News and Reviews....

    Where's The WOW ....   Sept. 2005

 By Robert Lieto

WOW ? Or Same Old, same Old. That is the question now posed to the two camps of the next generation DVD Discs. The DVD of the 90's gave us great advances in picture quality, but also gave us capabilities with sub-titles, Chapter Points, Extras and more. Basically it was a complete transition from the Video Tape we had been used to. It had interaction and abilities we have now come to enjoy and take for granted. But now come the new formats of HD-DVD and Blue Ray both backed by their exclusive camps. Will we see titles put out in one format and not another ? Will we find ourselves having to wait because our player are not dual format or will there be Dual format players that will play all formats ? All questions to be answered in the near future. 

The Blue-Ray disc is being built on interactive software based on the Multimedia Home Platform (MHP)-Globally Executable Multimedia (GEM) using Java. The HD-DVD group, in contrast has all of its advanced software based on a derivative of Microsoft's MSTV.

Most of all will the new formats in the eyes of the majority of consumers be just another format. To the majority of consumers not technically informed to tell the difference it probable will.  And if so, will the extras we have come to take for granted make a difference at all ? Will the two new formats be seen as another way to bait and switch us to buying other formats without any additional advancements or changes. I hope not. Will the vast consumer base be crying "Where's The Beef ?" We all know of the extended quality of HDTV and the chant of compatibility, but will the forces that be heed the warning ? I believe that they are all stumbling toward a potential disaster.

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