[Kosty]

Great interview to summarize Amirm's point of view.


(Good link in it to the Blu-ray point of view as well)

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/featu...interview.html


Driving the HD DVD Juggernaut: Microsoft's Amir Majidimehr

Quote:
Joining us from Microsoft's Consumer Media Technology Group was Amir Majidimehr, corporate vice president of the Mobile and Embedded Devices Division and the HD DVD format's unofficial cheerleader. Upbeat, unflappable, and yet practical about the real-world challenges facing the format, Majidimehr chatted openly with us about all of the hot-button topics currently flaming the fires of the format war, including HD DVD video and audio quality, early sales success for the Xbox 360 add-on, HDi interactivity, disc storage and online connectivity. We also discussed the impact the less-than-stellar early reaction to Blu-ray may have had on HD DVD's early success, and controversial claims made against Microsoft regarding its heavy campaigning for VC-1 encoders and codecs.


Regardless of how the high-def format war eventually plays out, no one will ever be able to claim HD DVD or Microsoft didn't fight the good fight. At least if Majidimehr has anything to say about it...

 

[Bar81]

yawn...

 

[dvdmonster]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Bar81 /forum/post/0


yawn...

Excellent post!

 

[Bar81]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dvdmonster /forum/post/0


Excellent post!

But yours was so much better

 

[xboxboi]

a funny interview ..

 

[teacafe]

It is great!!!! I love HD DVD forever!!!

 

[ChrisMcCarthy]

As marketing goes, not very impressive.

Just another example of the weak marketing of HD.

I especially loved the little add at the bottom of the page. (BD)


Chris.

 

[Grubert]

There is some history rewriting over there.


In 2005, amir gave the following reasons for MS to go HD DVD :

1. It only requires slight modification of existing DVD manufacturing lines

2. Combo disks

3. Mandatory managed copy

4. Interactivity


Now in 2007, he says it is:

1. Interactivity

2. Content security

http://www.cinenow.com/uk/play-video-184.html

 

[plazman]

The most fascinating part is that while HD DVD has proven it self admirably as a technology that consistently delivers better all round value than BD, it is severely handicapped not by the intransigience of BD exclusive studios, but the lack of enthusiasm from their own studios. Nothing MSFT or Amir can do about that.


I definitely see HD DVD go from the drivers seat to backs against the wall. At this rate we will never see THD disks from Warner. By Sept. they may as well stop producing HD DVD....


I do hope there is actual action going on in the back rooms to wake HD DVD from their stupor!

 

[Lawguy]

His comparison of the HD movie situation to cell phones of different standards and bold declaration that "there is no war" is either naive or just plain propaganda. I don't think it is naive because he is much smarter than that. Therefore, it must be propaganda. Thus, he is is trying to deceive us. I don't like being fed such nonsense.


While the bluray camp ridiculously proclaimed victory in the format war, at least they acknowlege that one is (or at least had been) ongoing.


Still, the following can be gleaned: the bluray camp seeks complete victory, the HD-DVD camp seeks coexistence.


Success can be measured in obvious ways. HD-DVD will likely not survive if additional studios do not come on board. I think the HD-DVD argument to the studios is "we are here and not going away. You may as well make some money off of us." This is dependant on the number of players that are sold. The bluray argument is "This is where the content is. Content is the key to success. We are also selling a lot of PS3s. Don't jump ship."


Therefore the key to HD-dvd survival is getting players into peoples homes and making those players as affordable as possible. In my mind, having a large installed base is the only way to make studios jump ship.

 

[plazman]

Actually coexistence is a very viable strategy for HD DVD. When the economics overwhelmingly favor HD DVD as they do now, BD cannot sustain coexistence.


Therefore, it makes sense that out right victory is the only option for BD and it must be quick. BD is a highly subsidized format and at some point the costs will be too high for the BDA to bear.


Hence my frustration with the HD DVD group, since they have all the tools to prolong this battle and win...


We just need to see some action soon.

 

[xradman]



Quote:
Originally Posted by The Surfer Dude /forum/post/0


Wow. Microsoft's own employee spreading such blatant misinformation to the public... Should I be surprised?


He is trying to suggest that Blu Ray needs uncompressed audio and can't use TrueHD like HD DVD can, and that HD DVD's TrueHD support is mandatory.


First of all, while TrueHD isn't mandatory on Blu Ray, it isn't mandatory on HD DVD, either. Not all HD DVD titles do not have TrueHD tracks and Not all HD DVD players support True HD, as well. A good hefty number of HD DVD players are the XBOX 360 HD DVD add ons, which downcovert everything to lossy DD.


Second, studios don't "have" to use uncompressed audio. BD supports TrueHD and DTS-MA, so nothing is stopping a studio from releasing a movie with either one of those tracks should they so desire.


Third, More Blu Ray players out there support TrueHD than all total HD DVD players do, thanks to the Playstation 3.


Fourth, even if no Blu Ray player supported TrueHD - It's no excuse. Every Fox title includes a DTS-MA track, despite the fact that not a single BD player can decode that yet, and over a million can decode TrueHD.


Fifth, Amir is just plain wrong and is spreading completely false information in attempts to make HD DVD look better than it really is.

I think you are mistaking supporting vs. mandatorily requiring TrueHD.

Let's say that BD and HD DVD makes a disc with only TrueHD audio track. Most of the current BD players will not be able to play any audio since they lack TrueHD support. That's why they require plain DD track in addition to any TrueHD audio. With HD DVD, all players will provide some degree of audio output even if there are no other audio option. Granted that without appropriate connections, you would not get lossless audio, but at least you get something. In addition, unless you have PS3 audio connected via HDMI output, there is no TrueHD support. Again, no sound for vast majority of PS3 owners.

That's why I prefer DTS-MA tracks on BD over TrueHD or uncompressed PCM. You get some audio with all players since full bit rate DTS core track can be extracted from DTS-MA even through legacy digital coaxial or optical outputs.

 

[b.greenway]

So funny to see people turn a blind eye to the blatant, laughable marketing hype from their camp while slamming the other side for doing it. Some of you guys need to drop the pom poms down about a foot or so, its obscuring your vision.


p.s that (obviously I hope) wasn't directed at you xradman.

 

[30XS955 User]

^ I don't think you understand his statement, Surferdude. He means that the only way to ensure that all Blu ray owners can listen to high fidelity audio is by having the disks contain uncompressed PCM.

 

[Mr. Integration]

ok this is a big assumption but if you take studio support away, are there any difference that would make either format a "must have"?


It seems to be a virtual tie, maybe a slight edge to HD DVD and I am biased emotionally although I own both formats.


If HD DVD gets enough units on the street the studios will have no choice but to recognize, so for them it seems they have to be on offense hardware wise and BD needs to stay aggressive on the software side.


All the rest of this stuff seems to be 'noise"

 

[RudyMeister]

There's also a reality that if you use the PS3 o watch movies, you gotta get off your butt and walk up to the player to FF, REW, Pause etc. cuz the PS3 does not have a remote nor an infrared port.

 

[thebland]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Integration /forum/post/0


ok this is a big assumption but if you take studio support away, are there any difference that would make either format a "must have"?

That 'if' is Blu Ray's ace in the hole just as HD DVD's cheaper players are their trump card..


Fun stuff!

 

[vurbano]



Quote:
Originally Posted by b2bonez /forum/post/0


I love the term that Amir used here that refereed to the numbers of playback devices. He used the term "sockets". And that is what it is all about, the number of "sockets" that are in the consumers hands that movie discs can be "plugged" into.


So far with the best efforts of the HD-DVD companies (and only two that are really producing products in numbers, MS & Toshiba) they have managed to get 175,000 HD-DVD "sockets" installed, with the majority being the Xbox addon drive (92,000).


On the other hand, the number of Blu-Ray "sockets" can be counted in the millions with the introduction of the PS3. Not all will be used straight off, but the sheer numbers, in the soon to be multiple millions, when PS3 is released in the EU will form a huge relative base for Hollywood to market their titles. Exactly why some people want to ignore that simple reality is beyond me or maybe it is a reality they would rather not face up to...

b2b

millions of BD sockets vs 175K HD DVD sockets yet sales of BD movies no better than HD DVD. I would call that a miserable failure and a rejection of the BD sockets.

 

[SamwisetheBrave]

With the PS3 a seeming disappointment, there will be millions of new and much cheaper HD DVD players coming soon.

 

[b2bonez]



Quote:
Originally Posted by vurbano /forum/post/0


millions of BD sockets vs 175K HD DVD sockets yet sales of BD movies no better than HD DVD. I would call that a miserable failure and a rejection of the BD sockets.

Last years (2006) stats are now irrelevant. Let's see how 2007 turns out...

b2b