The Plasma TV Blog

The war between blu-ray technology and HD-DVD is heating up, and appears to be headed in the same direction as the VHS vs. Betamax format war of the 1980’s. Which means one side is going to win, and the other is going to find its ways into a lot of yard sales. It would be wise to have a good understanding of the advantages offered by blu-ray before committing yourself to one side or the another.

The main advantage that blu-ray brings to the battle is capacity. HD-DVD discs hold about 40% less storage capacity than the blu-ray disk. The blu-ray can manage 50 GB on a double sided disc, while the HD-DVD checks in at 30GB. In both cases, this is a major jump over the 4.7 GB of the DVD disc. There is work being done to develop a multi-layered disc capable of holding up to 100GB, which seems to indicate that capacity is going to be blu-ray’s battle cry on into the future.

This is even more likely because in the important area of quality of picture reproduction, the two formats seems to be even, and HD-DVD has a lead in not only being the first on the market, but also is considerably less expensive. Blu-ray technology requires totally different production methods, and so is going to have to endure higher prices at least for awhile. HD-DVD requires less re-tooling to convert production from the older formats, and is able to hold a price advantage initially. Both products have what is called backward compatibility, which means they can play the older style DVD’s which will please the owners of large collections.

So, in the end, it is the larger capacity that is blu-ray’s trump card. Already easily able to handle up to 1080p resolution, this advantage is not a small one. Technology is exploding at a rapid pace, and a lead in capacity makes blu-ray better positioned to accommodate the next new wave of improvements and advances. Is bigger really better? That is going to be the question answered over the next few years.