Understanding High Definition DVD 's

HD DVD or high density DVD or high definition DVD is high-density video and audio disc publishing format that was envisioned before to replace the DVD data publishing format. What happened to the HD DVD technology? We can pretty much answer this question by saying that the optical disc format died in the publishing format battle. Similar to what happened during the 1980s and the 1970s when the VHS and Betamax formats went through a so-called "format death", HD DVD technology lost to its rival, Blu-ray technology.

In was during the first weeks of February 2008 when HD DVD technology officially died. Its chief supporter, multimedia company Toshiba finally withdrew its support from the technology. Toshiba no longer supported HD DVD. They announced that they will no longer develop HD DVD technology and will no longer produce HD DVD players. What happened next was just tragic for the HD DVD technology. HD DVD promotional campaigns and PR groups were dissolved, and stores nationwide stopped selling HD DVD discs. When this announcement came, we can say that white flags were waved. Blu-ray technology officially won.

But what is HD DVD technology all about? I'm pretty sure there a lot more to it that losing to its competitor, the blu-ray technology. For one, HD DVD technology held a lot of promise when it was first introduced. At the height of its popularity, HD DVD has been identified and accepted as the only publishing format for optical media by the DVD Forum. And having identification and acceptance from the DVD Forum is never easy. The DVD Forum is composed of 230 companies all over the world who manufacture and develop DVD technology formats. Members in the DVD Forum who recognized HD DVD include all the major players in the music industry, the movie industry, and the computer software industry. During this time, HD DVD was being groomed to replace the DVD format. One in a DVD Forum election, the vote to recognize and announce HD DVD technology to replace the DVD was 8 to 6. The six votes were made in favor of Blu-ray technology.

In a vote turn out of 8 to 6, HD DVD obviously held a superior position. However, while HD DVD technology held a lot of promise, of Blu-ray technology held even more. Two votes were not enough. And true enough, more and more companies backed up and supported Blu-ray technology.

In the months that followed after multinational company Toshiba stopped its support of HD DVD technology, a number of well-known retailers and optical media resellers attempted to suggest trade-ins or disc exchanges (you can trade your HD DVD disc for a Blu-ray version) for half the cost or sometimes even free. At first, this sounded like a good idea to lessen the pain of HD DVD's format death. However, there were relatively a large number of movies that were released in HD DVD format only, and these copies may take a lot of time before companies release their Blu-ray formats. Until Blu-ray formats officially take over, HD DVD may not be completely dead after all.

Sources :

1.http://www.hddvd.com/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVD