I am pretty sure that in order to own an ipod, one must first surgically remove his testicles. Ipods are chick players...
You can probably understand my relief when I heard that I can keep my balls and have a flash memory mp3 player!
Thats great news!

think you have the wrong topic buddy.

Yea man, Ipods have nothing to do with blu-ray

Ok...why do I as a "Home End user" need or what HD DVD or Blu-ray? Especially since all my DVDs are tradtional format?

huh....what.... please...I repeat PLEASE....

keep your testicles to yourself.... and whatever you and and iPod do is none of my biz.....lol

Because the man says so!!! If you are happy with DVDs, then don't even bother with the new stuff. HD is not as big an improvement as people say, especially when you consider how much both formats will be compressed. You may get a similar picture with Superbit, but I am not sure of that one.

Also, do not think that these formats will be the end of DVD. All they can do is raise the price of DVD Movies on us and that will only lead to tons of piracy. DVDs will definately not stop being produced because this will cause the consumers to become very angry.

I figure, that these formats will be popular with people that have a $100,000 TV and a $50,000 sound system at the beginning (the only people who may actually benefit from the formats as well). I see HD-DVD as having the potential to grow because this one is cheaper ($500 vs $1000+). However, the fact that these are two different formats and that each format will have different movies will make them both fail unless if price goes way down for the players (I'm talking about a Cyberhome BD player for $29 down!!!).

Bottom line, on the initial release, you will have these things take up about 1% to 2% of the market (sales only). If there is a mind blowing difference in quality that justifies the price, then you will see a steady increase and in 3 to 4 years, the next gen will be on top or nearly equal to DVD. If the quality is similar to Digital Cable or Satellite, both will probably die out since it will not justify the high price.

I just LOVE wrong information, lies and total bullshit!

Besides the fact that the Samsung IS NOT the very first BD-R drive on the market, there are two other very big misnomers that most people have missed:

1) The Blu-ray drives, like the brand new Pioneer BRD-101A, will read DVD+/-R, burn BD-RW 25 & 50 GB non-cartridge discs, but will NOT read / write CD-R or DVD-RAM media.

2) The first movie titles that will be released, which are already completed from the likes of Disney and Sony pictures, will NOT use the h.264 specification, nor will it actually have any HD content, but instead will use the same old MPEG2 compression scheme. The exact same thing is true for the HD-DVD camp for all of their original releases as well.

Here is a cool first look at the world's first released consumer BD-RW drive for computers: http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_10120.html

This drive will be available to the general public in the USA in early January 2006. Cost is expected to start around $350-$500 initially,and drop a bit later on as market saturation occurs and as the competition rolls out their respective units as well.
Initial blank media costs are anticipated to be around $30 US for the 25 GB BD-R, $50 for 25 GB BD-RW, $55 for 50 GB BD-R and around $75 for BD-RW media. As is typical, these prices will drop as supply outweighs the market demand, and as the number of deployed drives increase.

Additionally, Pioneer will release its set-top BD-ROM drives for consumer television viewers in the late spring. The cost on those units looks to be a MSRP of a whopping $1800!

In September of 2006, a even larger capacity optical media will be available. It is called HVD, which stands for Holographic Versatile Disc. This new, cartridge style blank media will have initial capacities of 300 GB's, and on up to a full Terabyte (1,000 layers on a single disc!).

The forerunner of this technology was a now-defunct company called Constellation 3D, whose research dates back to around 1998. It uses indirect, or "incoherent" laser light, and a much tighter bandwidth on the laser than the present orange, red, yellow or blue book specs at this time.

The 300 GB media have already been demonstrated at various trade shows recently, but have actually been available in development and testing for at least 5 years.

Media prices are expected to be on the expensive side, with a 300 GB cartridge listing for $350+ in its initial release. IT guys will love its capacity for data backups, ISO and Ghost images of disc arrays on servers, etc., but this will be far too expensive for the average consumer's daily use. Eventually prices are expected to drop, as is usual with all new optical media formats.

Microsoft has even been developing a PXE (Pre-Install Environment) optical disc only OS that contains built-in virus, spam and spyware protection in an unmodifiable form. This could be another way that MS ensures a no-piracy scheme, by having the OS embedded in the media, but not installed on a HD. A HD would still be used for additional data storage of local files. This is similar to the already existing Knoppix or Morphix flavors of Linux that are currently available.

I think the Blu-ray is going to win the hearts and minds of the general populace in the early battles, edge out HD-DVD due to its later appearance in the marketplace and lack of manufacturer and movie studio support, but could lose its edge if player, burner and media prices remain too high early after the initial product releases.

It will be interesting to see when the H.264 codec will finally be implemented, and displace the MPEG2 codec for these new mediums.

BTW, HP / Compaq, who at first were firmly behind Blu-ray, is the only manufacturer to jump ship back over to the HD-DVD camp recently due to the interactive programming language being implemented. Blu-ray will be using a variation on Javascript, and HP wants the industry to use Microsoft's more robust XML based programming for its interactive media content.

A lot of food for thought!

you're rockin steady IMG! HELLO, I'm jazzed by getting a glimpse of the internal Blue Ray computer drive, you definitely got your feelers out. Talk about connected, I'm really impressed. Thanks for all the juicy 411 and the photo's---hot hot hot!!!

Thanks, Mike, I appreciate the kudos very much. As an industry professional (DVD Authoring & Multimedia design), it is my job to stay abreast of emerging technologies.

Just an interesting side note, back in July of 2005 I did three very cool podcasts that warrant listening to on the website http://www.wedvidtalk.com whereI discuss the future of Blu-ray, HD-DVD and even HVD, which I have been following since around 1998 or 1999. As a matter of fact, I was their very first 3-part interviewee, am about to be interviewed again this month for the fourth time! We did all three segments back-to-back, which took about 5 hours to record the 3 one-hour segments. This next one should be a lot shorter, but I will be discussing how all of my early predications are now coming true, like the announcement that TDK made yesterday concerning a QUAD LAYER, 100 GB BD-R disc that they have successfully created! Here is the article, and thanks again! I'll try to keep everyone up to date as I glean info from my various sources, but please do pop in to wedvidtalk.com and give a listen to the podcasts, I am eerily accurate on the HD wars stuff, amongst others!
-------------------------------------------------------
TDK Shows Quad Layer 100 GB Blu-ray Disc
January 08, 2006
Las Vegas, NV - At CES 2006, TDK showed a prototype recordable Blu-ray Disc with 100GB capacity. As a founding member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, TDK has played a key role in the development of Blu-ray.

The prototype 100GB bare Blu-ray Disc doubles both the capacity and recording speed of the current Blu-ray Disc specification. Blu-ray’s industry-leading capacity means a single disc can store a vast assortment of content without making quality compromises. According to the company, a single, prototype 100GB Blu-ray Disc can store approximately 9 hours of high definition video on a single side.

TDK’s prototype Blu-ray Disc records data at 72 megabits per second, double the 36Mbps rate of the current Blu-ray Disc specification. The initial Blu-ray Disc standard allows for 25GB single layer Blu-ray Discs and 50GB dual layer Blu-ray Discs. To achieve 100GB capacity, the prototype Blu-ray Disc incorporates four 25GB layers.

“Blu-ray is changing the future of high definition digital recording and content distribution as well as proving to be the ideal, cost-effective, removable storage medium for large amounts of data. As the only media company that's a founding member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, TDK is pleased to take the lead in realizing many of the format's most significant advancements,” noted Bruce Youmans, TDK Vice President of Marketing. “Nearly a decade of experience in developing blue laser recording media technologies and the devotion of TDK's massive R&D resources have enabled us to be the first company to successfully create a prototype 100GB Blu-ray Disc with double the recording speed of the current specification. TDK advancements validate the company’s position as a leader in extending the capabilities of optical media.”

Youmans concluded, “CES 2006 attendees can not only preview the 100GB Blu-ray Disc prototype, but can also learn more about the technologies behind the format from a detailed cross-sectioned model of the disc created exclusively for this showcase at the TDK kiosk in the BDA booth.”

TDK says that their advanced sputtering technology played a key role in enabling the creation of the prototype 100GB Blu-ray Disc. Additionally, TDK specially designed recording materials with characteristics to accommodate the Blu-ray Disc format's short 405nm blue-violet laser wavelength and small laser spot size, narrow track pitches and high recording densities. The materials interact with the laser with such stability that TDK says it has already been able to achieve 6x (216Mbps) recording speed with prototype discs.

Blu-ray Disc media’s data tracks are quite narrow in comparison with DVD media; precise, stable interaction between the laser and the recording material is especially critical to ensuring error-free recording and playback. To enable high density data storage, the Blu-ray Disc’s recording layer is close to the disc surface, separated only by a 0.1mm cover layer. As a result, the disc surface itself must function as a protective shield for the recording layer. That’s why TDK developed DURABIS, an innovative hard coating technology that the company says protects the disc surface against common contaminants such as scratches and fingerprints. DURABIS makes TDK Blu-ray Discs 100 times more scratch resistant than they would be without a protective coating, as demonstrated in standardized laboratory testing, according to TDK.

Hard coating technology TDK reports to have pioneered, helps eliminate the need for cumbersome cartridges to protect the media’s recording layer and is allowing the production of bare Blu-ray Disc media. Eliminating the need for a cartridge not only minimizes manufacturing costs, but also allows for the same user experience as with today’s CDs and DVDs.

To protect the rights of content providers, TDK Blu-ray Disc media adheres to managed copy guidelines.

For more information go to:
TDK Blu-ray Quad Layer

As an "industry proffessional" don't you have something better to do? Cause forms are time killers man, and I would hope anyoen holding a senior position in this industry has something better to do.

All you just did was make a big advertisment...

Quote:

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I just Realized I made the Most intellegent post.

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Argg, you rock! :D

That's some very cool info, IMG, and welcome to AD!

Reasons?, even if he isn't a hot-shot, he still did provide some pretty decent info, even if it doesn't have a link.

♫Try to be happy, please?♫

I also found the source on TDK:
http://www.tdk.com/tecpress/20060103_bd100gb_ces.html

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well this is my first post here and i have been reading this stuff for a while and here is my views on the blue-ray

sony will sell the ps3 at a loss it has been said from other game systems the money is in the game not the system every game company has to split the profits the game makes with sony and from the 80's and 90's they pay and up front fee to sony to have the game on that system (this might have changed as of 2000)tthat is why there are so many big titles that come out with a new system sony dose not have to release a game ever but they do because the full profit is sonys alone ...
and from what i see right from day 1 there will be a large market for blue-ray movies an instant market close to a a quater of a mil.world wide and just starting to grow with that instant market sony will get money from movies games and everything that the blue-ray can do that can be put in the market place and if ms or nintendo go to blur-ray sony will get profits from them that is why the other systems do not support it and lets not forget the pc market that will drag the blur-ray format well past its use before something new comes out. i may be wrong on some stuff but you get the ideaon the ammount money that is set to be made by sony

First of all, I would suggest to you that this is a FORUM, not a "FORM".

Secondly, who in the world ever mentioned I was holding a SENIOR POSITION in the industry?

I own my own, very successful privately held company who has released over 2o DVD's in the last 2 years in addition to all of the other corporate and local event work that we do. If I want to take time off, I'm in a postition to be able to do so, even though I never do because I like to work - A LOT. It's called being a workaholic, which also means I am typically multi-tasking like crazy. We have nearly 20 workstations and 4 servers in the old facility, and are about to add that same numer again for the new, million-dollar production facility we are building right now. None of this was given to me, it was all blood, sweat and tears every step of the way. LOTS of hard work. We now employ artound 15 people, with plans to add another dozen or so in the next year as business warrants us doing so.

Also, even though I personally use 5 workstations and a laptop as well, I still have insane render times, which I use for business administration tasks, like answering e-mails, Internet research and replying or posting in around 2 dozen forums. Through all of my hard work, and that of my excellent team members, we have driven our company and domain name to the very top of almost every search engine. We are currently in the midst of a complete site overhaul, and are 80% complete with a few tweaks and some clever programming left to do until we finish.

So, yes, I am DAMNED busy. Last week, I worked 20 hour days ever single day, except for the 72-hour marathon I pulled last weekend to finish some edits in a timely fashion.

Our clients are happy, business is booming at a steady pace, and we are growing bigger and stronger every single day.

As for the "advertisement", that's a very lame and unappreciative way of slapping someone in the face who is sharing inside info with those who are interested.

Timely tips like, "Adobe is about to release its new Video collection later this month or in early February 2006." Where ELSE are you going to hear facts that ALWAYS pan out to be true, except from someone who has their ear to the ground and their nose to the grindstone.

Most people like to hear about new developments as they are occurring. Afterdawn is not as current as the info I have when its posts news blurbs, and in fact have been wrong on a frequent basis. I feel it incumbent on me to help set the record straight, provide current, factual, interesting and informative trivia about extremely important industry trends.

Trends like the advent of DVD, Blu-ray, HD-DVD, HVD, HDV, HD, etc.

If you don't like the content, switch gears and go somewhere else to piss and moan about how miserable your life is. Maybe one day YOU will have your own books, DVD's, podcasts, magazine, radio and TV interviews to deal with.

For me, I've got video to edit and render...

Forum sites tend to have a general disclamer, normal people don't edit their posts and type as fast as they can.

Proffesional implies experience and, keyword here, senority. Junoir programmers wouldn't be caugth dead calling themselves proffesional programmers. Senoir programmars can do that. As with any comapany, there are senoir employees, and the interns aren't susposed to be able to cal themselves pros cause they work there.

Hey, maybe it's a short and quick analogy. But, who can blame anyone for being a little tired of havin gto beleive every [Name](Newbie) that comes along and says they work for SOny or Microsoft. I am not sayin gyou're a lier, I'm just saying I don't take your's or anyones word. It's just the only logical explanation to your purpose and post is quite indicative of a Blu-ray promo. cynical with good reason

IMG I'm glad you're here, and I'm not sure what got someone agitated. I think it's cool that you're here offering some cool facts.

As far as I can tell, 90% of us here on the forum are just regular joes, some with insight and some barely above clueless (like me Mike C).

Any insider knowledge of the industry that we can get is welcome and exciting info, so please keep it coming. There are no litmus tests for becoming a forum member other than following the forum rules and playing well with others, which you clearly are doing, and sharing awesome insight.

So Thank you and please keep sharing, I'm sure that you have insider knowledge on a host of different products in addition to Pioneer, and I can't wait to hear about them.

I'm sure you have your pet favorites, most of us are advocates of one product over another, that's another great thing about this forums, and opinions are what keeps this palce bumpin and groovin.

No problem.

We actually have been very fortunate to have tapped into the founder of "The Firm" workout studio / video series, as they are based here in Columbia, SC. The founder, Anna Benson, hired me to create DVD's for her new workout series called "FitPrime" 2 years ago. We did about 15 titles in all for her.

Then, after about 6 months in development, several of the original FIRM instructors, and specifically, Tracie Long, contacted me to work with her new company in Charleston, SC. Her company is called TLP / V, for Tracie Long Productions, and her fitness center (which is an AWESOME multi-million dollar facility, very upscale, like a Bally's), is called "V", based on the latin root for vitality, etc. We did some minor work in changing graphics, video editing, and overall DVD re-Authoring on a couple of titles last year for her. She has pledged to use my company this Spring (if we are ready to handle the challenge equipment-wise) for production on several new DVD workouts.

Finally, last year, we also did the DVD mastering (only) for a singer / songwriter / musician / poet / artist named Niko Papasideris. He completed a masterful compilation of a music CD, DVD of his musical journey, including the creation of many of the songs, a lot of silliness and fun, and some poetry and artwork all bound together in a single production. Very unique, different than anything out there, and super creative. Certainly a breath of fresh air, musically speaking. Since then, Niko has become a friend via e-mail and phone correspondance. He also just won the new USA TV series competition for best new artist performing original music in the last couple of months.

Here are the links verifying all of my statements:

http://www.justv.net = Tracie Long's Studio website
http://tracielong.net = Tracie's Video sales site

We worked on the very first one at the top, which is two DVD's on one, called "Core Cardio" and "Core Strength", affectionately known as "The Yorktowns", as they were shot aboard the USS Yorktown, which sits visably across the harbor from her studio in Charleston, SC. Very cool, great view!

Anna Benson has changed her companies again for the third time in the last 5 years. She sold "The Firm" to create "FitPrime", then sold "FitPrime" to create "Women's Health & Fitness Network", or WHFN for short. This, just like "The Firm", is also based right here in Columbia, SC. Your can do various web searches on the original titles for "FitPrime" and get tons of hits, thousands of copies are still out on the market, but basically, all 15+ titles are considered out of print just 2 short years later. The first couple of titles were "Mix and Match Vol. 1", which has 5 workouts on it, and a lot of intersting features that had never been done before on ANY workout DVD, like: Easter egg (with my credit on it as well!), hidden bonus DVD-ROM features, like WM9, QT and WinDVD trial software player installs, etc. Neat stuff. Other titles are: "From the ground up", "Strong Bear", "Just Right - Weights, Cardio & Yoga", and "Crunch Time", "Steamin' Cardio", "Floor Burn" and "Flex Posture" amongst others. I did a LOT of video editing on these titles, but believe it or not, Anna did the majority of the video production herself. She is very talented, but very hard to with with. Usually creative types are that way, it seems.

Anna's current website, where she has taken old workouts and revamped them with new instructors, is:
http://www.whfn.com/

Finally, here is my friend Niko's website. Check his music, definitely worth listening to:
http://www.nikoonline.com

So, yes, a lot of people BS their way through life on the Internet, but some of us are they real McCoy. You can donload and listen to the 3 existing podcasts I did in July (it was the 12th) 2005 on http://www.wedvidtalk.com for a TON of info on video production, DVD, Blu-ray, HD-DVD, HVD, HDV (not a typo!) and HD in general, as well as computer tips for both PC and Mac (I'm a computer technician with 30 years experience, too, as well as a musician who has played for TWO world-famous bands, one with a top ten hit song. No BS, really! Jack of all trades, you know how it goes...I just don't do plumbing very well at all, just ask my wife! LoL!).

Here are the links to a direct download:

http://www.wedvidtalk.com/uploads/WVT-2005-07-12-Pt1.mp3

http://www.wedvidtalk.com/uploads/WVT-2005-07-12-Pt2.mp3

http://www.wedvidtalk.com/uploads/WVT-2005-07-12-Pt3.mp3

So, at least I can back up my statements with published PROOF, both on numerous websites, and with tangible, physical products distributed world-wide.

Anyhow, I hope all of the info I have provided in all of these posts has been helpful. I know some people enjoy them, I hope that you do, too.

Scot
Owner / Producer
IMG - Interactive Media Gurus
http://www.imgvideos.com

Cool man, You're one of those rare birds that's got talent & ability connnected in the industry and still connected with hose like us who are basically not in the industry, but consume the industry. It's great to know how inviolved you are in all these different projects.

I used to do what you do, but I did it for Armed Forces Radio and Television (I was a non profit soldier/broadcaster).

Used to work with AVID and SaDIE. So I know the fever that drives ya....it's like a disease, in your blood and so it's in your heart too. Unless you're in it, no one can quite understand.

Mike, that's awesome. I was in the US Air Force band as a guitarist, stationed down in Biloxi, MS at Keesler, and worked for the department of the Army at Ft. Jackson, SC (here in Columbia, SC) shooting video of troops in training and providing all of the narrations for the basic training videos, command briefings, change of command ceremonies, etc. In fact Clinton actually got a tape that we had done and had to sit through listening to me drone on about the fort...LOL! I wonder if Monica was with him at the time!

Also very interesting, when Penny Marshall came to Ft. Jax (as we call it for short), she hired the company I worked for to shoot the "Behind the scenes, making-of" the movie, "Renaissance Man", which starred Gregory Hines, Danny Devito and Mark Wahlberg. We got to meet everyone, it was great. They were all so very nice, humble people EXCEPT for "Marky Mark", he was a conceited, arrogant ass.

So, anyway, I have a warm place in my heart for our military personnel. I salute you for you work that you did, that is so awesome. And also, THANK YOU for supporting our troops and the United States of America!

I attended the 2006 CES and had a chance to compare firsthand the video quality of HD-DVD and Blu-ray. The presentations were on HD Plasma TV's, and included already released theatricals like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, scenes from certain EA boxing games, etc. Quite frankly, the clarity and depth of the image is noticeable better, but surprisingly it was not mind-blowing. Keep in mind that the movie industry, except for some blockbuster movies last year, is experiencing sagging demand for many of its movie products. Hi Def is seen as a way to pump some life into sales. The biggest part of the presentation actually dealt with the increased interactivity of HD DVD and Blu-ray menu systems, the portability/compatibility of the media (can play in your PC, home entertainment unit, car player, etc.), and the allowance of limited legal backup copies. Also keep in mind that you can burn a regular DVD to either Blu-ray or HD DVD discs, AND burn Hi Def content to the same disc. Also, HD DVD and Blu Ray players are backwards compatible with existing DVD discs.

Another entry in the Hi Def format wars, overlooked and possibly underestimated, is High Definition-FVD (Forward Versatile Disc). I also visited their booth to check out their technology. FVD is being positioned as the Asian (China, Taiwan, etc.) alternative to both HD DVD and Blu-ray. Some key benefits of Hi Def FVD: 1) Uses red laser at same wavelength as standard DVD (650nm) so discs and players can be produced on existing manufacturing equipment, which will mean the Hi Def FVD players and discs can be sold at a fraction of the prices announced for both HD DVD and Blu-ray, 2) Storage capacity of 5.4-6 GB but uses WMV-9 codec (compared to MPEG-2 used for standard DVD, and currently for Blu ray and HD-DVD). WMV-9 allows for hi def video resolutions of 1920x1080x24p, 1920x1080x60i, 1280x720x24p and 1280x720x30p. With the WMV-9 codec, 135 minutes of high definition content can be stored on a single-layer FVD disc, 3) Can use common video adapters such as S-Video, Component, Composite, as well as DVI and HDMI. Note that Blue ray will exclusively use HDMI, 4)Multi sequence menu/index structure (Again, this will be one of the biggest selling points of both Blu ray and HD-DVD), 5) FVD can upscale standard DVD video to High Definition video by a special interpolating process.

So, Blu-ray and HD DVD are only the tip of the multimedia iceberg. There are other current (albeit ignored) competing technologies, like Hi-Def FVD, and possibly superior ones, like holography, on the way.

we'll have to chat of-forum, i definitely want to comiserate with ya, but i have to run to a sales call right now.

Topic? This is getting to far off. Stick to Blu-ray, Next-gen content, HD-DVD, PS3 and othe rBD-R players.

When a word count would lean in favor of off topic posts, it's pretty sad.

I agree. There is some very good additional info, but there is too much off-topic plugging and conversation. Let's all just keep within the margins of the topic at hand.

As I accurately predicted earlier this month, Adobe just released the Video Collection 2.0, with Premiere Pro, Encore, and Audition 2.0, and After Effects 7. The deluxe bundle comes with Illustrator and Photoshop.

They have direct timeline support for HD, and you can mix any tupe of HD and SD content IN THE SAME TIMELINE, unlike any other NLE (like Avid, or Final Cut Pro, who can't touch PPRO 2.0).

Encore DVD has full support for authoring Blu-ray HD DVD projects as well, which is exciting an development.

IMG, can I ask you a question?

What do you think of Amiga machines, and do you think that they and their products may come back someday?

Nope, Amiga is dead.

We used to use one for the Video Toaster system for grafix & titles back in the early and mid-90's.

It was a neat idea, just like the Atari ST systems we had, but technology zoomed past them at light speed, plus corporate problems & nonsense killed them both.

Kind of a shame when you think about it. The Amiga was the only real competition that the Mac had back in those days.

Has anyone seen the Pioneer BDR-101a yet? They said it was going to be released in early to mid January, but as of this date (Feb. 8, 2006) I have not seen it appear for sale on the market yet.

Also, my initial research showed the MSRP on that unit to be $995, with no mention of its successor, the BDR-102a, already in production.

Anyone hear anything on either of these units yet?