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D-Theater arrives!
On January 30th, 2002, JVC, along with the support four major
studios - Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, DreamWorks, and Artisan
- announced
the new D-VHS "D-Theater" platform for High-Definition
(HD) prerecorded content. The news traveled fast and the reaction
was swift - is this the dawning of a new era, a format war, or
a boondoggle to rival the demise of DIVX?
But before we gaze into our DVDFILE Magic 8-Ball and make our
predictions, if you're unfamiliar with the news, or don't even
know what the heck D-VHS and "D-Theater" are, please
take a gander at our new Fact
Sheet, which should give you all the basics you need to
know. Okay, all ready to continue? Alrighty then, here we go...
Earlier today, I was one of the lucky few to be invited to a
press demo of the new D-VHS "D-Theater" platform. Ever
the skeptic, I greeted the announcement yesterday and went into
the demo with tremendous trepidation. I have devoted every single
day of the last four years of my life to the DVD format, and have
hundreds of well-earned discs to prove it, so how could I not
greet the arrival of a new format with anything but a nervous
gulp?
But even I can't deny the power of High Definition. No self-respecting
home theater enthusiast reading this can claim that properly presented
HD isn't a significant step up in terms of quality over DVD. HD
is simply the Holy Grail of home theater, and the demos bore this
out. We were treated to three side-by-side demonstrations: a VHS/DVD/D-VHS
comparison of Fox's The Sound Of Music on smallish direct view
monitors, an unconverted 720p DVD versus downconverted 720p D-VHS
of Artisan's Basic Instinct on two plasma screens, and Universal's
U-571 front-projected in 480p DVD and 1080i D-VHS. The grand finale
was Fox's X-Men and Artisan's Total Recall, displayed in all their
1080i glory on a dedicated home theater environment, complete
with jumbotron 15-foot screen.
We were told that the HD masters used for both the DVD and D-VHS
displays were the same, and with all things being equal, the D-VHS
1080i material was clearly superior to the DVD. While the small
direct view monitors were not that breathtaking - the screens
are just too small to really see a huge appreciable difference,
though it is noticeable - when you move up to the larger screen
sizes the improvements are readily apparent. Resolution, detail,
sharpness, widescreen aspect ratios - it's all there. The D-VHS
system really works and looks terrific. Hands down, no contest.
However, as impressed with the demos and the D-VHS format as
I was, my sense is that the real issue here and what's causing
all the debate isn't one of HD versus DVD. It's not "Why
HD?" but rather, "Why videotape?" We all want HD
for the masses, but the question is, what delivery medium is the
best for everybody? So let me now don my flameproof suit and give
you my opinions. Going in as a journalist with a vested interest
in the survival and success of DVD, I had my knives sharpened
for the kill. My current line of work depends on it, and I asked
all the hard questions I could not only for the benefit of you,
my dear readers, but because I genuinely was afraid of what D-VHS
might mean for DVD. Call me a wimp, but I was a bit scared
when I heard the announcement yesterday...
That said, I can honestly say I left not feeling particularly
threatened by D-VHS, and am now actually excited about the quality
it can deliver to my home theater. I can't wait for prerecorded
HD material to be available for consumer use, and the fact that
four major studios are putting their weight about HD anything
is a true sign of progress. There were doubts just a few years
ago that any studio would allow HD-quality versions of any of
their films to be released at all, so yesterday's announcement
is a clear step in the right direction. It's a sign that if properly
protected, content providers will allow Joe Six Pack access to
their crown jewels in a real high-quality format. And that, my
friends, is cause for celebration.
But more importantly for DVD, and as the studio representatives
all in attendance made perfectly clear, D-VHS isn't intended as
a threat to our beloved 5" format. At least for now. The
current market penetration of HD owners is quite small, and the
only way to really enjoy D-VHS is to own a HD monitor and have
the cash to part with an extra $2,000 just for the D-VHS player
alone. That's one small market! And although final word on software
prices remains unknown, my guess based on the buzz is that it'll
end up being in the $40 range, which keeps it at laserdisc-level
attractiveness for most folks. As Fox's VP of Marketing Peter
Staddon succinctly stated, "If we thought it (D-VHS) was
going to kill DVD, we wouldn't be doing it."
But are such statements mere marketing smokescreen? I doubt it.
DVD is the golden goose of the home video industry right now,
and I doubt any studio would do anything to ruin it. And with
D-VHS lacking most of the interactive features we know and love
about DVD (except for chapter stops and multiple audio tracks,
see the Fact
Sheet for more), the studio reps seemed clear that their
D-VHS titles will clearly showcase the movie, not the extras.
(None of the studios see it as a mass-market rental item, either.)
Though outlines of marketing plans were not revealed, my instincts
tell me that D-VHS ain't gonna be pushed at Wal-Mart. Like SACD
or MiniDisc, I doubt the Average Joe is even gonna know D-VHS
exists for a long time, if ever...
So, if the market for D-VHS is so small, and given its steep
price tag, why bother at all? Why not just wait for HD-DVD? Because
HD-DVD is simply waaaay off, at least five years or more,
so D-VHS is currently the only way to get prerecorded HD programming
into the home. According to DreamWorks's director of Publicity
Cheryl Glen, D-VHS is intended to "satisfy a very small and
dedicated market with the highest-quality product possible."
Sounds good, and as DVDFILE is ultimately all about getting the
best quality possible (which just happens to be DVD right now)
I can't complain. DVD is great, but I ain't gonna poo-poo HD just
because it ain't, well, DVD. I still believe that the future is
gonna be disc-based, but if HD can somehow be made available to
the elite and doesn't destroy DVD and eventually a chance for
HD-DVD, then fine by me. And if D-VHS doesn't attract the high
end, then so be it...the market will decide. Whatever the case,
I won't be giving up my DVD collection anytime soon.
But (and, as Pee-Wee Herman says, we all have a "big but")
the long term picture is a bit cloudy. I was a bit disappointed
that the studio reps in attendance didn't seem more concerned
with the considerable financial investment that high-end consumers
are being asked to make to enjoy D-VHS. $2,000 is a lot of money
for a D-VHS deck, not to mention rebuying all those software titles
again, and that's if you already have a suitable HD monitor.
No studio would say how long they plan to support D-VHS, especially
if sales are not that brisk. What assurance do we have, us high-end
users who always support these new product launches, that D-VHS
decks won't be obsolete and unsupported in a year or two? Ever
heard of S-VHS? Yep, thought so.
I also had to wonder if this new push for D-VHS is a little more
than just a sincere attempt to deliver the best quality to the
high-end. While I am sure every studio wants their films to be
seen in the best possible light, is D-VHS just a market research
tool to gauge the consumer interest in prerecorded HD? Is this
just a training ground to see if HD-DVD will fly? Do the studios
really believe D-VHS is gonna last? Or is this just a way
for JVC to get a foothold into HD now, and secure a place
to stage a format war against HD-DVD when it arrives? If you've
got money to burn, great, but not everyone is loaded with cash,
so I hope that the claims to support D-VHS long-term hold true.
Anyone remember DIVX and the huge consumer backlash it generated?
Burn me once, I may forgive you. Burn me twice, and watch me never
come back...
In the end, and to prevent this from being my first novel, my
reactions were overall positive to the D-VHS demo and the potential,
albeit a niche one, for the platform. Perhaps the best thing I
can say about the quality of HD is that it is so strong it made
me actually get excited about videotape again! And I am really
a disc guy - it's sexy, it has tons of great interactive features,
and it doesn't degrade like tape does. But quite simply, any HD-DVD
format is years off, and if the studios and manufacturers like
JVC keep true to their promise to not destroy DVD with any nefarious
D-VHS schemes, I will be very excited to have top-quality HD prerecorded
material in my home.
We hope to cover the first D-VHS titles when they are released
(but, don't worry, this is still DVDFILE), so stay tuned. Please
check out the forum
and lend your thoughts on D-VHS. We really want to know what you
think, and we hope the dialogue is ongoing. I'm sure this is only
the beginning!
- Sincerely, your editor Peter M. Bracke
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