Just what either side needs now. I hope studios do not support this format, they are having enough time choosing between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray right now. There bringing even cheaper players to the market then both HD-DVD. :mad:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136977-c,hometheatersystems/article.html

I posed a link to this the other day..its based on the HD DVD spec

turns out they have very little studio support.

I posed a link to this the other day..its based on the HD DVD spec

Link via Sirdvd.com (http://www.sirdvd.com/2007/09/china-develops-new-high-def-dvd-format.html)

Thanks for the other link, the one from PC world that I listed has more detail on what is going on... If this even gets a marginal % of the market it will be even more confusing for the masses. :eek:

As much as a third format will suck up the already confusing quagmire of technology, I gotta admit it's pretty cool that they've got HD DVDs capacity + higher bit rate all using existing red laser technology.

I have mixed feelings -

1) I'm happy to see that the players are significantly cheaper, so this may cause both the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray hardware manufacturers to lower their prices further still.

2) J6P considers price above all else, and the vast majority in that caste are simply not informed well enough to make an appropriate buying decision.

3) If these guys could do it with red-laser tech, why couldn't the blu-ray/hd-dvd guys do it that way, too? Admittedly, I'm not up on the red vs blue laser stuff.

4) There is a very real danger that this less expensive tech could negate all of the ground gained by either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray to date, especially if it provides all the bells and whistles (interactivity, PQ, AQ) that you get with either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.

5) What color will the dvd cases be? Purple? Green? Yellow? Clear? :)

WB announce triple-sided 'Total HD' disc ;-)

Samsung and LG increase price of 'all-format' HD players ;-)

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136977-c,hometheatersystems/article.html

Next month, New Medium Enterprises' 1080p set-top players, which use the HD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) format, will go on sale on Amazon.com and in stores such as Radio Shack and Costco for around $150--about half the cost of the least-expensive 1080p HD DVD player ............. The movies that work in them are similarly inexpensive.....

HD VMD discs, which hold up to 30GB on a single side, are encoded with a maximum bit rate of 40 megabits per second; that's within halfway between HD DVD's 36 mpbs and Blu-ray's 48 mbps......This high definition video format should do very well with that portion of the market that is driven primarily by price. With their players about half the cost of HD-DVD players and their disc just slightly more than the price of a DVD, it should do very well among price sensitive consumers who want to go high definition. It will quickly become THE low cost hi-def video solution.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136977-c,hometheatersystems/article.html

This high definition video format should do very well with that portion of the market that is driven primarily by price. With their players about half the cost of HD-DVD players and their disc just slightly more than the price of a DVD, it should do very well among price sensitive consumers who want to go high definition.

Not for long - price sensitive consumers will compare the cheapest HD DVD player (soon to be USD$150) with this new $150 player. If the prices are similar (and they are and will be) then for this type of consumer the next choice will be based on selection of avilable titles - HD DVD wins hands down there.

What this new format may do however is destroy Blu-ray - as the new format will put pressure on HD DVD player prices from the bottom, meaning that the gap between HD DVD player prices and Blu-ray player prices may widen (or at least will be wider than if VMD did not exist)!

So yes, Blu-ray will hurt far more than HD DVD over this.

C'mon, this is the last thing we need. I hope no one on AVS buys this thing, and I hope the studios don't add to the confusion by supporting it. If one thing will kill all of HDM, it's a format war with three different competitors.

If it anything it will be a format that come then gos. Like some of the attemps made by VHS. WVHS for example. Maybe as much as MUSE LD 100 or so movies. Nothing else.
I can't see any major studios go for this as they have already got a lot into the current next gen HDM

Not for long - price sensitive consumers will compare the cheapest HD DVD player (soon to be USD$150) with this new $150 player. If the prices are similar (and they are and will be) then for this type of consumer the next choice will be based on selection of avilable titles - HD DVD wins hands down there.

What this new format may do however is destroy Blu-ray - as the new format will put pressure on HD DVD player prices from the bottom, meaning that the gap between HD DVD player prices and Blu-ray player prices may widen (or at least will be wider than if VMD did not exist)!

So yes, Blu-ray will hurt far more than HD DVD over this.HD VMD discs will be priced slightly higher than the DVD price. Price conscious consumers will go HD VMD instead of HD DVD with its significantly higher video disc costs for the consumer. HD DVD will have to instead compete with its better picture quality...oops!!

....HD VMD players are extremely versatile and compelling from both a technological and performance perspective. HD VMDs have a maximum data transfer rate of 40 Mbps versus 36 Mbps for HD DVD........ which gives it the potential of sharper more detailed pictures.......

http://www.nmeinc.com/

This format will make House Party 1 seem like House Party 3!
Its just gonna suck!
No thanks. Ill with HD DVD!

i think that this is a seriously over sensationalized article.

the new hd dvd drives will be right along side of the price listed, with better studio support and a fanbase that's already buying movies.

there's been lots of third party guys that wanted in on tech wars, but i really don't think they have a whole lot of ground to stand on.

Old news with no support and no interest.

What!! Another post about HD VMD?

:D

MS should buy them.

Old news with no support and no interest.

Yup x 3.

They will most likely fall off faster than the New Orleans Saints. :/

I'd love to see this one take off and kill both HD DVD and BD. It would sure leave a lot of HD DVD and BD supporters without a job! I'll be bying one of these for sure.

Cheers,

Grant

I think the only format this will help is DVD. Those on the fence will stay there longer, waiting to see if HD VMD gains any real studio support before they buy one of these players. 150 beans is a good price, but what's the point of spending it if there are hardly any movies to watch on the thing?

Plus, any new format that jumps in this late in the game would have to be vastly superior to both Blu-ray and HD DVD in the tech department in order to have a chance. So far I haven't seen any indication of that based on what I'm reading. I didn't see any mention of special features/interactivity either.

If these are really for J6P and are really only going to be sold at 2 B&M's and one online retailer, J6P will never find them.

Of the 2 retailers, Costco is a members-only 'pay to shop there' type of store, with limited locations (granted the locations they do have are huge). The other is Radio Shack, which is a generally overpriced niche store where they used to ask for their customers addresses when they bought batteries.

Then there's online, J6P is afraid of giving out his credit card number online, cause he thinks after watching 20/20 and Dateline that all online retailers are scammers who want to steal his identity.

And on top of all that, brands are somewhat important, even to J6P. I would imagine he would rather buy a name like Venturer that he has seen at Wal-Mart for years, than fly by night NME, who is literally coming out of nowhere. He won't demand an Integra player, but he will probably say, "NME, what else do they make?" The answer to that question would be 'nothing'.

Without the backing of a major studio or CE company, there also most likely won't be a lot of money for marketing. If no one is telling J6P to buy this product when he watches football or the latest reality fad, will he know to buy it?

The ML622S and the ML775S players each have a single HDMI 1.3 connection and can play HD VMDs, DVDs, CDs, and MP3 CDs, as well as a few other formats. The ML622S costs about $150

seems like a heck of a good price at first but...
everyone has a receiver with HDMI inputs? how much are those going for these days? $150 may not seem like such a good price anymore...

HD VMD discs will be priced slightly higher than the DVD price. Price conscious consumers will go HD VMD instead of HD DVD with its significantly higher video disc costs for the consumer.
I'll believe it when I see it - currently we are buying HDM titles on sale between USD$11 and USD$15 shipped...

so only if VMD discs are on sale for well under USD$10 will you be correct.

We shall wait and see :-)

MS should buy them.Possibly Microsoft will be making some money off of the format's patent pool. I wouldn't be surprised to see MS either come out and support the format or be neutral.:):)

Hmm. In that Warner title update website, there was a listing for a "new format test". I wonder if this is it? :confused:

Not for long - price sensitive consumers will compare the cheapest HD DVD player (soon to be USD$150) with this new $150 player. If the prices are similar (and they are and will be) then for this type of consumer the next choice will be based on selection of avilable titles - HD DVD wins hands down there.

What this new format may do however is destroy Blu-ray - as the new format will put pressure on HD DVD player prices from the bottom, meaning that the gap between HD DVD player prices and Blu-ray player prices may widen (or at least will be wider than if VMD did not exist)!

So yes, Blu-ray will hurt far more than HD DVD over this.


The cheapest 1080P HD-DVD is the A20 and that is still $325+....unless they plan on dropping that to $200 or less, then I think this will grab alot of attention. If that is good or bad I have no idea.

The cheapest 1080P HD-DVD is the A20 and that is still $325+....unless they plan on dropping that to $200 or less, then I think this will grab alot of attention. If that is good or bad I have no idea.

the venturer hd dvd players are rumored to have a street price of about $150. not to mention talk of possibly $99 hd dvd players, more likely as a black friday sale.

hd vmd is not nearly as big of a dent as this article and the original poster have made the case as being. there's little no studio support or interest and soon the price difference will be moot. hd dvd, once it matches the pricepoint by the end of the year will have an established advantage over this wannabe format. and the whole article will be moot.

hd vmd is not nearly as big of a dent as this article and the original poster have made the case as being. there's little no studio support or interest and soon the price difference will be moot. hd dvd, once it matches the pricepoint by the end of the year will have an established advantage over this wannabe format. and the whole article will be moot.

I certainly hope you're right. I believe the introduction of another format at this point will only prolong the dopey "war" and increase the likelihood that all HD formats will fail. A new format would have to completely wipe the floor with existing technologies in order to end this thing...cheap prices alone aren't gonna do it.

The cheapest 1080P HD-DVD is the A20 and that is still $325+....unless they plan on dropping that to $200 or less, then I think this will grab alot of attention. If that is good or bad I have no idea.

As I mentioned 'price sensitive consumers will compare the cheapest HD DVD player (soon to be USD$150) with this new $150 player' - i.e. consumers that only care about price will not even know what 1080p means, let alone want it over 1080i!

There seems to be some wild idea made by the backers of this new format that your average price-sensitive J6P consumer knows as much as us about technology! That is a HUGE mistake to make!

Just what either side needs now. I hope studios do not support this format, they are having enough time choosing between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray right now. There bringing even cheaper players to the market then both HD-DVD. :mad:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136977-c,hometheatersystems/article.html

Cheaper to produce than HD-DVD and cheaper players as well, i guess not a single HD-DVD supporter can live without VMD and foresee HD-DVD as good as dead.

Cheaper to produce than HD-DVD and cheaper players as well, i guess not a single HD-DVD supporter can live without VMD and foresee HD-DVD as good as dead.Where did anyone say cheaper to produce?!

Or are you making this up :-P

Don't sweat it. There is not a single studio that will release a single movie on this format. Of course they say they are cheaper. They have ZERO CONTENT. YAWN. Move on.

If it so much cheaper and uses red laser, then why don't they aim for a consumer computer DVD burners? That's where the need is. Wouldn't you love to be able to burn 30 gigs on a disc (and not have it cost an arm and a leg)?
Right now both Toshiba and Sony are finding it cost prohibitive to get into that market (for the most part), but a lower cost alternative that uses cheap media would be great. Then down the road, Tosh and Sony can incorporate the HD VMD spec into their hardware.

5) What color will the dvd cases be? Purple? Green? Yellow? Clear? :)

How about paper sleeves? Like the ones you find the $2.99 never-heard-of- titles in at truck stops.

The HDVMD discs won't have lossless audio. How are they going to compete when they are missing such an obvious feature?

this is aimed at the lowest common denominator consumer...the same folks that are happy with "near HD" up converting DVD players.

We'll see if things change, but up to this point I really feel that there is a whole lot of smoke and mirrors going on with VMD. NME has been stating the imminent launch of this format for two years now and it has yet to hit the market. I'll have to dig up the link, but several months ago there was a posting in a Polish HD forum where they actually got their hands on an early VMD player; it turned out that it was just a re-badged EVD player, and only supported MPEG-2 encoding on standard dual-layer DVDs. The video was horrendously blocky, and they were even able to access the discs using a regular DVD drive. This just smells really fishy to me.

Maybe this will be the new format of choice for those hardcore BD fans after their beloved Blu-ray goes tits up!? God forbid they think of HD DVD. :)

I have mixed feelings -

1) I'm happy to see that the players are significantly cheaper, so this may cause both the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray hardware manufacturers to lower their prices further still.

2) J6P considers price above all else, and the vast majority in that caste are simply not informed well enough to make an appropriate buying decision.

3) If these guys could do it with red-laser tech, why couldn't the blu-ray/hd-dvd guys do it that way, too? Admittedly, I'm not up on the red vs blue laser stuff.

4) There is a very real danger that this less expensive tech could negate all of the ground gained by either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray to date, especially if it provides all the bells and whistles (interactivity, PQ, AQ) that you get with either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.

5) What color will the dvd cases be? Purple? Green? Yellow? Clear? :)

Since these high definition videos are produced using red-laser technology, they'll likely be in translucent plastic red cases embossed with the HD VMD logo. The red cases will distinguish them from the blu-laser high definition videos in their blue cases. We should know for sure next month when they arrive at the retail outlets.

Since these high definition videos are produced using red-laser technology, they'll likely be in translucent plastic red cases embossed with the HD VMD logo. The red cases will distinguish them from the blu-laser high definition videos in their blue cases. We should know for sure next month when they arrive at the retail outlets.

You mean something like this:
http://www.dvd-and-media.com/HD-DVD/hd-dvd-case.jpg

It would be great if that was the case...image all the extra HD DVD sales...wonder if returns go into the Nielsen numbers? :p

"though it will not offer the high-bit-rate Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio surround-sound codecs."

"Ooh, ooh, please sir, may I order one."

"Clack" is the sound of the B*%ch slap.

I get fatigued when I read something so pathetic. Why do they even bother??? No superior sound format and their board of directors give the go ahead? What is the point, yawn...

Now that I think further about it. If the cases look just like HD DVD cases a lot of people will buy the wrong format, open the disc and then be unable to return it. Meaning...logically ;)....they will go buy a HD DVD player.

You mean something like this:
http://www.dvd-and-media.com/HD-DVD/hd-dvd-case.jpg

It would be great if that was the case...image all the extra HD DVD sales...wonder if returns go into the Nielsen numbers? :pPossibly exactly like that with a changed logo of course. So the cool Blu-ray "blue" side will be competing against two (incompatible) red competitors (with HD VMD being by far the more inexpensive of the "reds" both for players and for discs)..

Anybody of the opinion that "the format war is great because of the competition" can do nothing but support this third format (and any other formats) without being a hypocrite.

At any rate, these physical media formats better hurry if they ever want to succeed. That digital download clock keeps ticking...

BAWWWWWWWWWWWWW.. They should've came out when HD-DVD and BluRay did..

With no studio support there's no reason for either one to really lower prices.. And had they had the same amount of studio support I'd been all over this format. CHeaper discs and players and can hold the same as HD-DVD.. God they blew a huge chance to gobble up market share and my money..


The HDVMD discs won't have lossless audio. How are they going to compete when they are missing such an obvious feature?

Speak for yourself.. DD 5.1 @ 640 is good enough for me with my low budget surround system.. That's why there's BluRay and it's superior audio :)