DVD has found the light and it is blue

In Canada, CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission) is the main government
regulator for the broadcast media. To protect Canadian interests, it has a
regulation where radio stations should have at least 35% Canadian content per hour of broadcast (tv
stations=65% per day) on its broadcasts. Although, some radio station’s idea of Canadian content is to play the same just play the same Sarah Mclachlan/Shania Twain song combo over and over again.

If Tim was like the CRTC, I would have already received a stern memo regarding
my lack of Mac-related content on my blogs. So before we reach to the point
of being “regulated”, here is my flimsy attempt to inject some Mac content on
my blog.

If you’re like most people, you have a DVD player by now. They’re everywhere–not
just in stand-alone models hooked up to TVs but also built into
most computers and video-game consoles. The DVD format is one of the most rapidly
successful form of consumer technology to come along. Why? Well, the low prices
of players and computer-drive units are a big factor, one that came about largely
because DVD is just a refinement on existing compact-disc technology. Fierce
competition also helped spur the discounting. That explains why DVD succeeded
so quickly. But the main reason the format caught on at all is that the majority
of corporate parties decided on a single format first, before anyone sold any
players or discs.

The reason for the consensus was clear: nobody wanted to repeat the showdown
between formats that happened when Betamax and VHS launched. Having two incompatible
formats for videotaping created wariness in potential consumers and slowed
sales until the movie studios finally settled things by releasing exclusively
in the VHS format. That decision annoyed a great number of people who had made
what turned out to be the wrong purchase, so this time, the movie industry
insisted that everything be streamlined in advance for DVD. Which makes it
rather unfortunate that a new format war is brewing, this time over the next
refinement to DVD discs.

In the horizon is a new technology that would seem to be the successor to
the DVD technology. The idea is how to tweak the DVD technology to cram in
more gigabytes into a single disc.
The two competing standards, Blu Ray and HD-DVD, and they are surprisingly
similar, although incompatible, which should help create even more confusion
and reluctance to purchase. The core technology in both systems is a laser
circuit that produces blue light instead of the red that both CD and DVD players
use. Without getting too technical on it here is a summary of the spec for
both technologies and the original dvd technology

Parameters	BD	BD	HD-DVD	HD-DVD	DVD	DVD
Recording capacity	25GB	50GB	20GB	32GB	4.7GB	9.4GB
Number of layers	single-layer	dual-layer	single-layer	dual-layer	single-layer	dual-layer
Laser wavelength	405nm	405nm	405nm	405nm	650nm	650nm
Numerical aperture (NA)	0.85	0.85	0.65	0.65	0.60	0.60
Protection layer	0.1mm	0.1mm	0.6mm	0.6mm	0.6mm	0.6mm
Data transfer rate	36Mbps	36Mbps	36Mbps	36Mbps	11.08Mbps	11.08Mbps
Video compression	MPEG-2 H.264/AVC (?) VC-9 (?)	MPEG-2 H.264/AVC (?) VC-9 (?)	MPEG-2 H.264/AVC (?) VC-9 (?)	MPEG-2 H.264/AVC VC-9	MPEG-2	MPEG-2

I guess by now, you are asking… when are we getting to your Mac content?
Thank you for asking, I was about to get into that.

Over a month ago, Steve Jobs had made a statement in regards to the HD-DVD
technology,
urging Hollywood studios
shouldn’t license their movies for use in the planned technology until it
is proven to be “pirate proof”. That seem to be a negative comment about the
technology but by inference, Jobs seem to be more looking into the HD-DVD technology
than Blu Ray. You see being just a consumer, I tend to lean towards Blu Ray
to win out in this standards competition for the obvious reason of higher
capacity. More space means I can put in more of my backup data into less number
of discs. I would end up with less number of discs whenever I buy movies. Less
discs, less clutter. In this situation : “Size does matter”

I tried doing a google search on any further info of Steve Job’s take on either
HD-DVD and/or Blu Ray. But have not found any. It could either mean (1) He
just waiting out for further development on either technology or (2) last month’s
statement about HD-DVD is already a statement of which technology he is considering.

The reason I am concerned is Steve Job might adopt the equivalent of the
“Betamax of the next generation DVD technology” on its future Apple computers.
Last thing I wanted is not being able to plug in a store-bought movie into
my Mac. Blu Ray is being developed jointly by a consortium of 11 leading consumer
electronics companies which inludes Sony, Samsung, Pioneer and Sharp. Dell
and HP had also lend their support on adopting the technology. While HD-DVD
is being pushed by NEC and Toshiba. So on face value, it seems Blu Ray would
win out. Howerver, the key selling point of the HD format was that the discs
could be manufactured with existing equipment (it is just basically an extension
of the current DVD technology albeit using blue light). Blu-ray discs, by contrast,
required new machines. And we know that in regards to technology adoption,
if it cost less to produce, it tends to be more attractive to the industry.

Last week, Memory-Tech, one of Japan’s largest optical disc makers, demonstrated
production of HD-DVD discs using a slightly modified DVD production line at
its factory in Akeno. The company said it will be able to
produce HD-DVDs initially at a premium of about ten per cent over current DVDs,
and rapidly move to near-DVD prices.

According to their press release

“Memory-Tech showed an optical disc production
line turning out HD-DVD discs at a rate, or cycle-time, of one every 3.5
seconds. After several minutes of production, the line was halted and switched
to DVD production by swapping the disc stamping tool. The switch took around
five minutes, after which the same production line turned out DVDs at a cycle
time of 3 seconds.

The fact that the Memory-Tech demonstration has focused on optical disc
production and not the more consumer-friendly areas of picture or sound quality
could indicate that the battle between HD-DVD and the rival Blu-ray Disc
format will be fought not in the living room but in the board rooms of major
movie producers and DVD distributors. The reason: when it comes to picture
and sound quality, which both consumers and content producers tend to scrutinize
closely, there is little to tell the two formats apart. Both deliver digital
high-definition images that most users would be hard-pressed to distinguish.
”

For more about Blue Ray visit this link.

On HD-DVD, well, go look it up yourself… no wait, here is the link

Being a Friday, I am not being creative, so I will call this section just

Odd News

News 1 : Such Irony

A Renowned mountain climber who hails from Victoria, BC has died after falling
from a tree while trying to rescue a cat. The 49 year old who
was well knowned for
his climbing particularly at the Canadian Rockies and Yosemite National
Park in the U.S has
suffered major internal injuries after he slipped climbing a rain soaked arbutus

tree and fell 60ft while being paid to retrieve a large black cat for its owner.
He later succumbed at the hospital due to his injuries. (Victoria
News)

News 2 : You may not eat the bride

A Pakistani man who enjoys eating carpets, light bulbs, teacups, glass and
grass is blaming his bizarre diet on his inability to find a wife. Allah Wasayo,
55, says that his relatives will not allow him to marry because they fear he
will eventually eat his wife. Wasayo has had x-rays done which show that there
is nothing unusual about his digestive system, yet he has never been cut by
the sharp objects he eats and has never suffered from stomach aches or digestive
problems. “All eatables taste the same to me,” he says, “I
eat carpets, cups, saucers, pieces of glass, pulao, chicken karahi and grass
with the same fervor.” (Ananova)