For the last several years, Blu-ray and HD-DVD have been duking it out. Blu-ray was initially far superior to HD-DVD because of the use of the blue laser whereas HD-DVD initially used red. At the present time however, there isn't much difference between the two. They both use blue lasers, both have high capacity (although Blu-ray Disk still holds more), both support 1080p and interactive features. So what's the difference and why should you care?
The answer: you shouldn't. My prediction is that neither format will win. If consumers actually adopt these high priced formats, all players will support BOTH formats. The last time competing disk formats emerged this very thing happened. Remember DVD+R and DVD-R? After the dust settled, all DVD recorders supported both formats.
Do consumers actually care about high-def? Are they willing to spend more than the $150.00 'magic price' for a high-def disc player? Is downloadable media going to kill discs formats altogether?
As an Apple fanboy, I thouroughly enjoy viewing content on my iPod and AppleTV. I enjoy purchasing media on the iTunes store. It's simplicity and elegant design saves me from searching all over the Internet for online stores that carry a particular publisher or for torrents of questionable quality. It's been over five years since I've purchased one of those 'shiny little discs' (a.k.a' Audio CD), and I'm now starting to demand the same for the video content I'm interested in. (Shame on you, NBC!)
Like most consumers, I'm holding out on purchasing a high-def player. Prices need to fall. Wal-mart needs to be selling them below $150 before you'll see any real impact. But wait! Another disk format is coming to the rescue and it debuting at, you guessed it, $150. It's called HD-VMD and it's a product of New Medium Enterprises.
HD-VMD is based on current red laser technology and relies on the same manufacturing process of traditional DVD's making it quite inexpensive to produce both disks and players. Like DVD's, HD-VMD supports up to 5GB per layer, but unlike DVD which only supports a maximum of two layers, VMD disks support up to eight layers for a total capacity of 40GB per disk. The players support the same video codecs (H.264/AVC, VC-1 and MPEG-2) as Blu-ray and HD-DVD along with Dolby Digital and DTS sound. And yes, the players all support 1080p for true high definition playback. So what's holding this technology back? One word, the Studios. Major studios have yet to release content on this format. Could it be that they're contractually obligated to Blu-ray or HD-DVD? It surely can't be due to piracy concerns as VMD disks also support AACS like their Blu-ray and HD-DVD counterparts.
Although I have not tested one of these units, the technology seems promising, the price point is excellent, and I'd like to buy one. Studios - Help me out!
When Blu-ray was originally designed, I automatically thought of it as an offline data storage medium. However, during the Blu-ray/HD-DVD war, other formats have emerged which make both of these formats look like childs play. This is the era of holographic storage and there are again, two formats looking to win. On July 28, 2007, the Holographic Versitile Disk (HVD) Forum approved and published their initial disk specifications and they're very impressive - 200GB of storage with 1TB coming soon. InPhase, another manufacture of holographic disk technology, has disks that support up to 300GB with 800GB and 1.6TB disks on the way.
With inexpensive HD-VMD players and extremely capable holographic disks on their way, is there any room for expensive and inferior Blu-ray and HD-DVD technology? Will Blu-ray and HD-DVD continue to battle it out until they both die off? Will the current format war be a topic of laughable discussion at the water cooler five years from now? I don't have the answers. But I do know, consumers have choice.
