May’s Issue On D-VHS
Dear Gary: I read with interest in the May issue the article on JVC’s D-Theater and its comparison to the JVC D-VHS consumer high-definition solution for prerecorded materials (movies). I found the gathering of people presented in the article to be interesting to say the least, yet the article left me a little disappointed if not totally discouraged. Although I was enthralled in that prerecorded HD materials could be brought to the consumer marketplace, the method of delivery is poor, if not slighted, in origins. Simply put, magnetic tape is a poor attempt by JVC and the studios to offer HD material to consumers in temporary format. The short shelflife and accelerated wear upon repeat use of a magnetic tape can find its origins of weakness in traditional VHS. One of the benefits when people moved from audiocassette tapes to compact discs (CDs) in the early 1980s is that the shelf life of their purchase was greatly insured. In the video arena, LaserDiscs offered a slight increase in the performance of delivering visual information to the screen, but also provided the greatly increased shelf life of our purchases. When DVD came onto the scene, it was a natural progression (with a great amount of thanks) that we could for once and for all dump magnetic tape libraries in favor of prerecorded materials with a protection of our investment. Now, JVC is asking us to go backward! Why would the market be so accepting of a solution where a $40 investment in a HD movie would easily wear upon repeated use, close environmental conditions (magnetic fields, etc.), and require some users to repeat-purchase due to worn D-VHS tapes? I completely agree with some that MPEG-4 on 12-centimeter discs is not a solution, but accepting these two options alone is naive thinking (mine?) and lacks creative solutions. Thus, I thought about a “digital LaserDisc” solution. I know someone had to have thought about this possibility, but no mention is made, anywhere, and certainly not [yet] in Widescreen Review. Imagine, a 25-centimeter thick-disc (much like LDs) that uses current MPEG-2 compression and providing nearly the same level of storage capacity for a couple of hours worth of 28.2 Mbps HD material. Current read/write laser and transport technologies could easily be employed, with a slight re-engineering of the read/write head radial arm to handle the increased radius of the new disc. Also, the thicker disc would protect against warping, which can be found in today’s CDs and DVDs because of their “thin” nature. Conversely, a slight modification of the manufacturing process for stamping of larger discs should not be of a challenge, and follow-up for recordability would be eminent. We should expect over the next 6 to 12 months consumer acceptance of one of the two major implementations of writable/re-writable DVD formats, and thus the aspect of recording ability for this proposed HD-DVD solution should be a definite challenge to the D-VHS solution on all grounds. An HD-DVD player would be 100 percent backwards compatible with standard-definition DVDs and music CDs. What more could one ask? So, why the unbridled acceptance of D-VHS?
Brae Rowe, Atlanta Home Theater Group Member
Editor-In-Chief Gary Reber Comments:
I pretty much agree with you on this issue, however, this is the reality at the moment. An optical disc HD format that is accepted as a universal standard is at least three to five years away, despite pronouncements by parties with technology interests in their particular scheme. JVC presents us with an opportunity to set our sights on HD-plus picture quality. Millions of people have lived happily with VHS and I think millions will live happily with D-VHS. I would have preferred an optical disc format for HD delivery, and prior to DVD and D-VHS I was an advocate for a LaserDisc digital platform. I advocated this approach in Widescreen Review all during the DVD format wars back in 1997 and earlier under the theme “Compression Madness.” I think D-VHS D-Theater offers the enthusiasts community an opportunity to experience true HD-plus picture quality and this, in turn, will put pressure on display manufacturers to improve the resolution of displays devices, especially fixed pixel designs. Then, the industry will be ready for HD DVD that meets or exceeds the performance of D-VHS D-Theater.
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