NY Times: Sony Set to Exert Influence on Discs

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Excerpt from:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/business/media/15sony.html

The purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not only
give the company an enormous film library but also considerable power in
its fight to set the format for the next generation of digital video
discs.

The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely
available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions of
dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that runs them.
Sony, as part of the Blu-ray Disc Association, a consortium of major
electronics makers, is at the forefront of efforts to develop the new
technological standard.

--
ha
 
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hank alrich wrote:
>
> Excerpt from:
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/business/media/15sony.html
>
> The purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not only
> give the company an enormous film library but also considerable power in
> its fight to set the format for the next generation of digital video
> discs.
>
> The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely
> available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions of
> dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that runs them.
> Sony, as part of the Blu-ray Disc Association, a consortium of major
> electronics makers, is at the forefront of efforts to develop the new
> technological standard.


Oy.

Did I miss something? I thought Ted Turner bought these films in the
'80's, and I assumed that Time Warner bought it all from him.
 
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In article <1gk4egy.1uyrcggh768j9N%walkinay@thegrid.net> walkinay@thegrid.net writes:

> The purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not only
> give the company an enormous film library but also considerable power in
> its fight to set the format for the next generation of digital video
> discs.
>
> The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely
> available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions of
> dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that runs them.
> Sony

What? Yet another video disk format? Good thing I haven't bought a DVD
player yet.

I expect that Blu-Ray will come around eventually, but at $2500 for a
computer drive, it'll be a couple of years before there are $50 home
players - but not very long.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo
 
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"Mike Rivers" <mrivers@d-and-d.com> wrote in message
news:znr1095248578k@trad
> In article <1gk4egy.1uyrcggh768j9N%walkinay@thegrid.net>
> walkinay@thegrid.net writes:
>
>> The purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not
>> only give the company an enormous film library but also considerable
>> power in its fight to set the format for the next generation of
>> digital video discs.
>>
>> The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely
>> available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions of
>> dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that runs
>> them. Sony
>
> What? Yet another video disk format? Good thing I haven't bought a DVD
> player yet.
>
> I expect that Blu-Ray will come around eventually, but at $2500 for a
> computer drive, it'll be a couple of years before there are $50 home
> players - but not very long.

Maybe $2500 for a writer, but that's way too high for readers or players. By
now everybody, even Hollywood knows about the magic of the $200 price
point....
 
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Mike Rivers wrote:

> What? Yet another video disk format? Good thing I haven't bought a DVD
> player yet.


Mike, if this happens, the DVD players will probably be $19, and the
discs will be $1.00.

The downside will be the space it takes up in your home.

: )
 
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"Don Cooper" <dcooper288000@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:4147BB00.4829E675@comcast.net...
:
:
: hank alrich wrote:
: >
: > Excerpt from:
: >
: > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/business/media/15sony.html
: >
: > The purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not only
: > give the company an enormous film library but also considerable power in
: > its fight to set the format for the next generation of digital video
: > discs.
: >
: > The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely
: > available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions of
: > dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that runs them.
: > Sony, as part of the Blu-ray Disc Association, a consortium of major
: > electronics makers, is at the forefront of efforts to develop the new
: > technological standard.
:
Is this going to be another whopping success like SACD and Beta? We need yet another video
format why?

Phil
 
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"anybody-but-bush" <Anybody But Bu$h@YAHOO.com> wrote in message
news:ajW1d.2303$mb6.1043@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net
> "Don Cooper" <dcooper288000@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:4147BB00.4829E675@comcast.net...
>>
>>
>> hank alrich wrote:
>>>
>>> Excerpt from:
>>>
>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/business/media/15sony.html
>>>
>>> The purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not
>>> only give the company an enormous film library but also
>>> considerable power in its fight to set the format for the next
>>> generation of digital video discs.
>>>
>>> The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely
>>> available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions
>>> of dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that
>>> runs them. Sony, as part of the Blu-ray Disc Association, a
>>> consortium of major electronics makers, is at the forefront of
>>> efforts to develop the new technological standard.
>>
> Is this going to be another whopping success like SACD and Beta? We
> need yet another video format why?

One word: HDTV

It's all about getting more data on the same-sized low-cost pre-recordable
media.
 
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In article <ajW1d.2303$mb6.1043@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
"anybody-but-bush" <Anybody But Bu$h@YAHOO.com> wrote:

> "Don Cooper" <dcooper288000@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:4147BB00.4829E675@comcast.net...
> :
> :
> : hank alrich wrote:
> : >
> : > Excerpt from:
> : >
> : > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/business/media/15sony.html
> : >
> : > The purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not only
> : > give the company an enormous film library but also considerable power in
> : > its fight to set the format for the next generation of digital video
> : > discs.
> : >
> : > The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely
> : > available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions of
> : > dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that runs them.
> : > Sony, as part of the Blu-ray Disc Association, a consortium of major
> : > electronics makers, is at the forefront of efforts to develop the new
> : > technological standard.
> :
> Is this going to be another whopping success like SACD and Beta? We need yet
> another video
> format why?
>
> Phil
>
>

More robust copy protection. (See SACD.)

-Jay
--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x---- Jay's Attic Studio ------x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x-------- http://ccrma-www.stanford.edu/~jay/ ----------x
 
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"Jay Kadis" <jay@ccrma.stanford.edu> wrote in message
news:jay-0517ED.07490915092004@news.stanford.edu...
> In article <ajW1d.2303$mb6.1043@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
> "anybody-but-bush" <Anybody But Bu$h@YAHOO.com> wrote:
>
> > "Don Cooper" <dcooper288000@comcast.net> wrote in message
> > news:4147BB00.4829E675@comcast.net...
> > :
> > :
> > : hank alrich wrote:
> > : >
> > : > Excerpt from:
> > : >
> > : > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/business/media/15sony.html
> > : >
> > : > The purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not
only
> > : > give the company an enormous film library but also considerable
power in
> > : > its fight to set the format for the next generation of digital video
> > : > discs.
> > : >
> > : > The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely
> > : > available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions
of
> > : > dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that runs
them.
> > : > Sony, as part of the Blu-ray Disc Association, a consortium of major
> > : > electronics makers, is at the forefront of efforts to develop the
new
> > : > technological standard.
> > :
> > Is this going to be another whopping success like SACD and Beta? We need
yet
> > another video
> > format why?
> >
> > Phil
> >
> >
>
> More robust copy protection. (See SACD.)
>
That, and more room for HD video. The standard DVD disc holds 4.7gb of data;
the DVD-9 and new dual layer discs hold 8.7gb. Blu-ray and blu-ray dual
layer hold 27gb and ~50gb respectively. Besides, the current technology is
pretty much at its limit. 16x writers are already hitting the market, and
that's as fast as she goes. We will see improvement to the RW write times
and the dual layer write times, probably up to 8x for both. Blu-ray is the
future.

Glenn D.
 
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"Mike Rivers" <mrivers@d-and-d.com> wrote in message
news:znr1095248578k@trad...
>
> In article <1gk4egy.1uyrcggh768j9N%walkinay@thegrid.net>
walkinay@thegrid.net writes:
>
> > The purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not only
> > give the company an enormous film library but also considerable power in
> > its fight to set the format for the next generation of digital video
> > discs.
> >
> > The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely
> > available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions of
> > dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that runs them.
> > Sony
>
> What? Yet another video disk format? Good thing I haven't bought a DVD
> player yet.
>
> I expect that Blu-Ray will come around eventually, but at $2500 for a
> computer drive, it'll be a couple of years before there are $50 home
> players - but not very long.
>
Yep. When HP entered the CD-R market in 1995, CD-R speeds were 4x and the
price was $1200. I've seen 32x CD-R drives for $5 after rebate. DVD+R 2.4
writers were $300 about three years ago. Now, 16x DVD+-RW writers with dual
layer write capability will go this holiday season for under $100. It's a
rapidly moving market.

Glenn D.
 
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Glenn Dowdy wrote:
>
> "Mike Rivers" <mrivers@d-and-d.com> wrote in message
> news:znr1095248578k@trad...
> >
> >
> > What? Yet another video disk format? Good thing I haven't bought a DVD
> > player yet.
> >
> > I expect that Blu-Ray will come around eventually, but at $2500 for a
> > computer drive, it'll be a couple of years before there are $50 home
> > players - but not very long.
> >
> Yep. When HP entered the CD-R market in 1995, CD-R speeds were 4x and the
> price was $1200. I've seen 32x CD-R drives for $5 after rebate. DVD+R 2.4
> writers were $300 about three years ago. Now, 16x DVD+-RW writers with dual
> layer write capability will go this holiday season for under $100. It's a
> rapidly moving market.

The great thing about all the current DVD drives is that they are
backwards compatible with CD's. They will still read discs in a format
that was first introduced over 20 years ago. As I understand it, Blu Ray
and the other high capacity contenders still use the same size discs as
CD and DVD so there's no reason why the same player shouldn't play all
formats in the future.

Cheers.

James.
 
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In article <414992F9.F640A9B3@soc.soton.ac.uk> James.R.Perrett@soc.soton.ac.uk writes:

> The great thing about all the current DVD drives is that they are
> backwards compatible with CD's. They will still read discs in a format
> that was first introduced over 20 years ago. As I understand it, Blu Ray
> and the other high capacity contenders still use the same size discs as
> CD and DVD so there's no reason why the same player shouldn't play all
> formats in the future.

Now if only a CD-R drive that's five years old would write on disks
commonly available today. (Sure, I've found Taiyo Yudens that work
reliably after a rash of failures with dime-store blanks, but how long
will they be available?)


--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo
 
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"James Perrett" <James.R.Perrett@soc.soton.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:414992F9.F640A9B3@soc.soton.ac.uk...
> Glenn Dowdy wrote:
> >
> > "Mike Rivers" <mrivers@d-and-d.com> wrote in message
> > news:znr1095248578k@trad...
> > >
> > >
> > > What? Yet another video disk format? Good thing I haven't bought a DVD
> > > player yet.
> > >
> > > I expect that Blu-Ray will come around eventually, but at $2500 for a
> > > computer drive, it'll be a couple of years before there are $50 home
> > > players - but not very long.
> > >
> > Yep. When HP entered the CD-R market in 1995, CD-R speeds were 4x and
the
> > price was $1200. I've seen 32x CD-R drives for $5 after rebate. DVD+R
2.4
> > writers were $300 about three years ago. Now, 16x DVD+-RW writers with
dual
> > layer write capability will go this holiday season for under $100. It's
a
> > rapidly moving market.
>
> The great thing about all the current DVD drives is that they are
> backwards compatible with CD's. They will still read discs in a format
> that was first introduced over 20 years ago. As I understand it, Blu Ray
> and the other high capacity contenders still use the same size discs as
> CD and DVD so there's no reason why the same player shouldn't play all
> formats in the future.
>

The reason some player in the future won't be backwards compatable with
current formats is that the consortium can make more money if they make old
formats obsolete.

jb

..
 
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"reddred" <opaloka@REMOVECAPSyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:TpGdnd0KrpuDt9fcRVn-vg@adelphia.com
> "James Perrett" <James.R.Perrett@soc.soton.ac.uk> wrote in message
> news:414992F9.F640A9B3@soc.soton.ac.uk...
>> Glenn Dowdy wrote:
>>>
>>> "Mike Rivers" <mrivers@d-and-d.com> wrote in message
>>> news:znr1095248578k@trad...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> What? Yet another video disk format? Good thing I haven't bought a
>>>> DVD player yet.
>>>>
>>>> I expect that Blu-Ray will come around eventually, but at $2500
>>>> for a computer drive, it'll be a couple of years before there are
>>>> $50 home players - but not very long.
>>>>
>>> Yep. When HP entered the CD-R market in 1995, CD-R speeds were 4x
>>> and
> the
>>> price was $1200. I've seen 32x CD-R drives for $5 after rebate.
>>> DVD+R
> 2.4
>>> writers were $300 about three years ago. Now, 16x DVD+-RW writers
>>> with dual layer write capability will go this holiday season for
>>> under $100. It's
> a
>>> rapidly moving market.
>>
>> The great thing about all the current DVD drives is that they are
>> backwards compatible with CD's. They will still read discs in a
>> format that was first introduced over 20 years ago. As I understand
>> it, Blu Ray and the other high capacity contenders still use the
>> same size discs as CD and DVD so there's no reason why the same
>> player shouldn't play all formats in the future.
>>
>
> The reason some player in the future won't be backwards compatable
> with current formats is that the consortium can make more money if
> they make old formats obsolete.

That's balanced by consumer resistance to products that will make old
formats obsolete without adequate offsetting benefits. There's a great
object lesson in this fact ongoing before our eyes as SACD and DVD-A
continue to crash and burn in the marketplace.
 
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On Sep 14, 2004, Don Cooper <dcooper288000@comcast.net> commented:

> Did I miss something? I thought Ted Turner bought these films in the
> '80's, and I assumed that Time Warner bought it all from him.
>--------------------------------snip----------------------------------<

Turner opted to keep some of the MGM films, but not all of them. (I believe
he retained the rights to GONE WITH THE WIND, if memory serves.)

All the trades have reported that MGM's library added about 4000 films to
Sony's existing library, so there was still quite a bit that Warner didn't
own.

--MFW
[remove the extra M above for email]
 
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Marc Wielage wrote:

> Turner opted to keep some of the MGM films, but not all of them. (I believe
> he retained the rights to GONE WITH THE WIND, if memory serves.)
>
> All the trades have reported that MGM's library added about 4000 films to
> Sony's existing library, so there was still quite a bit that Warner didn't
> own.


Thank you.
 

Mike

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"Glenn Dowdy" <glenn.no.dowdy@hpspam.com> wrote in message news:<cK%1d.10748$q25.962@news.cpqcorp.net>...
> "Jay Kadis" <jay@ccrma.stanford.edu> wrote in message
> news:jay-0517ED.07490915092004@news.stanford.edu...
> > In article <ajW1d.2303$mb6.1043@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
> > "anybody-but-bush" <Anybody But Bu$h@YAHOO.com> wrote:
> >
> > > "Don Cooper" <dcooper288000@comcast.net> wrote in message
> > > news:4147BB00.4829E675@comcast.net...
> > > :
> > > :
> > > : hank alrich wrote:
> > > : >
> > > : > Excerpt from:
> > > : >
> > > : > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/business/media/15sony.html
> > > : >
> > > : > The purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by a group led by Sony will not
> only
> > > : > give the company an enormous film library but also considerable
> power in
> > > : > its fight to set the format for the next generation of digital video
> > > : > discs.
> > > : >
> > > : > The transition to the new discs, which are not expected to be widely
> > > : > available until next year at the earliest, could generate billions
> of
> > > : > dollars in royalties to the developers of the technology that runs
> them.
> > > : > Sony, as part of the Blu-ray Disc Association, a consortium of major
> > > : > electronics makers, is at the forefront of efforts to develop the
> new
> > > : > technological standard.
> > > :
> > > Is this going to be another whopping success like SACD and Beta? We need
> yet
> > > another video
> > > format why?
> > >
> > > Phil
> > >
> > >
> >
> > More robust copy protection. (See SACD.)
> >
> That, and more room for HD video. The standard DVD disc holds 4.7gb of data;
> the DVD-9 and new dual layer discs hold 8.7gb. Blu-ray and blu-ray dual
> layer hold 27gb and ~50gb respectively. Besides, the current technology is
> pretty much at its limit. 16x writers are already hitting the market, and
> that's as fast as she goes. We will see improvement to the RW write times
> and the dual layer write times, probably up to 8x for both. Blu-ray is the
> future.
>
> Glenn D.

I wonder where the saturation point of all this will be. I see
somewhere in the future a big crash of the home entertainment market.


Mike http://www.mmeproductions.com
 
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"reddred" <opaloka@REMOVECAPSyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:TpGdnd0KrpuDt9fcRVn-vg@adelphia.com...
>
> "James Perrett" <James.R.Perrett@soc.soton.ac.uk> wrote in message
> news:414992F9.F640A9B3@soc.soton.ac.uk...
> > Glenn Dowdy wrote:
> > >
> > > "Mike Rivers" <mrivers@d-and-d.com> wrote in message
> > > news:znr1095248578k@trad...
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > What? Yet another video disk format? Good thing I haven't bought a
DVD
> > > > player yet.
> > > >
> > > > I expect that Blu-Ray will come around eventually, but at $2500 for
a
> > > > computer drive, it'll be a couple of years before there are $50 home
> > > > players - but not very long.
> > > >
> > > Yep. When HP entered the CD-R market in 1995, CD-R speeds were 4x and
> the
> > > price was $1200. I've seen 32x CD-R drives for $5 after rebate. DVD+R
> 2.4
> > > writers were $300 about three years ago. Now, 16x DVD+-RW writers with
> dual
> > > layer write capability will go this holiday season for under $100.
It's
> a
> > > rapidly moving market.
> >
> > The great thing about all the current DVD drives is that they are
> > backwards compatible with CD's. They will still read discs in a format
> > that was first introduced over 20 years ago. As I understand it, Blu Ray
> > and the other high capacity contenders still use the same size discs as
> > CD and DVD so there's no reason why the same player shouldn't play all
> > formats in the future.
> >
>
> The reason some player in the future won't be backwards compatable with
> current formats is that the consortium can make more money if they make
old
> formats obsolete.
>
Blu-ray will be backwards compatible with CD-R and DVDR.

Glenn D.
 
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Glenn Dowdy wrote:

> "reddred" <opaloka@REMOVECAPSyahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:TpGdnd0KrpuDt9fcRVn-vg@adelphia.com...
>>
>>
>> The reason some player in the future won't be backwards compatable with
>> current formats is that the consortium can make more money if they make
>> old formats obsolete.
>
>
> Blu-ray will be backwards compatible with CD-R and DVDR.

Just to clarify:

Blu-Ray players will play most of the CD* and DVD* discs.

CD and DVD players will not play Blu-Ray discs.
 
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Kurt Albershardt <kurt@nv.net> wrote:
>>
>> Blu-ray will be backwards compatible with CD-R and DVDR.
>
>Just to clarify:
>
>Blu-Ray players will play most of the CD* and DVD* discs.
>
>CD and DVD players will not play Blu-Ray discs.

Isn't Blu-Ray one of those Dr. Bronner's snack food products?
--scott

--
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