If you’ve been looking at a player to purchase for the viewing of HD movies, I’m sure that you’ve noticed that you may have had two types of players to choose from: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players. HD-DVD players have been officially discontinued but there are still consumers that have this technology and a few hundred movies to choose from. Blu-Ray has now emerged as the new technology for movie viewing but it is good to look at both types to see their comparisons and differences.
HD-DVD
HD (High Definition) DVD format is one of the disc formats that was introduced to replace the current DVD format that we use in the United States. HD-DVD was in a fierce battle with Blu-Ray over the past few years as they vied for supremacy in the digital video arena. It was supported by major manufacturers such as Toshiba, LG, NEC, Sanyo and Thomson. HD-DVD employs “blue laser” technology, which has a shorter wavelength than the red laser technology used in current DVD’s. The disk size is the same as the traditional DVD but it has a much greater storage capacity and can hold an entire film at HDTV resolution. Recordable disks are also made for consumers that allows up to two hours of high definition video content to be recorded.
BLU-RAY
Blu-Ray technology ultimately beat out the HD-DVD format and is now the player that is dominating the digital video market. Blu-Ray is supported by most digital video player manufacturers, including major companies such as Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, and Apple, among others. Blu-Ray also uses blue laser technology but the storage capacity for Blu-Ray discs with pre-recorded playback material is slightly higher since single-layer discs can hold 25GB of material and dual-layers can hold 50GB, while HD-DVD discs can hold 15GB and 30GB, respectively.
