I am proud to say I do not own an HD player (neither the Blu-Ray nor HD DVD) for reasons that I have explained on here several times. But for the sake of clarity here are the coles notes on that issue:
1) Cost – They’re getting cheaper, but they’re still expensive
2) Pick a Side – No thanks. With Sony movies only playing on Blu-Ray, Paramount exclusively on HD DVD, I don’t want to pick a side and screw myself out of a movie I really want
3) Beta remembered – My cousin had a Beta player with a bunch of movies. I remember he cried a lot when he couldn’t get new movies anymore. Either Blu-Ray or HD DVD owners will be re-living that history sometime soon.
4) DVD still looks great.
Essentially, I’m not going to bother with the pointless HD consumerism crazy until the prices come way down and there is 1 universal format. Now, with that all being said….
Looks like there is a new third player on the scene. The Versatile Media Disc (VMD). I remember a while ago hearing about this, but to be honest I thought it would never get off the chalk board and I quickly forgot all about it. Well here it is… it probably won’t live long, but for now, it is here.
The following comes from High Def Digest:
the upstart format’s red laser multilayer disc is currently capable of storing 15 to 20 GB on a single layer, with plans to grow that number to 30GB.
…the format’s real sell is its ability to deliver the same high-quality video and audio as Blu-ray and HD DVD at a fraction of the cost — both to the consumer, and the content creator. While disc production costs for Blu-ray and HD DVD are said to run somewhere between $2 to $3 a unit, VMD discs reportedly cost just over a $1/unit to produce, only slightly more than standard-def DVD.
The big card in VMD’s hand is the base unity cost. Right now you can buy a VMD player on Amazon for under $180. Not bad at all. Never underestimate the power of low prices on the masses (WalMart has made a living from that). But the main problem that VMD will have (and will ultimately prevent it from ever making a dent in the North American market) is that no major studios have, or will license their movies to be released in that format. It’s all well and good to have a great, high quality and affordable HD player… but if you don’t have any of the movies you want to watch on it… it’s just a paper weight (much like my old Zip drive… dear heavens remember those?)
So the VMD is here… and it’s very real. I just don’t see it becoming a player or a factor whatsoever in this market. Too bad.
