June 18th, 2006
Why Blu-ray is not the next UMD
It’s been known for some time now, the next generation of optical disks is rolling out this summer and this fall. HD-DVD players are already on the market but their main competitor, Sony, has plans to release their answer to HD content with the launch of the PS3. Many may be sceptic knowing that Sony is the main backer of this technology considering the fallout of their recent UMD.
UMD is the custom media storage that came with Sony’s PSP gaming console. Their PlayStation Portable got a fair success but Sony had in mind that the UMD (Universal Media Disk) would be massively used to bring movies to the portable era. However, the last few months have proven that the UMD is not very popular amongst users and movie studios. With the upcoming PS3 someone may wonder if Sony will fail again, or loose the war like with their old Betamax.
In short I think the answer is no, they have everything on their side to make Blu-ray a major success. Let’s review the current specs of both formats before going deeper on the subject.
UMD
- Dimensions: approx. 65 mm
- Maximum capacity: 1.80 GB (dual layer), 900 MB (single-layer)
- Laser wavelength: 660 nm (red laser)
Blu-ray
- Dimensions: approx. 120 mm
- Expected capacity: 50 GB (dual layer), 25 GB (single-layer)
- Laser wavelength: 405 nm (blue laser)
The thing that must be understood about UMD is that it brought a lower technology that currently available DVDs. As for the Blu-ray disc it brings an upgrade for high definition content. Let’s say you decide to get a PSP and buy a movie with it. The UMD movie is down scaled to fit on the small UMD and resolution of a PSP. So you have to buy a movie that is readable on one hardware only. If you add the fact that current DVDs can be cheaper and can be played on many different devices confirms the demise of the UMD.
However, the Blu-ray will be a new story since Blu-ray players are already announced and it will not be specific to one console (PS3). You also have to consider that the movies will have a much higher resolution and if wanted could be down sized by the user. It is obvious that there will be a war between this new breed of “DVDs” but I believe that they will eventually balance themselves out just like DVD-R and DVD+R are right now. I have an LG DVD burner that can handle all current DVD formats, LG even announced that they will do the same for Blu-ray and HD-DVD.
All things considered, Blu-ray is not an attempt to grab more money from users by making them buy the same movie in multiple formats, it’s rather an upgrade that had to come up one day or another.
June 20th, 2006 at 3:47 am
What most people tend to forget is that technology becomes mass market when it’s more convenient than what it replaces at the right price point.
People think that DVD’s became a success because they had better resolution than VHS … early adopters, sure but the mass market switched only because DVD’s were more convenient (no rewinding, less bulky, can jump) AND when prices dropped to VHS levels AND players drop below $100 … people who buy $29 DVD players are not buying it for the fidelity … that part is a nice addition.
UMD’s failed because they served no real purpose. UMD’s were created because Sony is lost in a sea of corporate synergy … Sony was under the delusion that PSP’s would sweep the world - that people would give up their ipods, their gameboys and their PDA’s* … any sane person could see it was a nice gaming platform but not much more … so in Sony synergyland, it wasn’t enough just to sell a PSp & games, since everyone who commuted would buy one - let’s get Columbia/Sony involved and of course, they’d sign on if there was no HDD and software would not allow you to load movies/video (and no UMD burner) … (not to mention the memory stick division was happy) … and the end result is a thing with 2 hours battery life & no storage.
And the end audience - not mass - just what EVERYONE but Sony expected - gamers who were not going to waste battery life watching movies OR (surprise) were smart enough to hack the OS and load DVD rips onto memory sticks …
UMD’s were a pointless format in more ways than what you point out. They were expensive and their tiny size actually made them less convenient. Who wanted to carry around tiny discs in addition to the games?
As for Blu Ray - while they will probably be successful to some extent, they will not be mass for years to come. Do they look nice? Yes but $1,000 + $30 a movie nice versus a $100 DVD with an upconverter? … Not happening. The idiotic HDMI/DVI controversty is not helping sell machines to the mass group of tech heads. The PS3 will help in 2006 but beyond, what’s the audience for a $800 video game system? Even with blu-ray? When HD peneratration is at 20% with 50% of those people who think buying a HD set is HD …
* Go back and read their pre-release buzz.
June 20th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
Jbelkin has it all right in my opnion. I actually wanted to comment because I didn’t really see any good reason why we should expect Bluray to be really successful. Yes, it won’t bomb as badly as UMD, but is that really saying much?
You review the technical specifications of bluray, but that’s really only relevant to the geeks. What matters to the end users is how much the product costs, and if it’s worth the upgrade or not. It’s amazing to me how much the pro-Blu Ray camp stakes in the success of the PS3.
It seems like the BR situation isn’t all that different from the UMD fiasco. Sony’s corporate greed blinded them from the fact that nobody really wanted UMD’s. Now I think they are blind to the fact that nobody is going to pay $600 for a console, or $1000 for a standalone player.
June 20th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
The PS3 itself will only give an insertion head start, but I agree that from consumer perspective all that’s important is the cost compared to benefits. Right now HD is still rare and I don’t figure a lot of people upgrade their TV to a state of the art Plasma or LCD. However I do believe that the uprising of HDTV broadcast content paired with HD Gaming and HD DVD will stabilize the acceptation of HD content. However it’s true that Sony has a bad habit to fail (ATRAC, MiniDisk, BetaMax) because those formats had nothing new. Blu-ray brings interactive menus and high def content. Anyone who has an HD TV set will want to get the most out of their TV and over time everyone will. It will be the next standard (it’s only going to take 10 years or so, then they release something new).
July 2nd, 2006 at 4:19 pm
I am about to purchase the top of the line SONY DVD camcorder. Will This current debate over Blu-ray end up being a “thorn in my side”. Infact I purchased this camera yesterday after a 10 year delay to modernize. I have 30 days to change my mind. What do you think?