Why Blu Ray Won the Format War

We have been without a good format war since the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s, when we watched VHS vs. Beta. In 2008 the hunger for a new challenger was satisfied. HD DVD teased us, leading us to believe it may be the next one to claim the title. That was until February 2008 when the contender, HD DVD backed down…Toshiba chose to no longer develop and no longer manufacture HD DVD players. Blu Ray was waiting in the wings for its chance to claim the title and it was not in vain. Blu Ray has been declared the winner! By March of 2008, the HD DVD Promotion Group was dissolved. In 2008 major content manufacturers and key retailers stopped supporting the format.

So what is the difference between Blu Ray and HD DVD and why did Blu-ray win the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD format war? Before answering that question, the first thing to do is to learn more about each format.

HD DVD

High-definition digital versatile disc is the long name for HD DVD. The original design was developed as a successor to the DVD format that most users are familiar with. Toshiba was the principal developer of this technology. The single layer capacity for HD DVD is 30 GB and double layer capacity is 60 GB for a HD DVD-ROM. More on HD DVD:

    High quality video and audio
    SD video capacity about 13 hours
    HD video capacity 3.3 or 5.1 hours
    Discs and players are not region coded

BLU-RAY

The shorter wavelength of a blue-violet laser makes it possible to focus the laser spot with effective precision. This allows an increased amount of data to be packed closer together which uses less space for storage. This means the Blu-ray can fit more data on a disc. Combined with the change of numerical aperture (how much the laser spreads out) to 0.85 is what enables Blu-ray Discs to hold 25GB/50GB. More on Blu-ray:

    High quality video and audio
    SD video capacity about 23 hours
    HD video capacity 5.6 or 8.5 hours
    Discs and players are region coded

Blu-ray won the format war with HD DVD due to it being superior in capacity and quality. Blu-ray also had many more manufacturers and movie studios supporting it.

Posted under: blu-ray Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Differences Between Blu-ray and HD DVD

There are many similarities between Blu-ray and HD DVD. Sadly for the consumer, the electronic makers chose not to unify the standards of Blu-ray and HD DVD, so the battle began. There were flashbacks of VHS vs. Beta as Blu-ray vs. HD DVD played out. The winner was, of course, Blu-ray. These are some of the differences between the two:

Disc capacity- How much data can be stored

    Blu-ray- 25GB (single layer), 50GB (dual layer), 100GB (prototype quad layer)
    HD DVD- 15GB (single layer), 30GB (dual layer), 51GB (prototype triple layer)

Video capacity- How many hours can be played

    Blu-ray- SD: approximately 23 hours and HD: 8.5 or 5.6 hours, depending on encoding method
    HD DVD- SD: approximately 13 hours and HD: 5.1 or 3.3 hours, depending on encoding method

Manufacturer support- Which home theatre systems

    Blu-ray- Hitachi, Mitsubishi, LG, Sharp, Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Philips, Thomson/RCA
    HD DVD- Toshiba, LG, Thomson/RCA, Onkyo, Samsung

Manufacturer support- Which PC storage type

    Blu-ray- Apple, Dell, BenQ, HP, LG, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sony, TDK
    HD DVD- Microsoft, Intel, HP, NEC, Toshiba

Studio support- Which format the movies will be released in

    Blu-ray- Sony Pictures (including MGM/Columbia TriStar), Disney (including Touchstone, Miramax), Fox, Warner, Lions Gate, Warner (as of May 2008)
    HD DVD- Paramount, Studio Canal, Universal, the Weinstein Company, DreamWorks Animation

Compatible video game consoles

    Blu-ray- PlayStation 3
    HD DVD- Xbox 360 (via external HD DVD accessory, sold separately)

Number of titles available- Released titles and titles scheduled to be released

    Blu-ray- 2007 there were about 360 and by mid 2008 releases are increasing steadily with a record jump in June due to Warner Brothers releasing their movies in Blu-ray beginning in May 2008
    HD DVD- 2007 there were about 330. With Blu-ray winning the format wars, there is a decreasing amount in 2008.

Both have superior video and audio, but it was differences like the amount of data that can be stored which made Blu-ray the format of choice.

Other Sites Discussing Blu-ray:

Posted under: blu-ray Thursday, August 21st, 2008