Blu-ray and HD-DVD - A Brief Introduction

By: Jesse Wallace
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:23:11
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Do you have an old VCR gathering dust in the garage? How about a Laserdisc? Or a Betamax? If you do, it might be time to think about clearing a space out there for your DVD player, because the battle for next generation video format supremacy is about to hit your living room.

There are two competing technologies that will clamoring to get your support, one with a fancy name, the other with an acronym you'll recognize. They're essentially the same thing; compact discs with vastly increased storage capacities, but it seems likely that only one of Blu-ray or HD-DVD will survive.

Blu-ray - Named for the blue 405 nanometre laser that is used to write and read information on them, Blu-ray discs look exactly the same as the CDs and DVDs we have now. Championed by Apple, Sony, Dell, Samsung, Panasonic, Phillips, Pioneer, LG-Electronics and Mitsubishi, Blu-ray is the format of choice for the world's largest electronics companies. The video game industry, for the most part, is also on board, the most notable example being the Sony PlayStation 3's exclusive use of Blu-ray. They are faster, and will be able to hold more data (50GB) than the HD-DVD rival (30GB).

HD-DVD - They look the same as the old discs and they use use the same blue laser that Blu-ray does. So the factor that may sway the market towards HD-DVD is backwards compatibility. All HD-DVD players will still be able to play regular DVDs which will certainly attract those who have built up a large collection. Also on the side of HD-DVD is the movie industry with Universal, Warner Brothers, New Line, and Paramount all showing support. Coupled with the backing of the major players in the IT industry - Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, Microsoft, Intel- it's HD-DVDs game to lose.

So why switch from DVD? Both formats guarantee picture and sound quality far superior to the current standard. In terms of online movie rentals, Netflix and Blockbuster Online are now renting both Blu-ray and HD-DVD disc for the same price as regular DVDs. Another potential benefit to consumers is increased storage space. Some companies charge extra for the shipment of the special features, claiming increased shipping costs for a second disc; a practice that would be eliminated if everything came on one.

So if you do not currently have a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player as part of your home theatre setup, you will soon be asked to make a decision. And when you do, make sure you choose carefully; there's a one in two chance you could be buying nothing more than a very expensive piece of electronics history.

Jesse Wallace is a staff writer for The Online Movie Rental Guide, an information resource and comparison center for online movie rental services.

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