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NEC unveils chip to bridge Blu-ray/HD-DVD divide

  • By Michael Kanellos, News.com
  • Posted Oct 11, 2006 4:24 pm PT

One chip that works with both standards could cut the cost of building a player that accommodates Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs.

From News.com

Just as Microsoft and Sony are squaring off with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, respectively, so too are their preferred next-generation disc formats. Microsoft is backing Toshiba's HD-DVD format with next month's release of an HD-DVD add-on for the 360, while Sony built Blu-ray functionality into the core PS3 hardware.

A truce between the Blu-ray and HD-DVD worlds is still probably a way off, but NEC has come up with a chip that could help companies bridge the gap. The chip, essentially a controller, works in both Blu-ray and HD-DVD players. One chip that works with both standards could cut the cost of building a player that accommodates Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs.

The chip will start shipping in April 2007, NEC said. The appearance of a combination player, however, could still take time. Companies such as Pioneer and LG announced plans to come out with combination players, but later backed away.

Cost is the main culprit. Blu-ray players cost about $1,000, and the player/recorders, which won't be coming to the US immediately, run about $3,200. HD-DVD players start at around $500, but the recorders cost about the same. The high price, in part, is due to components. Since mass manufacturing has just begun, the parts still cost a lot, although prices will decline in 2007.

Even with the expected price declines, building a hybrid player would involve redundant components. Other components that can handle both standards would also likely have to be developed to bring the price of a hybrid player down.

But royalties are also a factor. The companies that invented the standards could make millions in licensing fees over the next decade if their standard gets adopted widely. Building a combo player, therefore, would require paying royalties to both camps.

Further complicating the matter are the high emotions generated by the dispute. Last week at the Ceatec trade show in Japan, reporters asked Kazuhiro Tsuga, an executive officer at Matsushita Electric, a firm member of the Blu-ray camp, about the possibility of Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo players hitting the market.

"That is stupid, stupid," he said, noting that the cost would be high. Matsushita sells products under the name Panasonic in the US.

Still, other manufacturers are intrigued by the idea, especially if the format wars hurt sales. Hitachi, which is concocting a camcorder that will record directly to Blu-ray discs, said it will study the issue of a combo recorder after Blu-ray is established in the market.

184 Comments

  • Ryo-Hazuki

    Posted Nov 23, 2006 11:04 am GMT

    HD-DVD uses VC-1 coding, a codec developed by Microsoft specifically for HD and proven to be the best of all by many reviews. Blu-Ray uses the old MPEG2 codec, invented more than 10 years ago. That's why HD-DVD is better, because it can store more data in less space.

  • been09

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 1:00 pm GMT

    Riverwolf007
    Ok since i have posted the same thing every time this topic comes up i'll go once more. Go down to best buy or whatever is near you and look at HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray side by side on the demos if you dont think HD-DVD looks better than Blu-Ray i would be totally shocked. While Blu-
    Ray will make for a great video game format the movies themselves simply don't look as good and the added features of Blu-Ray like being connected to the internet to pull up trivia and such are not that big a deal for most movie watchers. The tally so far on amazon is that HD-dvd has outsold Blu-Ray about 10 to 1 but i woulden't be suprised if both formats basically do nothing for the next five years or so.

    ________________________________________________

    Then be totally shocked. Video quality doesn't depend on the disc, it depends on the original source video, and the encoding that was used on the video. If the same video was encoded the same way and burned on both discs, then they would look exactly the same.

  • Riverwolf007

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 8:17 am GMT

    Ok since i have posted the same thing every time this topic comes up i'll go once more. Go down to best buy or whatever is near you and look at HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray side by side on the demos if you dont think HD-DVD looks better than Blu-Ray i would be totally shocked. While Blu-
    Ray will make for a great video game format the movies themselves simply don't look as good and the added features of Blu-Ray like being connected to the internet to pull up trivia and such are not that big a deal for most movie watchers. The tally so far on amazon is that HD-dvd has outsold Blu-Ray about 10 to 1 but i woulden't be suprised if both formats basically do nothing for the next five years or so.

  • ZEELIX

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 6:06 am GMT

    well its another innovation for a media format that will be obsolete.

  • tobleronian

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 5:38 am GMT

    hmm.. lets see $1,000 for a BD player... or ALOT less for a BD player... games system... and a host of other stuff.. You decide ! lol

    But really I'm not buying a PS3 or any kind of next gen disc player until they have been out for a good while. BD could easily be the next betamax, but there will probably be dual format players within the year, the tech is already there.. and not just the chips. There is now a Disc that can be made into either format (?)

    So it'll probably go the way of DVD-R/DVD+R hopefully anyway.

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 7:24 pm GMT

    ^^you got that right

  • _Sam_

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 7:13 pm GMT

    expensive!

  • RonHack

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 6:53 pm GMT

    The article stated:
    "Hitachi, which is concocting a camcorder that will record directly to Blu-ray discs, said it will study the issue of a combo recorder after Blu-ray is established in the market."

    So I wondered:

    ...and if Blu-Ray goes the way of the BetaMax?

    Sounds like it'll be the DivX disc standard all over again..

    Those two companies, Toshiba and Sony, better start working together. There only CAN be one winner here. And I doubt Sony will be that company.

  • nappan

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 5:24 pm GMT

    This is all fairly academic really. Full adoption of a new standard is years away, and the standard that is leading HUGELY in the meantime is blu-ray. By the time this becomes an issue, hd-dvd will be long dead, and no one will need this product.

  • kamuixtv

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:47 pm GMT

    Players...not now...Burners...YES!

  • ExcAREentric

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:22 pm GMT

    Maybe a "unified format" is possible after all..

  • juanfraino

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:14 pm GMT

    It´s a bit expensive ? but aside from that I feel there should be a player that does evrything and played everything. You know... to make everything more simple.

  • rokkuman09

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:11 pm GMT

    Awesome! I'm hoping this means no more $1,000 disk drives (I mean really does it even cost $300 to make one of those?)! If this are not ridiculously expensive (i.e. over a hundred dollars, that is for a PC not for a TV) i'll have to get one!

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 3:00 pm GMT

    lol -- Matsush*ta (can you believe Gamespot made me censor that? LOL!). No wonder they go by Panasonic over here. Anyhow, this idea is "stupid, stupid". There needs to be standardization with things of this nature... the only useful way to do this would be to add a record feature so that you could transfer all your data from the losing format.

    Oh, and vamroc:
    A third party combo player will hurt Sony badly. They are already on the razor's edge with the PS3. The last thing they need is another nick in there already fractured armor. Is there anything better than watching sharks when blood is in the water. The word you are looking for is CHINK Not Nick.

  • gonzalezj1

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 2:50 pm GMT

    VHS FTW!!!

    Seriously, though, a combo player could really save this whole format war situation.

  • javajoe96work

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 2:39 pm GMT

    This whole HD DVD and Blue Ray crap is getting old. I have no desire to go out a buy a new player especially at those prices and I have no desire to re-buy my DVD collection. So I do not support either of them. But if I had to choose I would pick HD DVD cause it is cheaper and that is the sole reason. UGH, I hate new formats. lol.

  • cocojack

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 2:16 pm GMT

    I don't see the problem with ppl here cause most ppl don't buy there DVD's or in this case HD-DVD and Blue-Ray everyone either steal them off of Download progams like Kazaa or rent them from Block Buster and such so the DVD's isn't a Problem now if these ppl were smart they would have made one next-gen DVD player and have a monoploy on the price cause no matter how ridiculas the charge us hey it's the only one on the market take it or leave it situation like Microsoft did for a while but bottom lying is this whole war is pointless cause they are using use gamers to push there products Microsoft not as much but Sony just sticks it up our you know what lol anyway i'm not up 2 gettin any of them i'm okay with the resolutions of the games I play and the movies I watch.





    SoUlReApErMaN

  • GrimBee

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 1:17 pm GMT

    chamber303

    How can you prefer a media which hasnt even directly been compared in a traditional state? I.E Do you have BOTH players to make this preference?

    And it's not just the price of the bluray vs hddvd that is the problem. Its the fact that prices will drop considerably faster for hddvd because its cheaper for people to mass produce. Far cheaper.
    If MORE hddvd titles are released, for less.. you have the winner right there.

  • terrabreak13

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 1:11 pm GMT

    Yuck_Foo and FallenOneX

    You want to talk about size and viewing distance. My cellphone has 320x240 rez. Thats 25% of SDTV on a tiny screen. Most SDTVs out there are 27-32". HDTVs at the same sizes look a whole lot better. I've also noticed that the color depth is greater but I have no solid proof of this. Good luck finding a video source that's native 2560x1200. I can't help but feel that people who cannot afford HDTVs are negative towards it. Before I owned and could afford one I was always excited about it. I think it's a step in the right direction, unless you want to wait on an even greater technology thats more expensive and your complaints will just echo the ones you are making now.

  • rudyroundhead

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 12:48 pm GMT

    I am still just going to wait until one goes the way of Betamax and then purchase.

  • Dantes_Monkey

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 12:44 pm GMT

    score so neither format looks set to fail, that is probably for the best

  • MGLundy

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 12:38 pm GMT

    Having two kinds of high def dvds sucks. They better have a combo player soon.

  • chamber303

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 12:31 pm GMT

    Ok so they want to merge blu-ray with hd-dvd.........why?
    let the consumers have a choice in media.
    I personally prefer blueray. Besides, a hybrid should cost most more don't you think? And if we were to have this hybrid reader, I would still buy my movies on blu-ray disks.
    Price? from what I see, both blu-ray and hd-dvd prices are the same.

  • SilV3RSix

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 11:33 am GMT

    GrimBee post Cliff Notes:

    DVD is the magical junction between [the media of] consoles and movies that may or may not diverge in the future.

    *rubbing eyes* Ya gotta admit that's a lil funny

  • GrimBee

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 11:21 am GMT

    Added

    You are correct, someone WILL crack the code beforel long. But in the end, it keeps the market pricey doesnt it.

    If dvds became the "norm" for the next 8 years or so, everything will be cracked, coded and owned by simply anyone because the format would be so cheap.

    In the long run, this is just another idea to keep things going and going. Believe me, when hddvd and bluray become "inferior".. we will see ANOTHER type of tv, another kind of disc altogether. It's how the industry prevents itself from crumbling.

    Think of it this way, the gaming industry changes its disc formats nearly every generation. From the NES carts to the SNES carts (megadrive and master system being different completely). Through to sega saturn cd roms, to ps1 black cd roms, to n64 carts...
    Then dreamcast GD rom, gamecube discs.. psp discs (umd) ds cartridges.. ps2 discs.. xbox discs..

    They are all SIMILAR formats, but have a little edge to them which makes them unique to a console.

    BUT, consoles arent like dvd movies (which is what this is about). With a console, its pretty normal for a game to be on a different kind of disc. You only have one player (console) and one price (usually £29.99 or something).

    DVD's However have drastically dropped in price to put-match eachother. Then box set re-releases..widescreen special edition.. special extended editions.. all to cash in on the novelty aspect.

    The reason why, as gamers, we dont care is because we pay the hefty price, and not all of us buy games very week.

    BECAUSE games are STILL expensive, the gaming industry never needs to crumble in on itself. But competetive movies, pricings, and the rate movies come out is far greater.. and cheaper.
    To release an expensive format is crazy. Not so crazy for games, because you pay that staple price ANYWAY. But movies is different, its the equivalent of buying an album now.

    On another note, CD's do everything they can to stop copy protection.. and they did this with ---- downloadable songs for mp3. This is how the music industry have battled piracy, charge them for it.

    Plenty of people download movies, but if hd was the standard, it would take us ten times longer to download suitable movie files. In the end, somewhere along the line, HD is there to stop the industry becoming stale.

    Games dont really need HD, take the wii as an example. And the ds doesnt have a massively high resolution either. Games go in the direction of HD to offer good visual clarity, and an aid to prevent piracy (again).
    But because games are expensive, the gaming industry doesnt NEED to do this (you get my meaning?)

    The movie industry Is becoming stale, people wait until news dvds become cheaper, people copy films, download them etc. Dvds end up costing less and less to purchase.
    With HD, the industry is getting a chance to make things fresh again. Same with what they did with VHS. VHS wasn't terrible at all, infact i remember people being SO stubborn to it.

    But round and round it goes, VHS.. DVD.. HDDVD... and whatever else they need to release to keep prices high and demand high.

    BUT, the one sore thumb in all this is the bluray format. Competing in an already competing format (against dvd). Kinda stupid...

    (long enough for ya?)

  • Andrew0824

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 11:13 am GMT

    I'd bet on HD-DVD. It's cheaper and that's what most people are going to care about. Why spend more money for something that does the same thing?

  • ApisBee

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 11:12 am GMT

    What I would love to see is for Sony to offer a Blue-Ray peripheral for the Xbox-360, that would be fun to watch.

  • linktheory

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 10:42 am GMT

    you can copy hd dvd and blu-ray players content by having your computer print screen 60 times a second and storing the immages... sounds stupid as hell but there are programs that can do this and more.

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 10:39 am GMT

    They spent just as much time trying to protect DVDs in the begining. Who knows how many millions wasted on that because less then a year later all that encryption was smoked anyway.

  • SilV3RSix

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 10:25 am GMT

    Mkeegs79
    "SilV3RSix

    They are concerned with the new format because it will take over and it is secure and will prevent PIRACY."

    Granted, security is an important subject for distributed media, but the music industry has been fighting that war ever since cassettes came out. With HDMI there appears to be a way to regulate streaming media, but no data is going to be safe forever. And everything they do to protect it (changing codes, etc etc) cripples it in comparison to DVD.


    Add that to my stack, GrimBee!

  • Brutalus7

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 10:23 am GMT

    I don't really care which platform wins, but I want a set standard. The same thing happend with DVD+/-R, and it's annoying enough with the few burned DVD's I have. If my whole collection was either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD and there were multiple types of players, including those that played both, it would be a nightmare. This needs to get solved for the HD revolution to take over!

  • WolfSkill5544

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 10:14 am GMT

    I think Blu-Ray will win over, because with more space, a movie like Lord of The Rings, Titanic or Pearl Harbor, will fit perfectly in just one disc. Also, for those people that download movies, or specially anime. With more space you can have so many episodes of your fav. anime maybe in just one disc, with a good quality video and sound. It all depends in the anime in how many episodes it has.

  • Kiaininja

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 10:06 am GMT

    I know that for at least the first generation of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies are probably just going to be ports of movies you can get on DVD just in 1080p. But think of the features the Blu-Ray can add to future movies just for having more space on the disk to use. They can finally use the change camera angles more, add more languages, make a longer interactive choose which way movie and still be at 1080p. It problably not worth $30 now just for movie ports but in the future it will be worth the price.

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 10:06 am GMT

    --terrabreak13--

    Dude it all depends on size and viewing distance.

    It's the same deal as blowing up or shinking an JPG.

    Unless the display size is there the potential is lost.

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:57 am GMT

    A very good point, FallenOneX. But terrabreak13 is reffering to TVs, not to PC monitors. It's a difference.

  • FallenOneX

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:41 am GMT

    I guess I need my eyes checked then. As well as everyone that says that the difference isn;t really noticable until you get to displays over 40". And if the "holy grail" of HD is a display with the specs of 1920x1080, then what is a pc capable of 2560x1200 ? Jesus Christ in abox?

  • Mkeegs79

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:35 am GMT

    Zone_Red

    Say that to the companies that support only Blue-Ray.

  • Zone_Red

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:31 am GMT

    People will buy HD-DVD because it is cheaper then BlueRay disc's and the quality is about the same.This is just another nail in Sony's coffin.

  • j_vega07

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:27 am GMT

    Wii pre-orders Tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!

  • terrabreak13

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:26 am GMT

    There is a big difference between SDTV and HDTV. A lot of people who don't think there is a difference is because many stores are using regular DVD on HDTV for display. If you have seen native 1080p then you will instantly know that this is the holy grail of video.

    480p = 307200 pixels (0.3 megapixels)
    720p = 921600 pixels (0.9 megapixels)
    1080p = 2073600 pixels (2.0 megapixels)

    If you can't see the difference then you need to get your eyes checked.

  • Mkeegs79

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:09 am GMT

    SilV3RSix

    They are concerned with the new format because it will take over and it is secure and will prevent PIRACY.

    I know HD-DVD has more out right now but if more companies are supporting Blue-Ray then in the end Blue-Ray will have more movies and more exclusives!

  • GrimBee

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:08 am GMT

    Well silv3rsix.. i may post long posts, but you know, if you total the amount of posts you write, and the content of mine.. we should be about even lol

    Well, officially, GrimBee has nothing left to say on this topic.. kinda had enough of HD stuff and POWER stuff, just waiting for some games now..

  • vamroc

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:07 am GMT

    A third party combo player will hurt Sony badly. They are already on the razor's edge with the PS3. The last thing they need is another nick in there already fractured armor. Is there anything better than watching sharks when blood is in the water.

  • Mkeegs79

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 9:02 am GMT

    A lot of people are actually buying tvs to utilize the 360 and PS3. I am getting a HDtv and many reviews on Circuit City and Best Buy. They talk about how awesome their 360 is on their new HDtv. Another thing is many people on boards on ign.com and myspace groups asking questions what tv they should get for the PS3 and 360. Its of course slow but these consoles are helping pushing HD.

  • Mkeegs79

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 8:54 am GMT

    Konfusion

    50,000 will be swapping? That is a ridiculous estimate. You, yourself are trying to be bold. Majority of those buying it will likely be utilizing HD for gaming. Also some casual gamers could get it because they want the PS3 for blue-ray. 400,000 guranteed sold? Yes! Peroid! Saling out means sold out! It doesnt matter if they go on ebay, they will get sold.

  • spacemonkey

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 8:42 am GMT

    blueflamedino
    Not much quality is added, the only thing i can see that helps blue ray is the anti piracy, but recorders are coming out so that is forfeit and movies doesn't need more space, only the games do

    Actually the games don't even need the extra room. most games right now are under 3gigs. even oblivion was only 4.5gigs.... so they only take up a single layered dvd. They could double in size and still have enough room. Also the movie industry will use that extra space a lot quicker than games ever will. But you are right that not that much quality is added from the new format, unless you have a $3000 40inch HDTV which is about 1% or less of the poplulation. with a dvd they diference was evident on a regular tv and plus no rewinding.

  • JediMasterSheed

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 8:33 am GMT

    already knew this.

  • GFofgaming

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 8:27 am GMT

    To be honest, i can confidently say that 360 hd-dvd wont kick off anytime sooner. Why would gaming people pay 200$ for something that does not enhance gaming. The ps3 does that though.

  • anamnawshad

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 8:21 am GMT

    No thanks. DVD is fine for me

  • Konfusion

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 8:20 am GMT

    nolgeo, the PS3 will boost blu-ray sells? ROFLMAO... this isn't PS2 and DVDs, dude. Not just anyone can enjoy the extra quality, and most importantly not just anyone can afford it. Very different situation -- while back then the bet was a no-brainer, this time around it's a risky one. Don't say things like that, you just don't know. Besides, 400,000 garanteed sold? You mean over 50,000 of those will keep on swapping hands for a while just to get some money out of it, and another 50,000 will break and have to be replaced under 3 months. If you disagree with that, well, it's just as bold of a statement as what you say.

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blu-ray   chip   format war   format wars   hd dvd   hd-dvd   microsoft   nec   ps3   sony

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