Checking Out Chips to Camcorders

Enterprise Networks & Servers, May 2004 by Hoover, George

Except for the neat little portable units, DVD players are really dead. Manufacturers (even the Chinese) are lucky if they can make a buck or two after covering their parts, manufacturing and shipping costs. Still there will be about 60 million of the single-purpose units sold worldwide.

But recorders. That's a different story; the growth has just begun. About 13 million of us bought these units last year and this year analysts forecast sales will double to more than 26 million. That kind of growth gets everyone's attention, even your favorite computer manufacturer.

The units from consumer electronics producers like Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips and Apex do more than just record to DVD. Most have hard drives. A few have electronic program guides (EPGs) and increasingly they will play both DVD movies and DVD-Audio. Some are adding high definition playback and network connections to cooperatively compete with the new breed of home computers.

In case you hadn't noticed high-definition (HD) TV is also coming on strong as a part of the new digital home theater. Nine million of us will move up to HD this year according to industry analysts. But as good as DVD quality is, you won't move up to just an HD set. You'll also be ready to invest in an HD recorder, HD burner and probably an HD camcorder. If that scares you then buy the TV and something like the ADS HD UpConverter so you enjoy everything in brilliant high clef. It lets you stick with today's investment and enjoy the beauty of HD.

The problem with HD burners and recorders is we've once again got two competing standards - it's the money, honey. And we aren't talking chump change.

There's AOD (Advanced Optical Disc) being pushed by NEC and Toshiba. It's the evolutionary approach to DVD-Video. Sony and Philips (joined by Dell, HP, Hitachi, Sharp, Samsung and others) want you to believe that Blue-Ray Disc (BD) technology is superior. BD is first out of the chute but the burners, recorders and media are expensive.

If you want to time-shift your TV shows and archive some of the programs, go to the store and look at the units side by side. Next consider the powerhouses behind the two technologies. Make your buying decision and hope you bet on the right horse in this race.

Intel and the computer manufacturers are bullish about sales for the next few years and your home is one of the reasons. Home PC sales crept up slowly to around 50 percent of the homes where it has hovered for the last few years (much less in other countries). Sure you've probably got two or three systems around the house but look at the magazine you're reading; you're the exception.

Until this last year most people didn't buy home systems because they were computers complete with all of their nasty little quirks. Microsoft, working closely with Intel and a few of their customers, developed a concept called Media Center but it is still a computer first and entertainment solution second. All things considered it sold well but still to people who understood computers.