The Future of Digital Video

Now that the high definition television has come along, the next logical step is a form of high definition media to go with it. HD cable already exists, providing programming with enough resolution for viewers to spot specks of dust floating through the air, but what about movies? The DVD, holding 4.7 GB of data is simply not big enough to hold an entire movie in high definition.

Two technologies currently exist that can take the idea of a DVD further, storing enough data for a high definition movie: HD DVD and Blu-ray. Both formats are currently on the market in limited release, (players are close to a thousand dollars, and there are less than 200 movies for sale) and both are supported by powerful media companies, but no one knows which will prevail.

The Blu-ray disc uses the same basic technology as a DVD, writing information on a reflective surface with a laser, but takes the idea a bit further, using a high wavelength blue laser to read and write, thus being able cram more data onto a disc. Blu-ray discs hold 25 GB, and can be read at 36 mbps. Currently, Blu-ray is supported by Disney, MGM, Paramount Pictures, and Twentieth Century Fox.

HD DVD, the competing technology, refines the original DVD technology, fitting 15 gb onto a disc, three times the original capacity. HD DVD is backed by Paramount, Universal Pictures, and Weinstein. Warner brothers, not being able to reach a decision one way or the other, decided to use what it calls the total disc, offering HD DVD on one side and Blu-ray on the other.

At the moment, it is too early to tell which will prevail. In the end, of course, content will prevail, and whichever format has the most available material will win out. However, with a whopping total of around 170 movies on the market in each format, the two seem to be neck and neck. Blu-ray currently has a very slight advantage, but nothing of consequence. Most likely one technology will pull ahead of the other within the next year or two, when the technology gets cheaper.

Right now seems like a bad time to invest in either technology. A brief amazon.com search reveals that, media aside, players for each run from $500-$100, a sizeable chunk of money when compared to conventional DVD players that sell for under $50. Even if one was willing to shell out the money for a player, there is only a fifty-fifty chance that you will have gotten it right.

For those mired in indecision, there is the LG BH100, a reader that plays both formats.