I am a technology geek. It’s ok, I admit it. However whilst I am interested and fairly up to date with new technology, I am not a geek in the sense that I have to buy each new advancement, the consumer commonly known as the early-adopter. Now there are a few reasons for this, firstly a distinct lack of spare cash can hinder such ventures, but even if I did have the money I am not the kind of person to pay through the nose for something purely because it is shiny and new, in fact I’d much rather wait, see how things pan out and make a more informed decision down the line. Because fact of the matter is that early adopters often get a rough deal. Just ask those that buy a piece of kit for £1000 just to see it slashed to £500 months later, or see a better, improved version released. Because the early adopters will always lose out, I mean sure they get to wave their fancy new gadget in their friends and families face for a few weeks, but ultimately in terms of quality and value they know they aren’t getting the best deal.
.
So why am I blustering on about this? Well really it’s because of the rise of High Definition. You know, the new technology that is (supposedly) sweeping the nation. Basically, in case you don’t know, High Definition is a picture format that gives better quality sound and audio for films, TV and games. You see whilst DVDs are fantastic and look pretty amazing as they are you can only fit approx. 9GB of data on DVD (and there we go, I’ve lost some of you with funny technical speak… please stay it won’t be that bad) whereas with the HD you can fit a lot more meaning the picture and audio are not so compressed and so look better.
Ok easy, you think, where do I sign up? Well it’s not that simple. You see un
like DVDs there is not one format of these High Definition products. Because movie studios refuse to agree on anything we have ended up with an absurd situation of two warring factions, in one corner you have HD-DVD backed by Microsoft and Universal. These discs can store up to 30GB of information and the players you need to watch them currently cost around £300. In the other corner you have Blu-Ray technology being pushed by Sony and many of the other movie studios. Now Blu-Ray discs can store 50GB of information but the players cost a lot more at around £800-£1000. These Blu-Ray discs are also what the PlayStation 3 uses for games and it can play Blu-Ray films too (so technically the cheapest Blu-Ray player you can get is the PS3 at a measly £425).
Still with me? Good. Now not only do you have to buy a new player for these new formats but they also require a HD Television to work properly. You see the current types of TVs (the big bulky ones) cannot display the required quality of picture, so a new HD-DVD played on your old TV would not look any better. Now flat screen TVs are all the rage and you need either a LCD or Plasma TV that is HD ready in order to view the content in this new way. Ok so that’s enough technical stuff but you see what I’m saying… this is a silly situation. In fact this is an entire format war that has been pushed upon us by the movie studios who are, of course, releasing all their old films again in High Definition, meaning that in theory people who a few years ago started buying DVDs to replace their videos, will now repeat the process buying the same films for the 3rd or 4th time. Add to this the fact that because different studios back each of the technologies different films come out for each,. For example Jurassic Park would only come out on HD-DVD. But Spiderman would only come out on Blu-Ray. It’s just a ridiculous situation where in order to get all the films you want you may have to splash out on two machines and whilst there is talk of players can play both they will be even more expensive! For these reasons especially this is something I am staying away from until either some kind of truce is made or one format dominates. Right now those who stand to lose are the consumers who are having to spend money on formats that may not even be around in a few years and the cost of ‘upgrading’ for is essentially a slightly better looking and more detailed picture is simply not worth it for the majority of people.
Yes the TVs look great and you can see a difference but for your average man on the street this means nothing, they haven’t sat down, watched a DVD and thought ‘if only I could see this with a slightly better picture quality’. Basically people don’t care. DVD is still popular and cheap and will continue to outsell either of the new formats for years to come. When video was replaced by DVD there was so much to gain, they had extra features, commentaries, scene selection and subtitles. They were a huge leap forward; whereas these new technologies are maybe a small step ahead. The trouble is technology that is confusing and expensive will never hit the mainstream, if you have never heard about all this before there is a reason for that, it is not ready. So like I said at the top of the article, I am interested in the possibilities for these technologies but until the bugs are ironed out, the cost comes down and some kind of winner is clear there is no way I am investing money into it. Fortunately both sets of players are backwards compatible and will play your old DVDs, so there is a lot less need to re-purchase your back catalogue of films again.
Overall the whole situation is a mess. The market is not ready for HD, not the mass market anyway. One day all our TV will be HD not just a couple of channels and everyone will have a nice flat screen TV (if mine dies I know that’s what I have my eye on) but what bugs me the most is that this was a commercial decision. It did not arise out of a need for better technology but as a rather cynical way of re-selling us the same things, but slightly better. So while this article may not have meant a great deal to you now, in a couple of years things could be very different and it’s only when the mass market has spoken, that we will start getting the best deals and the widest choice rather than the current situation of picking a side and hoping it doesn’t lose.
I am a technology geek. It’s ok, I admit it. However whilst I am interested and fairly up to date with new technology, I am not a geek in the sense that I have to buy each new advancement, the consumer commonly known as the early-adopter. Now there are a few reasons for this, firstly a distinct lack of spare cash can hinder such ventures, but even if I did have the money I am not the kind of person to pay through the nose for something purely because it is shiny and new, in fact I’d much rather wait, see how things pan out and make a more informed decision down the line. Because fact of the matter is that early adopters often get a rough deal. Just ask those that buy a piece of kit for £1000 just to see it slashed to £500 months later, or see a better, improved version released. Because the early adopters will always lose out, I mean sure they get to wave their fancy new gadget in their friends and families face for a few weeks, but ultimately in terms of quality and value they know they aren’t getting the best deal.
.
So why am I blustering on about this? Well really it’s because of the rise of High Definition. You know, the new technology that is (supposedly) sweeping the nation. Basically, in case you don’t know, High Definition is a picture format that gives better quality sound and audio for films, TV and games. You see whilst DVDs are fantastic and look pretty amazing as they are you can only fit approx. 9GB of data on DVD (and there we go, I’ve lost some of you with funny technical speak… please stay it won’t be that bad) whereas with the HD you can fit a lot more meaning the picture and audio are not so compressed and so look better.
Ok easy, you think, where do I sign up? Well it’s not that simple. You see un
like DVDs there is not one format of these High Definition products. Because movie studios refuse to agree on anything we have ended up with an absurd situation of two warring factions, in one corner you have HD-DVD backed by Microsoft and Universal. These discs can store up to 30GB of information and the players you need to watch them currently cost around £300. In the other corner you have Blu-Ray technology being pushed by Sony and many of the other movie studios. Now Blu-Ray discs can store 50GB of information but the players cost a lot more at around £800-£1000. These Blu-Ray discs are also what the PlayStation 3 uses for games and it can play Blu-Ray films too (so technically the cheapest Blu-Ray player you can get is the PS3 at a measly £425).
Still with me? Good. Now not only do you have to buy a new player for these new formats but they also require a HD Television to work properly. You see the current types of TVs (the big bulky ones) cannot display the required quality of picture, so a new HD-DVD played on your old TV would not look any better. Now flat screen TVs are all the rage and you need either a LCD or Plasma TV that is HD ready in order to view the content in this new way. Ok so that’s enough technical stuff but you see what I’m saying… this is a silly situation. In fact this is an entire format war that has been pushed upon us by the movie studios who are, of course, releasing all their old films again in High Definition, meaning that in theory people who a few years ago started buying DVDs to replace their videos, will now repeat the process buying the same films for the 3rd or 4th time. Add to this the fact that because different studios back each of the technologies different films come out for each,. For example Jurassic Park would only come out on HD-DVD. But Spiderman would only come out on Blu-Ray. It’s just a ridiculous situation where in order to get all the films you want you may have to splash out on two machines and whilst there is talk of players can play both they will be even more expensive! For these reasons especially this is something I am staying away from until either some kind of truce is made or one format dominates. Right now those who stand to lose are the consumers who are having to spend money on formats that may not even be around in a few years and the cost of ‘upgrading’ for is essentially a slightly better looking and more detailed picture is simply not worth it for the majority of people.
Yes the TVs look great and you can see a difference but for your average man on the street this means nothing, they haven’t sat down, watched a DVD and thought ‘if only I could see this with a slightly better picture quality’. Basically people don’t care. DVD is still popular and cheap and will continue to outsell either of the new formats for years to come. When video was replaced by DVD there was so much to gain, they had extra features, commentaries, scene selection and subtitles. They were a huge leap forward; whereas these new technologies are maybe a small step ahead. The trouble is technology that is confusing and expensive will never hit the mainstream, if you have never heard about all this before there is a reason for that, it is not ready. So like I said at the top of the article, I am interested in the possibilities for these technologies but until the bugs are ironed out, the cost comes down and some kind of winner is clear there is no way I am investing money into it. Fortunately both sets of players are backwards compatible and will play your old DVDs, so there is a lot less need to re-purchase your back catalogue of films again.
Overall the whole situation is a mess. The market is not ready for HD, not the mass market anyway. One day all our TV will be HD not just a couple of channels and everyone will have a nice flat screen TV (if mine dies I know that’s what I have my eye on) but what bugs me the most is that this was a commercial decision. It did not arise out of a need for better technology but as a rather cynical way of re-selling us the same things, but slightly better. So while this article may not have meant a great deal to you now, in a couple of years things could be very different and it’s only when the mass market has spoken, that we will start getting the best deals and the widest choice rather than the current situation of picking a side and hoping it doesn’t lose.
1 comment:
this is a really good article mate, I enjoy reading your blog as always.
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