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[Kleegamefan]

From the current (#94) ish of Widescreen Review:

Is A Single Unified HD Format In The Cards?

By: PAUL SWEETING

For those who have never attended a Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the
annual high-tech gathering in January in Las Vegas may seem like a pretty sweet gig: the cool gadgets; the parties; the chance to rub elbows with celebrities and newsmakers.

But for anyone who’s attended more than one, it’s more like a sentence of hard labor.
With 140,000 people trying to cover 1.5 million square feet of show space over four days, you spend most of your time just trying to get from one impossibly crowded venue to another. The lines for shuttle buses to and from the Las Vegas Convention Center can be blocks long and the wait for a taxi more than an hour. Once you actually get on the bus, the traffic can turn a two-mile shuttle into a 40-minute ordeal. More than once I’ve arrived at a venue only to discover I had just enough time to get back in the cab line to try to get to my next appointment, never seeing what I came to see. So when the good folks at Toshiba had special shuttle buses waiting at the conclusion of the Blu-ray Disc Association event this year, to whisk reporters to the HD DVD presentation at a hotel up the Strip, it was hard not to be grateful.

Making your own way from the Convention Center to the Bellagio Hotel could have taken the rest of the night––and then you would have missed the free booze Toshiba and its allied studios were pouring. But there was something very wrong with the symbolism. The degree of coordination between the two contending camps––from the back-toback scheduling of their news conferences to the door-to-door transportation (some Blu-ray companies even arranged their own transit for reporters, apparently on the theory that it was better to deliver us over to the enemy themselves than have us trying to
beat the rush by sneaking out of the Blu-ray event early)––suggests an institutionalizing
of the dual-format solution. It’s sort of like the hotline installed between the White House and the Kremlin during the Cold War. Better for enemies to event of an accidental nuclear launch, but it helped give permanent bureaucratic form to the mutual antagonism. You wouldn’t have to negotiate for a hotline if you were willing to negotiate over the weapons.


Apart from coordinating their schedules, in fact, the two high-def camps showed little
inclination to negotiate a stand-down. “Blu-ray is radically different from the other proposal in terms of the vision behind it and the value it will deliver to the end user,” Panasonic Senior Vice President Richard Doherty said at the Blu-ray event. “Those principles are simply too valuable to be compromised.” For their part, Warner Bros., Paramount, and Universal Studios unveiled a more substantial slate of HD DVD titles scheduled to accompany the format’s planned launch this Christmas (2005) than many had expected. Among the 50 titles Warner will release will be such upcoming theatrical releases as Batman Begins and Charley And The Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp.
Also scheduled is this past Christmas’ theatrical hit The Polar Express and two seasons’
worth of Sopranos episodes from Warner affiliate HBO Video. Paramount has slated the upcoming theatrical release Elizabethtown, directed by Cameron Crowe, and the recent Denzel Washington hit The Manchurian Candidate. That publicly-hyped level of commitment will make it more difficult politically for the HD DVD studios to back down from the scheduled launch, even if discussions toward a single, unified format were somehow to get underway.


Not all thought of compromise has been abandoned, of course. Disney’s home video chief Bob Chapek said during CES that his studio was floating “a number” of proposals to both sides that it hoped might spark unification talks. “We haven't given up hope of a single,unified format,” Chapek said. “I think it’s safe to say that nobody really wants a format war. It’s just a question of what the respective parties are willing to concede in order to make such a war a moot point before it gets started.”

Such is the growing acceptance in the industry of two formats, however, that even Chapek’s efforts at peacemaking have come in for criticism. While Chapek argues that Disney’s support for Blu-ray, announced late last year, will level the playing field with HD DVD and make both sides more willing to compromise, few other studios buy that logic.
“I think it was a huge mistake,” Universal Home Entertainment President Craig
Kornblau said of Disney’s Blu-ray endorsement. “I think it just makes a format war more likely.” Kornblau, along with executives at the other HD DVD studios, has also begun to
question Chapek’s leadership of the Digital Entertainment Group, an industry consortium
of hardware and software companies originally set up to help coordinate the
launch of DVD. As president of the group, Chapek has tried to use his position to nudge both sides toward compromise. But with Disney now an avowed Blu-ray supporter, HD DVD backers within DEG say that he’s in no position to play honest broker. “I don't think he should be in charge [of DEG],” a senior executive at another HD DVD studio said of Chapek. “DEG was set up to promote DVD, and Blu-ray has nothing to do with DVD. So why is a Blu-ray guy in charge? How’s he going to help me promote the launch of my HD DVD titles?” Given the deepening animosity, it might be hard at this point to even get a hotline installed between the two camps. Right now, it looks as if the best the rest of us can hope for is that any format war is short and decisive.

 

[sonycowboy]

Nothing new there, but I don't really see how their could be a compromise from a technical standpoint. It's either or and they can't meld the technologies.

I suppose the unification would be a philosophical one, but it appears to me that Blu-Ray is going to move forward, with or without the support of those backing HD-DVD.

 

[Kleegamefan]

Something else in the ish you might find intresting:

HD DVD & Blu-ray Disc At CES
A Progress Report

By: Gary Reber

Press Briefings

At the January 2005 InternationalConsumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, a number of press briefings took place to provide progress reports on the impending launch of both HD DVD and Bluray Disc high-definition optical disc formats.

Toshiba HD DVD

Launch

Toshiba announced plans to launch its first HD DVD player, recorder, and notebook
PCs in the fourth quarter of 2005. Both the player and recorder will play back HD DVDVideo, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, and CD audio discs. They will include HDMI with HDCP, IEEE 1394 (FireWire®) with DTCP, and component video, as well as Ethernet terminals for interactive applications. The player will support both Dolby® Digital and DTS® Digital Surround™ formats, as well as the new Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD formats. Both optical and coaxial digital audio outputs will be supported. The player’s suggested minimum advertised price (MAP) at launch is expected to be $999, but pricing for the recorder version has not yet been set. The recorder is expected to arrive in the market at a later date following the player launch. Both the player and recorder will support discs encoded at video resolutions of up to 1920 x 1080p. It is expected that studios will elect at some point to release in the 1920 x 1080p format.

As with the launch of DVD, Toshiba intends to support the models with an aggressive marketing campaign backed with content and retailer commitments.


HD DVD Press Event

At the HD DVD press event held at the Bellagio Hotel on January 6, representatives
of the home video operations of Warner Brothers, New Line, HBO, Paramount, and
Universal announced over 80 titles they will release in the HD DVD format to support the
hardware launch later this year. Warner Home Video (WHV) announced plans to release in excess of 50 new and catalog titles from WHV, New Line, and HBO Video, starting in the fourth quarter, including Batman Begins, Constantine, Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, Ocean’s Twelve, The Polar Express, The Phantom Of The Opera, Troy, and the Harry Potter Series. HBO Video will release The Sopranos, Angels In America, and From The Earth To The Moon series. New Line Home Entertainment will release 10 titles including
Rush Hour, Final Destination, and Friday. Paramount plans to release over 20 titles
beginning in the fourth quarter including The Manchurian Candidate, Coach Carter,
Elizabethan Town, Mission Impossible II, Forrest Gump, School Of Rock, Braveheart,
and Grease. Universal announced Van Helsing, The Bourne Supremacy and Chronicles Of Riddick, plus 13 catalog titles for the HD DVD launch. Pricing is expected to initially command a small premium, before settling back to prices comparable to current DVDs.
Sanyo and Thomson joined Toshiba in announcing plans to offer an HD DVD player in the fourth quarter of 2005. MEC will deliver HD DVD ROM drives in September 2005.


Blu-ray Disc Association Briefing

The latest companies to join the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) include two major game developers (Electronic Arts and Vivendi Universal Games), a Japanese animation
company (Bandai Visual), and Sun Microsystems, creator and leading advocate
of Java™ technology. With over 90 member-companies, “BDA’s rapid growth is a good indicator of the strength of the technology, particularly when you consider the kinds of companies that are joining,” said Blu-ray Disc spokeswoman Maureen Weber, General Manager, HP’s Optical Storage Solutions Business. “Two movie studios––Fox and Disney––have joined our board of directors,” Weber noted. “The addition of EA and Vivendi coupled
with Sony’s earlier announcement that the next generation of its industry-leading PlayStation game console will use Blu-ray, gives us solid support from the gaming
industry. And we already had strong support from the consumer electronics and personal
computing industries. Consumers aren’t going to settle for an inferior format that’s little more than DVD 2.0. And companies that are investing money to deliver high-definition, high-capacity content for consumers won’t settle for that, either.”
Panasonic’s Richard Doherty declared, ”Blu-ray is radically different from the other proposal in terms of the vision behind it and the value it will deliver to the end user.
Those principles are simply too valuable to be compromised.” Blu-ray Disc players will not come to market until sometime in 2006. The format’s backers did not unveil any titles at the CES.


Disney Executive Touts Blu-ray Disc At CES Press Event

“I am pleased to be here today to formally mark the start of our new partnership with the Blu-Ray Founders Group, as we start planning the launch of next generation Blu-ray compatible devices and software,” Bob Chapek, President of Buena Vista Home Entertainment told reporters at the CES. “Because of the technical capabilities of this
format, married with the indisputable support from the CE and IT communities, we believe
Blu-ray is well-positioned to be the nextgeneration successor to the current DVD format,
as consumers seek out high-definition content to play on their high-def televisions." Speaking at a Blu-ray Disc press conference, Chapek said he was confident of Bluray
Disc's future “because of the technical capabilities of this format, married with the
indisputable support from the CE and IT communities.” “Some have argued that the next generation may just represent a fraction of the opportunity that DVD did when it completely replaced VHS as the format of choice,” Chapek noted. “True, the benefits of DVD versus VHS were profound...but so are the benefits of Blu-ray versus DVD. High-definition picture, lossless audio, unprecedented interactivity, backward compatibility, and
extraordinary capacity...against an opportunity of millions of high-definition-ready televisions with no pre-recorded [HD] content available to play...seems to indicate a substantial opportunity to re-energize the home entertainment industry again with another
killer application. And as such, I am excited about the endless possibilities of greater
interactivity that will make for a more seamless movie viewing experience in the notso-
distant future.” Chapek added, “This is why it is so important not to go half way, but instead truly launch a format that is clearly a major advancement forward, and one which has room to grow. By doing this, we stand the best chance of meeting and exceeding
consumer expectations the way that DVD did in its early years.” “With Disney/Buena Vista Home Entertainment’s content, branding, marketing muscle, and innovative vision for the
next generation, we believe we will be a major part of establishing a worthy successor
to the highly successful DVD format,” concluded Chapek. "We look forward to our mutual success, as we offer consumers a rich entertainment experience and retailers a robust and growing hardware and software business for many years to come.”


JVC Hybrid DVD/ Blu-ray Disc

JVC demonstrated at CES a non-recordable hybrid disc, which features three layers:
dual DVD-layers topped by a 25 GB high-definition Blu-ray layer for a total of 33.5 GB capacity––the first combo ROM disc technology to enable storage of video content in both high-definition and standard-definition. The JVC-developed technology is intended to eliminate dual-inventory SKUs for prerecorded-video dealers. No pricing was announced. An expanded capacity hybrid disc is in development, which will support four layers two Blu-ray layers and two DVD layers––for a total of 58.5 GB of storage capacity. The proposed disc will be comprised of a 50 GB Blu-ray dual layer and an 8.5 GB DVD dual layer structure. The new Blu-ray/ DVD combo ROM disc has a one-side readout, triple layer structure comprised of an outside Blu-ray disc (BD) layer and inner DVD dual layer (Figure 1). The outer BD layer is capable of storing highdefinition video signals up to a capacity of 25 GB. The inner DVD dual layer can store up to 8.5 GB of standard-definition video signals. During Blu-ray reproduction, a blue laser reads the outer BD layer, while a red laser reads the inner DVD dual layer during DVD reproduction (Figure 2). The triple layer structure was made possible by the development of a high-performance reflective film that reflects blue laser used for Blu-ray reproduction, but is transparent to red laser used in DVD reproduction. The proprietary technology builds upon JVC’s past developments in the field of disc processing technology. The inner DVD layer of the Blu-ray/DVD combo ROM disc has an 8.5 GB dual layer structure, the current mainstream
structure for commercially available DVD-9 software releases. The new disc is capable
of storing all of the data currently contained in commercially available DVD software.
The development of the Blu-ray/DVD combo ROM disc opens the way for the emergence
of video releases containing content in both Blu-ray and DVD formats on a single disc.
Users can purchase a single disc that can be reproduced at high-definition BD video quality
on a large screen home theatre system, or play back the disc at standard-definition DVD video quality on a smaller TV set, a home PC, or laptop computer. Users that do not have a Bluray disc player can view the video content at standard-definition using their current DVD player, and enjoy the same content at highdefinition resolution when upgrading to a Bluray disc player in the future. The new Blu-ray/ DVD combo ROM disc also creates new
possibilities for future software releases that take advantage of the large 33.5 GB storage
capacity by combining video content with commercials, music, or games on a single disc.
JVC will forward a proposal to the Bluray Disc Association (BDA) to have the technology accepted as a specification for future commercialization.

I asked Kazuo Kohda of JVC, the inventor of D-VHS and the hybrid DVD/Blu-ray Disc about whether a similar structure could be used to support both HD DVD and Bluray
on a single disc? With a twinkle in his eyes, he hinted of such a possibility. The Case For A
Unified HD DVD/ Blu-ray Disc Format Is an eleventh-hour unification of the two formats possible? Bob Chapek, President of Buena Vista Home Video and the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) spoke at the DEG meeting just hours after the Blu-ray Disc press conference. In his speech, Chapek attempted to rally DEG member companies to work harder to unite the Bluray Disc and HD DVD camps into developing or settling upon a single standard. “The time for unification is now, before a Darwinian process of natural selection sets in, and before the expenditure of many millions with the prospect of a ‘stunted’ new format being a distinct possibility,” Chapek said. “There has to be a better way. The risks are apparent, but the benefits obvious of doing it right the first time.” “Much has been made about the plans to forge ahead with the different formats for the next-generation high-definition technology. For the last several years, I, as well as my colleagues, have warned against the dangers of a format war. Those dangers are no less severe today than they were six months or a year ago. I think it’s safe to say that nobody really wants a format war. [Speaking from the DEG perspective,] it’s just a question of what the respective parties are willing to concede in order to make such a war a moot point before it ever gets started,” Chapek continued. “Of course, it is a lot easier to say that the formats should unify than to actually make it happen...particularly given the significant physical differences in the formats. But just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try,” Chapek said. “In fact, the considerable effort that has been employed to bring the two sides together in the past will likely be dwarfed by the efforts from this point on.” With the biggest Hollywood studios almost equally split between the two formats,
Chapek said, “the DEG with its unique position in having constituents from both sides of the fence, both from the hardware and software standpoint, is in a position to ask our member companies to step up now to see what can be done. Otherwise, a lot of money may be spent, much of it in vein, trying to beat the other guy to the punch, and confusing consumers in the meantime.” Chapek is not alone. Others are floating various technical and strategic proposals to both sides to encourage unification talks. Although most movie studios have now backed one format or another, they have not signed exclusive deals, leaving the way open for such an agreement.

This is not really new information but it has a bit more detail about the stuff we have already heard...

 

[HyperionX]

Since the information of bluray and HD-DVD are stored in different layers of the disk, it's technically possible to make a Bluray/HD-DVD hybrid disk, even a Bluray/HD-DVD/DVD disk! (maybe) Unification is not absurd.

 

[Kleegamefan]

One can only hope...

shit, I ment to put this in the OT forum...mods, could you move this thread there if possible??

 

[sonycowboy]

Since the information of bluray and HD-DVD are stored in different layers of the disk, it's technically possible to make a Bluray/HD-DVD hybrid disk, even a Bluray/HD-DVD/DVD disk! (maybe) Unification is not absurd.

But there's absolutely no point to that.

The Blu-Ray disc requires manufacturing with a different substrate coating than DVD or HD-DVD and the technology requires it. So, the manufacturers would have to convert their plants anyway, paying the many millions of dollars for the capital expense, which wipes away THE ONLY advantage that HD-DVD had over Blu-Ray.

At that point, you have to say, why would you go with HD-DVD?

 

[Phoenix]

It is of course possible for someone to bitch slap all the parties until they come out with a BlueHD spec that combines the best of both specifications and obsoletes any players currently on the market, but I seriously doubt that the BlueRay folks are really interested in participating in that negotiation.

 

[sonycowboy]

It is of course possible for someone to bitch slap all the parties until they come out with a BlueHD spec that combines the best of both specifications and obsoletes any players currently on the market, but I seriously doubt that the BlueRay folks are really interested in participating in that negotiation.

I don't know if that's true this late in the game. Blu-Ray, the technical specification, has been around for years, and AOD is just about as old. HD-DVD was developed to minimize the expense at moving to HD, whereas Blu-Ray was developed to maximize the storage on similar media using moderate changes in cost. Blu-Ray is fowards compatible to ~200GB (in theory), whereas HD-DVD has no roadmap past 30GB and this is after many years of development.

Other technologies will be available in just a few years, so if the format doesn't launch this year, there may be no point to doing it at all.

They could have made an agreement years ago, but at this point, I just don't believe there can be a technical compromise. It's just way too late.

 

[Kleegamefan]

It is of course possible for someone to bitch slap all the parties until they come out with a BlueHD spec that combines the best of both specifications and obsoletes any players currently on the market, but I seriously doubt that the BlueRay folks are really interested in participating in that negotiation.

But, see, the thing is BRD *IS* the best of both formats...there is a theoretical manufacturing speed advantage HD-DVD has over BRD -which is true- and also a manufacturing pricing advantage, but this has yet to be proven...

I would go as far to say that if the PS3 sells at a 2:1 combined ratio against its Microsoft/Nintendo competitors as is the case today where the PS2 did vs. the XBOX/GC according to Jan. NPD numbers, you could see any theorticall HD-DVD manufacturing pricing advantage being erased by *HUGE* volumes of PS3 BRD-ROMs being produced.....IMO, this is a very likely scenerio...

More troublesome is the fact that (believe it or not) the BRD group actually approached Toshiba in November 2004 to talk about unification and they (toshiba) turned them away...I guess the thought of being left out of the next generation optical royalty game is out of the question for Toshiba...

Moreover, HD-DVD will require a more powerful blu-laser to read the pits than BRD, so much so that no HD-DVD recorders have been announced for the PC...supossedly, ~ 100W is the minimum for an HD-DVD recorder...a dirty little secret noone at the Toshiba/NEC camp is talking about and one that the BRD group has done a very bad job at exposing, but whatever....


PS. Sonycowboy, JVC demonstrated a dual-format BRD/DVD hybrid with BRD on one layer and DVD on another....its right there in the 2nd post in this thread...

Since HD-DVD is nothing more than DVD with extra small pits that require a 405nm blue laser to be read, I would suspect that having a 3 format disk (BRD/DVD/HD-DVD) would require nothing more than a firmware change and a license agreement since BRD players already have 405nm Blue Laser optics...(not to mention 640nm/780nm lasers too)

 

[Phoenix]

I don't know if that's true this late in the game. Blu-Ray, the technical specification, has been around for years, and AOD is just about as old. HD-DVD was developed to minimize the expense at moving to HD, whereas Blu-Ray was developed to maximize the storage on similar media using moderate changes in cost. Blu-Ray is fowards compatible to ~200GB (in theory), whereas HD-DVD has no roadmap past 30GB and this is after many years of development.

Other technologies will be available in just a few years, so if the format doesn't launch this year, there may be no point to doing it at all.

They could have made an agreement years ago, but at this point, I just don't believe there can be a technical compromise. It's just way too late.

Nah, you should read up on the history of the actual launch of DVD and all the foolishness that went on with it. If the industry REALLY wants to have a single format for HD DVD, they can enforce one. The big thing here is that I don't think anyone really cares enough at this point as the vast majority of the world doesn't even have a TV set that can take advantage of 1080p visuals. I think that where this round will be different is that there isn't yet a compelling reason for people to move to HD DVDs and this gives Sony a huge opportunity to put millions of BD DVD players in the market.

 

[Kleegamefan]

Yes, I agree...

Not enough Joe SixPacks care about either format to make a compelling case to upgrade, at the moment..

However, I believe J6Ps(possibly around 100 million of them) WILL evenually care about buying a Blu-ray movie or two when:

A-prices of Digital TV are widespread @ the <$1000 price point

B-They find out they can play High-def movies (and games) on PlayStation 3


IMO, the PS3 having a BRD-ROM drive is a

H
U
G
E

win for the BRD format and HD-DVD needs something as compelling as PlayStation 3 or they are dead in the fucking water...

If I were they (Toshiba and NEC) I would move heaven and earth to subsidize HD-DVD-ROM drives for XENON...

Keep in mind, although the next gen consoles are 2006-ish products, they will/should remain viable past 2010, if not longer....if Toshiba and NEC have any long term vision at all, they should consider this fact....

 

[Dr_Cogent]

Has anything like this before unified?

I can't think of anything. Can you?

 

[sonycowboy]

PS. Sonycowboy, JVC demonstrated a dual-format BRD/DVD hybrid with BRD on one layer and DVD on another....its right there in the 2nd post in this thread...

Since HD-DVD is nothing more than DVD with extra small pits that require a 405nm blue laser to be read, I would suspect that having a 3 format disk (BRD/DVD/HD-DVD) would require nothing more than a firmware change and a license agreement since BRD players already have 405nm Blue Laser optics...(not to mention 640nm/780nm lasers too)

I definitely agree that it can be done, and from a player standpoint, they can do incredible things with the laser to read just about anything.

But my point was on the media production side. Any Blu-Ray disc hybrid or otherwise would require the Protection layer of 0.1mm vs the 0.6mm that HD-DVD and DVD use. For a production to facility to make such discs, they would still have to convert their facility anyway, and at that point there is no reason to stay with HD-DVD as it's ONLY advantage is the lower (initial) production costs.

 

[aaaaa0]

supossedly, ~ 100W is the minimum for an HD-DVD recorder...a dirty little secret noone at the Toshiba/NEC camp is talking about and one that the BRD group has done a very bad job at exposing, but whatever....

News to me. Do you have a source?

 

[mrklaw]

The two specs are too far apart for technical unification. The only way is for one side to 'merge' with the other, possibly giving part of their name too, in return for a share of patent royalties.

Logically, that would be HD-DVD merging with Bluray, giving the 'HD' part (which is needed for consumer understanding anyway), so 'HD-bluray' or maybe even 'HD-DVD' but bluray tech underneath. And Toshiba etc get a slice of bluray patent pie.

Patent mining is big business these days, and fucking annoying - CE companies spend more money filing crazy patents in an attempt to make license fees than actually developing useful product.

 

[PS2 KID]

Has anything like this before unified?

I can't think of anything. Can you?

Sony unified the DVD+R and DVD-R camps when they introduced the first PC DVD burner that supported both formats. Since then just about every PC DVD burner has supported both and some have even included support of DVD-RAM.

 

[aaaaa0]

The technical differences between DVD+R and DVD-R are tiny compared with the technical differences between HD DVD and Blu Ray.

 

[Crag Dweller]

Is $999.99 going to be the opening pricepoint at the debut here in the U.S for Blu-ray?

Exactly how many different manufactures will there be making Blu-ray players/recorders?

What is the expected price of the stand-alone players when PS3 launches?

Is there any hope for the owners of HD tv's with only HD component out, or is it going to be digital output only?

 

[Jotaro]

Patent mining is big business these days, and fucking annoying - CE companies spend more money filing crazy patents in an attempt to make license fees than actually developing useful product.

Amen. Tell that to Philips, with their royalties on CD, CD-R, the regular audio cassette (from 1963, mind you)! Etc, etc ad nauseam.

 

[Phoenix]

Has anything like this before unified?

I can't think of anything. Can you?

Sure. Read the history of the DVD format

 

[borghe]

late to the party on this thread, but to add in my two cents...

having looked at the launch list for HD-DVD, it is VERY strong. You can tout PS3 numbers all day long but remember a) PS3 isn't launching til 2006 and b) not titles have been announced for Blue-Ray. The only reason I bring up no titles for Blue-Ray being announced is because I can't believe that if Sony was ready to release a player and studios had titles lined up to go that they would let HD-DVD take this kind of lead.

IMHO technology aside, HD-DVD definitely has the upper hand at this very second. And like has been said, if Microsoft includes HD-DVD as a player in Xenon (unlikely Nintendo will wanting to be a "game" machine) thAt will pretty much negate any numbers advantage PS3 will provide (Xenon will be HUGE in America, no questions).

So at the end of the day it will be software support. And right now HD-DVD has announced almost 90 titles and BRD has announced none. Not only have there been 90 titles announced but quite a number of them will be new (presumably day and date) releases from this year.

It does suck though. I would like to see a universal player akin to SACD/DVDA. I know Sony and Warner etc are going to be dicks and only release movies on one format. Which means that despite me thinking HD-DVD has the lead right now, I will still have to buy both players to watch all available HD movies. :\

though PS3 better not launch fall 2006... I want to just buy a PS3 and not a BRD player AND a PS3, but if I have to wait a year after HD-DVD launches to be able to watch Blue-Ray I am going to call ultragay on Sony.

 

[Nerevar]

Is there any hope for the owners of HD tv's with only HD component out, or is it going to be digital output only?

I agree with this. I'm pretty staunchly opposed to these players only supporting digital-out for HD content - my TV has only 1 digital port (HDMI) and I'm going to be pissed if all these new content formats are forced to share that one port. If they do force this, I'm going to go with the player that can be most easily hacked to output HD content over component (like the region-hacks of most modern DVD players because I believe it *will* happen).