HD DVD players were supposed to come out at around $1000. Instead Toshiba will be selling one for $500. BD (Blu-ray Disc) players were supposed to come out at around $2000 - $2500. Instead BD players will be sold for $1000 - $1800.

Lower than expected retail prices for entry-level HD-DVD players exhibited at the recent 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the US may dash an expected early marketing advantage of Taiwan-developed FVD (forward versatile disc) players, according to Taiwanese makers of optical disc drives (ODDs).

…

The lower-than-expected price implies that the BD and HD-DVD camps will try to gain market share through pricing, the sources noted. Although FVD currently has a competitive advantage in price, the narrower price gap between HD-DVD and BD players and FVD players, however, will bring more competitive pressure to bear on the FVD format, the ODD makers stated.

DigitTimes - Low-priced Blu-ray, HD-DVD players puts squeeze on FVD

The FVD optical format is being put forward by Taiwanese manufacturers as a competitor to HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Recently, Microsoft has said that it will support the FVD format.

Has Microsoft even said anything about Blu-ray support? And here they go announcing support for the obscure FVD? Whew! Must be something going on behind the scenes that I’m unaware of.

If the FVD format wins support from Microsoft, Taiwanese makers of optical discs and drives are expected to gain a great opportunity to enter the global market because they will not have to pay the high royalty costs of the big international formats, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.

The FVD format differs technically from the DVD standard in physical format, compression (encoding) and decoding, and content protection, and therefore is not subject to normal DVD royalty charges. However, the FVD standard is compatible with the DVD format, a fact that strengthens its position to the market. First-generation FVD discs will have a storage capacity of 5.4-6GB for single-sided discs, and 9.8-11GB for double-sided discs, and will support resolutions of up to 1280 x 720 pixels. Second-generation FVD discs are expected to have a capacity of more than 15GB and will support resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 pixels. However, the FVD standard is compatible with the DVD format.

Since FVD is so similar to DVD, maybe Microsoft is trying to learn more about HD on normal DVD discs because the Xbox 360 will be doing just that? I’m just guessing here.

Thoughts?

CDRinfo - Microsoft to Support Taiwanese FVD Project for HD Video

New Medium Enterprises, the purveyors of Versatile Multilayer Disc, has a new board and management. VMD is like DVD in that it uses red laser technology and multiple layers. But unlike VMD, it uses many many layers to get storage up to 50GB or 100GB (depending on what source you’re quoting).

CEO Mahesh Jayanarayan says:

“The Company has spent the last two years in developing and perfecting the technology. We have run several commercial trials in the last 9 months. These trials have proved conclusively that we have a brilliant product. With a dynamic and experienced team at the helm, together with the support of our partners, we are confident that the planned launch of our 40GB multilayer storage disc - the VMD, in the fourth Quarter of this year, will signal the start of a bright future for NME.”

So far NME hasn’t been able to sign any large Hollywood players, so Mr. Jayanarayan’s optimism, while admirable, is a little bit misplaced.

Link: hardware Geeks - 40 GB DVD?

The FVD (Forward Versatile Disc) format is backed heavily by Taiwanese firms, and has now received backing from Dataplay (DPHI), a Colorado-based US firm. They have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute.

“The MOU covers all of the applicable technology for our system, including the engine, media and content protection system,” said Bill Almon, CEO of DPHI. “Our cooperative activity will enable us to advance our goals to create a small or micro-optical system standard for portable/mobile applications, license our technology and OEM a complete system.”

FVD is a red-laser based high-definition standard that uses Microsoft’s Windows Media Video-9 code (aka VC-1) to compress information onto a red-laser based disc. The first FVD players are expected on the Taiwanese market this month for $175.

Link: optics.org - Next-gen red-laser discs prove a hit

[Update: more at eCoustics]

There’s a company that you’ve probably never heard about that’s producing a competitor to Blu-ray and HD-DVD, but that still uses red laser technology. The company is called New Medium Enterprises Inc. and the technology is called VMD, or Versatile Multilayer Disc. Right now a VMD can store 20GB of data on 4 layers, or later up to 100GB by adding additional layers at 5GB per layer (for a total of 20 layers). Plans are for 40GB in the 3rd quarter of 2005. New Medium in planning to demonstrate this technology in front of a bunch of investment and analyst type people, and plan to release content and players in the price range of current DVD offerings. The company plans to launch 20GB and 40GB discs and drives in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Link: Yahoo Finance - NME Unveils Bollywood Movie ‘Shabd’ in HD
Link: New Medium Enterprises Inc.

Two alliances in Taiwan have jointly presented a red-ray high-definition optical disc standard called FVD, or Forward Versatile Disc. FVD can contain 5.4 - 6GB on a single layer, and 9.8 - 11GB on two layers. At those kind of capacities it can’t be using MPEG2 to store HD content - Microsoft’s WMV9 and WMA9 are the two compression schemes in use.

One of the main advantages of FVD over competing formats is price. The players and content will be sold for significantly cheaper than competing Blu-ray and HD-DVD products.

At the end of last year there were a lot of press releases about how volume production of FVD players would begin soon. We still haven’t seen any press releases about it actually happening. We wait!

Link: DVD-Recordable.org
Link: SatelliteGuys.US
Link: The Inquirer