Toshiba DVR: HD-DVD's unnecessary

HD DVD backer Toshiba has unveiled a digital video recorder (DVR) that can archive HD broadcasts onto standard DVD discs. The Vardia RD-A301 uses an HD transcoder to convert HD broadcasts from their native MPEG 2 format into MPEG 4 AVC. Toshiba claims its transcoder compresses the HD video enough for it to be burnt onto a 4.7GB DVD-R – whilst retaining the broadcast picture quality.

Toshiba said that two hours of HD video could be recorded onto a single-layer DVD - a 15-minute job using the Vardia's 8x burner. However, the unit also includes a 300GB hard drive and supports playback of a range of HD DVD and DVD discs, including HD DVD-R and DVD-RW respectively. On the flipside, it'll also record to HD DVD-R and DVD-RW discs.

[Darkiewonder]

I love these players. it's so sleek ;o

[hahahabutt]

Check this out.. definitly cool... Might have a Simpson commercial at first so just ignore that. http://video.yahoo.com/vide...

[Loopy]

It's not cool.
The "car" doesn't even roll...

[Ignorant Fanboy]

shame on you.

[IRISHCALIBER]

:-)

[joevfx]

so they basically are admitting defeat against blu ray.

[Twizlex]

Ha ha ha! I knew it was just a matter of time before somebody came in and commented without actually reading the article. Shame on you.

[TrillHeat954]

i love how toshiba makes dvd/ hd-dvd players that look like old vcrs

[LoydX-mas]

How about actually clicking on the link.

The picture they show is of a first-gen HD-DVD player almost 2 years old!

[JosefTor]

Admitting defeat against Blu-ray??? If HD-DVD is unnecessary, then Blu-ray must be extremely unnecessary because it has more space then HD-DVD. I guess you were never really good at logic statements.

[season007]

if space aren't necessary, why would they put a 300gb harddrive in it
face it dude

[Cherchez La Ghost]

How much?!! I'm buying this.

[LoydX-mas]

Since HD-DVD players and recorders are actually the approved replacement for DVD, things like this recorder are only possible on the HD-DVD format.

Now you can record High-Def content on regular recordable dvds(at a fraction of the cost of recordable HD-DVDs).

This will never be the case with Blu-ray recorders. Blu-ray does not have permission from the DVD forum to have this capability. Sorry.

So you choose, $18.99 disc(25gig Blu-ray or 15 gig HD-DVD) or $20.00 for about 100 DVD-R ?

[Marty8370]

There are already Blu-ray/DVD dual disc's in the pipeline, So BDA must have permission too do it. Making a writeable version would be just as easy.

Quote:
Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (JVC) is pleased to announce that it has developed the world’s first Blu-ray/ DVD combo ROM disc technology, which enables storage of video content in both high definition and standard definition. The new ROM disc, which has a total storage capacity of 33.5GB, uses a triple layer structure made possible by JVC’s development of a proprietary, high-performance reflective film.

The new Blu-ray/ DVD combo ROM disc has a one-side readout, triple layer structure comprised of an outside Blu-ray disc (BD) layer and inner DVD dual layer (see pdf Fig. 1). The outer BD layer is capable of storing high definition video signals up to a capacity of 25GB. The inner DVD dual layer can store up to 8.5GB of standard definition video signals. During Blu-ray reproduction, blue laser read the outer BD layer, while red laser read the inner DVD dual layer during DVD reproduction (see pdf Fig. 2). The triple layer structure was made possible by the development of a high-performance reflective film that reflects blue laser used for Blu-ray reproduction, but is transparent to red laser used in DVD reproduction. The proprietary technology builds upon JVC’s past developments in the field of disc processing technology. The inner DVD layer of the Blu-ray/ DVD combo ROM disc has an 8.5GB dual layer structure, the current mainstream structure for commercially available DVD software releases. The new disc is capable of storing all of the data currently contained in commercially available DVD software.

The development of the Blu-ray/ DVD combo ROM disc opens the way for the emergence of video releases containing content in both Blu-ray and DVD formats on a single disc. Users can purchase a single disc that can be reproduced at high definition BD video quality on a large screen home theater system, or play back the disc at standard definition DVD video quality on a smaller TV set, a home PC or laptop computer. Users that do not have a Blu-ray disc player can view the video content at standard definition using their current DVD player, and enjoy the same content at high definition resolution when upgrading to a Blu-ray disc player in the future.

The new Blu-ray/ DVD combo ROM disc also creates new possibilities for future software releases that take advantage of the large 33.5GB storage capacity by combining video content with commercials, music or games on a single disc. JVC also hopes that the new media format will contribute to resource and energy conservation by eliminating the need to create separate Blu-ray and DVD format discs.

JVC will forward a proposal to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) to have the technology accepted as a specification for future commercialization. The company is also working on a Blu-ray/ DVD combo ROM disc with an even larger 58.5GB storage capacity. The proposed disc will be comprised of a 50GB Blu-ray dual layer and 8.5GB DVD dual layer structure.

http://www.jvcpro.co.uk/new...

[IntelligentAj]

On the surface this sounds kind of cool but I want see some more details and a price point.