2008 Woodie Awards
The Dawn of a New Digital Medium
Anthony Perez, Staff Writer
Issue date: 10/25/06Section: Entertainment
Average consumers are adopting high-definition televisions (HDTVs) at a higher rate than ever before thanks to new affordable prices as the technology ages, and the entertainment industry is moving forward by pushing high-definition content.
It is possible to get a fairly decent HDTV for less than $1000, and the Federal Communications Commission has mandated that all analog broadcasting officially move to digital broadcasts by Feb. 2009, a new broadcast signal optimized for HDTVs.
With HD entering the home in every form, disc media has to change with the times as well, and while the mainstream adoption of DVDs only started in 2000, DVD technology is almost 10 years old and media companies are already looking for the next disc format with which to push HD content.
The two competitors vying for HD supremacy are Toshiba's HD DVD and Sony's Blu-ray disc. The grudge match between the two formats is more even than proponents of both sides would like you to believe.
Consumers had an opportunity to check out the HD DVD and Blu-ray presentations at this year's DigitalLife event at the Javits Center. Both boasted the in-movie experience they provide in their respective formats.
Because of the similarities in picture quality, it was clear that features are really going to sell consumers in terms of which media to support, and both offer a lot of functions.
Toshiba highlighted the ability to bookmark favorite scenes, go through the menu while movies play in the background, and access special features about a particular scene while watching the movie.
Sony, meanwhile showed off similar features, and even treated us to a working version of the House of Flying Daggers on Blu-ray, something Toshiba didn't do.
It is difficult to tell who really had the upper hand in the race for the living room by just the presentations alone. Another draw to the new formats is the amount of data they can hold.
HD DVDs can hold up to roughly four times the amount of DVDs, while Blu-ray can hold an astonishing 12 times more than DVDs.
It is possible to get a fairly decent HDTV for less than $1000, and the Federal Communications Commission has mandated that all analog broadcasting officially move to digital broadcasts by Feb. 2009, a new broadcast signal optimized for HDTVs.
With HD entering the home in every form, disc media has to change with the times as well, and while the mainstream adoption of DVDs only started in 2000, DVD technology is almost 10 years old and media companies are already looking for the next disc format with which to push HD content.
The two competitors vying for HD supremacy are Toshiba's HD DVD and Sony's Blu-ray disc. The grudge match between the two formats is more even than proponents of both sides would like you to believe.
Consumers had an opportunity to check out the HD DVD and Blu-ray presentations at this year's DigitalLife event at the Javits Center. Both boasted the in-movie experience they provide in their respective formats.
Because of the similarities in picture quality, it was clear that features are really going to sell consumers in terms of which media to support, and both offer a lot of functions.
Toshiba highlighted the ability to bookmark favorite scenes, go through the menu while movies play in the background, and access special features about a particular scene while watching the movie.
Sony, meanwhile showed off similar features, and even treated us to a working version of the House of Flying Daggers on Blu-ray, something Toshiba didn't do.
It is difficult to tell who really had the upper hand in the race for the living room by just the presentations alone. Another draw to the new formats is the amount of data they can hold.
HD DVDs can hold up to roughly four times the amount of DVDs, while Blu-ray can hold an astonishing 12 times more than DVDs.
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