Blu ray or HD DVD: Round 1

Blu ray technology and HD DVD technology are fighting each other to become the DVD format of the future generations. Much like the battle of the 80’s between VHS and Betamax, Blu-ray and HD DVD both want to be the VHS of the 2000’s.

Blu ray Disc is an optical disc format designed for HD video and high density data storage. Backing Blu ray technology are power house companies such as Pioneer, Samsung and Sony. Supporting HD DVD is the movie company Universal Studios as well as technology companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Toshiba and Microsoft. quite a few of the movie studios have stated that they will be releasing movies in both formats. Overall it should be noted however, that 84% of the movies released last year support Blu-ray technology.

Blu ray has backing from the following studios at the time of this writing; Sony Pictures, MGM, Columbia TriStar, Disney, Touchstone, Miramax, Fox, Paramount, Warner and Lions Gate. Paramount, Studio Canal, Universal, Warner and The Weinstein Company has decided to back the HD DVD format.

Blu ray got it's name from the blue laser it uses to read the data. This format was developed for rewriting, recording and playing of high definition video. They also can store enormous amounts of data. It holds five times more storage capacity than regular DVD’s. It can hold over 9 hours of high definition video on a disc. High definition video requires a large amount of disc storage space making Blu ray discs a good selection for high definition.

There are some differences between the two formats. First of all it’s their capacity. By utilizing greater numerical aperture lens, Blu-ray is able to write more data on the same size disc. Because of the higher capacity, movie studios will be able to release movies with more HD features on Blu ray than HD DVD. A Blu-ray disc can hold up to 25GB and a dual layer 54 GB while an HD disc can hold up to 15 GB and a dual layer 30 GB. The other noticeable difference is cost. The Blu ray discs are more costly.

Now, both Blu-ray and HD players are capable of playing CD’s and DVD’s but HD players are not able to play Blu ray discs and vice versa. And that is where the battle begins. Since neither player will play the other's format, you must decide on one and hope it wins the "new format" battle.

So let's summarize the format battle. Both formats are comparable in high definition picture quality. When making a decision on which format to purchase, you must consider price and amount of content available in each format. One thing is for sure, it is a very unstable market. It’s very possible that you could decide on a format; purchase a player and purchase movies and then be very upset if the format you choose fails in the market. Whichever format has stabilized as the best price and has the most content available by the end of the year will emerge as the victor. Terry Burns is the founder of Home Theater Solutions.

Article Source: http://www.amazines.com