These two formats are heralded as the successor to the current DVD technology. Blu-ray and HD-DVD have both been developed to enable recording, playback and rewriting of high definition video and data. The key to these technologies is the blue-violet laser that is used to write the data to the disc. This blue laser has a much shorter wavelength than the current red laser DVD system, which makes it possible to read and write smaller pits, as a result, these discs can hold up to 15 GB (HD-DVD) and 25 GB (Blu-ray) of data on a single sided single layer 12cm disc.

This additional storage capacity will be essential when HDTV becomes mainstream, in order to allow storage of HD TV shows or movies on an optical disc in the same high quality. You can record about 13 hours of standard TV but only a bit more than 2 hours of uncompressed high definition TV on a 25GB disc.

Blu-ray is approved and promoted by the Blu-ray Disc (BDA) association which currently has more than 100 members around the world, the most important and board directors are: DELL, HP, Hitachi, LG-Electronics, Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK, Thomson, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney, Texas Instruments, Sun Microsystems, the game giants Electronic Arts, and Vivendi Universal Games.

HD-DVD is endorsed and approved by the DVD Forum, the international association of over 230 consumer electronics, entertainment, software, IT and other related companies around the world. DVD Forum even includes member companies of the Blu-ray association and companies that are backing both of the formats. The format is promoted by the HD-DVD Promotion Group, which currently counts 63 member companies. Some of the most important are: Toshiba, Sanyo, NEC, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, New Line Cinema and the Warner Bros Studios.

So, when we take a look at the supporting companies, then it seems that everything is clear. Blu-ray appears to have an edge because most of the electronic giants are supporting the format. But if the key to acceptance is content, the HD-DVD supporting movie studios represent more than 40 percent of Hollywood’s films. The Blu-ray backing entertainment companies are, Sony, 20th Century Fox (which includes MGM) and Disney-Buena Vista, which amounts to about 35 percent. It’s close enough at the moment to say that we will most likely have both in the end.

We have two great high capacity optical formats for the future, which correspond to two different manufacturer strategies. HD-DVD is clearly an evolution of the DVD format and a cheaper solution, both for disc manufacturers and customers. With its improved codecs, it seems good enough to fill current HD-TV needs. Blu-ray features superior data density and offers a more innovative approach, which would seem to support a longer lifetime. But innovation is expensive and we can’t be sure people will agree to pay the price.

It seems clear that we will see both of the formats at least for a while, as right now there is no clear winner. Perhaps due to higher manufacturing costs, coupled with the non-critical (for now) high storage capacities which Blu-ray offers, HD-DVD probably holds a slight advantage, especially for home recording. However, the companies supporting Blu-ray may manage to reduce production costs and at least members of CD Freaks can find ways to take advantage of this extra capacity.

Regardless of how this war plays out, we will be the winners when one considers the advantages of these new optical storage strategies.

This entry was posted on August 31, 2006 and is filed under Facts.