Did you love Laserdisc? Were you bonkers over Betamax? Do you cry yourself to sleep because BeOS never hit the big time? Fret no more -- superdork Captain Tech is here to travel back in time and save the format losers that should have triumphed.
| 1. The quest begins 2. Betamax 3. Laserdisc 4. 8-track 5. High-definition audio |
6. MiniDisc 7. BeOS 8. DTS 9. Atari ST 10. What life would be like |
High-definition audio
What it was
High-definition audio consists of a couple of next-generation audio formats -- Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio -- that are pretty similar to CD in the way they operate, but are actually based on DVD technology. Because they have more space than CDs they can produce a far higher quality sound.
Why it lost
This is a classic case of a format war ruining what was a brilliant idea. With CDs continuing to sell well and with a boom in the digital music market, companies had a tough time persuading people that high-resolution audio was necessary. Combine that with the confusion of two competing formats and HD audio never really stood a chance. The discs also cost a fair bit more than regular CDs, which didn't exactly help the cause.
Why it should have won
Quite simply, these next-generation audio formats sound stunning. While CD is good quality, there are still some who argue vinyl is better. SACD and DVD-A address this by vastly increasing the audio quality and including the option for multi-channel surround sound. The copy protection is good too, which means less of that pesky piracy the music industry keeps banging on about.
The two high-definition audio formats are both essentially DVDs, with some slight tweaks. For example, SACD offers a cunning hybrid option, which means as well as a high-quality audio layer, there's a CD layer, which means the discs will work in any standard CD player -- although not all discs have this feature.
On the other hand, DVD-Audio is the audio format supported by the DVD Forum standards body, and the discs should be playable in any DVD player, which means a massive number of players already exist for the format.
Our fantasy outcome
Captain Tech has his work cut out here. Not only would he need to put an end to the format war, he would also have to get the public interested in high-definition audio. To do this, he'd have to start a large marketing campaign decrying the CD as old fashioned at the turn of the millennium in London's biggest white elephant, the Millennium Dome. As for finishing the format war, well, he'd have to pick his favourite format and brutally exterminate the other one.
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