The DVD has been a phenomenal success story. VCR's are now in ever shorter supply as consumers invest in DVD players/recorders, and PVR's (personal video recorders with built-in hard-drives and automated capabilities, such as Sky+ or TiVo).
However, the mighty DVD is about to face the next-generation of formats -- HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. But what exactly are they? Below is an overview of the two formats competing for DVD's crown...
What is HD-DVD?HD-DVD (High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) are 120mm in diameter discs identical in appearance to current DVD's. However, HD-DVD discs have much greater storage capacity -- 30GB when dual-layered, compared to DVD's 4.7GB.
What does that mean exactly?
Basically, more information can be put on the discs! A HD-DVD disc can hold more audio and picture information, resulting in greater picture/sound quality and room for even more additional features in movies, or depth of gameplay in video-games.
If HD-DVD takes off, will this mean the end for my DVD collection?
Not really. HD-DVD will be "backwards compatible", meaning HD-DVD players will be able to handle most pre-existing formats, including CD's and DVD's.
Who supports this HD-DVD format?
The main promoters are: Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, Microsoft and HP. Movie studios likely to release movies in HD-DVD format include Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers. These studios have estimated that 200 HD-DVD movies will have been released by the end of 2006 in the U.S.
How much do the HD-DVD players and discs cost?
Nobody really knows for sure yet. But early word suggests that the players will be the same price DVD players when they were first released (£300-400), with the discs likely to retail for £19.99. As with DVD, the more people that embrace the format, the cheaper the product will become.
Major pluses for HD-DVD?
Name recognition. Everyone knows what DVD is, and throughout this year the acronym HD will become synonymous with improved picture/sound quality -- thanks to Sky broadcasting in high-definition on its digital channels soon. With Microsoft also supporting the format, they will undoubtedly ensure their XBOX 360 has a HD-DVD ROM add-on available soon, and future PC makes with ties to Bill Gates could all be equipped with HD-DVD ROMs to replace DVD-ROMs. HD-DVD disc are also quite inexpensive to produce.
Major disadvantages of HD-DVD?
They don't hold as much data as Blu-Ray (see below), can still be damaged by scratching like conventional CD's/DVD's, and are not supported by Playstation 3 (a home-video console that was a major factor in DVD's achieving widespread use)
BLU-RAY
What is Blu-Ray?
Blu-Ray is the main rival to HD-DVD, offering many of the same advantaged. However, Blu-Ray disc can hold more information -- 54GB when dual-layered, compared to HD-DVDs 30GB. This means Blu-Ray discs can hold roughly 4 hours of high-definition picture and sound. It's called Blu-Ray because of the blue laser the players use to read the disc data.
So Blu-Ray is better?
Well, purely on disc specification... yes, in that Blu-Ray discs can hold more information. But, supporters of HD-DVD will insist that very few releases will every need the extra 10GB storage capacity. But they would say that!
If Blu-Ray wins the battle of the next-gen formats, will my DVD's bite the dust?
No, as with HD-DVD, Blu-Ray will be backwards compatible. Do you really think the makers will want to annoy the millions of consumers with hundreds of DVD's in their collection?! However, unlike HD-DVD discs, Blu-Ray discs should also be able to play on existing DVD players (and only reveal their true high-def quality on BD players).
How much will Blu-Ray players and discs cost?
There is no definite answer. The discs are expected to retail for £19.99 each, as with HD-DVD, but there are rumours that the players will be more expensive. But, the new Playstation 3 will be equipped with an in-built BR drive!
So who are supporting Blu-Ray?
Sony, Apple, Dell, HP, Hitachi, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, 20th Century Fox, TDK, Thomson, Disney & Warner Brothers.
Major pluses for Blu-Ray?
The Playstation 3's compatibility will be a major factor -- as the PS3 will undoubtedly be just as popular and dominating as the current PS2. Plus, not only do BR discs hold more information, but a special coating means they are nearly impervious to scratching (unlike current CD's, DVD's and HD-DVD's).
TDK have also created a BR disc proto-type that can hold 100GB of information, with 200GB discs envisaged to become reality soon. This massive capacity would allow phenomenal picture/sound quality and backup storage space for computer users.
Major downsides to Blu-Ray?
BR players will only output high-def quality onto HDTV's with a HDMI or DVI-D connections. Therefore all HDTV's with older Component, RGD-D Sub and DVI-A inputs, won't be able to display the high-def quality. Unfortunately, this will already affect the majority of HDTV's sold in the U.S. No word on the impact of HDTV's being sold in the UK just yet, but just so you know!
Sadly, current PC compatability for BR is even worse -- Blu-Ray won't output HD unless a user's monitor and graphic card are both HDCP compliant. And, at time of writing anyway, HDCP-compliant graphic cards don't even exist yet!
OVERALL:
Storage Capacity: Blu-Ray is undoubtedly the winner. It currently offers nearly 15GB more space on each disc, with a 100GB version already in existence, and an amazing 200GB discs promised in the future!
Physical Dimensions: Both are pretty much the same to look at, but Blu-Ray narrowly wins by virtue of its discs being more robust and impervious to scratched compared to HD-DVD.
Movie Support: At the moment, most movie studios are supporting HD-DVD. They will undoubtedly realign themselves to Blu-Ray if its wins the format war, but chances are your favourite films will be available on high-definition under the HD-DVD banner this year.
Electronics Support: Blu-Ray have more electronics companies tied to their brand. This should mean the greatest variety of choice for BR players and BR-ROM drives for consumers will come with the BR format.
Computer Support: Interesting. HD-DVD has Microsoft, so that pretty much takes care of all the computers and XBOX 360 users. But, Blu-Ray has Sony's Playstation 3 and a number of high profile PC makers (like Dell and HP). Both will play crucial roles. At the moment - it's a tight draw. But, it's not hard to imagine HD-DVD becoming the computing standard, while Blu-Ray becomes a PS3 game format only.
Pricing: The discs should retail only slightly more expensive than most DVD's, at around £19.99. The more people but, the lower the price will go. The players are where the pricing will be hard fought. HD-DVD are expected to go in around the £300 mark, whereas Blu-Ray could go in a little higher (approx £500). However, as so much is yet to be decided, we'll call this a stalemate for the time being...
So, the winner is....
Hmmmm. I'd have to say HD-DVD. Yes, Blu-Ray may have greater storage capacity, but nobody really cares about that, do they? The relatively low storage capabilities of DVD already means we're used to buying 2-disc DVD sets!
HD-DVD also has more movie studio support -- and films are still the dominant outlet for optical discs. Plus, HD-DVD players will likely be cheaper and costs less to produce the discs in the first place -- meaning HD-DVD discs should quickly become equally priced with DVD's if consumers embrace them. It has already given HD-DVD a head-start over Blu-Ray because DVD pressing factories don't have to make as much changes to their equipment to create the new discs!
The fact Microsoft are also supporting HD-DVD will also mean the millions of PC users will be more familiar with that brand than Blu-Ray (which could become an exclusively PS3 format if it fails, or perhaps a greater storage disc for future PC drives that are dual-playable with HD-DVD and BD.
But, the real crushing blow for Blu-Ray could be the fact it only works on HD TV's with specific signal inputs... at least for the foreseeable future. But that's all it takes in these format wars. Once HD-DVD takes hold (and the discs will be released soon, meaning a massive headstart, too!) there could be just no stopping it...
Whatever happens, it's R.I.P to D.V.D.