Ah another technology standard battle. First there was the Beta vs VCR battle. Then CDs vs cassettes. Then DVDs, but look at how many types of DVDs there are: +R, -R, RAM, Video, -RW, +RW. None of them "won" out so DVD drives have to be able to read and write all of these. Now along comes Blu-Ray and HD DVD. We are just about half way through the first round of battle. So I thought it might be a good time to review what they are and what they can do.
Blu-Ray as the name suggests uses a Blue-Violet laser that can focus more precisely then the red lasers used by DVD and CD players. This better precision allows for a tighter packing of data so that a disc encoded by Blu-Ray can hold 25GB of information versus 4.7GB of a traditional DVD. In the Blu-Ray corner are: Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson.
HD-DVD is an evolutionary technology based on red laser technology. It can store 15GB of information on a DVD. HD-DVD is backwardly compatible with DVD and CD technologies, meaning an HD-DVD player can play CD, DVD & HD-DVD formats. In the HD-DVD corner are Toshiba, NEC and Microsoft. Also of note is that Panasonic has been wishy washy and had been on both sides of the fence.
So what does this mean to you? Well if you are in the market to buy a new video player it means confusion. Movies are now coming out in both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats. The pictures are spectacular and go nicely on that new 42" HD TV you recently purchased. I can't tell you today who is going to win, but I can tell you that the Blu-Ray is probably the better technology, but so was Beta. I guess you pays your money and you takes your chances. I hope its all sorted out by the time I buy a big LCD TV!
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