Blu-Ray vs. Hd-Dvd

The battle for the next generation movie is on. Sony’s Blu-Ray and Toshiba/Samsung’s HD-DVD have stormed the market, both offering movies in high definition. But which of these provides the better viewing experience and has the capabilities to deliver HD to your home theater now and in the future?

Just over 24 million televisions in America have HD capabilities, yet only half of those televisions are actually used for HD viewing. Buying an HD set and hooking it up to your cable signal doesn’t provide any more detail than a regular TV set. To experience HD to its fullest, you need HD programming through HD cable service. Last year both Sony and Toshiba/Samsung released solutions in the form of Blu-ray and HD-DVD, respectively. Both formats offer HD content for the home theater environment, but the way in which they deliver that content is fundamentally different.

The most important thing to know about HD is that it takes up memory, lots of memory. A regular DVD holds 4.7 gigabytes (GB) of information on a single layer disc and 12 GB on a dual layer disc. HD-DVDs can hold up to 15 GB of data on a single layer, 25GB on a dual layer. Blu-Ray holds up to 25 GB of single layer data and 50 GB on a dual layer. The more data you can put on your discs, the clearer picture and sound you will get. Clearly, Blu-Ray holds an edge on the competition here.

A major impact on which format will end up being the dominant one depends on which format the studios release their films on. HD-DVD has exclusive rights to two studios, Universal and The Weinstein Company. Blu-Ray has exclusive rights to five studios, including Columbia Pictures, MGM, Disney, Lionsgate, and 20th Century Fox. Once again there is a clear advantage for Blu-Ray here.

A positive for HD-DVD are the four major studios that have committed to releasing their films on both formats: Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema. Even so, the number of titles released for HD-DVD has dropped off in...