Yet Another High-Def DVD Format Arrives... Groan

You've barely had time to grow to hate Blu-ray and HD-DVD, but here comes yet another high-definition DVD format: HD Versatile Multilayer Disc, or HD VMD.

The story of HD VMD reads like a farce, maybe Don Quixote updated for the internet age. The technology is the brainchild of a UK company you've never heard of called New Medium Enterprises. New Medium has one independent studio lined up to provide content in the U.S., and one online retailer you've never heard of to sell HD VMD players. Outside the U.S., HD VMD may have better luck: a handful of films from Mel Gibson's Icon Film Distribution will appear on the format in Australia and New Zealand. A purported 5,000 films are slated for various European country releases.

What's the catch with VMD? It's a red-laser technology, which means it uses the same basic manufacturing, mastering, and playback system as DVDs and audio CDs. This means everything involved with the technology should be cheaper than with blue-laser tech, eliminating a major complaint with next-gen DVD formats. New Medium's goal is to offer players at less than $200 in the U.S., cheaper than even the cheapest high-def player by quite a big margin, but at least twice the price of a good standard DVD player.

But so many questions remain, mainly what VMD actually looks like on screen, what the audio sounds like, what the special features might look like, and more. We won't see VMD in the U.S. until September, and frankly I'm doubtful if many people will see it at all. The one thing I do know: VMD discs will hold 40GB, max, and discs can have up to 20 layers of data on them (hence the big storage capability and the name).

Ultimately I'm reminded of attempts to reinvent the floppy disk after it was nearing the end of its life. Anyone remember LS-120? You'd have to be a major geek to recall this floppy enhancer, which tried to muscle into the market after CD-R was on the rise.

But why not market VMD as a successor and enhancement to regular DVD-R drives? While I can name no one who's interested in yet another high-def movie format, consumers would kill to have affordable ways to burn 40GB data discs at home. Imagine burning an 8,000-song music collection onto a single disc for safe keeping. Now that's something I'd pay 200 bucks for.

LINK: A new format: HD Versatile Multilayer Disc