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BD+ and extra thin layer = MS support for HD DVD

by: John -
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Gamasutra has a nice little sum up of the recent podcast from Major Nelson on why Microsoft decided to support Blu-ray. Now we all have scratched DVDs and CDs and the medium is rather fragile but Blu-ray seems to be even more so as there's a very thin layer of coating protecting your data on these discs. We can live with some scratching on CDs and DVDs but it seems a minor one will render your PS3 game or movie useless. Ugh. I'm not a fan of Sony's multiple formats but I always liked their miniDiscs as the product was encased in a protective sleeve much like how the old CD drives used to work with a caddy. While it made the item a little bigger, atleast it help protect the disc.  I wish they would go with something like that.

Oh, BD+ is another copy protection scheme that's used in conjunction with the already in place AACS. How much copy protecting do you need? I believe that copy protection will never prevent the ones that the companies are trying go after from copying their material. It just hassles the honest consumer in the end.

I don't mind seeing another larger recording medium but the more I keep hearing about Blu-ray, the less I like it.