Tag archive: HD-DVD

It's been over a year since Warner Bros. effectively rammed a stake through the heart of Toshiba's HD-DVD format by switching to the Blu-ray camp…but that doesn't mean that the HD-DVD discs Warner Bros. produced suddenly went away. As home theater fans who embraced HD-DVD face the prospect of retiring their HD-DVD hardware, they also must consider whether to re-purchase their HD-DVD titles on Blu-ray media. To ease… Read More

With the CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association) EXPO Show finished for another year, one can’t help but sit back and wonder what the event was all about. (Personally,I'm still wondering.) Unlike previous installments, many products were debuted prior to the show. And while there were certainly new products introduced this year, they were trotted out in muchsmaller numbers than in recent memory. It’s a surprise,… Read More

In addition to Blockbuster placing its substantial weight behind Blu-Ray in the ongoing high-def format wars, the nation’s second-largest retailer will now assume the same position. Target announced on Thursday that its stores will only stock Blu-Ray players in the future, preferring not to pick up any stand-alone HD-DVD players. Target would not cite the reason for its shift in policy, but its shelves are already devoid of HD-DVD… Read More

If the cost of new movies coming out in HD-DVD format were just too expensive for your tastes, then be prepared to rejoice. Universal Studios Home Entertainment today announced that they would belowering the price of HD-DVD titles from $34.95 to $29.95 in time. Though it's no excuse to rush out and buy the first wave of HD-DVD players, it's certainly a relief on your wallet. The price dropwon't be taking effect until later in… Read More

Although it's a surprise to no one at this point, Microsoft has publicly confirmed it's preparing an external USB 2.0-based HD-DVD drive for its Xbox 360 gaming console. It's also no surprise Microsoft is taking the opportunity to promote the virtues of HD-DVD over Sony's competing Blu-ray format, saying that HD-DVD is a better standard and offers a greater value to consumers. According to Microsoft, the external… Read More

Toshiba today began the official roll out of its long awaited HD-DVD format via the introduction of new players as well as HD-DVD titles from several studios. This launch effectively kicks off the next generation optical disc wars between the Toshiba/HD-DVD and Sony/Blu-ray Disc camps. As reported in these stories on News.com and PC Magazine, sales of Toshiba's HD-DVD players have been rather brisk. While it is too early to say how… Read More

Though HD-DVD is almost here, it's still not 100% finalized and has yet to drop onto US shores. Apparently that still isn't enough to stop some retailers from listing HD-DVD players on their sites.Amazon has listed the Toshiba HDA1 and HDXA1 HD-DVD players and pitches them as "not yet available". Toshiba was the first to announce HD-DVD players at CES 2006. Their HDA1 is the cheaper of the twoand packs 720p/1080i, HDMI output,… Read More

Already into 2006, we need not wait much longer until our new high-definition formats like Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are delivered to us. However we may have to wait longer as there's currently a problemconcerning the final method of copy protection for these new formats. The final specification of the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) has been delayed for now. So what does this mean? It meanswe wait. There is nothing that can really be done… Read More

The working group WG-11, under the Technical Coordination Group (TCG) of the DVD Forum recently visited leading manufacturers of DVD drives and discs in Taiwan, with the goal of winning their support for HD-DVD, a next-generation DVD format promoted by Toshiba and NEC, according to the Taiwanese makers. There are currently two next-generation DVD formats vying to set the industry standard – HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc, which is supported by… Read More

The rewritable HD-DVD (High Definition and High Density-DVD) format was approved as the DVD Forum kicked off its general meeting in Tokyo this week, according to an official at one of the group's founding members. It specifies a 12-centimeter optical disc that can store up to 20G bytes of data on a single-sided disc compared to 4.7G bytes on existing DVDs. The format has been largely developed by Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. and a… Read More

HD-DVD backers at the press event, who also included disc replicators Cinram and Memory-Tech, said the advantages of their format compared to the rival Blu-ray Disc include the use of two bonded discs with a data layer 0.6mm below the surface. This will allow for more cost-effective read/write optics and will enable current manufacturing equipment to be used for HD-DVD. The HD-DVD discs also will not require caddies to protect the… Read More