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Blu-Ray and HD DVD Next Generation DVD Guide

The way we watch movies at home is about to change; it's about to become high-def. Those shiny DVD discs you’ve been buying these past few years are about to be replaced with shiny new discs that hold a lot more information, allowing movie studios to dramatically improve the quality and clarity of your favourite films.

However, in what feels like a time-warp back to the early '80s and the format war between VHS and Sony’s ill-fated BETAMAX (which VHS won, even though BETAMAX was technically superior), there are two disc formats--Blu-ray and HD-DVD--fighting for your hard-earned cash. Do you buy into Sony’s Blu-ray format or opt for HD-DVD just like Toshiba, Microsoft, NEC and Intel?

To help make buying your next hardware a bit easier, we’ve compiled a guide to the two formats. Who will win the format wars? You decide!

What are high-definition discs?

Blu-ray and HD DVD (high-definition digital versatile disc) are high-capacity formats for DVD capable of storing and playing high-definition images. Using advanced technology, the discs are densely layered and read by a thinner laser than conventional standard DVDs. This means that they can store up to five times the amount of data that a standard DVD can.

What's the difference between Blu-ray and HD DVD?

Although Blu-ray and HD DVD are both high-definition media formats that rely on blue-laser technology, there are some important differences between them. The first is capacity. Because a Blu-ray player utilises a shorter wavelength blue-violet laser than an HD DVD laser, it can focus even more closely to read more densely packed data. This allows a Blu-ray disc to have even higher capacity. A standard HD DVD can hold 15 GB per side (30 GB on a dual-layer disc), whereas Blu-ray can hold 25 GB per side (50 GB on a dual-layer disc).

The second difference is content. Several major studios have announced that they will support only one of the formats, meaning that their titles may be available on DVD in only one high-definition format, either HD DVD or Blu-ray. Titles from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, MGM, and Disney are likely to be on Blu-ray, while titles from Universal Pictures will likely be on HD DVD. Both Warner Bros. and Paramount have announced that they will release titles in both formats.

While the two formats are not compatible with each other, they both offer vastly superior audio/video quality, extra features, and a less intrusive menu system compared to standard DVDs.

Why are they better than standard DVDs?

If you've ever seen a high-definition TV broadcast on an HDTV, then you know that an HD picture is more vivid and incredibly sharp. This stunning level of detail and resolution is impossible to reproduce on a standard DVD, which has a maximum resolution of 480p (or 480 lines). In contrast, Blu-ray for example has the capacity to store all of the data needed for high-definition video, so it is able to reproduce the high-definition images at a resolution of 1080p. The result is that Blu-ray and HD DVD can bring your favourite home entertainment to life with more clarity and higher quality than ever before.

In addition, the extra disc space means there's room for significantly more content and special features. When you buy a DVD, you're usually not just getting the movie or TV show--you're also getting the extra features that come along with it, like director's commentary and making-of documentaries (depending on the disc, of course). With Blu-ray, there's the possibility for previously unheard-of special features. Imagine, for example, interactive content, like a director on the screen explaining the shooting of a scene while the scene is playing in the background.

Thanks to the greatly enhanced audio/video quality and additional content capability, both Blu-ray and HD DVD are a huge step forward in the DVD viewing experience.

What does this mean for my current DVD collection?

The majority of players coming out will be backward compatible and should play your current discs. The bottom line is, you can probably upgrade to a Blu-ray or HD DVD player and still enjoy your current DVDs. But you should double-check the particular model you are considering, just to be certain that it will play standard DVDs.

What do I need to watch Blu-ray or HD DVD movies?

To watch high-definition images, you need devices and cables that can project, receive, and transmit high-definition signals. For HD DVD and Blu-ray, you will need an HD-compatible TV, compatible Blu-ray or HD DVD discs to watch, HD-compatible cables to connect your hardware together--and an HD DVD or Blu-ray player.

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The PlayStation 3 console will play Blu-ray discs; a separate HD DVD player will be made available for the Xbox 360 console.

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