VIDEO : New Salvos Are Exchanged in the Digital-Format War
Interesting developments in the digital-format war--digital compact cassette (DCC) versus mini disc (MD)--surfaced at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago.
First of all, the launch dates, originally scheduled for September, have been delayed. The mini disc is now due in early November, while the digital compact cassette is now coming out in October--but could be delayed until November.
The price of the DCC decks keeps rising. The cheapest deck, from format developer Philips, was supposedly $700 but in fact will retail for $800. It’s due in November. A model from Technics, selling for $1,000, may precede it in October.
The DCC is a digital tape format that can record and play back digital tapes and play back standard cassettes. The mini disc, developed by Sony, is a tiny, recordable compact disc that’s encased in plastic. Both formats deliver near-CD quality sound, using compression technology that eliminates inaudible sounds.
The convention floor was loaded with digital compact cassette displays, with Tandy, Denon, Sharp and Marantz among the companies showing models, many of which are scheduled to reach the market at the end of the year. The Marantz decks, though, are very expensive--$1,100-$1,200.
Sony has been quiet about the pricing of its mini disc units, which will be portable, but a source said that the opening price will be in the $500-$550 range, with blanks costing $8-$10--roughly the same as DCC blanks.
Because of the price, many insiders at the convention speculated that the mini disc will attract most of the early audiophile shoppers. DCC pricing places it in the awkward position of being more expensive than the first digital tape format (DAT), which offers superior sound. In some places, DAT units are selling for $600, $200 less than the cheapest DCC.
In demonstrations, machines in both formats were impressive. It was impossible to tell the difference between them and compact discs. Technically, though, neither format offers the comprehensive, pure sound of the CD or its tape counterpart--digital audio tape. Both DCC and the mini disc are made with compression technology that eliminates some inaudible sound--which rankles purists.
The format war is heating up on the prerecorded software front too. DCC claims all the major companies will put out material in DCC. Sony had been counting only on music from its record label, but Warner Bros. said this week that it will market MD software too.
In Chicago, the talk among conventioneers was that it will take both of these formats a while to catch on. If and when they do, the question will be: How much damage will they do to the expanding CD market?
“We want the MD to dominate the portables market and to coexist with CD--not hurt it,” said Bob Sherwood, marketing vice president of Sony’s software division. “Marketing the MD is a very delicate thing. We have to say some negative things about the MD--that it’s not as good as the CD. Have you heard of trying to sell something by saying that it’s not as good as something else?”
There was also a lot of talk about the poor consumer having to endure sales pitches about two more formats. And software in the new formats will be sold in plastic packages that are roughly the same height and width as the standard cassette case, which should add to consumer confusion in stores.
What’s New in Consumer Electronics? Among the assortment of gadgets at the show, a few seemed likely to catch on.
One is a TV from Philips, priced between $1,000 and $2,000, that is equipped with a remote control finder. If you misplace your remote unit, press a button on the TV and the remote will beep, allowing you to locate it.
RCA’s innovative LDR310 is a combination laser disc-CD player that has a separate drawer for playing CDs only. Other combi-players have one big drawer with different slots for the different sized discs. Price: $549.
The cleverest of all may be Discwasher’s Hydrobath, a $60 unit that cleans CDs by putting them through a speedy, washing-machine-like cycle, including wash, rinse and spin-dry.
A TV with a rectangular screen, the same shape as a movie screen, is being developed by Thomspon and attracted plenty of attention at the show, but it still isn’t ready for market. Thompson officials said that the lack of extensive letter-boxed software, which this TV is designed for, has slowed marketing plans.