Next Generation DVD Authoring: Why Blu-ray Disc is Better Than HD DVD
Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD Uncovered
Both formats have had a rough start, but as more players start rolling out, and authoring and production work flows start to settle, the formats will be on more even ground for true comparisons, not based on first-generation players and problematic software issues.
The marketing machines are already kicking into high gear and the winner and of this format battle may be determined by hype, not technical merit. That's coming from the consumer's perspective, but which format could prove best from the perspective of next-generation DVD authors?
Once again I have to give the nod to Blu-ray Disc. There are basic technology aspects as stated above, but from an authoring standpoint, there are advantages to working with BD over HD DVD. Granted there are not currently a lot of authoring tools available. With the exception of Sonic Solutions, there are not any HD DVD/BD authoring applications on the market as of July 2006. That's bound to change in the next 6-12 months, but for now, most HD DVD and BD titles are being hand jammed, a process more akin to software development than DVD authoring. When fully implemented authoring programs do become available, it will soon become clear why BD is better.
So why is Blu-ray Disc better? First, as a basis for comparison, I'll give a brief synopsis for authoring HD DVD. There are two modes for authoring HD DVD: standard content authoring and advanced content authoring (iHD.) Standard content authoring is an improvement over current DVD-Video authoring, with more robust and capable menus than are currently available. Menu navigation for standard content authoring, however, is very similar to DVD-Video. The real magic happens with advanced content authoring, also know as iHD. This unleashes a whole bunch of possibilities like animated pop-up menus, uninterrupted playback while accessing these menus, picture-in-picture and integrated networking among other things. It's pretty exciting to think about what you could actually do with it. The drawback with iHD is that it is coding intensive, requiring knowledge of XML, UML, XPATH, Javascript and DHTML.
Similarly, BD has two authoring modes, High Definition Movie Mode (HDMV) and Blu-ray Disc Java (BD-J). Here is where differences start to emerge. HDMV is the basic authoring mode, sort of the BD equivalent of standard content authoring for HD DVD. The difference is that, in this basic mode, BD authors will be able to create animated pop-up menus with uninterrupted playback and other features that would have to be coded in iHD. Blu-ray Disc also allows an author to superimpose HD video over the HD movie, a feat that HD DVD can't currently substantiate. So, when the applications become more available, BD authors will be able to achieve these sophisticated features without having to write a line of code.
Then there is BD-J, a coding intesive method which further extends the capabilities to include networking and 32-bit graphics (as opposed to 8-bit graphics in HDMV,) and has all the power of Java. BD-J is developed using Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME,) "the most ubiquitous application platform for mobile devices across the globe." This is the same platform used for interactive TV and a growing list of web-connected multimedia devices. Can you say 'interoperability' everybody? Could your Blu-ray Disc player push content to your cell phone, Palm Pilot or iPod? It is certainly now within the realm of possibility. To be fair, iHD could probably do this too, but not in its native language and not without a yet to be developed translator.
So when you remove the fractious elements (Sony, Toshiba, Micrsosoft) from the debate and compare the two technologies on technical merit alone, Blu-ray Disc has clear advantages over HD DVD. And from a DVD authoring perspective, BD is a much more accessible format when it comes to interactivity. But time will tell which format prevails, if the technology succeeds at all, and as we've seen in past format battles, the better technology does not always win when fought in the public forum where perception counts more than facts.
Published by Owen Young
Owen has over 17 years' experience with film and broadcasting production, and eight years' experience with instructional systems design. He has an extensive background with video and interactive technology. View profile
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10 Comments
Post a CommentHd is better cause I own one ..and I dont want to buy a blu-ray player ... that is all
Herman, you're wrong. Java acceleration will be present in all players supporting the BD-Live profile, which is mandatory for all players released after June, 2007, and will be part of the PS3. Further, 300MHz is low for most of these units.
Sure, VC-1 was available for BD a couple of years back, but today, do you see any BD discs that use it? Get a brain ...
Okay, now that the kiddie school insults are over, what Herman was trying to say is that things look good in paper, but by the time it becomes reality, it may already be too late. So basically, he *is* talking about what's reality for BD right now.
Yeah, let's talk about right now. 50GB disks are in production but not enough successful disks that they are being sold. Get a brain ...
Uh Brian...have you read anything lately? VC-1 is available on BD as is every other codec on HD-DVD. Great...another holographic storage guy. Is it in production? If not its a waste to talk about right now. Why not talk about ion data stream transmissions?
And for the unbiased..the 50 gig disks are in production just not slated for release yet as they are in a testng phase ad limited production. Get a brain...
BD-J uses a 300Mhz processor running Linux and no acceleration. Those glorious high definition 32 bit graphics might not be as fast as you would like. It also may not be robust enough for you to run those J2ME applications successfully as much as you would like. The media likes to say Blu-Ray will prevail "long term" a lot, but long term in this business is holographic storage.
Shame about the fact that the Blu-Ray Disc Association does not mandate picture-in-picture support for players, leaving content providers to try to choose between doing fancy picture-in-picture special features that some players can't even display, or ignoring a feature that HD DVD discs have managed with even first-generation discs.
There are countless people versed in the web-based markup languages that iHD is based upon, so I don't see content authoring being a problem in this regard. If iHD is such a chore to author for versus BD-J, why is it that some first-generation HD DVD titles take advantage of iHD (including the picture-in-picture features that all HD DVD players must support, unlike BD players) yet not a single first-generation Blu-Ray release supports BD-J. The entire article is flying in the face of logic and fact.
"The difference is that, in this basic mode, BD authors will be able to create animated pop-up menus with uninterrupted playback and other features that would have to be coded in iHD. Blu-ray Disc also allows an author to superimpose HD video over the HD movie, a feat that HD DVD can't currently substantiate."
Shame about the fact that the Blu-Ray Disc Association does not mandate picture-in-picture support for players, leaving content providers to try to choose between doing fancy picture-in-picture special features that some players can't even display, or ignoring a feature that HD DVD discs have managed with even first-generation discs.
There are countless people versed in the web-based markup languages that iHD is based upon, so I don't see content authoring being a problem in this regard. If iHD is such a chore to author for versus BD-J, why is it that some first-generation HD DVD titles take advantage of iHD (including the picture-in-picture features that all HD DVD p
I agree with Brian. Call BD/Sony Fanboy all the way. Stating anything like "HD DVD Can't currently substantiate" is rather ironic, since there are no mass produced 50 gig disks on the market to date, and their version of HD's in movie experience is non-existent and isn't available yet, this list could go on and on but go ahead and substatiate that for us baby. I'm not a BD hater just tired of hearing the wonders of blu-ray without seeing any of it on the market...
I can tell that you are a Sony Fanboy. Most of what you said is absolutely false. First of all, eventhough the Blu-Ray does have a higher capasity, they need that. Sony is using MPEG-2 video format as opposed to Microsoft's VC-1 that HD DVD uses. VC-1 has a compression ratio that is much more powerful than the MPEG-2 coded (that is 10 years old...very outdated). Not only does it have a better compression ratio, it also produces much better quality even when compaired to the 1080p that Sony is pushing on the PS3.
You say "iHD is that it is coding intensive." Well that is using languages that are very easy to use and understand. Blu-Ray uses Java which is very slow, clunky and not easy to work with in many situations. This is going to make production for Blu-Ray much more intensive.
You calim that the Blu-Ray will be able to overlap HD video ontop of other HD video. HD DVD can also do that. It has been shown to work in many different presentations. But I have yet to see it hap