HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray

Blu-ray and HD-DVD are two competing high-capacity disc technologies backed by various consumer electronics and computer manufacturers.

Both formats use blue laser technology, which uses a shorter wavelength than red, enabling it to read the smaller digital data spots packed more densely onto a standard-size disc. HD-DVD is capable of holding 30GB (a full-length high-definition movie, plus extras) on a double-layer disc. Comparatively, Blu-ray will hold up to 50GB at launch, and Sony is said to be working on a quad-layer 100GB disc.

Below I have listed some of the statistics for each technology:

Blu-ray

Backed by: Sony, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric, Philips Electronics, Pioneer Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, TDK, and Thomson Multimedia.

Advantages: Technologically, the biggest advantage Blu-ray has over HD-DVD is it’s offering of 30 percent more capacity and its potential for recording high-def video. Rewritable Blu-ray discs can play back content while simultaneously recording to the disc. In addition, Sony owns both Columbia Pictures and MGM, which gives them an advantage for releasing content. They also have the PlayStation 3 which will demand a large portion of the market.

Disadvantages: The most obvious disadvantage is that Blu-ray discs initially will be more expensive to produce than HD-DVD.

HD-DVD

Backed by: Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, and Memory-Tech. Microsoft is also supporting HD-DVD in Windows Vista.

Advantages: Believe it or not, the name, HD-DVD is more consumer-friendly than Blu-ray. HD and DVD are both names consumers recognize and are more familiar with. Research has proven consumers are more likely to purchase technology they are familiar with. Another advantage is that HD-DVDs use the same basic structure as current DVDs, so converting DVD manufacturing to HD-DVD will be simple and more cost effective.

Disadvantages: HD-DVD simply cannot compete with the storage capacity of the Blu-ray discs. Current information indicates the rewritable HD-DVD will hold up 32GB, while the recordable HD DVD-R discs will only be single layer (15GB). The other disadvantage is that with Sony having so much media at their fingertips to release, there could be a gap in HD-DVD's content offering. They just don’t have the media assets that Sony does.
If you happen to be one of those people who just recently bought a DVD player, have no fear. You will not have to re-purchase all of your favorite movies. Both Blu-ray and HD DVD will be compatible with your current DVDs.
Works Cited

Blue-Ray (2006). What is Blue-Ray?. Retrieved 22 February 2007. http://www.blu-ray.com/info/

Carnoy, D. (2004). HD-DVD vs. Blue-Ray DVD: Who Cares?. Retrieved 22 February 2007. http://technicalassitance.com/FormatWar.aspx

CNN (2004). DVD Developers set for Format War. Retrieved 22 February 2007. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/11/11/spark.dvd/