Blu-ray vs HD DVD: which video format is for you?

It is worthwhile noting the Codec differences as much as the diskspace. Similarly it is important to note the forms of media currently being used (e.g. BluRay currently does not have any media using BD50 disks). These are important notes because, currently, HD DVD not only has larger disks (30GB to 25GB), but because HD DVD uses better codecs (Sony won't use the MS codec, and instead is insisting on MPEG-2) current HD DVD software looks far superior in most situations. This situation will change as triple layer (HD DVD) and double layer (BluRay) disks become more common and as studios begin use H.248. But right now the above two factors are making a significant difference in HD media quality, titled strongly in favor of HD DVD.

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Ultimately, I think the PS3 is going to prove the decisive factor in this battle - every gamer who buys one will be casting a vote for Blu-Ray - even if they have no interest in super high def movies and just want to play the new Metal Gear Solid. On the other hand, the X-Box 360 won't require HD-DVD out of the box, so any 360 gamers who buy one wont neccesarily be casting a similar vote for HD. Moreover, buying one piece of electronic equipment for a probable launch price of around $1000 is going to be a lot less cutting if it can advertise Next Gen support straight out of the box - in essence, the two factors will complement each other to a massive extent. That combined with Blu-ray's superiority in almost every category (however slight or temporary it may appear to be) will probably tip the scales.

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One thing is wrong in this article. The HD-DVD Add-on for the X360 doesn't support games, only movie support.

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Here's an idea, don't buy either. I know it may be hard when you've got a high def telly and FTA just wont cut it, but why should we be out of pocket for this stupid format war??

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this article is false, there has been some development in compatabilities with HD-DVD and Blu ray. A corp has already made a disc that on the first layer is bluray and the second layer is hd-dvd. This will defenatly take over the market so it doesnt matter what drive you buy

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Format wars are nothing new and this is all a passing phase, hopefully though both formats will be met with relative success and the culmination will result in the 'hybrid drive' which is what we are using now with the +R and -R formats and untill then I will continue using dual layer discs for DVD authoring, storage and so on. The PS3 will no dought be the juggernauaght in sonys arsenal to entice those who are perhaps less enthusiatic about spending a hefty amount of money for a stand alone player and if it transpires this way the PS3 can achieve mass market appeal and ultimately help establish Blu-ray as a mainstream format. All the tech talk aside, both formats present their benifets and both formats have their backers and affiliates, ultimately though the consumer will decide. I may just sit this one out untill the fog clears a little and then make my decision.

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The best thing to look at when comparing this two new format is which can burn faster per disk given same amount of data to burn. I think, everybody doesnt want to consume all 25 GB or 15 GB when it means you have to burn it today and finish by tomorrow. Who would want that???

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I dont care - rip any disc in to DivX and whatever :) (Divx dvd player $60). I'm not that stupid to buy a player for $1000 ???? Omg!

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I wonder if CSS on DVDs hadn't been cracked would we be facing this new format war so soon? At least in Sony's case this format has little to do with an actual consumer demand for it, and everything to do with copy protection and DRMs. As far as i'm concerned BluRay & HDDVD can both go to hell. I don't have a hi-def TV. (In fact i don't know ANYONE who has one! :D) So im sure not justifying switching to another format so Sony can secure their revenue base. VHS tapes were in wide use for over 20years & still see limited use in recording. I really dont see how DVD (which only appeared in 1999 i Australia) needs replacing anytime soon. And again comparing VHS to DVD is a no brainer - fantastic. The same still applies with next-gen formats but at what cost when you factor in the TV & amplifyer system to run it all at even an entry level resolution :( Again HD-DVD & BluRay can go to hell :D

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Sony's Bravia X-series supports 1080p. And as far as i know, Toshiba (which is the spearhead of HD-DVD) does not support Blu-ray. This article is somewhat misleading in places...

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HD-DVD vs BluRay, Beta vs VHS etc etc lets face it in the long run it us consumers that lose out when one technology riegns supreme. Someone is left holding, usually expensive, redundant equipment. Why can't manufacturers just sort out formats before they hit the market rather than use the consumer as their battle ground. I've demoed both formats and both are excellent...but as consumers we just want the one format. Here is one person that won't be investing in either technology until the dust of marketplace war settles.

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I always find something new and interesting every time I come around here - thanks.

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Blue-ray or HD DVD. l choose neither. l dont see the need. Using a quality DVD player with composite output, combined with a quality PAL D TV gives razer sharp pictures with excellent detail. To me, the principle of diminishing returns has kicked in, making the new formats unneccessary or at the very least a luxury. Regards

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After having children they taught me something when playing back rough video taken with a digital camera. The excitement for them was watching themselves doing silly things on the tv, not the quality of the individual pixels on the surface of the screen. Technology is great but quality of content is greater.

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I think it's obvious Blu-Ray is going to lead the market once the PS3 released. Blu-Ray offers more storage by far, uncompressed MPEG-2 1080p content which means pure clarity and more major manafacturers and movie studios support it. HD-DVD seems quite poor in comparison. Look at the freakin specs!!! Who cares if HD-DVD uses codecs, it has to use codecs to squash a HD movie onto its pathetic storage.

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The problem is with HD DVD it can have the highest disk space in the world even more than tape but when its a READ only format its pretty pointless!!

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Since HD-DVD will have cheaper players and cheaper dics, and publishers can install DVD and HDDVD on the same disc, the early advantage will most likely be with HDDVD. Also the lack of region protection means HDDVD will also be more popular with consumers. One problem with the argument that PS3 will make a big impact for Blueray is that most people do not use their game machines to play movies e.g. people who bought a PS2 also bought a stand alone DVD player. Most games machines are to be found in people's bedrooms on secondary TVs not in the main family room on the HDTV. In all likelihood both formats will survive side by side but HDDVD having a larger market share. And in five years time just when Blueray's better specs might just start to make a difference, new formats already under development will arrive offering terrabytes of space which will herald in another upgrade to 4 Megapixel TV sets.

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I thought it good that there was some usefull input to the subject and that the writers were honest enough to use their real names !...I think a "suck it and see" attitude would be best for a while...I was reading a 1999 review of a DVD player the other day....Only $1650 ! Can go down the road now and buy a DVD player for $29.99.....Happens with all technology these days...Prices drop dramatically once the development is paid for...

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The HD DVD vs Blu-Ray disc war seems to me to be a little premature. Although the market seems to be driving towards HD, and before long you won't be able to buy a TV that isn't HD, these two players may both end up being superceded by the Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) that is currently in production and could be released 2008, which are expected to be able to hold around 3.9 terabytes of information - 48 times that of a single layer Blu Ray disc. See here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_Versatile_Disc However, That may be fantastic for those wishing to store huge amounts of info on one disc, but for watching films, You don't really need that much disc space. And to create a game that would take up that much disc space would probably be 5 years in the making!! In my opinion there will be room for all formats, and systems will probably be developed that could handle them all as well.

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I should imagine that a large proportion of people would feel the same as me and won't be purchasing either or these until things calm down. Having a Blu-Ray drive in the PS3 has made me not want a PS3 as what is the point of paying all the money out for something that may not survive. Unfortunately as with most of these things it isn't usually the best technology that wins but the cheapest and thats the way that VHS/Betamax went. HD-DVD is already looking significantly cheaper for the production industry and consumer even though it has less capacity in the long run. It is already looking like the HD-DVD players will fall in price to something realistic within the year but Blu-ray will fall much slower. But we will see and in the meantime whats wrong with good old DVD and a player for less than $50 !

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I am tired just reading about all the various possibilities and the $$$ attached. Here I was trying to find a way I could include some footage from the AVCHD files that my cousin sent me as I am mnaking a family reunion DVD! hehe! Looks like he will have to do the hardwork!

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Are your sure about the triple HD-DVD disks going into production.Wouldn't that mean the players would need upgrades to handle the 3rd layer? Anywho some difference in this war compared to Beta Max and VHS would be the fact that its no longer just for watching movies its also for burning files and data storage which once the manufacturing costs of blueray disks fall and HD and BD are the same price Blu-Ray will become the dominant. Blu-Rays 50gb still hasnt been used in commercial BR movies yet and this talk over codecs is nothing when one remembers both formats support something like 3 codecs both support H.264 i believe (which is the favoured codec for better quality) only no BR movies have adopted its use yet save for a rumour i heard that X-Men3 uses it on blueray. The built in BR drive in the PS3 will probably be quite the flagship for the BR format since i know here in australia the Basic PS3 will be roughly $850AU and current BR players are $1000+AU. It would be nice to get the hybrid players but then it would probably add more figures to price tag and since in the long run after BR movies max out there 50gb potential and are using H.264 or the other codec (not mpeg2), I would lean in favour of the Blu-Ray format to take the market but still all these HD formats will appear to have little appeal to users who still currently use CRT screens as there primary displays and whos lcds are too low resolution the alternative which also seems likely is the simple further use of DVDs with upscaling players so dvds will still be produced for along while still.

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im getin a ps3 so i guess ill have a blu-ray player but still buy normal dvd's since i live in Australia DAMM U SONY delays suck but they have there pros

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Michael, I should make you aware that any video media used for the consumer will be compressed with a codec, yes even blu-ray, mpeg2 is still a codec. The video codec is by far the most important aspect of video quality but yes of course you need suitable capacity. Regardless of which is format out of the two is higher quality I want to make this point: The manufacturers and film studios will not necessarily support the higher quality medium. Otherwise don't you think that the war would be over because the formats have been set? Betamax was a smaller, higher-quality format with tracks so you could skip scenes. It lost to the more basic VHS so consider that before jumping in and buying a player based on quality alone. Also Rayz you should note the massive quality loss when you compress to the divx format, it's fine for a regular TV but we're discussing HDTVs here. Besides, you'll still need to buy a new optical drive if you want to rip these new formats to your computer which leads us back to which one to choose. We should all be aware that this is only a topic for people who have or want HDTVs so people should stop saying 'I don't need one, no one has HDTVs, DVD/SD video is good enough' this discussion is not for you. If you're happy with SD and have a HDTV I suggest to get an upscaler for the meantime, they make a huge difference when they're good. I have an Oppo DVD upscaler, relatively cheap but amazing results for 720p displays.

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ı think will be better if ınstall with blue ray , to record

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i think both blu ray and hd-dvd will take a long time to take off because they are 1000$+ au and then u need another $5000+ for a compadible TV. HDTVs have been around for a while and though there prices have come down they are still very expensive, until HDTVs are more common/praacticle neither will sell very well, and the blu-ray sell more through the ps3, as its the only real reason anyone will want one (regardless of how pointless a 50GB disk for a game is, normal PV games are rarely over 8gig)

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at the end of the day it will be the format that is also backwood compatabe with DVD as so many people have large colections which HD DVD players are. what ever sales and cost of production will play a big part.

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If you watch both Blu ray and HD players, you will noticeably see a difference and know that Blu ray is better picture than HD. Even better practically than the HD demonstration and that alone sealed me on which is better. Which would justify why Blu ray is more expensive still. Its diffently better picture by far. Plus as another person said as all technology, prices will eventually drop... Like Hdd dvd recorders were once $2,000 plus and now you can get a really awesome one now, if you negotiate for $500 to $700. And hdd dvd recorders are still not to the full potential selling wise. So once blu ray is paid for and enough units are sold they WILL come down in price. Sony among Samsung etc are not going to make Blu ray only for the movie stars lol, they of course want to sell them to all income holders, but I suppose its the RICH people who will bring down the prices for us who cant afford to spend $1,000 plus ($1599 AU). They will come down, so I say dont make a judgement on whats better by price... hdd players and blu ray players.. theres really not that big of difference in price!! I'll be waiting for couple years for prices to come down and id say blu ray could be the fav. And with the HVD comment from someone.. looks interesting, but I have never heard about it since you... Will have to research more, but dont know why they would focus on blu ray if they have something better, obviously their still researching... but who knows lol...

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It's very simple HD-DVD players play both standard DVD's and HD-DVD that is good enough for me PS i dont record so recordabilitysize and space does not matter to me.

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i think most of you are talking a load of wet. Basically you talk about space and coding ect... no one other than developers cares. Its jo public who buys the product and all they want in the main is a good product that is value for money and want a good picture. sure the ps3 will act as a spring board for blue ray but the cost is way high and so many have x box in next gen war. Further whilst there is more space on blue ray films and games i doubt this space will ever fully be used... dual layer cds are seldom used to max thus you are buying more space... great you have a trendy disc with loads of space and very little used... Where is the value in that? From what i gether most pc developers back hd dvd owing to cost and most film companys and manufacturers such as sony, lg, philips ect back blue ray... either way it remains unclear which way this will go. Both are very good and like most people tend to read what they already beleve. I say wait and see what happens. This should be clearer mid next year.

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a lot of concern is placed in other feedback about people buying only to be left with something worthless. The lighter side of that is that if you cannot resist but to make a purchase (and I would encourage anyone to) you can take solice in the fact that after the war is won and lost you could probably buy the winner for $99. That said the logical choice is ps3 because it can still serve a great purpose/multiple purposes. It also supports hdmi 1.3 hd sound and sacd. That and the fact that sony make a healthy portion of blockbuster movies too. They won't hurry to ad those to hddvd catalouges until they are truly dead. All that said I can't see why hd multi format players wouldn't be the best option for all brands that didn't develop the technology.

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Comparing Blu Ray and HD DVD to Beta and VHS is disingenuous. Whilst Beta and VHS systems were fundamentally incompatible, Bku Ray and HD DVD are not. They use the same laser and basic mechanism, the same size disks and the same basic technology. IMO, before the year is out, we will see dual format players and, like DVD+ and DVD- systems, we will wonder what all the fuss was about. It is a non-issue.

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Zaphod, I doubt that will happen as an owner of 2 Civic stores I will not be making the same mistake as in the past of having to formats eg beta and vhs for rentals FULLSTOP

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blu-ray will win, hd-dvds are scarce, inferior and do not have as many movies on them. Look at the top 10 movies of 2006, all are going to be on blu-ray.

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I belive there will be no winner or loser in the HD DVD / blu ray war - why ? look at the DVD + & - formats for an eg ... after a while , company's started to make burners and players compatible with both formats and both + & - survive well to this day. I belive the same thing will happen with BR and HD DVD . Watch the price of the players fall in the next five years ... and watch players offer dual format playback ;)

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HD DVD is compatible with the current DVD format. If you have purchased a HD camcorder again directly compatible with the HD DVD format. The current standard DVD format isn't going to disappear too soon and the public will want cross compatibility with the current format. Who really cares about Blu-Ray versus HD and the technobable associated with disc capacity. I want something that can upscale my current DVD collection effectively and be able to play the High Definition discs in native format. Blu-ray won't be able to do any of what I've mentioned so it won't come down to technical superiority or how many gigs a disc can store.

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All I care for is natural progression. Sony, once again is trying to make its mark and gain control where it doesn't belong. Inevitably, Sony will will lose or be absorbed as it did in the Betamax vs VHS war. In the end, I truly don't believe it is a good thing for the consumer if Sony wins, although, I really hope it will not. People - Blu Ray is just an attempt to get a strangle hold on a market; a market that needs to remain as open as possible for many reasons. Freedom and creative expression for all are 2 very important reasons, but not the only ones. HD-DVD is a natural progression with a strong legacy & support. Fine buy a PS3 for gaming, but just remember that in the end when buying and supporting the Blu Ray format you are buying into a restricted format. A format controlled by a corporation. There are a lot of top film directors and producers that do not support Blu Ray. Don't fall for all the hype; I want to see the sales figures for standalone Blu Ray players vs standalone HD-DVD units. I reckon the only reason it appears that Blu Ray movies are selling more than HD-DVD movies is simply because of the PS3, so please base the hype on standalone players, and not on game consoles. Please take into account that people don't buy PS3s for the Blu Ray drive alone, the same way people don't buy Xbox 360 because you can attach a HD-DVD drive to it. They buy PS3 because it is a next gen gaming console and for only that reason alone. Please keep that last paragraph in mind and remember this is more than just a storage capacity war and you'd have to have a very discerning eye to pick the difference in picture quality between the two formats, and always remember that quality is more than just what you are looking at when it come to motion pictures. That is about all I can say; For the people not the corps!

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There are more important things to worry about on this debate. I am glad I don't have to worry about the HD video format wars, as I already own both XBOX 360 with a HD DVD player and a PLAYSTATION 3 and a monitor capable of displaying 1080P. If you demand quality you have to pay for it. Or for the most part both formats are exceptional. The difference is HD DVD players will always be cheaper than Bluray and will always have equally or better picture quality than that of any Bluray. All HD DVD display the VC-1 video codecs where as most Bluray display MPEG-2 video codec - HD DVD are always going to look as good if not better than Blurays - trust me. However Sony have acknowldge the superiority of the VC-1 codec and most newer Blurays display this. On the other hand Bluray are more prevalent with more film company support and players cost more too. The disc are bigger too which means they can hold more information. But can you tell the difference between a few megs per second for the video and audio codecs with the same movie of different format? I don't think you will. HD DVD may be a smaller 30gb where as Bluray "can be" 50gb - don't be fooled, the technology and software in my opinion of the HD DVD is far more streamlined, faster loading, better compression and is more proven than the Bluray because it is based on the DVD technolgy invented by Toshiba which has been around for a while now. Where as Bluray, a new format which is more expensive, a bit on the heavier side, takes longer load, still uses god awful old MPEG-2 codecs and it is not proven yet as it is still a very new format. If you are on a budget, get HD DVD - much much better bang for the buck - not as much a variety of films but overall a very economically viable technolgy. If you enjoy paying more money for things, want a vast selection films, super duper anal on audio quality or you are a Sony nazi and enjoy films like James Bond - get the Bluray. If you have the bucks, get both. And after that you will need a 1080P monitor and an audio reciever that plays the new HD audio codecs such as DOLBY TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio to enjoy the full capabilities of these superb formats. I love High Definition.

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There are so many pros and cons for both formats. I have owned a xbox 360 and now own a PS3. Things are going to change and Blu-Ray will be victorious. Sony has always represented themselves as a quality brand and consumers have always had the choice if they wanted to pay for this so called quality. And microsoft have only and will continue only trying to get their hands in everyones pockets trying to have an even larger monoply in the IT market. Whilst making consumers go crazy with software problems and poor service. Hey I might sound a bit biased here although I guess I just like to feel like I have a choice

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Boy Boy, Ratdaddy and Greg. Blu-Ray is most defnitley backwards compatible with DVD and provides upscaling to 1080p. Check out the excellent but still expensive ($1499 retail) Panasonic DMP-BD10A.

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If you want to Play Hd movies without having to pay $1000 . First if you got a Pc with vista OS , a DVI plug on the back of your pc then if you have a LCD TV with DVI or HDMI . You can buy leads that convert DVI to HDMI. Then Buy A xbox 360 HD player for $230. You must have Power DVD software that support the new HD or Blue Ray for the Xbox 360 HD Player to work . The player works very well on microsoft vista Os but not with window XP. So you dont have to buy expensive blu-Ray player s .HD player are the best .

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I will Not buy HD or Blue Drives or Player at all I think most people will just use HD,Blue Ray Rip into H264 or Divx so Just buy combo drives that read HD or Blue Ray to rip the movies to compress is simple and its still MPEG2 old story

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Blue Ray will likely end up the overall winn for the simple fact that it still supports regional coding. Afterall we in Oz do not deserve to have movies released at the same time as in the US or the UK

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as far as the war is going it has been mentioned above and i am mentioning now that the cassette to dvd war and vhs to dvd war was all won when the players were brought in price to 100 to 200 dollars thats when mainstream people purchase and the tech junkies are sitting with the best deal or worst deal remember the old video disk players and how they would replace all media formats to date they never hit the 100 to 200 dollar price and where are they now i have a ps 2 and bought a xbox 360 for better games didnt care about ps3 and the blue ray player and neither will any gamer out there we buy based on the coolest games we dont need a blue ray player in our console well go to walmart and get a 30 dollar dvd player to watch movies so the war will rage and they will be winners and losers but the first to get my parents to go out and buy one will be the winner in this competition and they will buy whoever is on the shelves of blockbuster video

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as far as the war is going it has been mentioned above and i am mentioning now that the cassette to dvd war and vhs to dvd war was all won when the players were brought in price to 100 to 200 dollars thats when mainstream people purchase and the tech junkies are sitting with the best deal or worst deal remember the old video disk players and how they would replace all media formats to date they never hit the 100 to 200 dollar price and where are they now i have a ps 2 and bought a xbox 360 for better games didnt care about ps3 and the blue ray player and neither will any gamer out there we buy based on the coolest games we dont need a blue ray player in our console well go to walmart and get a 30 dollar dvd player to watch movies so the war will rage and they will be winners and losers but the first to get my parents to go out and buy one will be the winner in this competition and they will buy whoever is on the shelves of blockbuster video

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Sony often get their marketing strategies wrong. eg Beta and VHS. Then there were digital cameras and 'Memory Sticks.' Cheaper SD cards were adopted by Nikon and Pentax. Blue Ray may well be another loser no matter how good it is because the truth is SONY are a bit full of themselves. The old adage "Bums on seats" is as true for the film industry as it ever was.

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i dont think updating to a high definition theatre system is as expensive as everyone seems to think it is. I bought a 40GB PS3, TLC 40inch LCD with 720 res and a Kenwood sound system for my room. and it totalled at $2100. Granted its not the best thats out there. but its still good enough for us guys who are broke as hell.

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Because this war is not ours we can not win. somebody says after previous war i can buy dvd player for just $30. that is true, but you pay already for both standards (-R and +R). No big deal you say, $10 more (though if somebody at street will ask you give him $5 you will call police). Again true, but you could buy additional 10-15 blank disks, and if there were just 1 standard (-R or +R) you could buy 20-30 blank disks. No big deal again, you don't need so many blank disks (though many people will be glad to do that). But in this days case result of this war will be little bit more unpleasure: you will pay for both much more expensive technologies integrated in your future DVD player and especially DVD recorder. But I know what you'll say - $100-200 more, no big deal, I was waiting for 5 years the end of this war, no big deal. And you are right - what can we do? just to understand that those wars are not ours.

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Because this war is not ours we can not win. somebody says after previous war i can buy dvd player for just $30. that is true, but you pay already for both standards (-R and +R). No big deal you say, $10 more (though if somebody at street will ask you give him $5 you will call police). Again true, but you could buy additional 10-15 blank disks, and if there were just 1 standard (-R or +R) you could buy 20-30 blank disks. No big deal again, you don't need so many blank disks (though many people will be glad to do that). But in this days case result of this war will be little bit more unpleasure: you will pay for both much more expensive technologies integrated in your future DVD player and especially DVD recorder. But I know what you'll say - $100-200 more, no big deal, I was waiting for 5 years the end of this war, no big deal. And you are right - what can we do? just to understand that those wars are not ours.

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Because this war is not ours we can not win. somebody says after previous war i can buy dvd player for just $30. that is true, but you pay already for both standards (-R and +R). No big deal you say, $10 more (though if somebody at street will ask you give him $5 you will call police). Again true, but you could buy additional 10-15 blank disks, and if there were just 1 standard (-R or +R) you could buy 20-30 blank disks. No big deal again, you don't need so many blank disks (though many people will be glad to do that). But in this days case result of this war will be little bit more unpleasure: you will pay for both much more expensive technologies integrated in your future DVD player and especially DVD recorder. But I know what you'll say - $100-200 more, no big deal, I was waiting for 5 years the end of this war, no big deal. And you are right - what can we do? just to understand that those wars are not ours.

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I run both BDPLX70A,HDXE1,the picture on both are exellent the blu ray slightly better the audio is major differance blu ray supports DTSmaster audio HDDVD doze not

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