Khoji On Tech (and more)

Adding to the HD format wars confusion comes a new contestant, HD Versatile Multilayer Disc (HD VMD), from the upstart British tech company New Medium Enterprises. What sounds like a new layer of insanity in the video formats farce may actually turn the industry on its head.

HD VMD uses regular red laser technology and large numbers of multiple layers — with up to 30 layers on a single disc it can match or exceed the capacities of BluRay and HD DVD. It has several huge advantages:

1. It is very cheap to produce the discs because it uses the same technology as existing DVDs.
2. The players are very cheap — even the first high-end player costs less than $200 and the basic player costs around $150.
3. It is not possible to create HD VMD disc burners for computers. The discs must be pressed, not burned. It is simply physically not possible to burn that many layers (even two layers is very difficult).

Point 3 in particular is going to make HD VMD hugely attractive for the movie studios. The prospect of having a movie format that cannot be burned would be like heaven for them. Add the low manufacturing costs of the discs and the low player costs for fast market penetration and it sounds like the perfect format for Hollywood. All they need to do now is kill HD DVD and BluRay quickly before they catch on too widely. Watch out for upheavals in the video market!