Blu-Ray, HD-DVD and the Format War

You may have read about the war between Blu-ray DVD format over the alternative HD-DVD format and now Blu-ray is announced the winner. Blu-ray and HD-DVD are extensions of the DVD format capable of storing data or video.

What is Blu-ray Disc?

Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage media format used for high-definition video and data storage having the same dimensions as a standard DVD or CD. The blue-violet laser is used to read and write this type of disc, hence the name. Blue laser rays of 405 nanometer is used for Blu-ray Disc, while red laser rays of 650nm are used DVD format. Because of this, a dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost six times the capacity of a dual-layer DVD.

Blu-ray was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, a group of companies representing consumer electronics, computer hardware, and motion picture production. Currently more than 450 Blu-ray Disc titles have been released in the United States, and more than 250 in Japan. The Blu-ray format was promoted by Sony. [wiki]

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What is HD DVD?

HD DVD (High-Definition DVD) is a high-density optical disc format designed for the storage of data and high-definition video.

HD DVD is derived from the same underlying technologies as DVD, except that the HD DVD employed a blue laser with a shorter wavelength to store more than 3 times as much data per layer as its predecessor, with a maximum capacity of 15 GB per layer compared with 4 GB for a DVD and 0.7 for a CD. It’s a cheaper format because the players do not use the expensive blue laser.

It is estimated that approximately 400 HD DVD titles have been released in the United States and 200 HD DVD titles in Japan. The HD DVD format was promoted by Toshiba. [wiki]

The Format War

HD DVD and it’s rival Blu-ray Disc were in a “format war”. in february 208, major content manufacturers (Toshiba) and key retailers (Wal-Mart) began withdrawing their support of the HD DVD format. Toshiba made an official announcement that the company would no longer develop, manufacture, and market HD DVD players and recorders. So the winner is Blu-ray. Now let’s wait wand watch how Blu-ray is going to change our digital life.