xterm
Jul 14, 09:21 AM
As purely a data storage format, obviously Blu-ray has the potential to store more data than HD DVD.
However, as someone who has been following the whole BD vs. HD DVD consumer video format war, and as someone who has bought an HD DVD player (and, until recently, had a BD video player on order), at this (albeit early) stage of the game, HD DVD is the superior video format.
HD DVD has 30gb dual layer discs available (almost all the latest video releases on HD DVD are 30gb dual layer.) There are many more titles available for HD DVD right now (probably because it's been out longer and the discs themselves are easier to manufacture.) HD DVD uses a more efficient codec (Microsoft's VC-1, which is akin to H.264, in that it's much much more efficient than MPEG-2.) HD DVD titles have either Dolby Digital Plus (a higher bit-rate multichannel audio codec) and Dolby TruHD (a lossless multichannel audio codec).
BD only has 25gb single layer discs available now. Apparently the 50gb dual layer discs are hard to manufacture and the yields are not ready for prime time. No BD retail video discs are above 25gb single layer. No timetable for 50gb discs has been announced. The video is MPEG-2, meaning it takes up more space on the disc. And, the most recent BD releases all suffer from more MPEG artifacts than any HD DVD releases. BD audio is either standard Dolby Digital or space consuming uncompressed PCM audio (which sucks up even more disc space, leaving even less for video.)
The current Samsung BD player actually has the same (Broadcom) chip that the current Toshiba HD DVD player has in terms of outputing video... and it only outputs 1080i. The Samsung player tacks on another (Faroudja) chip to deinterlace it, so it outputs 1080p (so BD can say "we output 1080p!"), except, that chip apparently stinks and makes the picture somewhat soft. In reality, any HDTV worth its salt can easily deinterlace 1080i signals, so the whole "we output 1080p" is a false advantage anyway. Both BD and HD DVD discs store the video as 1080p, by the way.
So, what you have, on the video front, BD has a smaller capacity disk with less efficient video and audio codecs (that look and sound worse). And it is TWICE the price ($500 vs. $1000). And has less titles. And is late.
If you read any reports on BD video quality vs. HD DVD video quality on boards like AVSforum.com, HD DVD beats BD hands down.
Who knows how this video format war will shake out, but Blu-ray is way behind right now.
-Terry
Good post, sums up the current situation very nicely.
Given that dual layer 50GB blu-ray discs cant even be produced yet, i think the 200GB claim is complete vaporware.
I hope HD-DVD wins this war soon, as it is out of the gates first, and thus far a far superior format. If Blu-Ray were to give up now, i dont think many people would be sad. One format is better for everyone.
However, as someone who has been following the whole BD vs. HD DVD consumer video format war, and as someone who has bought an HD DVD player (and, until recently, had a BD video player on order), at this (albeit early) stage of the game, HD DVD is the superior video format.
HD DVD has 30gb dual layer discs available (almost all the latest video releases on HD DVD are 30gb dual layer.) There are many more titles available for HD DVD right now (probably because it's been out longer and the discs themselves are easier to manufacture.) HD DVD uses a more efficient codec (Microsoft's VC-1, which is akin to H.264, in that it's much much more efficient than MPEG-2.) HD DVD titles have either Dolby Digital Plus (a higher bit-rate multichannel audio codec) and Dolby TruHD (a lossless multichannel audio codec).
BD only has 25gb single layer discs available now. Apparently the 50gb dual layer discs are hard to manufacture and the yields are not ready for prime time. No BD retail video discs are above 25gb single layer. No timetable for 50gb discs has been announced. The video is MPEG-2, meaning it takes up more space on the disc. And, the most recent BD releases all suffer from more MPEG artifacts than any HD DVD releases. BD audio is either standard Dolby Digital or space consuming uncompressed PCM audio (which sucks up even more disc space, leaving even less for video.)
The current Samsung BD player actually has the same (Broadcom) chip that the current Toshiba HD DVD player has in terms of outputing video... and it only outputs 1080i. The Samsung player tacks on another (Faroudja) chip to deinterlace it, so it outputs 1080p (so BD can say "we output 1080p!"), except, that chip apparently stinks and makes the picture somewhat soft. In reality, any HDTV worth its salt can easily deinterlace 1080i signals, so the whole "we output 1080p" is a false advantage anyway. Both BD and HD DVD discs store the video as 1080p, by the way.
So, what you have, on the video front, BD has a smaller capacity disk with less efficient video and audio codecs (that look and sound worse). And it is TWICE the price ($500 vs. $1000). And has less titles. And is late.
If you read any reports on BD video quality vs. HD DVD video quality on boards like AVSforum.com, HD DVD beats BD hands down.
Who knows how this video format war will shake out, but Blu-ray is way behind right now.
-Terry
Good post, sums up the current situation very nicely.
Given that dual layer 50GB blu-ray discs cant even be produced yet, i think the 200GB claim is complete vaporware.
I hope HD-DVD wins this war soon, as it is out of the gates first, and thus far a far superior format. If Blu-Ray were to give up now, i dont think many people would be sad. One format is better for everyone.
standingquiet
Jan 10, 03:49 PM
Well traded the Subaru today time to get something a bit more sensible so i got a 2007 Ford Focus ST-2.
Done all the paper work today and pick her up tomorrow afternoon, cant wait.
Matt
Done all the paper work today and pick her up tomorrow afternoon, cant wait.
Matt
Al Coholic
Apr 21, 11:56 AM
As soon as I saw the name Al Franken I stopped reading. What a dufus.
LOL!
LOL!
Demoman
Jul 20, 01:09 AM
When the "real" machines are out, Vista will be out as well. Unless Leopard has revolutionary improvements, the difference between Windows and OSX+iLife would be much less than that it is today. I would still appreciate the UNIX under the hood, but I doubt most consumers care. If Mac sales or market share starts to come down a bit due to fewer switchers, the share price could easily crash.
You are probably nursing those MS shares you bought at $90, hoping for a better day. It is not coming anytime soon sorry to say. Buying is about momentum. Apple has it and MS does not. Vista already has a great deal of bad press and it has not even hit the street. eWeek and other journals are already writing about Vista security vulnerabilities. That is not a good sign. Vista features and functionality has been scaled back numerous times. That too is not a good sign.
Who would have imagined that the common view. amongst the informed computer community, was MS was trying desperately to draw close to even-up with Apple? About the time MS established Windows 2000, they were at the top of the computer world in just about every SW market there was.
They finally had a very stable desktop, server platform, mail server, yellow pages, browser, office suite, SQL engine, and so on. But once they reached this pinnacle, two things happened (or at least two I want to talk about). One, they became way too greedy with their predatory licensing. It just went through the roof. If you have never purchased SW at the enterprise level, you do not understand how expensive this has become. SW can cost (at least) as much HW at the enterprise level.
The second thing that happened at MS is best described in a quote "When Alexander looked at his empire, he wept for there was nothing more to conquer." Instead of continuing on the path of R&D, they tried to find "new worlds to conquer", secure in the knowledge they had indeed subdued all competitors who could challenge them. Sun had tried to mount a charge in the early-mid 90's. Fortunately for MS, Sun's CEO lacked the wherewithal to do more than file lawsuits. Linux suffers from the exact problems that have plagued the Unix community; they cannot unify because they have no leadership.
Apple has been the sleeping giant. They have made their mistakes, taken their lumps and paid their dues. After 20 years, I finally bought a Mac. That was mainly because my boss gave me ~ $15K to buy any personal technology I wanted (bonus type of deal). I was learning video production/editing and using the cheap PC stuff. To make a long story short, I can now boast the purchase of:
selena gomez year without rain
Now Selena is teasing us even
A Year Without Rain (Album
#39;A Year Without Rain#39;
Selena Gomez #39;A YEAR WITHOUT
selena gomez and the scene
selena gomez falling down
Selena Gomez “A Year Without
Actress/singer Selena Gomez
Preview Selena Gomez#39;s “A Year
Selena Gomez#39;s CD cover!
selena gomez the scene a year
Selena Gomez amp; The Scene – A
Selena Gomez: “A Year Without
Selena Gomez quot;A Year Without
You are probably nursing those MS shares you bought at $90, hoping for a better day. It is not coming anytime soon sorry to say. Buying is about momentum. Apple has it and MS does not. Vista already has a great deal of bad press and it has not even hit the street. eWeek and other journals are already writing about Vista security vulnerabilities. That is not a good sign. Vista features and functionality has been scaled back numerous times. That too is not a good sign.
Who would have imagined that the common view. amongst the informed computer community, was MS was trying desperately to draw close to even-up with Apple? About the time MS established Windows 2000, they were at the top of the computer world in just about every SW market there was.
They finally had a very stable desktop, server platform, mail server, yellow pages, browser, office suite, SQL engine, and so on. But once they reached this pinnacle, two things happened (or at least two I want to talk about). One, they became way too greedy with their predatory licensing. It just went through the roof. If you have never purchased SW at the enterprise level, you do not understand how expensive this has become. SW can cost (at least) as much HW at the enterprise level.
The second thing that happened at MS is best described in a quote "When Alexander looked at his empire, he wept for there was nothing more to conquer." Instead of continuing on the path of R&D, they tried to find "new worlds to conquer", secure in the knowledge they had indeed subdued all competitors who could challenge them. Sun had tried to mount a charge in the early-mid 90's. Fortunately for MS, Sun's CEO lacked the wherewithal to do more than file lawsuits. Linux suffers from the exact problems that have plagued the Unix community; they cannot unify because they have no leadership.
Apple has been the sleeping giant. They have made their mistakes, taken their lumps and paid their dues. After 20 years, I finally bought a Mac. That was mainly because my boss gave me ~ $15K to buy any personal technology I wanted (bonus type of deal). I was learning video production/editing and using the cheap PC stuff. To make a long story short, I can now boast the purchase of:
flyfish29
Mar 25, 10:27 PM
market share market schmare! I think apple is doing great. The kind of person that would buy a 5-6 hundred dollar mac would not buy many or any additional programs as they would probably just surf the net, take dig. pics, etc. and watch them on their tv...if that much. That is not going to bring us any new or additional software. They would not use Palms so Palm would not all of the sudden make their software again. It would cost Apple money to develop the machine, support it, and update it not to mention marketing, etc. Apple resellers would have to buy them and use up precious inventory money on those rather than things they would be making money off of.
I think Apple needs to promote their best thing: software! They are a software company that also happens to make some great hardware, but they have almost always focused on hardware. G5, iMac, iPod, Powerbook, etc. were all supported heavily in print and other media. what about OSX??? iLife gets some support in print...iTunes is the only real app. that gets much support in marketing and look where Apple is with it! Making huge bucks! If they want people to switch in numbers they need to show the software working and what you can do with it. The switch campaign did this some, but people foucsed on the people and their little jokes and quirks and not the software. Apple needs to shed their image of "only for artists and students/teachers" and not for business, not for internet, not compatible with such and such, etc. These are all parts of their image that people still believe and they need to change their image. Not everone sees different as better. I don't think it should be Apple's job to make everyone see that different is better...just make them see that Apple's product is better!
I think Apple needs to promote their best thing: software! They are a software company that also happens to make some great hardware, but they have almost always focused on hardware. G5, iMac, iPod, Powerbook, etc. were all supported heavily in print and other media. what about OSX??? iLife gets some support in print...iTunes is the only real app. that gets much support in marketing and look where Apple is with it! Making huge bucks! If they want people to switch in numbers they need to show the software working and what you can do with it. The switch campaign did this some, but people foucsed on the people and their little jokes and quirks and not the software. Apple needs to shed their image of "only for artists and students/teachers" and not for business, not for internet, not compatible with such and such, etc. These are all parts of their image that people still believe and they need to change their image. Not everone sees different as better. I don't think it should be Apple's job to make everyone see that different is better...just make them see that Apple's product is better!
spiffyfitz
Aug 16, 12:30 PM
I sure hope they announce something about an Apple phone soon. Im sooooooo tempted to get the LG Chocolate.
It's a shame there's almost no way Verizon will carry an Apple branded phone. I just don't see it happening. Looks like I'll have to get an LG Chocolate for music on the go...
It's a shame there's almost no way Verizon will carry an Apple branded phone. I just don't see it happening. Looks like I'll have to get an LG Chocolate for music on the go...
ingenious
Apr 7, 09:19 AM
really, this is what Ive been taking about...I think that most Mac users don't want to hear it
maybe thats because its not true and most mac articles are written by very wintel biased writers.
maybe thats because its not true and most mac articles are written by very wintel biased writers.
DewGuy1999
Nov 26, 09:27 AM
Come on guys...give the guy a break,stop making fun of him...this is the case he needs.
How open minded of you...
Ive been contemplating this keyboard because of the same reasons. I have a question for anyone that can answer this...I use the new Logitech Performance MX, which uses the same mini usb connector, can I use that to connect the keyboard as well, or do I have to add a second USB connector for the keyboard?
According to the Logitech website, the Performance MX mouse uses the Unifying receiver and these products are compatible with it (http://www.logitech.com/en-us/349/6126?pcid=6072), but not the Logitech diNovo Mac Edition Keyboard.
How open minded of you...
Ive been contemplating this keyboard because of the same reasons. I have a question for anyone that can answer this...I use the new Logitech Performance MX, which uses the same mini usb connector, can I use that to connect the keyboard as well, or do I have to add a second USB connector for the keyboard?
According to the Logitech website, the Performance MX mouse uses the Unifying receiver and these products are compatible with it (http://www.logitech.com/en-us/349/6126?pcid=6072), but not the Logitech diNovo Mac Edition Keyboard.
swingerofbirch
Jul 19, 04:55 PM
I've been listening live for a while and they are very tight lipped but they just said that they believe that cell phones are poor MP3 players compared to the iPod (I guess including their own cobranded cell phones?!!?). They said they realize it wont always be the case that iPods are superior to cell phones, and don't think we don't realize that etc, as if to suggest phone iPod integration.
Sony is with Ericsson.
I believe Nokia and Microsoft have some sort of alliance.
And we all know Apple for the second time decided to hitch their wagon to Motorola with the co-branded phone.
Who else is there? LG, Siemens, Samsung? Or would they do it alone? How hard can it be to make a cell phone?
Sony is with Ericsson.
I believe Nokia and Microsoft have some sort of alliance.
And we all know Apple for the second time decided to hitch their wagon to Motorola with the co-branded phone.
Who else is there? LG, Siemens, Samsung? Or would they do it alone? How hard can it be to make a cell phone?
sam10685
Aug 16, 07:19 AM
well... i might as well give Apple and Nintendo my credit card number.
milo
Sep 6, 01:45 PM
Terrified to see that my MBP's 1.83 Ghz Core Duo is now in Apple's lowest line of computers... It does what I need it to, but it must be worth half the value it was 6 months ago ($1,999.99). Even more terrified that my ex got a black MB that has a better processor then mine. And she only uses it for papers and chatting! :eek:
Lowest line? The mini and macbook still both have slower processors than the MBP's.
Lowest line? The mini and macbook still both have slower processors than the MBP's.
abhimat.gautam
Mar 31, 03:00 AM
Apple has never mentioned before the new "Scene Kit":
Introduced in Mac OS X v10.7, the Scene Kit framework enables your application to import, manipulate, and render three-dimensional assets. It supports 3D assets imported via COLLADA, an XML-based schema that facilitates the transport of 3D assets between applications. Architecturally, a scene is composed of the 3D entities of cameras, lights, and meshes. Scene Kit lets you access attributes of scene objects�for example, geometry, bounding volume, and material�and is consistent with the APIs of other graphical frameworks, such as Core Animation and Image Kit.
Scene Kit is intended for developers who quickly need to integrate 3D rendering into their applications. It doesn�t require that you have advanced graphical programming skills.
Nice, didn�t know about that.
Introduced in Mac OS X v10.7, the Scene Kit framework enables your application to import, manipulate, and render three-dimensional assets. It supports 3D assets imported via COLLADA, an XML-based schema that facilitates the transport of 3D assets between applications. Architecturally, a scene is composed of the 3D entities of cameras, lights, and meshes. Scene Kit lets you access attributes of scene objects�for example, geometry, bounding volume, and material�and is consistent with the APIs of other graphical frameworks, such as Core Animation and Image Kit.
Scene Kit is intended for developers who quickly need to integrate 3D rendering into their applications. It doesn�t require that you have advanced graphical programming skills.
Nice, didn�t know about that.
Changen
Feb 23, 05:35 PM
Yeah im working on the mess my gf kind of took over the office and ironicy is the messy one of the two of us. I got both of those imacs from my father when I bought the house both of them are filled with music but other than that they just sit.
Fiveos22
Aug 6, 09:49 PM
My cup runneth over with excitement.
Too bad I'll be in class all day tomorrow and won't get the minute by minute MR coverage...unless I bring my macbook to class with me. :D
Too bad I'll be in class all day tomorrow and won't get the minute by minute MR coverage...unless I bring my macbook to class with me. :D
ventro
Jan 5, 06:25 PM
Modern masterpiece
Great job man. Well written.
Great job man. Well written.
beagleybeagley
Apr 19, 11:28 AM
What's up with the consumer MacBook timeline?
We've been waiting for its refresh. Are they just trying to make me jump at the bottom end MacBook Pro? (Of course they are!)
I hereby request a MacBook rumor, end of the week at the latest. Please deliver. :-)
We've been waiting for its refresh. Are they just trying to make me jump at the bottom end MacBook Pro? (Of course they are!)
I hereby request a MacBook rumor, end of the week at the latest. Please deliver. :-)
Raska
Mar 31, 07:26 PM
Is Safari still buggy as feck? Can you drag images out and not have them be .weblocs? Is google maps working properly without tile distortions/not loading?
Google Maps looks fine, so do dragging images. There is something strange I noticed trying to refresh a page. The best is to just post the pictures to show the bug.
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5367/safaribug1.png
The first is the popover that slide into view when I tried to refresh the page.
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/1071/safaribug2.png
The second is the address bar glitching once the popover is dismissed.
Google Maps looks fine, so do dragging images. There is something strange I noticed trying to refresh a page. The best is to just post the pictures to show the bug.
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5367/safaribug1.png
The first is the popover that slide into view when I tried to refresh the page.
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/1071/safaribug2.png
The second is the address bar glitching once the popover is dismissed.
OdduWon
Oct 23, 09:44 AM
look there they are... oh no, wait those are irish books professionals
Surely
Jan 12, 10:09 AM
I think that "Air" is a good name and it really could be the name, think of the iPhone, no one thought that would be the actual name, but it is was and is! So we shall see in a few days...
And the reason its not "Lite" or "Light" is because they have been used a million times, and Apple thinks different :)
Really? I guess they've never heard of Nike before then.
People thought the iPhone would be called the iPhone for years.
I think that they should go with 'MacBook Pump' instead. The Reebok Pumps were so cool. Pump it up!
http://www.flytip.com/blogs/sneaker_culture/archives/images/alife_pump.jpg
And the reason its not "Lite" or "Light" is because they have been used a million times, and Apple thinks different :)
Really? I guess they've never heard of Nike before then.
People thought the iPhone would be called the iPhone for years.
I think that they should go with 'MacBook Pump' instead. The Reebok Pumps were so cool. Pump it up!
http://www.flytip.com/blogs/sneaker_culture/archives/images/alife_pump.jpg
dustinsc
Mar 22, 03:56 PM
I wonder if they'd give a revamped Classic Airplay capabilities... in addition to being the pocket media player we all know and love make it an addition to your other devices as a bulk mobile storage capable of pushing audio/video out to Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, etc. I'd buy another one then. I mean, I have a terabyte Toshiba drive that i carry in my laptop case, but that requires the USB cable. Who wants to dongle their drive?
This does make sense. It's also a nice opportunity to add Thunderbolt to a device. Apple would probably make it go through the iPod connector, but I don't really see that as a problem.
This does make sense. It's also a nice opportunity to add Thunderbolt to a device. Apple would probably make it go through the iPod connector, but I don't really see that as a problem.
flottenheimer
Mar 26, 12:12 PM
Very, very, very nice.
For a split second it almost convinced me to sell the family WII. Unfortunately my kids would miss Mario, Kirby, Klonoa and all the other Nintendo heroes way too much if I did that.
For a split second it almost convinced me to sell the family WII. Unfortunately my kids would miss Mario, Kirby, Klonoa and all the other Nintendo heroes way too much if I did that.
frankie
Aug 25, 11:09 AM
1. Apple doesn't pay those prices.
2. No way is Apple going to keep shipping any Yonah processors.
3. Any speed Solo Yonah will be history with this refresh.
4. It's gonna be 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500 and 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo T5600 minis.
5. I expect the iMac to sport faster Conroes in a completely new designed enclosure that can deal with the additional heat a Conroe setup will generate.
2. No way is Apple going to keep shipping any Yonah processors.
3. Any speed Solo Yonah will be history with this refresh.
4. It's gonna be 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500 and 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo T5600 minis.
5. I expect the iMac to sport faster Conroes in a completely new designed enclosure that can deal with the additional heat a Conroe setup will generate.
mrthieme
Nov 30, 05:15 AM
That would be nice, but to do this with existing hardware I plan to use a mac mini; logitech z990s and a TV or projector (no HD content in my country). Two things that setup won't do are HDTV and 7.1 sound.
I am about to do the same with a ppc mini that I don't use. I am hoping at least to get the Front Row interface with an integrated tuner to view cable tv without 3rd party hardware and software. The other features I mentioned are a long way away I suppose, but a simple one remote, one interface system is what I think alot of families would benefit from. Easy to use= likely to buy. itunes would not work if purchasing songs was a confusing labrynth of screens.
I am about to do the same with a ppc mini that I don't use. I am hoping at least to get the Front Row interface with an integrated tuner to view cable tv without 3rd party hardware and software. The other features I mentioned are a long way away I suppose, but a simple one remote, one interface system is what I think alot of families would benefit from. Easy to use= likely to buy. itunes would not work if purchasing songs was a confusing labrynth of screens.
Eraserhead
Mar 19, 05:07 AM
Its always a tough call, if you don't go in you risk something like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide
Where over half a million people are killed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide
Where over half a million people are killed.
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