PS3 to offer Dual disc, CD, SACD, and BlueRay playback

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Well, it looks like PS3 is going to be able to play everything but the kitchen sink(and DVD-A). I have a feeling they are going to incorporate the SACD format in the BlueRay standards.

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/ne...umber=13003507

[kexodusc]

Hmmm, given the overwhelming success SACD has been, I wonder if this will matter? If nothing else, it's encouraging to see that they're not completely ready to write off high-rez multi-channel audio. That, IMO, is a GOOD thing.

What's that new fangled X-Box gizmo supporting?

[Geoffcin]

Hmmm, given the overwhelming success SACD has been, I wonder if this will matter? If nothing else, it's encouraging to see that they're not completely ready to write off high-rez multi-channel audio. That, IMO, is a GOOD thing.

What's that new fangled X-Box gizmo supporting?

I wonder if gamers, (and I am one of them) are really going to care about all of this. I have all three platforms here; PS2, Xbox, and GameCube, and I've yet to play a single CD in any of them.

[paul_pci]

I only skimmed the article, but I'm assuming that players/listeners won't need 6 analog cable for the PS3 to playback SACD?

[Geoffcin]

I only skimmed the article, but I'm assuming that players/listeners won't need 6 analog cable for the PS3 to playback SACD?

Never underestimate SONY's ability to shoot themselves in the foot. (a'la BETAMAX)
I would assume that the only way to get any of the advanced features would be with an HDMI link. I can't wait to see the gamers howling their protests at SONY when they have to buy all new TV's and Receivers just to use this product at full spec.

[Woochifer]

Very interesting to see this because in last month's issue of The Absolute Sound, they had a roundtable discussion about the future of high res audio. A question about SACD's future viability was directly posed to Sony's SACD group director, given that Sony has basically stopped issuing new SACD titles. He answered that Sony/BMG decided to focus for the time being on the DualDisc launch, but that the company has not abandoned SACD altogether.

I think that the PS3 is a very powerful force in Blu-ray's favor, and its launch right around the time of Blu-ray's introduction means that the Blu-ray player prices cannot stay high for too long. I don't think that Sony can price the PS3 above $500 (and even that price point is probably too high for console gamers), so if HD-DVD will have an introductory player price around $800, that will obviously not last long. When the PS2 came out, it sold for $300 while the prevailing price for DVD players was over $200. A lot of people wound up using the PS2 as their primary DVD player. Might be bad timing on Sony's part to have the PS3 introduction so early in the Blu-ray product cycle, because I thought that one of the goals on the part of hardware manufacturers was to sustain high margins on the new players longer than with the DVD format. But, with the PS3 pushing millions of Blu-ray players into people's homes, the format will have a built-in base of buyers, regardless of whether they care about Blu-ray's HD resolution.

No idea what this will mean for SACD, unless they're actually talking about using DSD audio as the underlying sound format for PS3 games! Imagine watching porn ... errrr ... carjacking ... errr ... shooting cops ... errr ... mugging pedestrians ... errr ... going for a pleasant virtual car ride in Grand Theft Auto with the soundtrack buzzing by in 5.1 DSD! (One of the cool features of that game is the radio dial, where you can choose any number of different music playlists that go in the background while raising havoc on the game grid -- would be crazy if a video game is the only way to hear a lot of these songs in high res surround!)

I only skimmed the article, but I'm assuming that players/listeners won't need 6 analog cable for the PS3 to playback SACD?

I have a feeling that it will still require the six-pack of analog cabling. The A/V connector on the PS2 is a single port that branches out into different connectors, depending on the type of cable used. (the pic below is the PS2 component video cable) I've seen other products that create a junction box where you can plug standard analog interconnects for video and audio output. I have a feeling that the PS3 will use a similar setup.

What's that new fangled X-Box gizmo supporting?

Rumor has it that Microsoft is in talks with the DVD Forum about supporting the HD-DVD format on the Xbox. Since the upcoming Xbox 360 is due in stores by Christmas, the HD-DVD drives will supposedly be a midcycle upgrade for the Xbox 360. No mention about DVD-A support. Here's the Xbox 360 spec sheet.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox360/factsheet.htm

[kexodusc]

Oh great, so now I gotta buy a new Xbox and Play Station. The wife-to-be's gonna love that.
Hmmm, I didn't realize Microsoft was considering HD-DVD.
This could get ugly really fast.
If Sony gets SACD/DSD integrated into BluRay, they'll have two feet in the water so to speak. More to fight for.
Does the next generation Operating System from MS have any allegiances yet? What's the PC world leaning towards?

I give Sony credit, they stick with their ideas to very bitter end (MiniDisc). We could be several years away from a clear emerging format. That's not good for anyone.

[Woochifer]

Oh great, so now I gotta buy a new Xbox and Play Station. The wife-to-be's gonna love that.
Hmmm, I didn't realize Microsoft was considering HD-DVD.
This could get ugly really fast.

Don't you hate that?

I read that the first batch of Xbox 360 consoles will not have HD-DVD, but the discussions are about incorporating the HD-DVD drives into the Xbox 360 after it's been on the market for a while. I think the PS3 is really the console to watch because it will support Blu-ray out of the gate and the games will be written onto Blu-ray discs. Xbox 360 will still be tethered to the standard DVD format, but it could get ugly at their end if after the HD-DVD drives start appearing in Xbox consoles, game publishers start to write their games onto the high capacity HD-DVD discs, and force owners of the first generation consoles to replace the drives.

If Sony gets SACD/DSD integrated into BluRay, they'll have two feet in the water so to speak. More to fight for.
Does the next generation Operating System from MS have any allegiances yet? What's the PC world leaning towards?

That's a very good question. Microsoft is actually pushing their proprietary Windows Media (WMA) format as an HD alternative (some DVDs already include HD WMA versions as bonus features, most prominently Terminator 2: Extreme Edition and some IMAX DVDs) and I believe that HD-DVD in some capacity incorporates Windows Media codecs into the format. So, Microsoft has an alterior motive in supporting HD-DVD, since that format is their trojan horse for getting Windows Media into everybody's living room.

The rest of the PC world has gone in the opposite direction and solidly lined up behind Blu-ray. Dell, Apple, and HP are among the PC heavyweights that have supported Blu-ray. Their reasoning is pretty simple -- Blu-ray media has higher capacity. No idea how Microsoft will deal with the format war in their upcoming Windows Vista operating system, but their monopolistic practices indicate that they will play favorites with anyone who supports their Windows Media format agenda. Right now, only HD-DVD supports that endeavor, so it's a pretty easy guess to see which format they would favor. The article below summarizes the status of the format war.

New HD-DVD info: not good news if you use component vid for HDTV

I give Sony credit, they stick with their ideas to very bitter end (MiniDisc). We could be several years away from a clear emerging format. That's not good for anyone.

Sony didn't stop making Betamax VCRs until 2001 (?), and even then, their ED Beta format was still superior to S-VHS. The Minidisc actually had a pretty good niche going for a while. It's small and durable, and the diminutive portable Minidisc players came out when portable CD players were still relatively heavy and could not handle a lot of bumping. The Minidisc came out at the same time as Philips' digital cassette (DCC) format, and it did not take long for Philips to abandon the DCC. For some people, portable CD players are still too bulky, and Minidiscs has filled a market niche for more compact music players. I think with high capacity flash MP3 players, the Minidisc's days are finally numbered. Of course, Sony will probably continue to make Minidisc hardware for many years beyond this.