In an article I read earlier this year the implications of the High Definition format war at the fall of the Blu Ray Axe claiming the head of the HD DVD format, was vaguely highlighted. In the Forum that the article was posted in, a couple of apparent disgruntled HD DVD supporters commented that the future of High Definition media does not lie with disc mediums but with broadband and downloads.
The HD DVD Fans were right after all, the future of Digital Entertainment clearly lies with (downloading, broadband, solid state media and video streaming), or does it? Have we considered the implications of downloading as a preferred method over disc media properly?
The below is a list of a few pro and cons, it highlights the issues that will be faced with broadband and solid state media over High Definition Disc Media like Blu Ray Disc:-
PROS:-
- Convenience. Downloading a movie as and where you want to watch it
- Accessibility. Movies that we are looking for may not be available at the local retailer or video store, these movies can be easily be found on the Internet and downloaded.
- Improved Video / Audio Compression Codecs. Video and Audio compression codecs such as DIVX, the one we all love and know, will improve. Other similar codecs will also improve.
- Improved Internet Infrastructure. If we want to share in the joy of video streaming / downloading High Definition Movies from the Internet, the infrastructure of the Internet will be improved as a result, which will be of benefit to us all.
- We own a copy of our favorite movie?
CONS:
- Backups. Movies on DVD disc, that each and everyone of us has been exposed to in one way or the other acts as an instant back-up of our movie collection. The benefit of an instant back-up when we buy a DVD, Blu Ray or HD DVD will be lost. Funny as it may seem a lot of people will probably consider Blu Ray as a method of Backing-Up their movies, why not buy the movie on Blu Ray disc in the first place, as a backup?
- Limited Space. We can own a 100 Blu Ray movies. What will the space requirement be if all these movies are BD25 or 25 Gigs each? The answer is simple 25 Gigabytes x 100 movies = 2,500 Gigabytes or 2,5 Tera bytes of Storage space. Lets not beat around the bush that is a lot storage space in todays terms. Are we out of our minds to consider downloading the same movie over and over? Or do we simply watch a movie once and then never again? Why is DVD movie sales a Multi Billion Dollar Industry? The answer to last question is simple we all love to be entertained and we all will in one way or the other support the movie industry no matter what the outcome.
- Owning a copy of our favorite movie may entirely disappear. To me this possibility really looks dull and uninviting. I like to own a copy of my favorite movies and so do we all.
- Cost of Improved Internet infrastructure. The fact that the Internet will be under tremendous strain from the increased need for broadband is a fact, to over come this, technologies such fibre optic networks will have to save the day. Who will fund this venture? you and I of course, bandwidth will have a price tag or at least an increase in cost associated with it.
Only now new challenges are emerging such the infrastructural capacity of the Internet when considering Broadband over High Definition Disc media as a preferred channel to download or watching High Definition movies. If the structural capacity of the Internet can not cope with the increase in demand it will have to be upgraded and the cost of this will be funded by the end users.
Will High Definition disc media be the way of the future or least for the next 10 years? Difficult to say, but when we choose a resolution to our needs we have to consider the implications.
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