Currently, Blu-ray and HD-DVD are the only two competitors in high-definition home entertainment market. However, HD DVD is likely to become obsolete in future as many manufacturers have discontinued HD-DVD format and many studios are switching to blu-ray disc format. If anything that can make HD-DVDs to stay in competition with blu-ray, it is their relatively cheaper prices. A HD-DVD movie is four times cheaper than a blu-ray while there is similar gulf between the prices of two incompatible players.

Blu-ray disc has a definite edge over HD-DVD, when it comes to storage capacity. Blu-ray disc is considered the next generation video format and its technology promises high storage optical discs exceeding 250 GB in near future. So, the manufacturers and studios are more than ready to bet on blu-ray than HD DVD. As a consumer, it is important that you go for the product that is future proof and that your investment does not go waste if anything happens in home video market.

Before you compare Blu-ray with HD-DVD, bear in mind following things:

• You cannot play blu-ray disc on HD DVD player and vice versa as both formats are different and incompatible.
• Blu-ray/HD-DVD hybrid discs that come with movies in both the format are not available in the market. This leads to the inevitable choice of either of these two players, if you plan to buy a player for high-definition video play back.
• Currently, the most popular PlayStation 3 can play blu-ray discs. It is cheaper option when compared with stand-alone blu-ray disc player but lacks connections for home theatre system.

What are common in Blu-ray and HD-DVD?

A quick summary of common technical features that you will find in blu-ray and HD-DVD:

• Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats use a blue laser to read and write the data on their discs.
• Both can read and write data in the same video and audio formats. Video formats like MPEG-4, MPEG-2, H264 and VC1 are employed in both discs. Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD and Uncompressed PCM are some of the audio formats that are compatible with both the devices.
• Both disc players can provide picture in 1080p resolution.
• Blu-ray and HD-DVD players come with component video output for HDTV connection. In addition, both players also have HDMI or DVI connections for the same purpose.

Differences between Blu-ray and HD-DVD

The major difference is storage capacity. A double layered blu-ray disc can hold more than two times that a similar HD-DVD is capable of. The following table demonstrates the higher storage capacities of blu-ray disc when compared with HD-DVD.

Optical disc	Disc storage	Play back duration Standard def High-def
Single side Blu-ray	26GB		4 hours
Single side HD-DVD	14GB		2 hours
Double side Blu-ray	50GB	20 + hrs	12 hours
Double side HD-DVD	30GB	5 – 9 hours	3 – 5 hours

Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray use different software for their interactive features. Blu-ray uses BD-Java while HD DVD uses iHD interactive software.

As for internet access, all HD DVD players usually come with Ethernet ports while Blu-ray optionally employ them so you need to make sure that your blu-ray disc player comes with Ethernet port if you intend to access online video websites with your disc player.

Most blu-ray discs come encoded with regional code, making blu-rays encoded with particular regional code unusable in another geographical location. HD-DVDs do not have this feature so you can play a HDVD you bought in Region A (the USA) in the UK.

Currently, blu-ray enjoys the support of nearly three-fourths of studios that include Sony Pictures, Fox, Mirmax, Touchstone etc. Most of the popular titles in blu-ray discs have hit the market and it is more likely that the number will increase in future as sales in blu-ray in current market outnumbered the HD DVD titles by more than two times.

Price factor is another major difference between two discs. However, blu-ray compensates its high price with high data storage and the availability of popular titles only in blu-ray format.

Both discs come with copy protection features. Blu-ray disc is copy right protected by ICT, BD-ROM Mark and AACS. HD DVD discs are copy protected by ICT and AACS.

Conclusion

In the current scenario, it is rather difficult to make a choice between Blu-ray and HD DVD as they offer more or less similar features and capabilities. While the cheaper price is the major advantage with HD-DVD, Blu-ray has other significant advantages that are more likely to make it as the next generation video format. Currently, Blu-ray has more manufacturers support and studios’ support to its credit and this could be the major factor that can impact the consumers’ choice between Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

Related posts:

1. Blu-Ray Discs – Types, Data Storage, Features
2. Basics of Blu-Ray Disc Players
3. History of Blu-Ray Disc Technology
4. How does a Blu-Ray Disc Player Work?
5. Tremendous Benefits of Blu-Ray and HD Discs