Ian Morris
Ian Morris loves televisions so much he's been banned from wedding chapels in Las Vegas for trying to marry them. When he's not romancing technology, he can be found watching American TV. Ian likes roast potatoes, but he doesn't like digital rights management.
Wednesday 8 August 2007, 11:42am
I've got the solution to stupid format wars
The key difference between HD DVD and Blu-ray is the type of physical media they use -- for everything else, these formats are essentially the same. They mostly use the same video codec, the same audio codec and, on the whole, the interactivity is comparable, they're just run by different software -- Java on Blu-ray and Windows CE on HD DVD.
So, why is there a format war at all? Sadly, it's got everything to do with money and absolutely nothing to do with giving the consumer a good deal.
When a company creates a technology, it makes money from the royalties earned from licensing it to other companies. This money, in many cases, can outstrip the cash they make from actually producing and selling the equipment itself. JVC made a boatload of cash from VHS and both Sony and Philips made a good-sized wodge from CD patents.
It's this that drives companies to create competing formats. These companies try to convince us that it's their format that's better so we'll all flock to the shops to buy products that use their format. That's the problem with HD DVD and Blu-ray -- Toshiba wants us all buying HD DVD; Sony wants us all buying Blu-ray.
But it could all be solved very simply, and here's how: a law is passed that states all films released on Blu-ray must be available on HD DVD and vice versa. Oh, and the same law will apply to SACD and DVD-A. We then back this up with a second law, which states if it isn't available on both, then the consumer can legally download it off the Internet. Mark my words, the format war will be over in the blink of an eye as opposing camps magically set aside their differences.
Articles by Ian Morris
Opinion: Apple owes Microsoft $30bn
Crave Yes, that's right. Apple owes Microsoft for its success -- big time. Join us as we run you through the argument
TiVo to make triumphant return to UK with Virgin Media
Crave You might think you know what a PVR is, but in the UK we're really stuck in the past with our digital recording antics. Happily, Virgin Media is bringing TiVo back
Terminator Salvation Blu-ray: The movie isn't the worst thing on this disc
Crave This weekend, we watched Terminator Salvation, which wasn't as bad as we were expecting, but we certainly didn't enjoy the process of persuading the disc to play
How to survive a zombie attack using consumer electronics
Photo Like it or not, zombies are coming and probably sooner than you think. Good news though -- we all have tech in our homes that can be used to defeat them, so let's find out how
Technology that's totally impossible
Photo Many things in this world don't make any sense. The popularity of Miley Cyrus is one pertinent example, but some technology is so bizarre that we refuse to believe in it
Seesmic Desktop for Windows: Better for Twitter than TweetDeck?
Crave This weekend Seesmic Desktop for Windows was released. We rushed to download our copy -- we've had enough of Adobe Air munching through our system memory
BBC: We may do 1080p on Freeview HD
Crave We've been trying to find out which format BBC HD would use on Freeview for some time now -- we were surprised to learn the service could use 1080p
Philips Cinema 21:9 (56PFL9954H/12)
Review If you're a movie lover with deep pockets, the Philips Cinema 21:9 is unlikely to disappoint, offering a truly immersive way to enjoy films shot in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio in the comfort of your couch. Its great picture quality and fantastic audio are also complemented by a lovely design and plenty of features
