By now, you’ve probably heard of the high-definition DVD format war brewing up as consumer electronics companies and Hollywood studios choose sides. This is a battle between two high-definition DVD formats, Blu-ray and HD DVD, which are expected to arrive late this year and which will require new high-definition DVDs and a new class of expensive players.
This probably reminds everyone of the Sony Betamax-VHS lawsuit in the early days of videocassette recorders and there are billions of dollars at stake.
Now, the New York Times reports on a new high-definition solution available – DivX 6 software. DivX is to video what mp3 is to audio, a compression scheme. This is noteworthy in that you can buy a player right now for $250 and the competing Blu-ray and HD DVD players will be $1000, when they’re finally available. This all sounds nice until you realize that all the content holders (read: movie studios) haven’t allowed any of their content on DivX.
Why do all the electronics and media companies hate us so much? I just spent big dollars for a high-definition television, only to find out that THERE’S NOTHING TO WATCH! I can’t rent any movies in high-definition and, even if I could, I wouldn’t have a player to play them on. What’s the problem here? When are these people going to get together and get something out on the market that works? I don’t care about formats, I just want to watch my copy of "Master and Commander" in high-def.
And don’t get me started on all the jacks on the back of my receiver…
