NME's HD VMD players hit for under $200

Considering that the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray is still raging, we'd really be hesitant to jump on board NME's bandwagon. Nevertheless, New Medium Enterprises' proprietary HD VMD players are starting to show up for under two Benjamins, but of course, there's only a handful of notable films available on the format (for now, at least). Those still interested in giving it a whirl can jump on the ML622S ($189) or ML777s ($199) right now, but don't blame us if the content you're dreaming of never makes its way over to HD VMD.

[Via Technabob]

[Delvis343 @ Oct 9th 2007 6:55PM]

Sounds cool, what films use this format?

[ipodrulz @ Oct 9th 2007 6:59PM]

Whats the differenc?

[LondonConsultant @ Oct 9th 2007 7:12PM]

VMD is Versatile Multilayer Disc. It's red laser (not the blue laser of HD DVD and Blu-ray) but nonetheless holds 30GB per side using many layers (basically a DVD with more layers). It has a maximum bitrate of 40 Mbps (which compares with HD-DVD's 36 Mbps and Blu-ray's 48 Mbps) so handles 1080p easily. The available films will apparently be from Icon and Bollywood - oh dear...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hd_vmd

[nxtiak @ Oct 9th 2007 9:56PM]

Well my CD/DVD Players uses Red laser :)

[Daniel D @ Oct 9th 2007 7:47PM]

lol wow talk about epic failure

[LeStat730 @ Oct 9th 2007 8:39PM]

what kind of company invests in a new format in the middle of a format war with no end in sight... what a waste of money, I'm betting this company will disappear off the radar entirely before people even find out what a VMD player is.

[kornation @ Oct 9th 2007 11:21PM]

odd, it looks like it will head towards epic failure, but they do have an advantage in the asian market - and the fact that bollywood will be using this (small, cheap, versatile) product may hold its head above water.

[membrane @ Oct 10th 2007 10:50AM]

If VMD play back doesn't require uber cavity search DRM for play back on computers like BD and HD DVD does then the format stands a chance.
The AACS DRM and crazy driver polling requirements are partly why vista is slow unstable bloated rubbish ware.

[Marcus @ Oct 9th 2007 8:45PM]

I'm hoping they will release a burner and the media will be as cheap as dvd-r's, would be a great and cheap way of storing and watching HD content.

[Qsat @ Oct 9th 2007 8:50PM]

Hope they win, screw Toshiba and Sony... as they says ; divided we fall

[Neil @ Oct 9th 2007 9:12PM]

These players seem like a really sound investment, I think I need to run out to electronics story right now and buy 2 of each.

[dj-kenpo @ Oct 9th 2007 11:17PM]

ya... you do that.


'story'.

[nxtiak @ Oct 9th 2007 9:55PM]

Is this like UMD?.... HAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. No really, WTF is VMD?

[DAZA @ Oct 9th 2007 10:42PM]

Why are people hating on this format? The players will be far cheaper than HD DVD or Blu-ray and with proper studio backing it just might take off. We've got a stalemate between 2 formats now, why not 3? :)

[andy @ Oct 9th 2007 10:48PM]

Since the HDDVD and BluRay encryption have been compromised it shouldn't take long for films to be available on torrents and now there is a cheap way to get them to play back in HD. Maybe we'll see these HD discs show up on Canal street. Seems like a pirates dream.

[Porfirio Reyes @ Oct 10th 2007 2:35AM]

HAHA! Gotta love Canal Street!

[lawschoolbound @ Oct 10th 2007 12:12AM]

full high def for under $200 in a first generation player? If this had come out at the start of the high-def war then it would be over by now.

[Matt @ Oct 10th 2007 3:50AM]

At least the design is kinda gorgeous :)

[DonYorke @ Oct 10th 2007 8:55AM]

I have a blu-ray player (PS3) but I could care less if they win the format war. The fact that there is a format war pisses me off. There is so much money to be made (hardware/software) I cant understand why sony and toshiba could not split the pie instead of screwing the customer. If VMD wins good for them.

[membrane @ Oct 10th 2007 10:45AM]

Sure there will be HD movies on it chinese and indian pirated knockoffs that oddly enough would be a better value then the official stuff as they'll play 1080i with no HDCP DRM ruining the experience.
But really the format might catch on just because it's cheap and you'll be able to get burners/recorders for it cheap this is how VHS won the format war with tape back in the 80s.

[Larry @ Oct 15th 2007 4:12PM]

I think NME should partner with Sega or Atari to use this drive as a basis for the late entrant next-gen console. Hey, it could work.....or...
The most obvious choice would be for Microsoft to buy the drives, insert these into the 360 and push yet another SKU on consumers. This would eliminate the space issues on regular DVDs. Then all MS has to worry about is that pesky overheating problem.

[Steve-O @ Oct 29th 2007 4:50PM]

I agree with the person that talked about VHS winning the war. VMD is the perfect solution for HD. Let's face it, there are very few people that have HD players AND TVs. The US market is not even close to saturation. In fact, it is more like it just started to sprinkle. The people in the US have been waiting for the prices to drop on both of these items (HD TVs and Players). VMD players play your old standard def DVDs, CDs, etc., and its cheap with similar HD quality as Blue Ray and HD-DVD. There might not be as many VMD movies out there, yet, but there weren't when Blue Ray and HD-DVD first launched either. Also, NME plans on releasing VMD for PCs. It is the most sensible choice. Good HD quality and you can play your old media. It doesn't get much better. Sorry Blue Ray, you might be headed the way of BetaMax. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if Sony made the same mistake again by jumping into a market too early before realizing other options.