High Def and BlueRay...

[stevelot]

Originally Posted by James

We are currently working AnyDVD HD, and it will be an awsome product!
I have an early Alpha Version, and it decrypts any HD DVD disc I have tried. Even better, the first version will probably have a working "Remove annoying trailers..." function. Adios, FBI warning. And the 20 second Universal "HD-DVD is great" logo which you cannot skip is now gone for good.

What is a DVD burner realy good for without a DVD back up program. The same is true for HD DVD burners. I have a Toshiba HD DVD player that up-converts DVD's and I have watched both up-converted regular DVD's and HD DVD's of the same title and HD DVD is way way better. You will end the HD DVD vs Blue Ray war if you make it a reality to back up HD DVD diks. DVD back up programs sold millions of DVD burners and if you make backing up HD DVD's you will be the reason people buy the HD DVD burners as soon as they are available. Capacity of the disks is mute as long as the movie fits. There are better ways then Blue Ray or HD DVD disks to back up computer files.

[Ajax]

So James When can we expect this new version of the AnyDvD implementation into HD...

[Fireball]

James, I certainly do hope that SlySoft do a Blu-Ray version of HD-AnyDVD.

Blu-Ray is the natural choice of HD for computer users because of the much greater storage capacity. With 200 gigs of storage available to BD in the future it is a far more attractive option as a backup device - Discs are far more reliable than tape for example. It may not take off in terms of home players, but then home player users are not SlySoft's customers.

BD is therefore the choice I have made currently. I built a new computer recently with a BD drive and bought a supposedly HD Ready Hitachi SX5600 projector only to find that its DVI input is not HDCP compliant and I therefore cannot watch HD movies unless I use an analogue cable which kind of defeats the object of HD despite the fact that Sony do not reduce the image quality on analogue - it does reduce slightly naturally and the signal drops off somewhat on a 10m cable run.

From a business point of view, surely, supporting and selling HD-AnyDVD for both formats will give you more customers and therefore more revenue?

Having said that I am staggered by Sony's apparent death-wish for their format. They seem to be making it as hard as they can to have their format accepted: They make it more exepensive, the make it region coded and they increase DRM. As corporate decisions go that has to be one of the most crass!

[Peer]

Originally Posted by Fireball

James, I certainly do hope that SlySoft do a Blu-Ray version of HD-AnyDVD. [...]
Blu-Ray is the natural choice of HD for computer users because of the much greater storage capacity. [...]

Fireball,

the reason for us to pick HD-DVD first (which does not mean "only") was basically an idealistic one.
Personally, I'd like to see Blu-Ray drop dead and vanish (if there were another, less restrictive format than HD-DVD, I'd wish the same for HD-DVD) - despite the technological advantages you mentioned, which are undisputable.
I'd like the idea of Sony learning, that tying up their customers, will make those simply not accept their product.
Sadly, this is not the conclusion they will reach in the end - rather that marketing failed to make the format a success. But I can dream, can't I?

As soon as we have AnyDVD/HD out and ready for sale, I will take a closer look at the Blu-Ray formats and requirements - especially at BD+, which will probably require some additional reverse engineering.
After that, further decisions will be made.

From a consumers point of view, we can only hope, that one of the formats drowns soon, because as long as both formats are out there competing, many (most?) titles will only be available in one of the two formats. Not being available to those, who chose the other format for their home entertainment...
This whole HD-disc war is being fought out on your backs, guys, and sadly enough, you're also funding the money for it

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by peer

Fireball,

the reason for us to pick HD-DVD first (which does not mean "only") was basically an idealistic one.
Personally, I'd like to see Blu-Ray drop dead and vanish (if there were another, less restrictive format than HD-DVD, I'd wish the same for HD-DVD) - despite the technological advantages you mentioned, which are undisputable.
I'd like the idea of Sony learning, that tying up their customers, will make those simply not accept their product.
Sadly, this is not the conclusion they will reach in the end - rather that marketing failed to make the format a success. But I can dream, can't I?

As soon as we have AnyDVD/HD out and ready for sale, I will take a closer look at the Blu-Ray formats and requirements - especially at BD+, which will probably require some additional reverse engineering.
After that, further decisions will be made.

From a consumers point of view, we can only hope, that one of the formats drowns soon, because as long as both formats are out there competing, many (most?) titles will only be available in one of the two formats. Not being available to those, who chose the other format for their home entertainment...
This whole HD-disc war is being fought out on your backs, guys, and sadly enough, you're also funding the money for it

I totally agree with this.

[Clams]

I totaly agree also. Reminds me also of the lesson Sony didn't learn in the VHS - Betamax shootout.

Sony has been talking out of both sides of thier mouth for a long time now. They have been the most agressive about copy protection, yet they are one of the biggest producers of blank media and burners out there.

-W

[Metrogirl]

@ Peer - sound logic and I agree totally.

I'd like to see Sony lose out on this too. Although Blu-Ray capacity is better (and on that basis alone I'd prefer it) I am frustrated by Sony's view that everyone is a potential criminal and we must be treated accordingly. Their iterations of ARcoSS, SCMS, BD+, the rootkit fiasco, hiding FBI warnings after the main menu, enforced trailers, encrypted drive firmware and hard-coded region restrictions in DVD players - these things all show disregard for what the consumer actually wants. I have to admit that their AV products are generally excellent quality, though.

I'm excited by the prospect of an HD version of AnyDVD, and just as the Doom9 efforts appear to have prompted many members to by HD-DVD, I think that the availability of a product like AnyDVD-HD may be the boost the format needs to ensure its dominance. People will buy the format they can back up, not the one they can't.

I think however that there is a significant risk in leaving Blu-Ray out of the AnyDVD stable for too long. Some studios support both formats and others could switch. If they perceive Blu-Ray as being more secure because it's not so easily ripped, they may choose that format exclusively for delivery.

[WesleyTech.com]

Thanks for all the info on the upcoming AnyDVD HD product.
I posted an article on my site about it.
http://wesleytech.com/anydvd-hd-coming-soon/

[SamuriHL]

Sorry if this question was asked and answered already...I tried to read through all the posts to make sure and didn't see it. My question is regarding AnyDVD vs AnyDVD HD and whether they will be two separate products. What I mean by that is will we have 2 fox icons to contend with? Will AnyDVD HD be able to handle regular DVD's in addition to HD-DVD's? I would like to think that AnyDVD HD would be an upgraded product over and above the "basic" AnyDVD and that only one program would be needed to do both. I hope my question makes sense.

Also, I'll throw in one more question just to really get you guys going(hi James! )...will there be an updated CloneDVD HD in the works, as well, to handle encoding tasks of the new HD formats? I realize that even if you are considering such a thing it could be a LONG ways away. I'm more curious about whether you've even thought about such a thing. Obviously the CloneDVD HD would be able to rip trailers and other useless crap out of our backups and be able to write those backups to discs. (Wouldn't it be great if you could rip BluRay discs and then write them to HD-DVD's and vice versa(I guess...I'm not a BluRay fan...I'd rather rip those to HD-DVD's personally)? MUAHAHAHAHA)

Anyway, congrats on the new forum. Congrats on the apparent upcoming success of AnyDVD HD. And I look forward to the beating I'm about to get for suggesting CloneDVD HD.

[DetroitBaseball]

Originally Posted by SamuriHL

Sorry if this question was asked and answered already...I tried to read through all the posts to make sure and didn't see it. My question is regarding AnyDVD vs AnyDVD HD and whether they will be two separate products. What I mean by that is will we have 2 fox icons to contend with? Will AnyDVD HD be able to handle regular DVD's in addition to HD-DVD's? I would like to think that AnyDVD HD would be an upgraded product over and above the "basic" AnyDVD and that only one program would be needed to do both. I hope my question makes sense.

Also, I'll throw in one more question just to really get you guys going(hi James! )...will there be an updated CloneDVD HD in the works, as well, to handle encoding tasks of the new HD formats? I realize that even if you are considering such a thing it could be a LONG ways away. I'm more curious about whether you've even thought about such a thing. Obviously the CloneDVD HD would be able to rip trailers and other useless crap out of our backups and be able to write those backups to discs. (Wouldn't it be great if you could rip BluRay discs and then write them to HD-DVD's and vice versa(I guess...I'm not a BluRay fan...I'd rather rip those to HD-DVD's personally)? MUAHAHAHAHA)

Anyway, congrats on the new forum. Congrats on the apparent upcoming success of AnyDVD HD. And I look forward to the beating I'm about to get for suggesting CloneDVD HD.

As far as your first question, I am under the assumption that AnyHD-DVD will only work with HD-DVDs. As far as the second question, I have heard nothing about CloneHD-DVD.