Software maker Pony/Canon will release the first Blu-ray/DVD movie hybrid in Japan in February 2009, in a deliberate attempt to accelerate consumer transition from the DVD format to Blu-ray. By embedding the higher-def format into a single disk, the thinking goes, people will be more easily tempted to try Blu-ray and naturally upgrade their system. Recent reports have strongly suggested that Blu-ray adoption is indeed growing, but that the majority of consumers still prefer DVD and see little reason to switch. And Blu-ray doesn’t make it easy on itself by offering the more expensive product in the middle of a difficult economy. But the hybrid plan has its problems. While we think this is a good idea by the Blu-ray association, it won’t work fully if it undercuts the positives with off-putting negatives.
In order to smash the two formats together, the disc uses an efficient encoding algorithm (based on the MPEG-4 AVC H.264), because the available Blu-ray capacity (25 GB) on it was not enough. Full HD of 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution is compressed, as well as 24p/60i down to 12-24Mbps. That’s the opposite thought about what Blu-ray is supposed to do, which is expand the viewing capacity to such a degree that it doesn’t need compression.
[via wired.com]
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