costs per unit down even more.
"Samsung BD-UP5000 Duo ($800): Since this upcoming device
famously has stated support for Blu-ray discs that Sony and Pioneer won't be able to play, it's easy to forget that it's also billed as a fully compliant HD DVD player. But the reviews say it's a winner in both arenas."
The BD-UP5000 does indeed look like a good player - if expensive - the statement about Sony and Pioneer is incorrect. The BD Profiles are backwards compatible. A BD 1.1 disc will play on a BD 1.0 player, and a BD 2.0 (aka BD Live) disc will play on a BD 1.1 or BD 1.0 player. The specs are additive. A BD 1.0 player will not be able to access PIP content that is added by BD 1.1. And a 1.0 or 1.1 player would not be able to access online content added by 2.0. But everything else still works. (And some vendors have indicated that some of the 1.0 players may have the hardware for 1.1, and just need firmware to enable it.)
"Besides selling the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive, Microsoft helped write the HD DVD video spec, including VC-1 compression. It also licenses the HDi runtime engine, developed with Toshiba, that enables interactivity on Toshiba players and those of other licensees. HD DVD players don't have to have HDi, but at the moment, it's obviously the software with the most momentum."
This is kind of confused. VC-1 is the SMPTE's standardized version of WMV9, and it is used by BOTH HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. HDi was co-developed by Microsoft and Toshiba, and largely it was Microsoft. They've built it into Vista and to push it they offered it to the DVD Forum for standardization as part of the HD DVD proposal. And *all* HD DVD players MUST support HDi, just as all BD players must support BD-J. If a player doesn't support HDi, then it cannot use the official HD DVD logo or any of the other licensed items - that's what LG's first combo deck did. It would play an HD DVD, but just play the main content - no menus, features, etc. BD-J actually offers more power for developers than HDi, but Microsoft has offered a lot of support for HDi development - something the BDA could learn a bit from.
"The not-so-secret secret is that a CH-DVD player is an HD DVD player whose laser is set at a different modulation. While you could never play an HD DVD on a CH-DVD player, it is physically more or less the same product. Manufacturing can happen side by side, using the same components such as processors and optical pick-ups."
Based on what has been reported, CH-DVD uses the same laser and media and HD DVD, just with software changes. So it is even more similar than you state. but the BDA is also working with China on a BD standard for China. More than the HD DVD camp, they're considering incorporating China's requirements into a revision of the global standard. CH-DVD doesn't exist yet, it is a paper standard. Nothing final has been decided for the Chinese market, and China has been neutral. They just insist on having some domestic technology incorporated - which is what CH-DVD did. China could be even more pleased if the BDA incorporates their codecs, etc, globally and not just for a ghetto spec for China only.
I fully agree that the war is far from over now, despite my earlier feelings that Blu-ray was a clear winner. I still believe Blu-ray will win in the long run, but I'm not as confident as I once was. I am still fully confident that HD DVD will never 'win' the war. The only two options I can see are BD winning, or a stalemate with both formats surviving indefinitely. There are a few things that could tip the scales - such as Warner picking sides - but the war isn't just in the US, and BD is winning globally. 9:1 in Japan with a similar lead in Australia, 3:1 in Europe, 2:1 in the US. HD DVD would have to do something huge to completely defeat Blu-ray. And the longer the war drags on, the less of an advantage HD DVD will have. BD player costs will continue to drop too, and HD DVD is going to bottom out first, so the gap will continue to shrink there.