Microsoft moves to own DVD format

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THERE ARE PLENTY of people who think that the MPAA is bad but, as the phrase goes, they ain't seen nuthin' yet. Microsoft had been floating around on the horizon off the California coastline watching Hollywood with interest. Now the Vole has parked a whacking great big battleship just offshore. It has announced its own DVD format and has backing from some insiders.

Artisan Home Entertainment is going to be releasing the first wave of Microsoft's bid to control Hollywood. It has two films lined up for special treatment, the first is "Shadows of Motown" and the second is a new release of "Terminator 2: Judgement Day." Both films come with an extra DVD that is playable on a PC using Media Player 9.

The big selling point is that the Media Player 9 disks are higher resolution. And, wait for the slight of hand, the format is called HD-DVD even though Microsoft is stressing that the resolution is far below "high definition" in the sense of HDTV.

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News source: The Inq

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#1 smek on 01 May 2003 - 18:35

sounds cool, gota wait a long time or the dvd tho

#2 tomaras on 01 May 2003 - 18:37

I've already got the Standing In the Shadows of Motown release and it looks and sounds great in WMP9 format. The entire feature in high resolution only takes up about 3.5 gigs on the 2nd DVD of the set. I also had the opportunity to see a portion of it projected on a large screen at the recent NAB convention and it's my feeling that Microsoft has really done a superb job with Windows Media Technologies. I'm looking forward to a standalone home player that will support Windows Media 9 in the future as it is a nice addition to what's already available and gives more life to the standard 4.7 gb DVD in the current absence of Blue Ray or other higher capacity storage mediums.

#3 Marduk on 01 May 2003 - 18:38

Haha maybe it'll come with a nazi type protection that only runs on certain drives LOL, oh well.

#4 B-52Stratofortress on 01 May 2003 - 18:38

nice, not HDTV :disappoin but it must be better than mpeg-2 what is approx. 8 years old

#5 Spectre on 01 May 2003 - 18:41

[quote]THERE ARE PLENTY of people who think that the MPAA is bad but, as the phrase goes, they ain't seen nuthin' yet.[/quote] gotta love the unbiased inquirer

#6 theprotege on 01 May 2003 - 18:47

blah blah blah...i'm waiting for bluray...and the true hd-dvd...and no way in hell am i handing my cash over to M$

#7 Neobond on 01 May 2003 - 18:57

[QUOTE]Now the Vole has parked a whacking great big battleship just offshore. [/QUOTE] hahah love it

(5 replies) #8 mrk on 01 May 2003 - 19:12

Pathetic, no fool plays DVD's through the wincey maggot that is mediaplayer. Its just another ploy to move newbies to the DVD market and gain them. The DVD format is SUPERB quality as it is in its current state. Its the medium you use to view it that determines the quality. Now if someone has a PC setup capable of regular-DVD quality then they will be using a proper dvd player software like windvd platinum NOT mediaplayer 9. Makes me angry to the bone

#8.1 Dessimat0r on 01 May 2003 - 19:23

What if you don't use Windows and say, use Linux? You are esentially getting a useless disc that you have to pay for...

#8.2 DJLunacy on 01 May 2003 - 19:24

Your an idiot. There are plenty of people that use Media Player. I use it to play DVD's occasionaly and there isn't anything wrong with it. And I have it outputted to my TV and the sound rocks with a total of 8 speakers and 3 subs. And my PC is capable of regular DVD quality and much more.

#8.3 mrk on 01 May 2003 - 20:05

[neoquote=#8.2 by DJLunacy]Your an idiot. There are plenty of people that use Media Player. I use it to play DVD's occasionaly and there isn't anything wrong with it. And I have it outputted to my TV and the sound rocks with a total of 8 speakers and 3 subs. And my PC is capable of regular DVD quality and much more. [/neoquote] Not everyone does teh same as you. REMEMBER that. MS are targetting a new audience here not the already established. You are a handful of few who use WMP for DVD movie playback, fine thats your choice not mine. Calling me an idiot for expressing opinion over a new piece of crap to gain more profit when not needed is useless.

#8.4 tomaras on 01 May 2003 - 20:48

Windows Media Technologies is a fully scaleable codec that is currently providing the highest quality image and audio for a given amount of bandwidth than any other commercially available Technology. It is being used as a distribution and projection format for feature films in theaters and also provides worthwhile images and audio at dialup connection speeds. You appear to be a firmly entrenched Microsoft Basher who probably wouldn't acknowledge a superior Microsoft product if it hit you over the head. I'd also venture to wager that you have probably not used Windows Media Player 9 or examined it features and options very thoroughly. As for Standing In The Shawdows of Motown and other releases from Artisan that will contain additional High Resolution WM9 DVD Rom features...they don't cost any more and provide a dramatic and noticeable increase in picture quality over standard 480i images provided by DVD. To say otherwise as you have done in your post indicates you are clearly misinformed about resolution, image fidelity, and progressive scanning.

#8.5 JaggedFlame on 02 May 2003 - 02:51

[neoquote=#8.3 by mrk]Not everyone does teh same as you. REMEMBER that. MS are targetting a new audience here not the already established. You are a handful of few who use WMP for DVD movie playback, fine thats your choice not mine. Calling me an idiot for expressing opinion over a new piece of crap to gain more profit when not needed is useless.[/neoquote] Funny. I don't think saying the following expresses the intent you just stated: [QUOTE]Pathetic, [b]no fool[/b] plays DVD's through the wincey maggot that is mediaplayer.[/QUOTE]

#9 JnCoKiLLa on 01 May 2003 - 19:16

Let the jokes start Craking

(1 reply) #10 Isuldor on 01 May 2003 - 19:25

reality check. Most people's monitors are smaller than their TV, whats the point of having a higher resolution DVD that only plays on your computer...

#10.1 macrosslover on 01 May 2003 - 19:33

[neoquote=#10.0 by Isuldor]reality check. Most people's monitors are smaller than their TV, whats the point of having a higher resolution DVD that only plays on your computer...[/neoquote] umm...because tvs only have a resolution of 640*480 and monitors can go up much much higher.

#11 Menace on 01 May 2003 - 19:27

I think that they should just make one format and let everyone get the dvd burners down in cost.

#12 DjmUK on 01 May 2003 - 20:58

The Matrix 2 & 3 on a [b][COLOR=blue]Bluray[/color][/b] disc is what I'm waiting for, granted it'll be a while mind you - but still superb quality. WMP9 DVD's, hmm, I doubt it'll be a worldwide standard, but newbies to M$ wouldn't complain. I'll have to watch one before I make any decisions

(3 replies) #13 WishX on 01 May 2003 - 21:05

Let's see... release a DVD for WMP9 and: [*] Make it playable only on a computer [*] Output it to a TV where it will look worse than a regular DVD attached to a TV [*] Dive into a market that's already flooded [*] Piss on the heads of every Linux user [*] Don't incorporate WMP9 capability into any DVD players [*] Copy protect it (which will get cracked and put on Kazaa faster than you can say "Redmond") [*] Make old movies cost more than they would in regular format because of new packaging and a new DVD in them [*] Market it almost exclusively to kids who have top-notch DVD-capable media PCs with TV outputs or awesome monitors [*] Make it small enough to copy onto a standard 4.7gb DVD Sure! Sounds great! Where do I sign?

#13.1 insurgent on 01 May 2003 - 21:49

Make sure you sign with blood...special deals this like require it.

#13.2 tomaras on 01 May 2003 - 23:41

Why would a DVD ROM WM9 progressive file with much higher resolution than standard DVD look worse than a regular DVD when properly attached to a progessive capable new television? Is it a requirement of every software company to port their software for the competition? Does Microsoft make or sell DVD players? I'm certain Microsoft is offering to liscense WM Technologies to any hardware maker who would like to include it on thier DVD players. So you think that because there are hackers there should be no copy protection on someone elses intellectual property? Which movies are you referring to that cost more due to the inclusion of WM9 files? There is one title out and one ready for release. Where have you seen evidence of Microsoft marketing Standing in the Shadows of Motown and T-2 Extreme to rich kids? What's wrong with being able to fit a high resolution progressive version of a movie on a single 4.7gb DVD?

#13.3 nacs on 01 May 2003 - 23:54

Well said WishX.

Tomoras on the other hand... [quote]Why would a DVD ROM WM9 progressive file with much higher resolution than standard DVD look worse than a regular DVD when properly attached to a progessive capable new television?[/quote] Because most VGA to composite/svideo coverters suck. A standalone DVD player will usually have much better quality output and processing and is available much cheaper. [quote]Is it a requirement of every software company to port their software for the competition?[/quote] Of course not. But when you're trying to get it to have widespread use, restricting it to highend PCs running Windows and maybe Mac isn't exactly smart. (And Linux actually can play WMP9 videos--I actually played one of these on my Gentoo Linux box with Mplayer). [quote] Does Microsoft make or sell DVD players? I'm certain Microsoft is offering to liscense WM Technologies to any hardware maker who would like to include it on thier DVD players.[/quote] They're likely to be expensive as it has a licensing fee and has high system requirements. Plus, most TVs can't even support the resolution that MS's new format will be doing so it'd be a waste of money for most people. I'd reply to the other paragraphs but I'm tired.

#14 velocity3k on 01 May 2003 - 21:58

DVD will be replaced by Blu-Ray in 2 years if everything goes according to plan and they manage to incorporated DVD Playback on the Blu-Ray drives. With 27gb to play around with there is more than enough room for a HD version of any movie with DD5.1, DD5.1 ES, DTS, DTSEX and any other audio format you can think of.

#15 Tom Servo on 01 May 2003 - 22:18

The DVD Forum is still evaluating both WMV9 and MPEG-4 H.240 (or whatever it was). There has not been made a decision for the official HD-DVD. MPEG-4 H.240 is way complexer than WMV9 for just a marginal quality increase which most people won't even notice, and the MPEG-4 licensing costs more. So don't make your bets that DVD Forum will drop WMV9 at once.

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