Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Blu-ray has unexpected competitor!


Blu-ray won the war of formats by pushing its competitor HD DVD out of market, but is it an unconditional victory and video market is completely taken? Not everybody believes that everything is already clear. UK-based New Medium Enterprises today presented its new development - HD VMD discs (High Density - Versatile Multilayer Disc).
Novelty able to play the video of the same quality and in the same quantities as Blu-ray, but among other things being equal HD VMD is nearly 2 times cheaper. The only minus of system is that it is not compatible with Blu-ray. However, the company doesn't see a big problem here, because equipment for HD VMD by the prices comparable with the high quality DVD-players. The average player HD VMD will cost $ 199 to the buyer, with no Blu-ray system at a price below $ 300 on the market today.
From a technical point of view on one side of HD VMD disc puts up to 5 GB of data, but due to the fact that CDs are multilayered (up to 20 layers) their capacity reaches 100 GB - that is 2 times higher than for Blu-ray.
In New Medium Enterprises said that the attempt to roll out its development on the settled American market, where buyers are ready to pay a hundred-odd dollars for the other player - is ungrateful business, this is why the company intends to vigorously promote HD VMD in the markets of Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and South America, where buyers have significantly lower incomes.
New Medium Enterprises notes that the HD VMD players cost almost 2 times less, because it is not using a blue laser used in the Blu-ray and HD DVD, but the red, which is used in conventional CD and DVD.
Directly to the Blu-ray New Medium Enterprises has no intention to compete in the short term and has no plans to take its share of the market. "While we will not pass HD VMD position as a cheaper analog Blu-ray, we intend to promote the development, as a natural extension of conventional DVD, which has received full support for HD-quality" - said Vice President of New Medium Enterprises Shirley Levitch.
Large vendors are already interested in the new data format. As told in the New Medium Enterprises, a month and a half through the sale of HD VMD discs and players for them would start at Amazon, and in some offline stores.
In addition, Hollywood is interested in the data format as a cheap media carrier. One of the biggest film distributors and producers Michael Jay Solomon (ex-president of Warner Brothers International Television) will promote HD VMD in the film industry.
According to Solomon, soon some of the issues relating to the licensing of films and their release on HD VMD will be closed, after which Hollywood products can appear in stores on new media.
Another remarkable detail regarding HD VMD: the company plans to promote its development on the markets with, as noted above, the low purchasing power, and free niche in the market HD-bearers, along with China, Australia and the Scandinavian countries to their primary New Medium Relative markets where there is no widespread demand for expensive drives and holders of Blu-ray.
Details