Next generation DVDs

[KK]

Time for a better home theater experience is about to arrive. In less than two years from now, we are going to witness the end of standard DVDs and beginning of high definition (HD) DVDs. With the replacement of video cassette tapes by DVDs, movie lovers have soon discovered the importance of video quality. With the increasing popularity and affordability of home theater systems and elegant display technologies such as DLP/ Plasma (http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/dlpvsplasmatv.html), HD is the answer for next generation movie format.



A dual layered HD-DVD has a capacity of 3 times (per layer) that of a SD DVD and uses state-of-the-art audio/video codecs (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD-DVD) . For those who cant make sense of these specifications, it means a 6 times better video quality. Or the other way of looking at is, a disc carrying about 10 standard movies! As far as audio is concerned, it take us one step close to listening to a live music.



The transition into next generation DVDs does not seem that simple. Player manufacturing companies came up with two dissimilar high definition disc formats namely blu-ray disc (BD) and HD formats (http://www.dvdtown.com/messageboard/topic/10/1243/). Sony mainly backing the BD and Toshiba supporting the HD have no intentions of compromising to a single format. The result is a hefty price that an end consumer is going to pay, if both formats succeed. For example, you and me carrying incompatible disc drives on our PCs Or maintaining two DVD players at home.



A BD disc has 40% more capacity than its rival HD. A "LAB" developed eight layered BD disc has a capacity of about 200GB where as a 8 layered HDDVD can carry 120GB (http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,117867,00.asp). That’s a huge 80GB difference right there. However, market would initially being seeing dual layered discs with capacities of 50GB and 30GB in BD and HD formats respectively. Also, BD has arguably better technology than HD. However, the main selling point of HDDVD is, its based on existing technology and thus the initial discs could be made available to the market at a cost comparable to the existing DVDs where as creating initial BD discs is an expensive deal. History has proved that a better technology need not always win as it was the case with VHS/ Betamax war (http://www.mg.co.za/ articlePage.aspx?articleid=238633&area=/insight/insight_tech/) . Betamax, backed by Sony in 1980s, had a better technology than VHS but consumers have chosen VHS instead. In this war of new formats, will sony or looses again or wins the battle is something that time can only decide.



P.S:

please do a google search before challenging the facts of this article.

[spamtaneous]

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