Microsoft and Intel last week tried to swing the computing, consumer electronics and entertainment industry toward HD-DVD in a format war. In case you're new to the whole next-generation DVD discussion, Blu-ray and HD-DVD are two competing high-capacity disc technologies backed by various consumer electronics and computer manufacturers. Leading the Blu-ray team is Sony, backed by companies like Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell, along with several movie studios: MGM, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, and 20th Century Fox. On the HD-DVD side is Toshiba, the originator of the HD-DVD format, allied with Microsoft, Intel, and a host of movie studios including Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema,Viacom, NBC Universal, and Paramount.
What are HD-DVD and Blu-Ray disc?
Today's conventional DVDs can hold 4.7GB of information, but many want a higher-capacity successor to accommodate the larger data demands of high-definition video. Both of the new formats, HD-DVD and Blu-ray, are based on blue lasers. Blue light has a shorter wavelength than the red light used in CD and DVD systems, allowing the laser beam to make a smaller spot on the disc surface. With each bit of data taking up less space on the disc, more data can be stored on a 4.7-inch disc.
As a result, discs can hold between 15GB and 30GB of data, depending on the variant of the format used, compared to current DVDs that can hold between 4.7GB and 9.4GB of data. That extra space is important if discs of the same size as DVDs are to be used to distribute movies and other content in quality comparable to high-definition television.
What are the differences between Blu-ray and HD-DVD?
Each next-generation DVD format comes in single-layer and dual-layer formats. For HD-DVD, that means capacities of 15GB and 30GB; for Blu-ray, it's 25GB and 50GB. What Blu-ray appears to have over HD-DVD is that it offers 30 percent more capacity and is designed for recording high-def video. But it will be more costly to produce than HD-DVD media. However, Blu-ray players and discs will likely follow the traditional price curve of consumer electronics. Prices should fall rapidly if the technology is widely adopted.
Finally, who wins the format war will be determined by Hollywood movie studios--not consumers. But there's plenty of time before we see some clear picture. Till then catch hold of your good-old Star Wars DVD and pretend thats the only war worth watching!
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