HD DVD Versus Blu-ray Players

Those who were born about a decade older than I am may remember the Beta versus VHS debate that dominated the video cassette recorder market many years ago. Such heated debate may seem a bit silly now that DVRs fill the role that VCRs used to and DVD players are capable of showing higher quality pictures and storing more information. A debate very reminiscent of of that ancient - in technological terms - showdown is now looming before us. For those who may not know what it is about, the debate is over Blu-ray and High Definition DVDs.

When it comes to choosing between the two formats for the consumer wishing to purchase one the differences must be understood. Both formats can play standard digital video discs, so unlike the VCRs which could only play one format, you need not to worry that your current dvds will be obsolete. HD DVD players can hold slightly more enabling longer films and more data to be put on a single disc, but currently, more producers are releasing films for the Blu-ray format.

For the tech savvy purchaser who wants to be able to enjoy films release on either format both Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics make devices capable of playing both but the machines can run over $1000 dollars.

Currently, more movie producers support the Bluray format, but it requires a new manufacturing process which causes the DVDs to be higher priced than the HD DVD discs. Much like the DVDs expanded on the process already in use by the compact disc, the HD DVD format merely improves upon already existing technology.

The image quality of either is not significantly better than its competitor, so it seems that rather than quality it will come down to price and which format the movie producers themselves support. The average household still probably has several years before the industry shows the preference for one standard over the other, but since HD DVD can hold a little more and costs a little less it looks like it might win out. In the meantime, you may want to save whatever beta tapes you have until they go up in value again. Someone might eventually consider them a collector's item. For now, those without extra money to spend on machines that can read the new format can keep their regular dvd player without too many problems.

Sources:

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/129058.html

"Comparing High-Def DVD formats." August 15, 2007. The Daily Item. Sunbury, PA