OK, if you’re reading this, odds are you’re familiar with the Blu-ray Disc vs. HD DVD format war. Way back in May, 2006 I mentioned HD VMD, which is a 3rd format backed by – well, no one important. It first popped up about two years ago, before the next-gen discs launched, and it has been vaporware ever since. The idea is that it is based directly on DVD – red lasers, same materials, etc. But the actual specifications seem to change every time it is mentioned. It has been talked about as a multi-layer disc, up to four layers, with anything from 20GB to 40GB capacity. It definitely supports MPEG-2 as a codec, but may or may not support MPEG-4/H.264 and VC-1/WMV9. It supports 7.1 audio, but not Dolby TrueHD or DTS-MA. And it has jack-all support from major studios.
Apparently it is moving out of the vaporware category into the real but still stupid and pointless category, with the supposed launch of the New Medium Enterprises ML6225 and ML7775 this month. It will support 1080p output over HDMI 1.3 and sports an Ethernet port, and will reportedly have an MSRP of $200.
There is absolutely no point in buying one of these. Hell, I’d recommend buying HD DVD before this idiotic product, and you know how I feel about HD DVD if you’ve been reading this blog.
Picked up from Gizmodo.
And, if that wasn’t enough, China is getting in on the action as well. They’re introducing CH-DVD for the Chinese market. CH-DVD is based on HD DVD, but with changes to incorporate local intellectual property. At least CH-DVD is designed just for China – there are no plans to try to launch it in other markets. See the press release for details. Picked up from EngadgetHD.