More On MS/Paramount Payola

This post and the two following it are out of order
Comment from: Mr. Peabody
One last shot across the bow, Aye, I see matey… You guys have to be trolls, I am just so familiar with that Microsoft minion tone of voice.

Yes VC-1 is one of the three primary formats (perhaps the only three), that Blu-ray authoring officially supports, but MPEG4 (alias h.264) is the preffered format, and so far seems to be the most common among commercially released disks.

Now to my real point – I think it is very funny watching nay-sayers of Blu-ray try and distance themselves from MS. The post immediately prior to this one starts with a quote that would have us believe that MS is simply one of many, and nothing more than a supporter. If you will simply check your facts carefully I am certain that you will finally get it through your apparently non-vested heads that MS did in fact invent the VC-1 technology from the ground up, and if MS had no direct hand in the Paramount payoff it is only because there were others there to do it for them. And if you actually want me to believe that they [MS] essentially had no knowledge before the fact then you would be asking me to lie.

Come on guys, who do you think you’re kidding? Here I’ll provide a way out for you: To say that you simply want HDDVD instead of Blu-ray, and for no other reason, now that I can live and let live, but if you think that you can try and disconnect from MS in order to justify your preferences, then you’re setting yourself up to get hit with the truth, no matter how unpalatable. Trying to distance your stand from MS, or argue away 20 extra GB of storage is either uninformed or a ruse.

Which ever format “wins” will most likely also become the more common standard for home storage and authoring as well, if not the default, and this of course makes the whole debate ever more important. I want to get the most storage per dollar spent and Blu-ray will always win out, hands down over HDDVD.

Now get back to your Seattle home office and let the consumer decide if they want to pay less for more or not.

IN RESPONSE TO:

Comment from:
Some FYI on VC-1:

Just some info I found easily on the ‘net:

”Although widely considered to be Microsoft’s product, there are actually 15 companies in the VC-1 patent pool (as of August 17, 2006). As an SMPTE standard, VC-1 is open to implementation by anyone, although implementers are hypothetically required to pay licensing fees to the MPEG LA, LLC licensing body or directly to its members, who claim to hold essential patents on the format (since it is a non-exclusive licensing body).[1]

Both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc have adopted VC-1 as a mandatory video standard, meaning their video playback devices will be capable of decoding and playing video-content compressed using VC-1.”

Above quote found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VC-1

”The VC-1 essential patent holders currently include DAEWOO Electronics Corporation, France Telecom, societe anonyme, Fujitsu Limited, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., LG Electronics Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation, Telenor ASA, Toshiba Corporation, and Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC).”

Above quote found at: www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/08/17/1812679.htm

Personally, I don’t hate any companies. I find that so many people limit themselves to so much potential enjoyment and fun by taking a strong stand against a non-biological entity (such as a corporation). If Blu-ray contained the standards and offerings that HD DVD now does, AND had 20gb more space… (and maybe also was a bit less expensive) then I would be saying Blu-ray is superior. But that’s just not the case.

I don’t have anything vested in either of the camps. I don’t stand to lose anything based on who “wins the war.” If Blu-ray becomes the industry standard and no more HD DVDs are produced, my HD DVDs will still work. My HD DVD player did not cost me much in the first place. So, I will not have lost anything. I’m just honestly stating that, from my viewpoint as a consumer, I think HD DVD is offering a lot more to consumers (as a format), and I’m not ashamed to say so. I don’t mind if people want to label me as a “Microsoft supporter,” or some covert MS spy that’s seeking to dupe the general public with misinformation. If that’s the cost of me being honest about what I believe the better High-Def format is, that’s a price I’m more than willing to pay.

IN RESPONSE TO:

Various posts responding to:
Original MDN Post