Toshiba Expands HD DVD Capacity to 45GB

[Geoffcin]

Backer of HD DVD technology announces boost that closes the significant capacity gap between rival next-generation optical discs.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120802,00.asp

[kexodusc]

That's kind of neat...not sure how important that's gonna be considering there was already a rediculous amount of space on HD-DVD...I remember reading that the cost to add an extra disc in the package was less than $0.60, if it ever came to that.

I'm sure BluRay will look at doing the same to re-establish their competitive edge.

The real news I see is that they plan on releasing HD-DVD as a dual-disc type format with a standard DVD layer inlcuded...FINALLY it looks like these guys are learning from the industry's past mistakes.
Now, if only they could start making quality players that handle SACD, DVD-A, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD under the $400 mark, they might have something...

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Blue Ray has nothing to worry about, and Toshiba doesn't really have all that much leverage. BlueRay already has the capacity to double BlueRay capacity to 100GB, and is working on a 200GB disc. All of this capacity comes from just adding more layers, which Blue Ray can add at least four layers, and more in the future. HD DVD cannot touch these numbers so in theory HD DVD has gained nothing from this advance. Currently blue ray has a total capacity of 54GB, which is still about a 9GB more than HD DVD.

All of the home electronic and computer manufacturers are well aware that Blue Ray will always have a capacity advantage over HD DVD, that is why you see a huge list of them support the format

http://www.blu-ray.com/faq/

[Geoffcin]

A few hundred movies on an optical disc? That's the goal of the Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) Alliance.

http://news.com.com/Group+aims+to+dr...3-5562599.html

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

A few hundred movies on an optical disc? That's the goal of the Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) Alliance.

http://news.com.com/Group+aims+to+dr...3-5562599.html

Unfortunely Geoff, they are an outsider in a industry that loves insiders. They are going to have to get one of the big boys to liscense this product for them, or it will never see the light of say in Hollywood, or in your nearest recording studio. MLP wouldn't have ever been adopted for DVD-A had it not been for Dolby agreeing to liscense the product on behalf of Meridian. Outsiders that have no track record, or any alliances to any influential industry insiders, has a hailstone in hell chance of ever having their technology see the light of day. They need the industry that produces that software to drive the hardware. That is the way the wheel turns.

[Smokey]

BlueRay already has the capacity to double BlueRay capacity to 100GB, and is working on a 200GB disc.

Hey TT

I agree that Blueray with its higher storage capability have advantage over HD-DVD format. But I wonder how this will play out in the current format war since DVD-HD is cheaper to produce (which probably mean lower price) than Blueray

[Geoffcin]

Unfortunely Geoff, they are an outsider in a industry that loves insiders. They are going to have to get one of the big boys to liscense this product for them, or it will never see the light of say in Hollywood, or in your nearest recording studio. MLP wouldn't have ever been adopted for DVD-A had it not been for Dolby agreeing to liscense the product on behalf of Meridian. Outsiders that have no track record, or any alliances to any influential industry insiders, has a hailstone in hell chance of ever having their technology see the light of day. They need the industry that produces that software to drive the hardware. That is the way the wheel turns.

This new holographic storage format will hit home computers by next year whether they like it or not. Technological advancement is the main driving force in storage, nobody can stop that.

I expect that if the price is right for these disks, and I didn't hear one yet, that people will drop smaller capacity DVD's like the old 360k floppies. It's a shame for the big guys but DVD-HD, and BlueRay might be stillborn even after all the fighting.

[Geoffcin]

Only shortly down the road is another quantum leap;

http://www.physorg.com/news785.html

[kexodusc]

Technology is fine and dandy sure sounds impressive...but I got drawn into that trap when I bought my last computer. There's a realistic point where most consumers won't need any more power for at least a period of time long enough for one format to exist at the mass market level for a decent time period.

How much disk space do we need for a 3 hour movie and 12 hours of extras? I'm kind of rooting for Blu-Ray for all the advantages it has for better a/v capacity, but realistically, if Toshiba claims it can add a second and third disc to a package for cheaper than BluRay can make 1 disc, and none of the video or audio data on these disc will consume all the space on an HD-DVD let alone BluRay disc than what's the point? Shouldn't we be spending more time and energy into making these formats affordable, reliable and accessible?
As someone who watches a only few of the extra features on only the finest of movies, and considers them mostly to be a huge waste of energy 98% of the time anyway, why are we worried about storage? How many gawdamm director's cousin's girlfriend's commentaries and producer's nephew's pencil-scetch scene layouts do we really need on these discs? ZZZZZZZZZZ... I suspect the industry is really missing the boat here, if 90-95% of the value on these discs is in the film itself, why are bothering with all the rediculous extras and adding all the extra cost? Forget capacity...concentrate on 1080p and DVD-A MLP surround sound or the new DTS lossless formats or something...

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

This new holographic storage format will hit home computers by next year whether they like it or not. Technological advancement is the main driving force in storage, nobody can stop that.

I expect that if the price is right for these disks, and I didn't hear one yet, that people will drop smaller capacity DVD's like the old 360k floppies. It's a shame for the big guys but DVD-HD, and BlueRay might be stillborn even after all the fighting.

I just do not think you are correct in this case. You have just about every computer manufacturer pledging to install blue ray enabled disc drives in their computers starting next year. Do you honestly think they would turn around and abandon the technology they initially supported, and adopt a technology from a company that is not well known? I don't think so. Just how much storage space does the average consumer need?

[lbhkilla]

This new holographic storage format will hit home computers by next year whether they like it or not. Technological advancement is the main driving force in storage, nobody can stop that.

I expect that if the price is right for these disks, and I didn't hear one yet, that people will drop smaller capacity DVD's like the old 360k floppies. It's a shame for the big guys but DVD-HD, and BlueRay might be stillborn even after all the fighting.

I'm sure the computer industry will drop BlueRay just like they dropped CD's in favor of DVD's How many games/programs have you purchased on a DVD since DVD drives came to computers like 6-8 years ago? I've got 1.

[Geoffcin]

I just do not think you are correct in this case. You have just about every computer manufacturer pledging to install blue ray enabled disc drives in their computers starting next year. Do you honestly think they would turn around and abandon the technology they initially supported, and adopt a technology from a company that is not well known? I don't think so. Just how much storage space does the average consumer need?

History has shown that the larger storage format always wins. Soon it will be commonplace to have terabyte storage at your fingertips. Whole libraries of movies will be stored in the space only a few were just a couple of years ago. Entire seasons of shows could be put on one disk. Whole anthologies of genres could be accessed at a click. The future looks a lot brighter than BlueRay!

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I'm sure the computer industry will drop BlueRay just like they dropped CD's in favor of DVD's How many games/programs have you purchased on a DVD since DVD drives came to computers like 6-8 years ago? I've got 1.

I have over 800 movies that can be played on the DVD drive on my computer. One of the main reasons they put DVD drives in computers is so business travelers can have entertainment why the fly, or ride the trains back and forth to work.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

History has shown that the larger storage format always wins. Soon it will be commonplace to have terabyte storage at your fingertips. Whole libraries of movies will be stored in the space only a few were just a couple of years ago. Entire seasons of shows could be put on one disk. Whole anthologies of genres could be accessed at a click. The future looks a lot brighter than BlueRay!

I am a afraid that that is a long way off. We haven't even passed the one movie per disc threshold yet. Blue Ray may be a interim format, but it will have a very long life before what you predict comes to pass. The music and movie industry desire for copy protection might slow alot of technology down quite a bit.

[Geoffcin]

I'm sure the computer industry will drop BlueRay just like they dropped CD's in favor of DVD's How many games/programs have you purchased on a DVD since DVD drives came to computers like 6-8 years ago? I've got 1.

And just about every new computer that isn't a bare box has a DVD burner in it.

Software is always slower to come online, developers have to work with what they have, and tech just outpaces them. Look for cinematic quality games in 3-5 years, and they will absolutly NEED the storage space of the newer formats to realize this.

When I bought my first digital camera about 8 years ago I was amazed at it's 8MB card, and I never thought that I would need more. Now I've got a camera that would fill that card with 2 shots!

[Geoffcin]

I am a afraid that that is a long way off. We haven't even passed the one movie per disc threshold yet. Blue Ray may be a interim format, but it will have a very long life before what you predict comes to pass. The music and movie industry desire for copy protection might slow alot of technology down quite a bit.

The squabbling about the formats is going to allow the newer techs to leapfrog them. Copy protection is another problem that they will never solve entirely. As soon as a working holographic disk burner hits the market people are to rip their DVD's to it. It's just a matter of when.