Audio News for April 14, 2007

Latest on the Hi-Def DVD Format War – The illogical format battle between the two new high resolution video disc formats – HD DVD and Blu-ray – continues.  BusinessWeek says the winner may be decided on price – that whichever camp has the most disc players selling for $500 or less in the stores in time for the 2007 holiday season will ultimately be the winner. Everything else will follow the money.  Although the few HD DVD players have come in at half the price or better of the Blu-ray entries, Sony has suddenly built up a major bastion of new users (and customers for the discs) as a result of the introduction of their PlayStation3 with Blu-ray playback. Even those with no interest in gaming have purchased the players strictly for Blu-ray playback.

As with SACD and DVD-Audio (and to a lesser extent with Betamax and VHS) there is no clear Best Format – both deliver similar very high definition images and similar matching hi-res surround sound, including uncompressed six-channel audio.  Both have plenty of storage capacity (although Blu-ray has more), and both have supporters among the movie major studios (although Blu-ray has more of them).  An important factor in the VHS/BetaMax war in the 1980s was the support of the porn video industry for VHS, but adult titles have now been released in both hi-def formats, and there are so many other sources – such as online – that the importance of that is minimized. Warner Bros. is trying to bridge the format gap by  promising special DVDs that will hold both formats, and LG Electronics has gone about it by introducing the first dual-hi-def-format player.  Some computer-savy consumers with wideband connections are ignoring the physical disc route entirely, and downloading their hi-def movies off the Net. Apple’s new Apple TV makes it easier to beam such downloads from the home office computer to the large-screen living room TV.  One expert observes that the warring camps should be battling their common enemy – online video delivery.

Media Room Becomes Unforgettable Room – Swiss ultra-luxury electronics perfectionist Goldmund has previewed a new concept they feel “will permanently change the rules of media room construction.” It is called U-Room, which stands for Unforgettable Room. It includes every type of family entertainment, with ultrahigh def video and up to 128 channels of seamless surround sound. The firm’s U-Room modeling system records comprehensive data on the parameters of the room and then generates a complete combination of Goldmund custom amps, processors and speakers adapted for any room shape, size, location and decor. Among the decorative styles are “French Louis XVI Boudoir” and “Japanese Tatami.”  Of course if you’re a boring old traditionalist you may just want “U.S. Movie Theater Style.” More info at www.goldmund.com