DVD Releases and News

NME Introducing YAF (Yet Another Format) into HD-DVD/Blu-ray War

We don't know about you, but we're getting really peeved by all the next-gen DVD madness.

As if we needed something else to distract our attention away from maniacally perusing all the tech hardware sites and DVD blogosphere, waiting with baited breath to see who will come out on top as the High Def victor (will it be the manufacturers of a dual-format player or one of the proprietary disk formats?).

Well, here comes New Media Enterprises, Inc., tossing a bomb into the middle of the fray with the new HD VMD format, or High Definition Versatile MultiLayer Disc. Apparently, they have "found a means of exploiting the unused or wasted space between the existing layers of a standard DVD through [their] unique multilayer technology."

Cop the overview from the official site:

- Format suited for High definition content
- Uses existing Red laser technology
- Multi-layer storage increases capacity
- VM Disc capacity 20 > 100 GB
- VMD Player hosts all standard formats
- Prices comparable to existing products

Now, even though we're still trying to see through the angst of introducing a new format into the already confused market, the technology does have a few things going for it. First off, it utilizes existing Red laser technology which, as NME so adroitly points out, would keep manufactuers from having to totally revamp their production lines, in the end saving the end users money. The website purports an HD VMD player RRP range of $100 - $250 as opposed to Blue laser players currently running $500 - $1000.

Second, the technology can be adapted to Blue lasers once the wavelength is perfected, "increasing capacity of its currently proposed 50GB maximal possible capacity to 100GB and 200GB."

Obviously, time will only tell. In the meantime, we're going to meander back to our SD sets, plop in an old hat DVD, and watch the fireworks from the sidelines.

- Link to NME Website
- NME Comparison Chart between HD VMD and Blue laser formats

source: Yahoo Finance

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Posted by on August 29, 2006 5:30 PM
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