[marzetta7]

So, I've been looking into the looming format war that seems to be upon us with the inroduction of high-definition dvd formats. We have two main formats, one proposed by Toshiba and NEC (HD-DVD)--which has been ratified as the read-only format successor to DVD by the DVD Forum--and the other format (Blu-Ray) which has been proposed by Hitachi, Ltd., LG Electronics Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Pioneer Corporation, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation, TDK Corporation, and Thomson Multimedia. So my questions are, with whom will Apple be siding with? Can we expect the Blu-Ray technology on PowerMac's in 2005?

These events pose numerous and other interesting questions. So far, I'm liking the Blu-Ray Technology. You can find all the info you need on it here:

http://www.blu-ray.com/faq/

It looks like the technology will be backward compatible with people's existing DVD library, incorporate the latest H.264(MPEG4) codec, and hold up to 25 GB on a single-layered disk and 50 GB on a dual-layered disk. Compared to the HD-DVD format which will only hold 15 GB on a single-layered disk and 30GB on a dual-layered disk. And, given the fact that Philips has developed an all-in-one optical pickup unit for CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs that will fit into a standard half-height drive:

http://www.physicsweb.org/press/7039

I'm wondering when Apple will incorporate such a technology into future PowerMacs? Also, it looks like Sony will also be using the BD format (Blu-Ray Disk) in their next generation PS2 (PSX) and PS3 game consoles.

http://www.blu-ray.com/

So the technology is right upon us, when and if do you guys think we can expect it in our handy PowerMacs?

-Maz

[videian28]

just as long as they are backwards compatable with DVD -R, cause we got no spot to add a second drive =/

[marzetta7]

Check this out,

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/538/538449p1.html?fromint=1

Now that's some serious storage. It looks as though Blu-Ray also might be using the H.264 (MP4) codec as well. They came out with their 1.0 specification, but the details of their specification is known only to those who are going to license it. Anybody know anyone close to the situation who is willing to spill the beans?

[hadocon]

Originally posted by marzetta7:
Check this out,

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/538/538449p1.html?fromint=1

Now that's some serious storage. It looks as though Blu-Ray also might be using the H.264 (MP4) codec as well. They came out with their 1.0 specification, but the details of their specification is known only to those who are going to license it. Anybody know anyone close to the situation who is willing to spill the beans?

Uh, Why does a drive need to use a specific codec (or any codec for that matter)? Why incorporate a codec into the drive?