Slayterbox1748

OK, now that we’ve wiped the tears off our face and recovered from the NH primary, we’d like to get back to something more important than the election that is still several months away.

First…The Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD war that has been going on for 5+ years looks to be ending soon.

Guest blogger “The Color Of Moss” (that’s usually green, for those of you keeping score), explains this whole High-End Hullabaloo. In his very own words:

“I need to take 5 minutes here to set the record straight here. The Blu-ray vs. HD DVD battle has been going on, mostly, in the past 5 years. It’s origins lay in the desire to record & play back HD content. So Sony teamed up with Pioneer and experimented with blue lasers. Blue lasers have a shorter wavelength and can fit more data into smaller places (Rocket science, I know). Thus, Blu-ray DVD was born.

Toshiba wanted to do the HD thing too, but decided on their own blue laser research. Microsoft quickly jumped into the HD DVD ring as well, because they wanted the discs to use their “HDi” platform for interactive features. The Sony/Pioneer team preferred to use an open-source Java-based environment. To avoid a format war, the Blu-ray team tried to get Toshiba to use the open-source Java environment, but the big HD DVD partner (Microsoft) said “No.”

Enter: conflict! Ah, the essence of life!

Microsoft & Toshiba quickly enlisted the support of Intel, NEC, Sanyo, RCA, Kenwood, and Memory-tech for technology development. Additionally they went to Univeral studios, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Nickelodeon, MTV, Dreamworks, & The Winstein company for content. HD DVD was actually closer, in terms of technology, to regular DVD’s, making production less expensive. Format limitations, which effect the quality of the image, are 1080i, 15GB per layer.

In the meantime, the Sony/Pioneer-lead Blu-ray team started it’s own technology development posse, adding Panasonic, Phillips, Samsung, Sharp, Hitachi, and LG. Even Apple joined the party, with the Sony CEO coming on-stage with Steve Jobs during Macworld ‘06. Content came from Sony, MGM, Disney 20th Century Fox, New Line, and Lionsgate. Warner brothers later decided to do both formats. Blu-ray has a better picture quailty, at 1080p with 25GB per layer.

Initially HD DVD sales seemed to be doing pretty well, primarily because of the low price point for consumers ($199 and up). The first player was on the market 3 months before Blu-ray came out with its first set-top box ($499 and up). BUT! Sony’s secret weapon was the PS3, and with heavy discounting, (these $400 babies were the cheapest Blu-ray player around) the most powerful gaming system ever built enabled Blu-ray to build up a ~7 million unit base. Shortly thereafter, Microsoft countered with an HD DVD drive for the X-Box.

About 170million Blu-ray discs have been sold so far, but the some projections have as many as 1 BILLION discs being sold in 2008. Not a bad trajectory, beating HD DVD player sales by about 4:1. It also helps too that Blockbuster is exclusively Blu-ray, Target is only selling Blu-ray consoles, and the Home Theatre Specialists of America endorsed it.

We know that when the movie studios see the title sales, they think about MONEY...like the $24-billion home movie industry? Yeah, like that. The next step is that they start taking sides. Dreamworks decided to go Blu-ray in August, and just a few days ago, Warner brothers did the same. Universal & Paramount as the only studios that have full-up support for HD DVD, and I reckon it’s not for much longer. Rumors has it that they’re fixin’ to switch.

Straight Cash, Homey. Any Questions?”

So there you have it folks. Hope it didn’t hurt that badly. Special thanks to “The Color Of Moss” for putting that together for us.

Other Boxworthy Items:

Paperback Pat agrees, “This stuff is pretty wild! …but I’ve seen better.” (ADFREAK)

A quick synopsis on how the networks are positioned for the extended WGA Strike. While FOX loses a season of “24,” the Super Bowl and “American Idol” should keep them from going hungry. (Alley Insider)

Oh the silly French media! What, with their cigarettes, naps and missiles! (TechCrunch)

Gosh, Steve Ballmer is STILL not funny! Cool video from Bill Gates’ 2008 CES Keynote. We’re loving the Wooderson cameo…wait, that’s Matthew McConaughey? We thought Wooderson was a real person… (Random Culture)

Motionographer is slurpin’ Psyop again (…and they even admit it!), but with good reason. This Adidas spot is…well…just look. We just want someone to test that swimmer for Performance Enhancers, Peyton Manning told us that you can’t have a 6-pack if you’re over 23 and don’t play professional football! We’re off to buy some bigger shirts. Peace. (Motionographer)

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