[icruise]

Is there any real proof the Walmart actually has an active interest in wanting HD-DVD to win? Just because they want to sell cheap HD-DVD players doesn't necessarily mean that they have chosen sides per se.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Is there any real proof the Walmart actually has an active interest in wanting HD-DVD to win? Just because they want to sell cheap HD-DVD players doesn't necessarily mean that they have chosen sides per se.

Wal*Mart wants HD DVD to win because they make more money selling a million HD DVD players at $300-350 than selling a thousand BluRay players at $700-800. When the prices switch so will their "preference."

[Eug]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Is there any real proof the Walmart actually has an active interest in wanting HD-DVD to win? Just because they want to sell cheap HD-DVD players doesn't necessarily mean that they have chosen sides per se.

I agree completely.

Nonetheless, the news is interesting. It does give credence to all the reports that HD DVD's game plan was fundamentally different from Blu-ray's. HD DVD has gone for price, and that's the stuff that makes Wal-Mart (which has 40% of the DVD market in the US) very, very happy.

BTW, I saw this posted elsewhere:

CED Industry Newsletter

Blu-ray stalwart Panasonic brutalized LG for its combo at the latest DVD Forum Steering Committee meeting, we're told. From transcripts we've seen, Panasonic accused LG of breach of contract for offering a combo player, and said it should be censured for doing so. LG blithely thanked Panasonic for bringing publicity to its combo -- and said its lawyers would respond. In what seemed an exchange of spite, LG split ranks with its Blu-ray compatriots by voting in favor of all HD DVD measures before the SC -- rather than abstaining, as the pragmatic Korean companies usually had.

Wowsers!

EDIT:

Onkyo "on track" for releasing HD DVD player

Onkyo USA unveiled one new Onkyo-brand DVD player and three Onkyo-brand HTiBs, said it is reevaluating its Onkyo-brand DVD strategy, and is on track to offer its first HD DVD player later this year. It will carry the Onkyo brand name.

We knew something was coming already, since MS mentioned Onkyo was working on one, but we hadn't heard much on this since January.

[icruise]

Remember how The Planet Earth on HD-DVD was #4 on Amazon's DVD ranking a little bit ago? It turns out that was the result of a campaign by regulars on AVSForums, who decided that they would all purchase stuff on the same day "to show support for HD DVD." Sounds more like they were trying to make it look more popular than it actually was (easy to do on Amazon, because they only show rankings and not actual sales numbers).

Format War Soldiers: Sync'd HD-DVD Purchase by Fanboys Spike Amazon Rank, Blu-Rayers Set To Retaliate - Gizmodo

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Remember how The Planet Earth on HD-DVD was #4 on Amazon's DVD ranking a little bit ago? It turns out that was the result of a campaign by regulars on AVSForums, who decided that they would all purchase stuff on the same day "to show support for HD DVD." Sounds more like they were trying to make it look more popular than it actually was (easy to do on Amazon, because they only show rankings and not actual sales numbers).

Format War Soldiers: Sync'd HD-DVD Purchase by Fanboys Spike Amazon Rank, Blu-Rayers Set To Retaliate - Gizmodo

Yeah, I saw that. Pretty sad.

Ok, people, buy movies because you want them, not to prop up a particular company.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Remember how The Planet Earth on HD-DVD was #4 on Amazon's DVD ranking a little bit ago? It turns out that was the result of a campaign by regulars on AVSForums, who decided that they would all purchase stuff on the same day "to show support for HD DVD." Sounds more like they were trying to make it look more popular than it actually was (easy to do on Amazon, because they only show rankings and not actual sales numbers).

Format War Soldiers: Sync'd HD-DVD Purchase by Fanboys Spike Amazon Rank, Blu-Rayers Set To Retaliate - Gizmodo

Actually, that's not correct.

The overall HD DVD spike was partially a stupid coordinated buy, that's true, but not for Planet Earth.

Planet Earth on HD DVD has been consistently outperforming Planet Earth on Blu-ray for weeks now, and had been in the top ten for most of that time.

It does show you just how miniscule sales are on both formats are though.

[icruise]

Well, the guys on the AVSForums certainly seem to think they were responsible for it. Just read the last few pages of this thread. You'll see that Planet Earth went from at least #16 (I think it was actually lower, but I can't be bothered to search the whole thread) to #4 in a single day just based on their group buy.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Remember how The Planet Earth on HD-DVD was #4 on Amazon's DVD ranking a little bit ago? It turns out that was the result of a campaign by regulars on AVSForums, who decided that they would all purchase stuff on the same day "to show support for HD DVD." Sounds more like they were trying to make it look more popular than it actually was (easy to do on Amazon, because they only show rankings and not actual sales numbers).

Format War Soldiers: Sync'd HD-DVD Purchase by Fanboys Spike Amazon Rank, Blu-Rayers Set To Retaliate - Gizmodo

Of course, in the end, what does it matter? The units were sold and profit was made from them. That's all the movie companies care about.

[icruise]

It only matters insofar as people like us were using the Amazon rankings as a way to see how popular one format was in relation to the other. I for one won't be doing that any longer, now that I know how easily it is manipulated.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by icruise 

It only matters insofar as people like us were using the Amazon rankings as a way to see how popular one format was in relation to the other. I for one won't be doing that any longer, now that I know how easily it is manipulated.

Again, how does this invalidate HD-DVD's popularity? Obviously HD-DVD is popular enough that a bunch of people bought Planet Earth.

[aristotles]

I'd recommend staying away from Warnerbros movies on Blu-ray.

I bought Swordfish on BD and it looks like it was a quick port from their HD-DVD version as it lacked a main menu and the main feature was in VC-1 instead of AVC (H264) or MPEG2. The format has enough capacity to just go with MPEG2 for the main feature. They also did not offer uncompressed PCM IIRC.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by aristotles 

I bought Swordfish on BD and it looks like it was a quick port from their HD-DVD version as it lacked a main menu and the main feature was in VC-1 instead of AVC (H264) or MPEG2.

Doubt it. Menus on HD-DVD are a big feature. They probably didn't add a menu because Bluray can't support HD-DVD style menus.

Originally Posted by aristotles 

The format has enough capacity to just go with MPEG2 for the main feature. They also did not offer uncompressed PCM IIRC.

MPEG2 is not superior. In fact, it's inferior. MPEG4 does the exact same quality at a lower bitrate.

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Doubt it. Menus on HD-DVD are a big feature. They probably didn't add a menu because Bluray can't support HD-DVD style menus.

More FUD. Swordfish did have the in-line menus that appears over the video like every other BD title has but it went straight to the main feature when you popped it in and was lacking the intro and main menu found in every other BD title I own. Nice try.

MPEG2 is not superior. In fact, it's inferior. MPEG4 does the exact same quality at a lower bitrate.

AVC is superior in terms of compression but it requires more processing to create a good quality encode. I would have been happy with either one as I pointed out that BD can accommodate a feature in bloated but high bitrate MPEG2, AVC or VC-1 but for regular length feature film, BD has more than enough room for using MPEG2 unlike HD-DVD.

[icruise]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Again, how does this invalidate HD-DVD's popularity? Obviously HD-DVD is popular enough that a bunch of people bought Planet Earth.

If the users of a single internet forum (numbering in the low hundreds) can have such a major effect on these rankings, then it just goes to show that neither HD-DVD or Blu-ray are "popular" in any commonly accepted sense of the word. And it makes using these rankings as some kind of "proof" that one format is winning totally ridiculous. Do I really need to explain this further?

[Eug]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Well, the guys on the AVSForums certainly seem to think they were responsible for it. Just read the last few pages of this thread. You'll see that Planet Earth went from at least #16 (I think it was actually lower, but I can't be bothered to search the whole thread) to #4 in a single day just based on their group buy.

It was top 6-8 for quite some time after that, and then went back to #4 yesterday. And, in the entire time, it's been ahead of the Blu-ray version.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by aristotles 

More FUD. Swordfish did have the in-line menus that appears over the video like every other BD title has but it went straight to the main feature when you popped it in and was lacking the intro and main menu found in every other BD title I own. Nice try.

Ok. What does this have to do with what I said?

Originally Posted by aristotles 

AVC is superior in terms of compression but it requires more processing to create a good quality encode.

Are you seriously suggesting the movie companies are short on processing power?

Originally Posted by aristotles 

I would have been happy with either one as I pointed out that BD can accommodate a feature in bloated but high bitrate MPEG2

Why would you want to use MPEG2?

Originally Posted by aristotles 

...AVC or VC-1 but for regular length feature film, BD has more than enough room for using MPEG2 unlike HD-DVD.

That's like saying the iPod has enough room to store AIFF files, therefore iPod owners should use AIFF files.

[exca1ibur]

I believe what he is saying that since Bluray has more room they could have used a higher bitrate video file to have better QUALITY that what is there reguardless of what codec it is.

By a port, he means they just used the lowest common denominator for the file and used the same file for both, instead of using the extra space for higher quality video quality. Typical of cross platform development, because its easier for them. Happens all the time in game development.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by exca1ibur 

I believe what he is saying that since Bluray has more room they could have used a higher bitrate video file to have better QUALITY that what is there reguardless of what codec it is.

But MPEG2 isn't higher quality than MPEG4. An MPEG4 equal to the quality of an MPEG2 on a Bluray disk has absolutely no problem fitting on an HD-DVD

Originally Posted by exca1ibur 

By a port, he means they just used the lowest common denominator for the file and used the same file for both, instead of using the extra space for higher quality video quality. Typical of cross platform development, because its easier for them. Happens all the time in game development.

VC1 is not going to lose quality at that file size vs. MPEG2. The only disadvantage of VC1 or MPEG4 is that files using those codecs require more horsepower to play back, but obvious HD-DVD or Bluray drives won't be having that issue.

[exca1ibur]

Originally Posted by goMac 

But MPEG2 isn't higher quality than MPEG4. An MPEG4 equal to the quality of an MPEG2 on a Bluray disk has absolutely no problem fitting on an HD-DVD

I am not debating that at all. I know MP2 isn't better than MP4 OR VC1. I'm just stating that no matter which is used, a higher bitrate file can be used on Bluray since it has more space, thats all.

VC1 is not going to lose quality at that file size vs. MPEG2. The only disadvantage of VC1 or MPEG4 is that files using those codecs require more horsepower to play back, but obvious HD-DVD or Bluray drives won't be having that issue.

I totally agree. Horsepower isn't an issue with a player so thats never an issue that should come up for either format.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by exca1ibur 

I am not debating that at all. I know MP2 isn't better than MP4 OR VC1. I'm just stating that no matter which is used, a higher bitrate file can be used on Bluray since it has more space, thats all.

Many of the top picture quality BR disks are actually MPEG2 ones with high bit rates on 50gig disks.

[goMac]

Sam's Club is selling the XBox 360 HD-DVD drive for $72 it seems:
Dealzmodo: Sam's Club Xbox 360 HD DVD Drives for $72 - Gizmodo

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Sam's Club is selling the XBox 360 HD-DVD drive for $72 it seems:
Dealzmodo: Sam's Club Xbox 360 HD DVD Drives for $72 - Gizmodo

Only some Sam's Clubs are doing this. The one local to me still has it for $180.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Sam's Club is selling the XBox 360 HD-DVD drive for $72 it seems:
Dealzmodo: Sam's Club Xbox 360 HD DVD Drives for $72 - Gizmodo

ONE Sam's Club is selling it for $72. There is absolutely no evidence that ANY others are.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Oh, and the "story" that Wal-Mart placed an order for 2,000,000 cheap HD DVD players from China has been debunked. Something about a "translation" error....

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

Oh, and the "story" that Wal-Mart placed an order for 2,000,000 cheap HD DVD players from China has been debunked. Something about a "translation" error....

The debunking was actually debunked. Already covered here I thought.

[Eug]

Fuh Yuan press release correction

Correction Statement

We are sorry to correct the statement that we have two million HD-DVD players order from Wal-Mart and manufactured by China Great Wall Group. The actuality is that we had not received yet. We are asked to provide the schedule to Wal-Mart and cost to determine the quantity even more than two million, if the cost is good enough and timing is correct. So the capacity is under consideration. Any qualified manufactured base group will be welcome.

[alligator]

Which player has the fastest load times now? That will affect my purchase decision.

[Hawkeye_a]

Do any of these first gen HD-DVD or BR-DVD players have hardware decoding for x.264 or VC1 ?

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a 

Do any of these first gen HD-DVD or BR-DVD players have hardware decoding for x.264 or VC1 ?

All of the standalones do.

The decoding on the Xbox 360 and PS3 is software based.

[Adam Betts]

Originally Posted by alligator 

Which player has the fastest load times now? That will affect my purchase decision.

I don't see the difference between two for movies but for games Blu-ray is considerably slow due to 2X read speed. Both looks pretty identical to me speed and feature wise except for HD DVD's Picture-in-Picture feature which I really like.

I only own PS3 and Xbox360 HD DVD addon so I'm not sure if it's any different for HD standalone players.

[Eug]

So, supposed insider sources say the HD DVD Wal-Mart deal is actually now a done deal, but the details about manufacturing times are being worked out. Take with a grain of salt until more press releases come out though of course.

Originally Posted by Adam Betts 

I don't see the difference between two for movies but for games Blu-ray is considerably slow due to 2X read speed. Both looks pretty identical to me speed and feature wise except for HD DVD's Picture-in-Picture feature which I really like.

I only own PS3 and Xbox360 HD DVD addon so I'm not sure if it's any different for HD standalone players.

The standalones are apparently slower.

And the 1st gen. HD DVD players are excruiciating slow at first bootup. I had the Toshiba HD-A1 briefly. The A2 is supposedly much faster, but I've never used one.

[exca1ibur]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Many of the top picture quality BR disks are actually MPEG2 ones with high bit rates on 50gig disks.

Yes, but imagine MP4 at higher rates using the same space on a 50gig disk, is what I mean. It should be possible for a flawless picture depending on the source.

[Eug]

H.264 and VC-1 can be flawless on both 25 GB Blu-ray discs and 30 GB HD DVD discs.

MPEG2 is in much more need of a 50 GB disc, unless it's a very short title.

There's usually not much point in using VC-1 and H.264 at top end MPEG2 bitrates. It's a waste of bits.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by exca1ibur 

Yes, but imagine MP4 at higher rates using the same space on a 50gig disk, is what I mean. It should be possible for a flawless picture depending on the source.

They have already achieved a flawless picture without having to max out a 50 gig disk with high MP4 bitrates.

[Eug]

Ken Kutaragi is stepping down.

Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Corporation have jointly announced that Ken Kutaragi, representative director, chairman and group CEO of SCEI will retire from his executive position effective June 19, 2007.

According to Sony After launching the PlayStation 3 worldwide. Kutaragi has decided to "pursue his dreams beyond PlayStation and to accelerate his network vision."


Toshiba predicts 4 to 5 million HD DVD players will be sold in fiscal 2007.

Toshiba Corp aims to sell around 3 mln players compatible with the HD DVD next-generation optical disc format in the current year to March 2008, up sharply from the 250,000 units it sold last fiscal year, the Nikkei financial daily reported, without citing sources.

The global market for next-generation DVD players is seen at 4-5 mln units in fiscal 2007, with Toshiba seeking a 60-70 pct share, the Nikkei said.

(Toshiba's fiscal 2007 year is from April 2007 to March 2008.)

[icruise]

Toshiba's prediction seems a tad optimistic, but we'll see.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Eug 

Toshiba predicts 4 to 5 million HD DVD players will be sold in fiscal 2007.[/i]

(Toshiba's fiscal 2007 year is from April 2007 to March 2008.)

How did they go up to 5 million from the 1 million they said they would sell this year 3 months ago?

[aristotles]

To reiterate what others have said, if load times are a concern, get a console or console+addon drive that plays the format of your choice.

I've had no problems playing back MPEG2, AVC (H.264) or VC-1 BD titles on my PS3 with Dolby Digital, DTS HD or Uncompressed Multichannel PCM audio.

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

How did they go up to 5 million from the 1 million they said they would sell this year 3 months ago?

Not to defend Toshiba but they seem to be claiming that they will sell 4 million between now and March 2008. Three months ago was at the end of the third quarter of their 2006 fiscal year but his new number is for their fiscal year 2007.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by icruise 

Toshiba's prediction seems a tad optimistic, but we'll see.

I agree. Optimistic.

I think if they sell 3+ million total, they'd be doing very, very well.

P.S. Here are the supposed inside claims about the Fuh Yuan deal:

The Fuh Yuan base deal is done. They will be producing HD DVD players for Wal-Mart.

No one says the deal hasn't been done yet or that the initial order will not be completed. The posting on their web site is a bit confusing, and may be an attempt to stop people form contacting them directly.

I don't know about the significance of the recent post on their site, but it does not affect the base deal. That is in progress and sub-contracts have been made and finalized.

They are looking for the best price and availability they can give to Wal-mart for deliveries above the base amount.

Initial confirmed order quantities are over 1 Million units, its probable the 2 Million units initially mentioned in the first Fuh Yuan press release is the base number. Fuh Yuan has been asked to give quotes and estimates on how quickly numbers above the base quantity can be delivered next year.

Early estimates of full scale mass production in August were evaluated and found to be somewhat aggressive and possibly over optimistic. Physical assembly or staffing or the physical facility is not the issue, a short delay is SoC software related. Plant will be producing at that time but full scale production may slip until October, with initial batch quantities of 5-10 thousand units required to be available in the first week or so of October.

Recent meetings between Fuh Yuan and Broadcom engineers revised the schedule and engineering considerations have lead to the late August to early October production schedule slippage.

Fuh Yuan is making the chassis and loader and doing assembly.

Decoder chip and other silicon being supplied by Broadcom, probably the reference design announced at CES, or a derivative.

The optical unit is based on a Toshiba HD DVD unit design and is being manufactured by the TDK hardware unit under contract.

Wal-Mart has certified the China Great Wall manufacturing facility for Wal-Mart (probably for compliance with stuff like personnel management and environmental considerations) .

Probable limited production runs available in mid-late Oct in some selected Wal-Mart stores. Wal-Mart under control obviously of when they first start to sell the players, but some limited production available to them in October.

I have conflicting information on when the initial 2 million orders is scheduled to be delivered by. One source says all by end of 2007. Several others say, some in October, a lot (around 1 million or so ) by EOY 2007, with the rest in early 2008. The quantity produced by the end of the year may be dependent on the production throughput of the plant which is not known yet.

Its possible that under 50% of the initial 2 M units may be available by the end of the year. Big volume is expected in 2008 and as of now more than 50% of the 2M order is expected after the EOY.

Last Friday Fuh Yuan had a major meeting with Broadcom, perhaps feedback from Broadcom was the reason for the August to October full scale production delay. Broadcom may have to spin the chip or may have a delay in the completion of the embedded software or perhaps Broadcom wanted a bit of room in the overall software schedule.

Several other SoC player deals for HD DVD are now in the works. This isn't the only deal being worked on, though it is one of the largest and obviously significant because it involves Wal-Mart.

All major SoC guys like Broadcom and Sigma are working now on HD DVD solutions. Sigma's Blu-ray SoC solution is available but any units using it will not be in production before this Fuh Yuan device hits the shelves.

[exca1ibur]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

They have already achieved a flawless picture without having to max out a 50 gig disk with high MP4 bitrates.

Then why are people bitching about picture quality and bad transfers?

[goMac]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

They have already achieved a flawless picture without having to max out a 50 gig disk with high MP4 bitrates.

You mean low MP4 bitrates, right? MP4 is lower bitrate than MP2.

[goMac]

HD-DVD has sold 998,000 disks and is outselling Bluray in the standalone player market 4:1.

HD DVD to Blu-ray: "Oh yeah, well we've sold a lot of discs too!" - Engadget HD

Doesn't look like HD-DVD is that far behind Bluray disk sales.

[icruise]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Doesn't look like HD-DVD is that far behind Bluray disk sales.

The only problem is that, for all intents and purposes, Blu-ray launched in late November with the PS3. And if you look at the number of players and number of discs sold since then (i.e. since Blu-ray actually became a viable option) the picture isn't nearly as rosy. But I guess there's no other way to put a positive spin on a 70/30 split in movie sales in Blu-ray's favor in the last quarter.

That's not to say that the very cheap hardware we've been discussing might not help shift the balance again, but saying that the two are neck and neck right now flies in the face of reality.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by icruise 

The only problem is that, for all intents and purposes, Blu-ray launched in late November with the PS3. And if you look at the number of players and number of discs sold since then (i.e. since Blu-ray actually became a viable option) the picture isn't nearly as rosy. But I guess there's no other way to put a positive spin on a 70/30 split in movie sales in Blu-ray's favor in the last quarter.

That's not to say that the very cheap hardware we've been discussing might not help shift the balance again, but saying that the two are neck and neck right now flies in the face of reality.

The other twist though is that in Q1 there were almost no HD DVD releases. Thus, the slow sales is not unexpected in that context.

---

Wal-Mart Shoots Down Cheap HD DVD Rumor

A spokesperson for the company said Thursday that reported leak concerning Taiwan-based consumer electronics manufacturer, Fuh Yuan, partnering with TDK in China to manufacture the $250-299 players, had no merit. The report first appeared in AVS Forums, and was picked up by other Web sites.

"The article… was full of inaccuracies and we had no participation in it," the spokesman said in an e-mail to PC Magazine. "Most of the facts, including the purchase, were untrue," she added. "Not sure how it originated."

When asked to comment specifically on a statement appearing on Fuh Yuan's site Welcome::::Fuhyuan Electronics Development::::, which implies the retailer is at least interested in ordering the players, the spokesperson said she could not comment on or disclose Wal-Mart's internal business with suppliers and our orders. However, the supplier said that no deal was imminent.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by exca1ibur 

Then why are people bitching about picture quality and bad transfers?

Because early on there was a couple movies on BOTH formats that didn't look so hot and since Sony Bashing is in style and the bad looking disks were the first off the lot and using MPEG2 people were quick to call all MPEG2 crap and MPEG4 and VC-1 better (which just happens to be what HD-DVD uses).

So far some of the "reference quality" BR disks have been MPEG2 and reviewers are calling it the second coming of the codec as it can look damn good.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Because early on there was a couple movies on BOTH formats that didn't look so hot and since Sony Bashing is in style and the bad looking disks were the first off the lot and using MPEG2 people were quick to call all MPEG2 crap and MPEG4 and VC-1 better (which just happens to be what HD-DVD uses).

The reason MPEG2 doesn't look as good is because MPEG2 won't fit on a Bluray disk so they have to turn the quality down.

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

So far some of the "reference quality" BR disks have been MPEG2 and reviewers are calling it the second coming of the codec as it can look damn good.

Could be shorter titles. Regardless, there is no excuse to be publishing on MPEG2. MPEG4 quality is equal to MPEG2, if not better for the longer titles. In addition using MPEG4 helps with production because an MPEG4 disk is faster to burn than an MPEG2 disk for the same quality.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by goMac 

The reason MPEG2 doesn't look as good is because MPEG2 won't fit on a Bluray disk so they have to turn the quality down.

MPEG2 is fine on BD50. The problem though is that some of the early discs were BD25 (because BD50 wasn't ready yet), and not very well encoded either, from not-so-good masters.

Could be shorter titles. Regardless, there is no excuse to be publishing on MPEG2. MPEG4 quality is equal to MPEG2, if not better for the longer titles. In addition using MPEG4 helps with production because an MPEG4 disk is faster to burn than an MPEG2 disk for the same quality.

That makes no sense. Commercial discs are stamped, not burned.

BTW, most of the time when people say "MPEG4", they aren't referring to H.264.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Eug 

That makes no sense. Commercial discs are stamped, not burned.

Added to the list of things I did not know.

Regardless, I still don't see any reason MPEG2 is sticking around.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Regardless, I still don't see any reason MPEG2 is sticking around.

Lots of people are used to working with MPEG2, and many of the MPEG2-based applications are apparently much more mature. Plus, encoding with it takes a lot less time.

If MPEG2 works fine, then there's nothing wrong with using it.