[opendtv] Re: Dennis Barker blog on Blu-ray

Another record laugher!

Beta had TWICE the resolution of VHS.  Essentially, VHS didn't reproduce red
colors well (sometimes, at all).  Beta did reproduce reds "relatively well."
Beta color (I did side by side checks) was better than S-VHS color (without
all the circuit trickery.)

VHS didn't match NTSC, more like 1/2 NTSC; Beta almost did.

How could beta add stereo sound later, if it had no "provision" for stereo
sound?  (Actually, the second Beta deck on the market had stereo sound
(SL-7200) while the SL-6300 (which was only available in the U.S. if you
bought wood with the vcr) didn't.

I owned an SL-7200, just months after it was announced.

The other points are more religious items than technical.  Hint: Beta lagged
on recording time because Sony thought that tapes should last for longer
than three playings.  They were, alas, wrong.

All tapes rub against one another in helical recording/playback situations.


John Willkie

-----Mensaje original-----
De: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En
nombre de Manfredi, Albert E
Enviado el: Friday, August 31, 2007 1:11 PM
Para: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Asunto: [opendtv] Dennis Barker blog on Blu-ray

Blu-ray seems the more advanced design, but I don't agree with all the
Beta vs VHS comparisons.

First of all, there's no technical reason why Blu-ray should give
"softer" images than HD-DVD, other than some mistake in a filter
algorithm first used in Blu-ray players. They both use the same
compression algorithms, so it seems to me that the one with the greatest
storage potential wins.

But most annoying is this apparent universal agreement that Beta was
"better." To me, Beta's video quality was virtually identical to VHS,
and both were inadquate. Anything that couldn't even match NTSC was, to
me, not acceptable. In addition, though, Beta had four major drawbacks
compared with VHS:

1. Beta had no provision for stereo sound. Stereo sound was only
introduced much later, with the hifi sound upgrade, which VHS also got.
In the early days of linear sound tracks only, VHS had two sound tracks
which could be used for stereo, Beta only had one. Yuk.

2. Beta did not remove the tape from the heads during rewind.

3. Beta tapes rubbed together when playing, which couldn't possibly be a
good idea.

4. Beta seemed to lag VHS in recording time during its entire existence.

There. Got that off my chest.

Bert

----------------------------------------------------
http://www.digitaltvdesignline.com/blogs/index.jhtml#201800859

August 17, 2007
The coming of age for Blu-ray
By Dennis P. Barker

Last week I wrote about HD DVD and characterizing it as "The Little
Engine That Could." Many of my colleagues believe that this is wishing
thinking on my part. They believe -- and probably rightly so -- that
Blu-ray Disc will eventually succeed over HD DVD. It doesn't matter that
picture quality (in my estimation) is better than Blu-ray because as
well all know, it's not a deciding factor. In the last format war
between VHS and Betamax, Beta had a superior picture quality over VHS.
Beta didn't succeed for several factors including the backing of RCA,
who at the time owned more than a 25-percent share of the entire CE
market.

Today, there are different factors at play. First and foremost, 7 out of
8 movie studios are backing Blu-ray. While it's true that Warner Bros.
and Paramount produce discs in both formats and Universal backs only HD
DVD, the rest of the movie business is behind Blu-ray. This includes
Disney, Fox, MGM and Sony Pictures (Columbia/TriStar). This is formable.

Some interesting stats were released this week. According to Home Media
Research (a division of Home Media Magazine), Blu-ray high-definition
movie discs outsold films on the rival HD-DVD format by 2-to-1 in the
United States in the first half of 2007. Home Media stated that total
sales of Blu-ray discs totaled 1.6 million units from Jan. 1 through
July 1, compared with 795,000 HD-DVD discs sold in that period.
Reportedly, an estimated 3.7 million high-definition discs have been
sold to date, including 2.2 million in Blu-ray and 1.5 million in HD-DVD
through the end of July, according to Home Media. On the other hand,
according to NPD Group, HD DVD set-tops dominated the market in the
second quarter, with a 61% market share, compared to 36% for Blu-ray.

Even though entry-level Toshiba HD DVD players are priced at $299,
entry-level Blu-ray players are not less than $499. On top of that,
sales of Sony's PS3 (while lackluster in terms of game console systems
at 1.6+ million units) do further the inroads of BD as each PS3 includes
an integrated Blu-ray player.

A few weeks ago, I tried unsuccessfully to obtain a breakdown of
high-definition disc sales from Warner Bros, who announced spectacular
disc sales for films like "300" and "The Departed." However, based on
the number provided by Home Media Research, it would seem that the tide
might be shifting towards BD. According to Steve Nickerson, senior vice
president, market management at Warner Home Video, reported sales of
about 190,000 Blu-ray units of the film, versus 97,000 in HD-DVD since
July 31.

Another problem for HD DVD occurred in June 2007. Blockbuster Inc, the
largest U.S. provider of home movie entertainment, announced that it
plans to line its shelves with Blu-ray DVDs in lieu of HD DVD saying
Blu-ray rentals were "significantly outpacing" HD-DVD rentals. While it
will continue to stock HD DVD titles at a handful of stores, the
majority of Blockbuster outlets will only carry Blu-ray titles.

While there's still a shortage of Sony and Panasonic Blu-ray players at
retail, it's expected that the companies will have product on retailers'
shelves by the beginning of the 4th quarter. And, from recent
discussions with other manufacturers like Sharp/a> and others, we can
expect to see more BD player introductions at the upcoming C.E.D.I.A.
Show next month. So, this critical 4th quarter will tell if HD DVD is
"The Little Engine That Could," or the next technology exhibit at the
Smithsonian.
 
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:

- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org 

- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.


 
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:

- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at 
FreeLists.org 

- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word 
unsubscribe in the subject line.

Other related posts: