CES 2008: A third high-def DVD format emerges

Just as the DVD format war seems to be ending, with Blu-ray claiming victory over HD DVD, here comes a new format using red lasers—the technology in audio CD players—instead of the blue lasers used by the other high-def DVD formats.

A company called New Media Enterprises (NME) has started shipping its red-laser high-def players in the U.S. The HD VMD players are currently available only from the NMEStore.com and PCRush.com, at a retail price of $199. The players will ship with the films Mother Ghost and Cutting Room. In addition to playing high-def discs, which they can output at 1080p, the VMD players can upconvert standard DVD content. The red-laser discs can hold up to 30GB of content on a single side, more than either Blu-ray or HD DVD discs.

[Jan. 11, 2007 UPDATE: Both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs hold substantially more digital data than red-laser based discs. We regret the error. —Ed.]

It's not clear what additional movies will be available or whether any of the major studios will back the format. Given the confusion resulting from the Blu-ray/HD DVD competition, it's hard to imagine widespread support for yet another format. But NME said it recently signed a deal with SFM Entertainment for rare and classic film and TV titles to be available in the HD VMD format.

Meanwhile, the Blu-ray Disc Association trumpeted its success in its first public statement since Warner announced it would no longer support HD DVD. Last year, Blu-ray players represented 85 percent of sales, compared to 15 percent for HD DVD models. Blu-ray's sales were largely propelled by the inclusion of Sony's PlayStation 3 game console, which accounted for 3 million of the 3.5 million units sold. Blu-ray has a three-to-one edge over HD DVD in the U.S., 10 to one in Europe, and 100 to 1 in Japan.

Danny Kaye, Executive Vice President, Research and Technology for Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment said Blu-ray unit sales will rise to 6 million—4 million PS3 units and 2 million dedicated players—by the end of 2008. Based on historical sales of VCRs and DVD players, Kaye said, 2010-2011 will be the year when high-def player sales begin to overtake sales of standard DVD players.

Movie sales are similarly weighted toward Blu-ray discs. The association reported that its movie titles outsold HD DVD discs in 2007 by a margin of nearly two to one in the U.S. and by nearly three to one in Europe. Citing sales figures from Home Media Research, an independent marketing firm, the Blu-ray group said that Blu-ray titles outsold HD DVD titles every single week of the year.

—James K. Willcox

Comments

[Matt]

Your statement about this format having more storage capacity than Blu-ray and HD-DVD is incorrect. Don't confuse "sides" with "layers." Two layer Blu-ray discs can hold 50GB on a single side, at 25GB per layer. Two layer HD-DVD discs can hold 30GB on a single side, at 15GB per layer. By comparison, the HD VMD format is using 5GB layers, and putting six layers on a single side.