CES 2008 Predictions!

[DaViD Boulet]

my prediction of CES post-WB press release:

Universal or Paramount will make some sort of indication about their future BD support.

[DaViD Boulet]

Since that is a Sony title I see it as an extremely mute point. Sony will cling to bluray until it's last dying breath.

The irony of that statement is now obvious to everyone.

His titles from Universal and Paramount, Dreamworks will look fantastic. Above 20 mbps you will never see the difference anyway. Encoders and blind tests have more than confirmed this. At 20mbps VC1 or AVC is the equivalent of at least 40 mbps mpeg-2.

In general, yes, VC1 or AVC offer twice the efficiency of MPEG2. However, achieving transparency at 20 MBPS (or less) is source-dependent and depends on how much time a compressionist is paid to spend on a project. Having headroom means you can raise the bit-meter and get a transparent compression in fewer passes (or one pass) and save money. Not to mention that there are other things that share the bandwidth pipe other than video... on HD DVD for instance, there are video encodes that aren't able to offer both 20mbps VC-1 *and* lossless audio... even with TrueHD compression (Transformers).

Of course, those who don't mind restricted bandwidth media (MS and you) will happily inform us that we don't need lossless audio since Dolby running at 1500 kbps is transparent to 100% of the population...



Thankfully for us all, what MS considers "transparent" no longer has to restrict the format that will deliver our high-definition content. BD has room enough for 20mbps (or higher) video *and* lossless audio... in 24-bit resolution... for virtually any title.

[TheMoose]

Bill gates just did his Keynote at CES & no mention at all of an ultimate Xbox 360 or a built in HD-DVD drive in the 360.

There also seems to be no sign of the 51G HD-DVD.

[DaViD Boulet]

There also seems to be no sign of the 51G HD-DVD.

That's the one that surprises me... assuming that there really is some 51GB HD DVD news to share. Even in light of recent Warner events, why not let the world know that 51GB was a reality and not just internet-discussion-forum-spin?

[TheMoose]

Originally Posted by DaViD Boulet

That's the one that surprises me... assuming that there really is some 51GB HD DVD news to share. Even in light of recent Warner events, why not let the world know that 51GB was a reality and not just internet-discussion-forum-spin?

My guess is then HD-DVD group is just freaked out & maybe they just completely pulled out of the show to "circle the wagons"
So did they just decide to not show the 51G or is it really "vaporwear"?

I personally think HD-DVD would be best laid to rest but who knows what will happen, if they hold on to Universal & won't release paramount & Dreamworks from their contract maybe Toshiba will release a dual format player & stretch it out as long as they can.

[DaViD Boulet]

My bet: 51GB HD DVD is vaporware (or still in development without a clear sign of affordable replication and interoperability between hardware).