and the winner of the format war is....

[bingobill]

.... HD VMD

http://www.nmeinc.com/index.aspx#

Could this young upstart really steal the show from under the noses of HD DVD and Blu-ray ?

I think they possibly could, they seem to be ready to go now with cheap players and an impressive line up of titles. What do you guys think ?

What you should know about HD VMD:

HD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) is NME’s proprietary true HD disc format based upon established red laser technology enabling seamless and cost-effective manufacturing solutions for HD products based on the existing DVD industrial infrastructure. HD VMD provides access to HD at a cost comparable to DVD, posing a serious challenge to Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Technology features:

• 1080p HD - HD VMD disc has a capacity to playback a full three hours of true 1080p High Definition material on a single side.
• 2p process - NME’s patented 2p process succeeded in solving the technological problems which limited DVDs to two information layers. The superior bit transfer rate and faultless encoding software of the HD VMD format provides unequalled smooth delivery for the ultimate in picture quality and sound.
• Disc Capacity - Multilayering is now possible with HD VMD’s commercial solution with up to 20GB storage capacity for a single sided disc, HD VMD also has industrial capability for 25, 30 and 40GB using NME’s 2p process method.

Looks like there is also gonna be a PC solution

Hostage
We Were Soldiers
Apocalypto
Lucky Number Slevin
Valiant
Saw II
Saw III
Lord of War
Lucky Number Slevin
Fireplace & Aquarium
The Ark
Help I'm A Fish
El Cid
Mid Summer Dream
Passion of The Christ
Angeles Ashes
Babel
16 Blocks
Set up
Hoodwinked
Oliver Twist
Princesse
La Planete Blanche
Pulp Fiction
Sahara
Demande A La Poussiere
Gosford Park
The Descent
Miss Potter
The Queen
Butterfly Effect 1
Butterfly effect 2
Hitcher
Black Sheep
Lord of the Rings
Diario De Um Novo Mundo
Inside Out
Avion
Welcome to LazyTown
Dr. Rottenstein
Hero for a Day
Defeeted
Rottenbeard
Cry Dinosaur
Secret Agent Zero
Sleepless in LazyTown
Happy Brush Day
Pixelspix
LazyTown’s New Super Hero
Sports Day
Crystal Caper
Lazy Scouts
My Treehouse
Swiped Sweets
Sportafake
The Laziest Town
Soccer Sucker
Dear Diary
Miss Roberta
Sports Candy Festival
Remote Control
Sportacus Who?
Zap it
Records Day
Ziggy’s Alien
Play Day
Prince Stingy
Robbie’s Greatest Misses
Dancing Duel
LazyTown’s Greatest Hits
Sportacus on the Move!
LazyTown’s Surprise Santa
Sailor et lula
Scorpion
Le caïman
Spy kids
Scarie movie 2
Les chansons d'amour

Bollywood titles:

Khakar Khakar
Alaipayuthey
Pammal K Sambantham
Panchathanthiram
Ghilli
Boys
Kandukondain Kandukondain
Water
Bheja Fry
Bridge to Tarabitha
Hanuman
Malamal Weekly
Constant Gardner
Jo Jeeta Wohli Sikander
Page 3
Parzania
Iqbal
China Town
Sholay
Andaz Apana Apna
Hum Aapke Hai Kaun
Padosan
Maine Pyaar Kiya
Kashmir Ki Kali
Pyaasa
Sapoot
International only
Khanna & Iyer
Inquilab
Namak Haram
Dil Ek Mandir

 

[Adbear]

Think the main stumbling block will be the audio, a lot of people are buying HD-DVD and Blu-ray for the Hi-def audio and this format doesn't appear to do it. Also if it's only got the capacity of a triple layer dvd that would give it around 12GB which would mean the films must be highly compressed as I don't think I own an HD-dvd or Blu-ray film where the main film file is that small even after removing the audio channels

 

[bingobill]

Think the main stumbling block will be the audio, a lot of people are buying HD-DVD and Blu-ray for the Hi-def audio and this format doesn't appear to do it. Also if it's only got the capacity of a triple layer dvd that would give it around 12GB which would mean the films must be highly compressed as I don't think I own an HD-dvd or Blu-ray film where the main film file is that small even after removing the audio channels

Think you need to read the quote above more carefully and also read the website

Disc Capacity - Multilayering is now possible with HD VMD’s commercial solution with up to 20GB storage capacity for a single sided disc, HD VMD also has industrial capability for 25, 30 and 40GB using NME’s 2p process method.

 

[tekmobile]

The thing is HD DVD will reached the $200 price tag with the release of the new players coming in the coming months HD-VMD will launch with a price tag only slightly lower than this I feel that this would be a step back in the HD world and for many wont be a viable option.

HD DVD may not win the war although I predict that with the advent of the newer cheaper players that they will start to steal the limelight from blu-ray over the course of 2008 and by 2010 blu-ray will be the digital betamax.

 

[bingobill]

The thing is HD DVD will reached the $200 price tag with the release of the new players coming in the coming months HD-VMD will launch with a price tag only slightly lower than this I feel that this would be a step back in the HD world and for many wont be a viable option.

What we must remember is that although VHS was technically inferior to the other 2 competing systems, Betamax and Video2000, it was ultimately VHS that won that particular format war.

This system looks like the type of system that if taken onboard by the big supermarket chains could decide the whole outcome.

I really don't know what impact it will have but I think it does add a new dimension to the HD disc in a market which at this current time is tiny.

 

[Charlie]

I think this is more of a joke than any myself as there was a small boom on this format then it was dead and many months later back to the boom again about it. By Christmas HD-DVD will be the top dog I think this year.

 

[Adbear]

I did read the website, and ok I missed the capacity( I was going by the calculation of it using 3 layers not 5 to achieve this) and I have to say I wouldn't be happy using something that has to use that many layers to get the same amount of space as 1 layer on a blu-ray, and it appears to still only do a maximum of 5.1 audio

 

[GreenJelly]

The standard is going to be players that play both standards

Eventually these companies are going to have to drop their royalties for the players to encourage low price components so that they may collect more royalties from the movies you buy.

Its going to be like the printer industry. Buy a cheap printer for $50 and then pay $45 for a new ink cartridge.

We have a anti trust lawsuit over the cost of DVD's which resulted in a $10 decrease in price across the board. Now we have HD/BR DVD's that are costing $2X just like when we had DVD's before this lawsuit.