HD Mac Pros At NAB?

[MacRumors]

LoopRumors believes that April's NAB will infuse the Mac Pro with a HD burner option.

Today's information confirms a rumor we brought you in July and cites the ability to burn and play high-definition format discs, although the specific format was not mentioned in this latest tidbit, we are still assuming that since Apple has its hand in the Blu-Ray technology, this optical format will be the most likely candidate.

Indeed, Apple sits on the Blu-ray board of directors, however a ThinkSecret rumor from last year had indicated that Apple may be toying with the idea of supporting both formats.

[twoodcc]

i hope this is true, and that somehow it will support both formats (if possible). as long as i can put a drive in my mac pro, everything's gravy....

[Eidorian]

This should appease the whiners. I hope HD-DVD gets off its butt and provides a burner. I've seen blank discs but no burners.

[Gee4orce]

Sounds reasonable. What I don't buy though are all these rumours of a MacPro redesign - the current model is still too new !

What I'm hoping these rumours point to is another desktop Mac model that sits between the Mini and the Pro. If that happens, my credit card will be out of my wallet so fast Einstein will be spinning in his grave !

[the kid 05]

Originally Posted by Gee4orce

Sounds reasonable. What I don't buy though are all these rumours of a MacPro redesign - the current model is still too new !

What I'm hoping these rumours point to is another desktop Mac model that sits between the Mini and the Pro. If that happens, my credit card will be out of my wallet so fast Einstein will be spinning in his grave !

i vaguley remember seeing in the mac pro's someone posted files for HD-dvd and blu-ray dvd drives as an add on, it was on this site as this is the only one i know of.

[Zwhaler]

Ah either way it will cost a firtune. Those things are upwards of 500 dollars each.

[sdhollman]

Geez we have to wait that long for the 8 cores, man this is crazy.

[mkrishnan]

Originally Posted by Zwhaler

Ah either way it will cost a firtune. Those things are upwards of 500 dollars each.

Hehehehe, I think once you are getting a Mac Pro, a $500 optical drive is not necessarily out of reason. Not like it's being put in the Mini.

[skinnylegs]

The porn industry has adopted the HD-DVD format. Game over.....

[Redneck1089]

Originally Posted by skinnylegs

The porn industry has adopted the HD-DVD format. Game over.....

That's not entirely true. I've read that Vivid, the biggest pr0n producer, supports Blu-Ray.

[nuckinfutz]

Originally Posted by Redneck1089

That's not entirely true. I've read that Vivid, the biggest pr0n producer, supports Blu-Ray.

Vivid will support both.
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/show/329

Digital Playground is HD DVD only right now and may support Blu-ray in the future. Wicked Pictures is HD DVD and may support Blu-ray.

LoopRumors however is grasping at straws. Apple has always been neutral in the HD format war. They are members of the DVD Forum and Blu-ray Board of Directors. They have rudimentary support for HD DVD in DVD Studio Pro 4 and will likely add improved HD DVD authoring and Blu-ray authoring to DVD SP 5 at NAB.

Burners are available from both companies although Blu-ray has more as the format was conceived as a recording medium first.

[Pressure]

Originally Posted by Redneck1089

That's not entirely true. I've read that Vivid, the biggest pr0n producer, supports Blu-Ray.

That's mighty fine of them boys, although at this time they are not allowed to distribute pr0n on the Blu-Ray format.

[combatcolin]

Originally Posted by skinnylegs

The porn industry has adopted the HD-DVD format. Game over.....

And the only way to watch porn films now is via HD-DVD eh?



Means bugger all, 25 years ago porn was incredibly difficult to get hold of - now its everywhere.

Years yet till either format wins out.

[kitki83]

My question is whats the capacity of a Blue Ray and HD DVD, I heard/read some shaky source claining this technology isnt going to be all that beneficial other than Data Recording. I mean Movie at HD can fill about half what most these formats offers in space so really the companies can jam fill the remaining disc with Crap(well to some its nice content) But really what can Blue ray and HD DVD Video bring because the movies arent gonna fill that disc up. I do like one disc series, that would be nice. Having whole series of Friends in one disc is sooo sick!!!!

Anyway its gonna be DVD-R vs DVD+R World War 2!

[hvfsl]

If true, I hope it means the next versions of iDVD and DVD Studio have proper support for burning HD movies.

Although considering my holiday movies aren't much more than 30mins, burning them in H.264 onto DL DVDs should be fine for me.

[UrsaMajor]

As long as theres drivers you could use any aftermarket bluray drive. An inexpensive enclosure kit can make any external drive, internal. I'd imagine the pricing option via apple would exceed $800.

The thing I'd like to know is what kind of specs you would IDEALLY need to edit 1080p (1920x1080) video on the mac. That's a lot of "horsepower" just to display it, let alone edit it.

[ibglowin]

Porn will play no role in this war. This is not 1980. No one rents or buys porn anymore from the local mom and pop store down the street. You get it off the internet, or cable or satellite.

Lets see one porno DVD for $30 to $50 or an entire months subscription to a 24/7 XXX cable channel that I can record to DVD if I really want to....$30

Which do you choose......

Blu-Ray will win out with main stream content this time around
.

Originally Posted by skinnylegs

The porn industry has adopted the HD-DVD format. Game over.....

[gkarris]

Originally Posted by ibglowin

Porn will play no role in this war. This is not 1980. No one rents or buys porn anymore from the local mom and pop store down the street. You get it off the internet, or cable or satellite.

Lets see one porno DVD for $30 to $50 or an entire months subscription to a 24/7 XXX cable channel that I can record to DVD if I really want to....$30

Which do you choose......

Blu-Ray will win out with main stream content this time around
.

Actually, I heard something along the lines that "who wants to watch that stuff in High-Def?"

That format war was for videocassettes. This is totally different.

The article mentioned that "Disney will decide this format war."

Disney has chosen Blu-ray...

[sarge]

Originally Posted by mkrishnan

Hehehehe, I think once you are getting a Mac Pro, a $500 optical drive is not necessarily out of reason. Not like it's being put in the Mini.

I'm so with you on this.

[dllavaneras]

So that burner will cost what, 20-25% of any new mac? That's a pretty expensive BTO option...

[Callaway]

What's NAB?

[foltzie]

Originally Posted by Callaway

What's NAB?

National Associate of Broadcasters. Specifically, this would be at their convention. Not a bad place to show off new HD content capabilities.

[KindredMAC]

Just makes sense for Apple to cover its bases with adopting both formats. Plus there is no reason not to since LG came out with that player that will play both Blu and HD.

Last time I checked the only difference between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD was the size of the laser that burns. The Blu-Ray's laser is smaller and hence can burn more information on the disc. However Blu-Ray has come up with some great features like scratch resistant surfaces. Supposedly someone on YouTube showed taking a brillo pad to a Blu-Ray disc and then it played fine in the player. Granted this could be an Urban Legend, but it is still pretty impressive.

Also, even though the Adult Film Industry embraced VHS and now HD-DVD doesn't mean Blu-Ray is going to go away or lose the battle. George Lucas and some other heavy weights in Hollywood are picking Blu-Ray because of the vast size difference in capacity. The latest rumor was that Lucasfilm is creating what is so far being called "The Grand Saga" Editions of Star Wars and Blu-Ray is the tapped media for that release.

I have found some internal Blu-Ray burners using Froogle™ for between $500-$999. Over the course of the next year those prices are just going to plummet more and more and it could easily be a $300 option in a Mac Pro next January.

[TVGenius]

Originally Posted by foltzie

National Associate of Broadcasters. Specifically, this would be at their convention. Not a bad place to show off new HD content capabilities.

Hee hee hee.... two more weeks! I can't wait. Heaven for TV junkies like me. And Vegas has the Pinball Hall of Fame too!

[Cult Follower]

They should have put BluRay in the 1st Gen MacPros. But it is still a good thing.