PS3 launch delayed yet again

[Malakai]

The Sony PS3 has been delayed yet again, due to the blu-ray disc format, which the company has been pushing as the new media standard.

Blu-ray technologies have so far been unstable, unreliable, and very expensive to manufacture. It is also being reported that the first blu-ray discs will not have the capacity that it has been portrayed as having (54gb?).

Initially, the discs will be 25gb, 5gb less data as HD-DVD, and the players will have an initial investment of only $1899, while HD-DVD will start at $499.

Blu-Ray, once thought of as the dominant standard with more movie industry backing, is now loosing several hollywood distributors, due to the uncertainty of blu-ray technology, and moving towards HD-DVD.

Sony is a major backer in Blu-Ray, and it will be interesting to see where the PS3 goes with this and how much the systems will cost.

 

[schi0249]

I knew about the 25 GB limit about 6 months ago. At that time, the engineer I know said the dual layer (54 GB) discs are still only theoretical. We probably won't see them until 1-2 years after release. I really think Sony is shooting themselves by sticking with blu-ray. Currently, a new release DVD is around $20 while a new PS2 game is around $50. With new release Blu-ray movies being $40, what does that say about PS3 games? I don't honestly believe average consumers will buy games that are $70+

 

[Cloud121]

I read that HD-DVD can only have one layer though.

Is that true?

Also, how big is one layer on HD-DVD?

 

[schi0249]

I'll have to check on that. Last I heard they weren't having issues making 2 layers for HD-DVD. HD-DVD holds 30 GB, do roughly 15 per layer.

 

[Mask of Destiny]

HD-DVDs can be manufactured with 2 layers now (the tech is supposedly very similar to current DVD in many of the manufacturing aspects so I believe the 2 layer capability is largely coming over from DVD). They have mentioned the theoretical possbility of a 3 layer HD-DVD, but this is even more vaporous than 2-layer Blu-ray.

 

[Malakai]

Worse than the technology oh HD-DVD and Blu-Ray themselves, even if they both get perfected, the next downfall (besides the price) is all of the security measures they're taking to prevent people from viewing HD content over component or dvi inputs. They're only going to output HD through HDMI, and a converter that would convert HDMI to DVI or Component would cost thousands of dollars right now.

Why is that so bad? Because so many people have bought HD televisions and only have component or DVI inputs. While most players will have S-VIDEO and component outputs, the output will only be 480i, NOT even 480p. Lots of people are complaining about it, and some have spent between $3000 and $7000 for a plasma screen that will essentially be obsolete in the next 2 months.

The only other alternative is to wait and see if/when some Chinese manufacture releases one that will output 480p/720p/1080i through component.

Originally posted by schi0249@Wed, 2006-03-08 @ 11:40 PM

I knew about the 25 GB limit about 6 months ago. At that time, the engineer I know said the dual layer (54 GB) discs are still only theoretical. We probably won't see them until 1-2 years after release. I really think Sony is shooting themselves by sticking with blu-ray. Currently, a new release DVD is around $20 while a new PS2 game is around $50. With new release Blu-ray movies being $40, what does that say about PS3 games? I don't honestly believe average consumers will buy games that are $70+

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[Pearl Jammzz]

I really think fuck both of em. After all these years and we can only get 30gig out of a disc? Not even worth it, they needa go big or go home. Remember CD's were a HUGE jump in space, well we should have that huge jump yet again. We should have upwards of 100gig discs, it'd be awesome.

Another thing is DRM. Fuck DRM, all they are gunna do it break stuff w/ it and it'll cause them to lose business. Do they NOT see this? And people who want to crack it, will. The only peopel you EVER stop with this kind of thing is the people that wouldn't be downloading DVD copies anyways.

Ok, vent done

 

[schi0249]

Though I agree with what you say, Malakai, DVI will be supported by blu-ray. HDMI and DVI are basicaly the same thing. Both can be HDCP compliant. However, there are currently no PC video cards that are hdcp compliant. So with todays tech, you are only gonna get 480i on a PC. Talk about shitty.

 

[Malakai]

Actually, I should have specified it more clearly. There apparently are two types of dvi. One being analog/vga/rgb compatible, the other being digital, which also supports secure connections. I'm guessing, but I don't think over half of the high def telivisions with dvi ports will do encrypted digital video. I could be wrong, but the whole high def community is in an uproar over this.

 

[Malakai]

You know, I'd be really interested to see just how well these compressed high def movies will be any way. I'm getting so use to watching crap for quality movies and programs on dishnet that it's not even funny. They take a lot of their channels from an already compressed source at X4 (KU-Band side of G4) and then re-compress them again, most likely at even a lower bandwidth, and beam them through their satellite.

I've even got a few other 4DTV HD channels, like discovery HD, PBS HD, Wealth HD, and Showtime HD, and these are 4DTV and Starchoice, the two source providers for most of those signals, before dish network, directv, or bell xpressvu even has a chance to compress them more. I'm not that impressed with most of the stuff.

I just would like to see how HD-DVD and Blu-Ray compare to these compressed HD signals. It may not be much better than using a good quality anamorphic widescreen dvd and pumping it through a line doubler.... I watched resident evil earlier today doing that, and it didn't look half bad.

Originally posted by Pearl Jammzz@Fri, 2006-03-10 @ 12:26 PM

I really think fuck both of em. After all these years and we can only get 30gig out of a disc? Not even worth it, they needa go big or go home. Remember CD's were a HUGE jump in space, well we should have that huge jump yet again. We should have upwards of 100gig discs, it'd be awesome.

Another thing is DRM. Fuck DRM, all they are gunna do it break stuff w/ it and it'll cause them to lose business. Do they NOT see this? And people who want to crack it, will. The only peopel you EVER stop with this kind of thing is the people that wouldn't be downloading DVD copies anyways.

Ok, vent done

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