Posted on 09/16/2008 3:09:27 PM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
Blu-Ray’s conquered the HD format war, but its design and technical limitations mean the current format is as good as it’ll get. Sony says it’ll be the last optical format, after which, we’ll move way from shiny discs altogether.
See, it’s all down to the limitations of lasers and the discs themselves.
Speaking at IFA, Taka Miyama, Sony’s product strategy manager for home video marketing in Europe told us: “Blu-Ray is the final format for the optical disc. We don’t have a shorter laser. In the future, if we have a physical media format, it will change physically. It won’t look like an optical disc.”
That suggests we’ll move to a Flash-based medium, or maybe holographic storage, but Miyama’s not giving anything away.
“I don’t know what sort of technology we will have in the future,” he said, “but while using lasers and optical discs, this is the final format.”
However, Sony’s chief technical advisor for home audio and video, Eric Kingdon, explained that the Blu-Ray format is still a long way from reaching its full potential.
“I’ve seen prototypes for 400GB discs,” he said. “That’s approaching half a terabyte. If you went to 4K (twice the resolution of full HD), Blu-Ray is still big enough for a full movie. If it’s enough, then there’s no need to do any more development.”
So Blu-Ray won’t, or rather can’t, see an upgrade any time soon, and the next generation of home video might still use the Sony format.
What do you think? Can you imagine buying a movie on a flash drive, or will we have switched to high-speed downloads by the time Blu-Ray is out-dated?
Wifey and I have drawn our line in the sand. DVD is as far as we'll go for our "underneath the TV" format. If DVD goes the way of the 8-Track, so be it; we'll do without.
I live a mile and a half from sony’s Terre Haute plant — its largest Blu-Ray plant in the world — and know several of the engineers who helped develop Blu-Ray. I really doubt that this is the end of the development process. I attended a presentation from the plant manager in March, who outlined several improvements scheduled to appear in the near future.
I currently have an RCA upconvert DVD player. Blu-Ray still beckons me, however.
Is there a decent player for under $300 on the market, and is it worth my while to invest in one or just stay with the upconvert?
Amen to that. Got 1990' technology in the entertainment center at the moment (SDTV / DVD). I will admit that it's about time to buy some more though. I mean hell ... 10 years? That's longer lasting than most cars.
When will it stop? BD is cool....*really* cool...with me.I have no need or desire for anything more...PQ-wise,sound quality-wise or content (special features) wise.
Now, if you were planning on upgrade to an HDTV, then yes, blu-ray VS. DVD makes a HUGE difference. But again, only if you upgrade.
PS3 and plays games too!
It seems to me a simple 8GB memory stick can be made real cheap if they started using them for video distribution.
VHS here, and no cable either. Alas, no rabbit ears either. I have a wire connection to the building antenna. 8 channels, who needs more?
Not exactly on topic, but does anyone know of a listing of available QAM tuner HDTVs? It doesn’t seem to be something they use in their descriptions.
I typically watch about eight channels but I suspect they aren’t the same ones.
I watch a cave painting every night and scrape a bit of bone on a rock for audio.
And by morning it's turned into one of your clown paintings....
Yeah sure.
I remember them saying this about 8 Track tape!
“Is there a decent player for under $300 on the market, and is it worth my while to invest in one or just stay with the upconvert?”
Get a PS3. While it is more than $300, you can probably get a used one at a game store for $350. A remote (used) will be an additional $20. You also get the ability to stream media from your PC to the PS3 (Xbox360 also has this, but does not have BluRay).
PS3 comes with an HDMI connection, so there is no need for upgrades in the I/O department. Also, Sony has done a good job doing firmware updates so that your player stays compatible with the latest and greatest specs. It also has built in wireless ethernet as well as a wired ethernet port.
I hate to sound like such a PS3 fanboy, but I bought one of these more for the media center aspect and not so much the games. Now I am re-addicted to gaming (last new console I bought was Nintendo 64).
One thing to keep in mind though....BluRay really won’t improve older movies (in my eyes anyway). However, I noticed a considerable difference watching a newer movie like Casino Royale on BluRay vs. DVD (then again, Sony might have made a worse transfer just to sell BluRay to idiots like myself :-) ). Dolby 7.1 audio will blow you away, so budget for that as well :-)!!!!
As far as PS3 games go, just buy Warhawk....you don’t need anything else :-P :-)!!!! It’s the best online war game I have ever played...it’s more an arcade game than “strategery” based (although it can be strategy based if you want)...excellent if your entire day involves thinking and you need something to simply unwind :-)!
One more thing....PS3 will upconvert your DVDs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.