Today's blog entry takes a brief look at the speculation regarding Toshiba and Sega Orbi teaming up to develop new optical media. As you know, in the Orbi trademark there's a description for Recordable and Optical disc media:

recorded video discs and video tapes; motion picture films featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and/or animation, and motion picture films for broadcast on television featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and/or animation; audio tapes, audio-video tapes, audio video cassettes, audio video discs, and digital versatile discs featuring music, comedy, drama, action, adventure, and/or animation; short motion picture film cassettes featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and/or animation to be used with hand-held viewers or projectors


optical apparatus and instruments;


Based on these descriptions, this shows that SEGA is developing their own original media format as opposed to selling other current formats, also note that Blu Ray is absent from its description yet this description is simluar to that of HD DVD:

http://www.trademarkia.com/hd-dvd-79017498.html


Toshiba's patent department has been VERY VERY busy issuing NEW patents for Optical Disc Apparatus,Recordable Media Players, LED reader didoes e.t.c Here's some examples:


http://www.freepatentsonline.com/D656110.html

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8139459.html

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8139278.html

Now I have checked Toshiba's trademarking dept. and there's nothing in them that suggest that they have or will file a Trademark for optical media.

What that being said, most of this sort of points to Toshiba and SEGA perhaps being in a partnership together, with Toshiba likely owning the concept of the new format with SEGA Orbi owning the brand name.

So if Toshiba does launch HD DVD's successor(BTW, Toshiba only owned its concept DVD Laboratories owned its brand) then its new partner is SEGA Orbi.

Looking at the DVD and BD market, you could swear that the home video market is over-saturated,declining and filled with lots of price fixing media budget busting. Sony's Blu Ray has become too niche(not the success they had hoped by shoving the format down everyone's throats) and DVD itself is just aging after 15 years on the market and 13 years of catching on.

Digital and Streaming media is outgrowing both formats. Netflix,HULU, and Steam seems to be the new standard for HD. Flash Media is also signalling that the world may be returning to proprietary media(cards,tapes) after nearly two decades of Disc media.

A new optical disc would be a breath of fresh air. One that can hold 128-256 GBs of Video capacity and a ROM format that hold 200-400(Pioneer has already succeed in developing a BD Disc capable of such a feat)

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/02/pion ... compatibi/

The large capacity would make piracy alot more difficult and would cheapen the overpricing of printing and pressing BD masters. Toshiba and SEGA Orbi would also have to use inexpensive formatting material in which I believe they're pitching for. In marketing, both can outdo BD by claiming its holds more capacity and has much better coding software and can run HD smoother and better. This is not impossible. Toshiba didn't aggressively market HD DVD like they should have. And I don't think they'd make the same mistake with a more ambitious partner like Sega Orbi.


Japan's CTEC(Japan's version of CES)http://www.ceatec.com/2012/en/application/index.html


is a while away, are we going to see Toshiba strike back with a vengeance soon? Will Sega Orbi and Toshiba pay Sony back for monopolizing the market with Blu Ray?

Only time will tell. Soon, we shall see.