HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray vs. Downloading
http://live.pirillo.com/ – Bwana in the chatroom asks which format is going to win: HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, or Downloading?
The chatroom widely agrees that downloading content is the way of the future, but there’s no doubt that HD-DVD and Blu-Ray will be fighting it out int he format war for some time to come.
According to Wikipedia, HD-DVD is an advanced format:
The HD DVD disc is designed to be the successor to the standard DVD format. It can store about three times as much data as its predecessor (15 GB per layer instead of 4.7 GB).
The HD DVD standard was jointly developed by Toshiba and NEC. On 19 November 2003, the DVD Forum voted to support HD DVD as the high definition successor of the standard DVD. At this meeting, they also renamed it HD DVD.
HD DVD stands for “High Definition Digital Versatile Disc.” The format had previously been called the “Advanced Optical Disc” (AOD).
Blu-Ray has a different history:
The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength (405 nm), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red, 650 nm laser. A single layer Blu-ray Disc can store 25 GB, over 5 times the size of a single layer DVD at 4.7 GB. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost 6 times the size of a dual layer DVD at 8.5 GB.
Blu-ray Disc is similar to PDD, another optical disc format developed by Sony (which has been available since 2004) but offering higher data transfer speeds. PDD was not intended for home video use and was aimed at business data archiving and backup.
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7 Comments
Rich
May 18th, 2007
at 5:50pm
I switched from cassettes to CDs because my favorite tapes would wear out pretty quickly. I could also hear the difference between tapes and CDs, but tapes sounded good enough to me. I can see the difference between HD and DVD, but DVD’s good enough, and HD is no more durable. I don’t see a compelling reason for me to move to HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. I probably will ditch DVDs for downloading some day, though. That has convenience going for it.
Bill Sheppard
May 19th, 2007
at 7:04pm
Someday downloads will be the way to go, but we’re many years from the point where enough of the population has enough broadband speed to download 1080i/p content in a reasonable way. Further, many people want the security of owning physical media rather than fearing that a hard drive crash will cost them their collection.
While Blu-ray and HD DVD have comparable specs in terms of supported video resolution and codec support, Blu-ray is way ahead in terms of capacity, bandwidth, interactive platform, vendor support, and studio support. Seven of the eight major studios support Blu-ray, three exclusively. Only three studios support HD DVD, one exclusively (and they are rumored to be wavering). In terms of CE support Toshiba is your only option with HD DVD, while with Blu-ray you can choose from Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sharp, Samsung, LG, Philips, and more to come. Also HD DVD’s interactivity layer, HDi, is much more constrained than Blu-ray’s Java layer (which is generally compatible with OCAP, which the US cable industry has standardized on for future set-top boxes).
HD DVD is a short-term way to goose DVD enough to keep IP royalties flowing to the existing DVD technology holders, while Blu-ray started from the premise that existing DVD technology is too constrained for building a new format; hence the much better specs in terms of capacity, bandwidth, burning support, etc. Microsoft likes HD DVD because the longer the format war persists the more likely neither format wins, thus providing Microsoft a better shot at using the PC and Windows as the centerpiece of the living room, a result few of us will be better of for.
Bill Sheppard
May 19th, 2007
at 7:04pm
Someday downloads will be the way to go, but we’re many years from the point where enough of the population has enough broadband speed to download 1080i/p content in a reasonable way. Further, many people want the security of owning physical media rather than fearing that a hard drive crash will cost them their collection.
While Blu-ray and HD DVD have comparable specs in terms of supported video resolution and codec support, Blu-ray is way ahead in terms of capacity, bandwidth, interactive platform, vendor support, and studio support. Seven of the eight major studios support Blu-ray, three exclusively. Only three studios support HD DVD, one exclusively (and they are rumored to be wavering). In terms of CE support Toshiba is your only option with HD DVD, while with Blu-ray you can choose from Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sharp, Samsung, LG, Philips, and more to come. Also HD DVD’s interactivity layer, HDi, is much more constrained than Blu-ray’s Java layer (which is generally compatible with OCAP, which the US cable industry has standardized on for future set-top boxes).
HD DVD is a short-term way to goose DVD enough to keep IP royalties flowing to the existing DVD technology holders, while Blu-ray started from the premise that existing DVD technology is too constrained for building a new format; hence the much better specs in terms of capacity, bandwidth, burning support, etc. Microsoft likes HD DVD because the longer the format war persists the more likely neither format wins, thus providing Microsoft a better shot at using the PC and Windows as the centerpiece of the living room, a result few of us will be better of for.
LarryO
May 21st, 2007
at 7:35am
I like the idea of downloading but were to store my stuff? umm, dvd? LOL. so I might as well get it on DVD to begin with…
I download music and TVShows off iTunes all the time, I think what makes the difference is if I’m going to be watching it often then I ‘ll download it so I have access to it whenever with no need to look for that DVD.
As for HD or Blue-ray…ummm… I’d like to answer with a question. Why do we need or rather they need all that room? do they even use all the room on todays DVDs? and I do believe there is MP4 encoding which I heard it’s just as good if not better quality than the current encoding format.
so far I see HD and Blue-ray just a way for them to push some technology we don’t really need.
LarryO
May 21st, 2007
at 7:35am
I like the idea of downloading but were to store my stuff? umm, dvd? LOL. so I might as well get it on DVD to begin with…
I download music and TVShows off iTunes all the time, I think what makes the difference is if I’m going to be watching it often then I ‘ll download it so I have access to it whenever with no need to look for that DVD.
As for HD or Blue-ray…ummm… I’d like to answer with a question. Why do we need or rather they need all that room? do they even use all the room on todays DVDs? and I do believe there is MP4 encoding which I heard it’s just as good if not better quality than the current encoding format.
so far I see HD and Blue-ray just a way for them to push some technology we don’t really need.
Tom Burkman
June 18th, 2007
at 9:30pm
I think DLing movies will really all depend on how fast the speed of the net grows.
The future of HDTV will also require an insane amount of data (by todays standards, im sure a GB was considered insane in the 70s).
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/inadequacy/super-hi+vision-makes-your-hdtv-obsolete-already-264077.php
Super Hi-Vision 7680×4320, like 16 1080p screens jammed together.
there will have to be some sort of storage device that makes blue ray look like 5.25″ floppies.
Tom Burkman
June 18th, 2007
at 9:30pm
I think DLing movies will really all depend on how fast the speed of the net grows.
The future of HDTV will also require an insane amount of data (by todays standards, im sure a GB was considered insane in the 70s).
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/inadequacy/super-hi+vision-makes-your-hdtv-obsolete-already-264077.php
Super Hi-Vision 7680×4320, like 16 1080p screens jammed together.
there will have to be some sort of storage device that makes blue ray look like 5.25″ floppies.