Good News! maybe. (New chip will play both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD)

[Up2Late]

This is a Press Release issued by the technology company "BroadCom" about a New computer chip that will enable computer and electronics companies to build a single HD-DVD/"Blu-ray" High Definition DVD player (current DVDs only support 525 lines resolution, HDTV in the U.S. is 1024 lines). So this is great news!

Unless :dilemma: the electronics companies are selfish or stubborn, and decide NOT to choose to use this chip and continue to develop 2 different and totally incompatible High-Def DVD formats, sort of like Sony and JVC did in the 1970's with the Betamax and VHS.

Broadcom Announces First Fully Compliant High-Definition Decoder Chip for Blu-ray™ Disc and HD DVD™ Media Players

New HD Decoder Chip is Based on Field-Proven Technology Developed for High-Definition Set-Top Boxes for Cable, Satellite and IPTV Applications

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 2006 International CES -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in wired and wireless broadband communications semiconductors, today announced the industry's first high definition (HD) audio/video decoder chip that is fully compliant with the emerging Blu-ray™ and HD DVD™ optical disc formats. Compliance with Blu-ray and HD DVD formats permits the recording and playback of high definition video on blue laser-based optical disc media and drives. Broadcom's latest high definition decoder chip enables a new generation of consumer electronics devices that can decode compressed HD video stored on Blu-ray or HD DVD formatted discs.

"The worldwide adoption rate of large-screen HDTV sets by consumers has increased significantly over the last year," said Michelle Abraham, Principal Analyst at In-Stat. "There is now an enormous opportunity for consumer electronics manufacturers and Hollywood studios to supply consumers with high- definition media players and movies. As a result, we anticipate strong movie title and media player introductions in 2006."

Announced today is the Broadcom® BCM7411D HD A/V decoder chip. The new chip supports H.264 (also known at MPEG-4 Part 10/Advanced Video Coding (AVC)) and VC-1 (SMPTE 421M), the SMPTE standard based on Microsoft® Windows Media® Video 9. Both compression standards are mandatory for Blu-ray and HD DVD optical disc formats. The BCM7411D also supports high definition MPEG-2 decoding and provides full backwards compatibility for current DVD video titles as well as new HD DVD titles that may be authored in an MPEG-2 format. A single-chip high definition decoder, supporting all three compression standards, enables manufacturers to build a new generation of media players that support both high definition optical discs as well as existing DVD video titles.

"Our previous generation HD A/V decoder chips have been tremendously successful in the cable, satellite and IPTV set-top box markets because of our relentless commitment to meet required compliance and performance metrics," said Peter Besen, Vice President of Consumer Electronics at Broadcom. "Our ability to deliver field-proven HD decoder technology that supports all of the industry's compression standards places Broadcom in a position to become the leader of this exciting emerging market for consumer electronics."

(more at link below)

<http://www.broadcom.com/press/release.php?id=799861&source=home>