Home Gaming Toshiba to try keep DVD's in play

Toshiba to try keep DVD's in play

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You may remember that I while back we posted an article about a new technology from Toshiba that plans to upscale standard DVD’s resolution to a near 1080p resolution instead. The new technology is called SRT (Super Resolution Technology) and according to those who have been lucky enough to see the demo’s so far, it makes quite a difference.

Enough of a difference to actually take on Blu-Ray? I’m not so sure.

Some industry journalists are saying that this is all apart of a “master plan” from Toshiba to undermine the Blu-Ray format, as they will also be offering a service called DVD Download DL, which, with the use of an internet connection, will download additional content for your DVD movies that would previously only have been available on the BR format.

As much as this technology will make consumers stick to standard DVD’s for a longer time, I believe that it will only be a matter of time until the new HD formats take over anyway. Even with companies like Microsoft also pushing for digital distribution there are still going to be the two factors that will come into play.

Some people like the idea of collecting movies and putting them on the shelves. Most people I know that love collecting DVD’s very rarely watch the movies more than once, but they still like having them on the shelves in their pretty little boxes. The other factor is convenience. Is it actually more convenient to download a movie and store it on a drive? Especially with the new and larger HD movies being released it could actually be quicker to go to a store and rent/buy the movie on disc rather than sit and wait for it download.

I do like what Toshiba is doing in that it’s a different approach that will add even more value to people who have built up large movie libraries on DVD. As for the future, I think that it can only last so long until it loses the battle to true HD formats.

Should Sony have to worry? My guess is that this is not a crisis, but it is something that they should keep a close eye on.

source: theinquirer.net

Last Updated: August 8, 2008

6 Comments

  1. Meh I think toshiba is digging a hole again. I think its not only the picture quality that is the deciding factor here but rather a storage medium factor. BD trumps on quality and will soon be the new optical storage standard.
    Lets also no forget that BD players can still play DVD’s so all those DVD collections can remain intact, hell its possible that the upscaling chip on BD players is probably pretty damn close to this new toshiba tech!

    Reply

  2. LazySAGamer

    August 9, 2008 at 00:06

    I love that image 🙂

    Anyway I agree with you here that all Toshiba is doing is stalling the take up of a new format so that they can continue to reap the loyalties of DVD.

    But it may just work

    Reply

  3. kabraal

    August 9, 2008 at 08:38

    Don’t know if you got this. Pioneer develops 500GB BD disc compatible with current BD drives. Toshiba should just let the 8.5 GB’er go…

    http://xbitlabs.com/news/storage/display/20080806034009_Pioneer_500GB_Blu_Ray_Disc_Becomes_Feasible.html

    Reply

  4. scotty777

    August 9, 2008 at 22:43

    ye, and whats this for? i mean, toshiba must be spending serious money just to battle against blu-ray, my word! can they not accept defeat?

    Reply

  5. j4nr1k

    August 11, 2008 at 08:43

    From a consumer side, this makes me happy, not to have to replace all my dvd’s with HD disks, but will this thing actually work better than the upscaler on the 360, the PS3 or what my media pc’s currently do? I doub’t it.

    Reply

  6. abe

    August 11, 2008 at 10:00

    But with BD you daont have to replace your DVD’s eaither!

    Reply

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