Thoughts on Blu-ray vs. HD DVD
The future high-definition data format has not been set in stone yet. There is a format war going on between the Blu-ray format and the HD DVD format for which will become the true successor to DVD. Currently, the two formats co-exist with each having their own pros and cons but overall having two HD formats just confuses consumers. Take for example flash memory cards. Some cameras take Compact Flash, some SD, some xD, others Memory Stick and so on.
The Tech
Both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs store much more data than DVD discs through the use of a 405nm blue-violet laser. Traditional DVD discs store data in a circular track that is read by a wider and less precise 650nm red laser. By using a blue laser, data can be scrunched together closer in a narrower track and thus a Blu-ray or HD DVD disc can hold more. More room for data means higher quality video and better audio.
A DVD can hold a total of 4.7GB per layer while an HD DVD can store up to 15GB per layer with Blu-ray leading at 25GB per layer. Most discs can come in a dual-layer format, leaving HD DVD with 30GB per disc and Blu-ray with 50GB. Blu-ray stores more data as you can see, although recent updates in HD DVD technology can fit three layers of 17GB each onto a single disc. The same goes for Blu-ray with TDK having developed a way to fit 200GB of data (6 layers x 33.3GB per layer) on a single disc. Regardless, the current consumer-ready state of technology puts HD DVD storage at 30GB/disc and Blu-ray at 50GB/disc.
Conflict
Why hasn’t Blu-ray taken over long ago if it holds so much more data than the HD DVD format? There are lots of issues to consider with this but it all boils down to a) how many companies and film studios support each format and b) the cost of each format and related hardware. Blu-ray media holds more data but it costs more and Blu-ray players currently cost more than HD DVD players as well.
Consumers will prefer the cheaper alternative and that is currently HD DVD. However, if you bundle a Blu-ray player with something a consumer is going to buy anyways, such as a Sony PlayStation 3, the extra cost is mitigated. Compare this to the Xbox 360 where users must buy an extra HD DVD peripheral to play such movies. The PS3 gave Blu-ray a big head start. Also, Blockbuster has begun offering Blu-ray movie rentals and will not rent HD DVD movies. As a person who rents movies almost weekly, that alone is a large draw towards Blu-ray for me.
Charts from Wikipedia. The left one shows US sales as of Dec. 7th, 2007. Right one updated Jan 5th, 2008.
Both HD DVD and Blu-ray supporters are offering gratuitous deals for those buying their hardware. Look out for 5+ free Blu-ray/HD DVD discs rebates when purchasing such hardware.
Combo players, the other option
For early adopters that don’t want to get stranded with a dead format in the future, Samsung will be releasing a dual-format HD DVD and Blu-ray player in about two weeks. As you might imagine, the player is quite expensive at ~$800 USD.
My choice: Blu-ray
I bought my parents a Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-ray player for the holidays. When choosing between Blu-ray and HD DVD I focused on the facts that
- a) Blu-ray sales are currently trumping HD DVD sales,
- b) Blockbuster rents Blu-ray movies (we rent more than buy), and
- c) Blu-ray holds more data and is in my opinion more future-proof than HD DVD.
Planet Earth is a must have series for whichever HD format you choose.
And You?
Do you plan on upgrading to HD DVD or Blu-ray anytime soon, given that you already own a HDTV to support it? Back at my school apartment I still have a dinky CRT TV so Blu-ray isn’t in my future anytime soon, although I wouldn’t mind a Blu-ray drive upgrade for my MacBook Pro to play movies on a larger external display.
For those wondering if there is even a big difference between regular DVD and Blu-ray/HD DVD - there is and it’s huge. If you already own an HDTV and play regular DVDs you are absolutely missing out. Playing Planet Earth Blu-ray in 1080i is quite a sight to see. Every detail is clearly visible: individual leaves on trees, each feather on a bird, each scale on a fish, et cetera. The words crisp and scintillating come to mind.
Thanks to the anonymous Skribit user who suggested I write about this topic.
Update: Warner Brothers studios elected to go with Blu-ray technology exclusively and will abandon HD DVD mid-2008. This almost certainly ends the Blu-ray vs HD DVD battle, with Blu-ray being victorious.
Great post Paul, of course there is another option. Wait. See which one wins and by that time the prices on the players will have dropped and it will be just as cheap to get the winner of the format war’s player as DVD nowadays.
I went with the HD DVD add on for my 360. For less than £100 I couldn’t really say no, and to top it off I took the advantage of the 5 free HD movies. Good deal. I obviously have no idea what format will win, but is it naive to hope that both formats can co-exist?
I’m currently at the conclusion that neither format will win. Why? It’s a big stalemate now, but I see the future being in downloadable/streaming media than physical. If Apple start offering HD content in the movie store in conjunction with AppleTV, then I can’t see how the two fledgling DVD formats will be able to win.
Real HD content is very large and I don’t think it is plausible to expect everyone that usually goes to a Blockbuster to rent movies to stay at home a few hours for the download to finish. Current iTunes Store movie downloads are “near DVD quality” and a bit over 1GB in file size in my experience. If they were to venture into HD movie downloads that would be considerably larger.
While I would enjoy over-the-internet HD content, it is not for everyone and there will always be a physical format to serve as a companion, at least when talking about large file sizes (not music).
A market research article I linked to somewhere above said about 30% of consumers interested in HD were going to wait to see which format was the winner/they become cheaper. That’s probably the best choice for those who have patience and aren’t anxious early adopters.
What about quality, do we know which has better quality? Of if your even able to distinguish between hd dvd and blu-ray?
I think bundling the Blu-ray player into the PS3 was one of the smartest moves Sony could make. Unfortunately that would be the main reason that I would get a PS3. I already own a 360 and there aren’t any games that I really want on the PS3. So I went ahead and got the HD-DVD player for my 360 do to a Buy.com deal that sold it for 169.99 at the time, it came with the first season of Heroes free and the 5 HD-DVD mail in rebate. So altogether I thought that was a better deal. That and Blu-ray and Sony together just reminds me too much of Beta-max.
I choose Blu-ray purely on semantics. The DVD name has always bothered me as DVD implies that the disc is to be used for video. In reality, DVD disks can be used to store anything, just like compact disks.
Really, though, the point is mute. The days of removable storage media are numbered. Storing and keeping track of physical things is a needless bother. I can’t remember the last time I actually burned a CD.
Mark, I apologize if this seems rude, but consider it an attempt to correct something you may have been saying incorrectly for years (unless this was a typo)… Anyway, it’s a “moot” point, not a “mute” point. Again, I apologize.
I’m going to be very disappointed if Blu-ray wins the HD format war. I have already invested quite a bit of money into HD DVD - player & movies - and would be beyond frustrated if Sony stood atop the HD mountain. For some reason, the idea of another Sony data storage technology bleeding out into the world is one that I hoped to never see again. I just remember my early frustrations with Sony Memory Sticks. Yuck.
During my first semester at PSU in 2005, we made a “brief” video about the history of optical data storage. (In reality, we were just loved The Matrix and playing with Adobe Premiere too much). The script is highly sketchy, but it’s sort of fun to look back on.
IST 110 - Video Documentary
Well personally i’m leaning towards blu-ray but that may purely be because I bought a PS3 three days ago…
I am an HD-DVD owner, but I do not think either format is going to win. If I were able to choose one to win I would choose HD-DVD, because I try to look at things from the perspective of the common consumer. HD-DVDs have combo discs, and even though they probably will not use it that much, backwards compatibility is important to a lot of people. Of course HD-DVDs are also priced (generally) lower than Blu-Ray. I would say I speak for the general public in saying that DVD quality is still really good, and the jump from VHS to DVD is much greater than DVD to this next generation. The only people who really care about the war are videophiles and they are split down the center.
Again, neither is going to win. Each format has enough studio backing to stay alive, which means when I graduate college I am going to be purchasing a dual-format player (prices will have come down a lot by then). It is really disappointing that there will never be a unified format, but both of these are here to stay.
I have both a HD-DVD (Toshiba HD-A2) and Blu-ray player (the PS3). This is much cheaper than buying a dual-format player, in my opinion. I want HD quality footage now, and this is the best way to get the best of both worlds without losing much if a format is chosen.
However, when I see a movie on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, I go for the Blu-ray. I, as well, feel that Blu-ray is more “future proof” and the fact the Blockbuster only carries them pushes me towards Blu-ray even more. Netflix can help remedy that, but sometimes you just want to rent a movie quickly and don’t want to wait a day or so for it to come in.
I don’t own either one, and really haven’t seen either one in action. I think that one is bound to come out on top though, because I don’t see the market sustaining two distinct formats for the same purpose for too long. While combo players would permit this to happen on a technical level, consumers, retailers, and eventually studios are not going to see the point of a device that plays two different formats simply because a few companies chose sides early on. As others have said, Sony made a great move by integrating Blu-Ray into the PS3, and Blockbuster’s backing is really going to help. If Blu-Ray is made comparable in price to HD DVD, then I think HD DVD is going to lose this battle. I think it will win the vote of the techies and video producers as well, due to the larger storage capacity.
However, as I started out saying, I really haven’t seen either one in action, so I have no personal experience to base my opinion of the formats on. Just from the stats I’ve seen on each though, I would agree with Paul. Blu-Ray does look like the way to go.
I live in Canada and work part time at a Blockbuster here. All the stores I know of here rent both formats and the Blu-Ray section at my store is 3x the size as the HD DVD section. Blu-Ray definitely has advantage with the PS3 as well, one of the few things the PS3 got right. I’ll wait until this format war is over because I don’t want to be stuck with a $500 Bata player.
So I was thinking about this the other day. I think it’s neither.
Reason being:
Flash Player 9 Update that includes HD video. That means HD Youtube and it means HD video hosting, with player.
What I see happening is your (Paul) idea coming in a different light. I see an S3 like host with the flash player being a personal media dump. And I see the Touch and iPhone being the key players here. Well, any wifi video device. Stream in any hotspot anywhere, really. And if Google wins the bid for 700Mhz, maybe we’ll see wifi ANYWHERE. It’s headed there anyway.
So, combine that with ITMS and you have an easy solution. You can rent, buy and otherwise view videos. Once you own it, you can upload it and access it any time OR put it on your device.
Want to play it on a huge ginormous TV? Well, just a simple TV out perhaps. And that will kickstart the TV out biz. I mean an iPod/iPhone with HD out? Is it really that far fetched?
So that’s my thoughts on where we’re headed.
(If I had to pick, I’d go with what I’ve said from the beginning: BluRay)
I get to watch Planet Earth in HD on PBS along with a lot of other awesome HD content 24/7 with my $12/month basic cable. Will wait for the prices to come down, and for a winner to be crowned, before I invest in these players.
I agree with Derek–my big reason for being a supporter of HD-DVD is that I don’t want to see another Sony backed format succeed. It will just encourage them to develop more proprietary formats in the future.
Blockbuster having Blu-Ray doesn’t matter to me one way or the other; they’ve closed down most of their stores in my area and I rent exclusively through Netflix now.
I have an HD-DVD player and have purchased some HD-DVD movies, but like many others I won’t make a huge collection until I know who the clear winner is. I have a sneaking suspicion that once one format “wins,” all it will mean is that movies are only produced in that format from then on. I feel like it would be trivial to add both formats to a single player in the future, so that all of the discs that were made in the “loser” format aren’t a waste.
Paul,
If you don’t mind me asking, which Blu-Ray DVD player did you purchase? I’m looking to get one as well and I’m sure you have already done plenty of research.
Thanks.
I agree with you Paul. Although I am still far out from purchasing a HD DVD player, I think Blu-ray stacks up nicely.
I just hope for the sake of everyone (and the numerous questions I will have to answer in the future) that the market will agree on a format and make the other obsolete like the VHS vs. Beta war. I don’t really want to be buying a bunch of HD DVD/Blu-ray combo players, writers, etc. The -+R stuff is to annoying as is.
Well, at least the presence of the HD-DVD had forced Sony to start using better codec for the Blu-Ray so I guess this war has some advantage…
@Lee - Samsung BD-P1400
Hi Paul,
Yeah I’d be surprised if HD-DVD overcomes Blu-Ray.
On Planet Earth, have you been able to play it at 1080p? Very interested in this as the version that the BBC is selling in Ireland & UK only supports a max of 1080i, while I believe the USA version supports up to 1080p.
Is there any word on region encoding, wikipedia details that there is three regions (A1, B2, C3) for Blu-Ray but is it being implemented, or is there cracks for region free players yet, as with DVD players.
Hope you have a Happy New Year.
Like the first commenter I’m going to wait. I’d love to get HD content on our 42″ HDTV, but forking over money for a format that might go belly up in a year just isn’t my idea of a good time. I was tempted to get a Blu-Ray player at Best Buy the other day ($299) but my better judgement won out. I’ll wait and see who wins; until then I’ll limit my DVD buying.
I own a Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on, plus a Toshiba a2 and a PS3. I’ve always leaned toward Blu-ray winning because of the studio support that they have. Because of the uncertainty, I haven’t really bought too many actual discs and have watched most of my high-def movies as rentals from Netflix and only purchasing discs when they’re really cheap.
As far as quality, there is no clear winner…they’re both about the same. I also don’t see the downloading coming into play for some years to come. I’ve downloaded HD movies from Xbox Live and I seriously don’t think that’s a comfortable everyday solution for people at this point.
I don’t like the idea of HD streaming replacing physical media. I want to actually own something tangible rather than leasing … not that online rentals wouldn’t have a place.
Ditto on the whole ‘Sony and proprietary formats’ comment. Sony having a dominant technology won’t be good for the consumer. I know that Blu-Ray has a lot going for it, but I have faith that Sony will screw it up like they always do (e.g. Betamax, UMD, DAT, etc.)
The comment about Sony having a better codec seems like a bit of FUD: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray both support AVC and VC-1 (so sayeth Wikipedia).
Why does everyone keep saying that forcing blu-ray down the throats of people buying a PS3 was a good idea? All it did was jack up the price. Xbox was smarter about it and offered the HD as an add on keeping the price of the 360 reasonable for those who didnt really care about HD movies at this point. I think it was one of many stupid decisions Sony made and like some others on here am hoping to see them fail.
@Justin - It was a good idea for Sony at least. Without the PS3, Blu-ray wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it is today. Standalone Blu-ray players aren’t selling like the PS3.
Another thing, I never bought into that whole price comparison. When I got my PS3 last Christmas, it had a 60 GB drive (40 GB bigger than my Xbox), plus wireless which costs an additional $100 to add to the Xbox. People tend to forget/ignore that you got a lot for the $599 that the PS3 originally cost, including a very good Blu-ray player. I would imagine that most people who have invested in the next-gen gaming consoles have a high-def TV and it seems somewhat natural to think they wouldn’t mind making the jump to high-def movies. As a gamer and movie fan, I would much rather pay a little more to have it included in one unit than have to buy an add-on or even a standalone (like I ended up doing for HD-DVD). Of course, if you’re not interested in the technology, you certainly aren’t forced to buy anything or pay for anything.
Blu-Ray sounds cooler. I’m a waiter, myself. I don’t even have an HD TV yet..
I also wouldn’t underestimate the variable of which format will be the first to have and affordable DVD-Burner with equally affordable media.
Both formats deliver tremendous sound and picture quality so long as the encoding is preformed properly. The extra space on a Blu-Ray disc will only give more extras and bonus features, and does not offer any perceptible difference in image quality. (If a movie consumes the entire 50GB, it would just be wasted space due to under-compression with no visible result.)
I think the war will be over when the Blu-Ray group and the HD-DVD group cross-license the technology and every player inexpensively becomes a hybrid player. I really don’t care if the movie I buy is Blue or Red. I only care if the movie plays in my player.
I think Sony made a huge mistake with their Blu-Ray profile compliance. Profile 1.0 vs. 1.1 vs. 2.0 is a huge gap in features; many older players will not be compatible with the profile, meaning that they will miss some of the bonus material and would have to purchase a new player to correct this. At least the HD-DVD camp enforced compliance with the max feature set from the beginning.
For me, I’m waiting until there is a clear path to the future. In the meantime, I’m renting DVDs and I purchased only 1 DVD in 20007 (I would typically purchase 20.) If other consumers have similar habits, the format war is generating less revenue for the movie studios instead of more.
What about DRM? I doubt I’ll be investing in a next-gen video format until I’m sure that I’ll be able to convert it into free formats.
The technology and sales numbers seem to be favoring Blu-Ray, but <a href="http://www.chuckmckenzie.net/2007/11/blu-ray-versus-hd-dvd" rel="nofollow">I think</a> it really comes down to the business behind these formats. If Universal and Paramount never defect to Blu-Ray and Toshiba keeps making players, there will always be a market for HD-DVDs. One side has to blink first for there to be a clear winner.
For me the decision was an easy one:
1) Blu-ray sales are currently in the lead vs. HD DVD
2) A PS3 does a pretty good job of being a games consoles as well as a Blu-ray player and an upscaling DVD player
3) If HD DVD does win the day (which I doubt) then I am unlikely to ditch my growing collection of Blu-ray movies and PS3 games
4) But if I have to let go of the PS3 then I am sure there will still be a lively market for it on eBay (where I bought it from in the first place).
Smart move Sony in my opinion.
If Warner Bros were smart, and acting in the consumers’ best interest, they would have dropped Blu-ray, since the Play Station 3 which contributed to the bulk of the Blu-ray sales was mainly being sold as a game machine.
Additionally, Blu-ray may have taken a commanding lead in the next-generation format war, but the group has a big problem looming: early supporters of the format are left out in the cold when the Blu-ray Disc Association introduces BD Profile 2.0.
Unlike HD DVD, which mandated features such as local storage, a second video and audio decoder for picture-in-picture, and a network connection from the very beginning, the companies behind Blu-ray took a different approach. Initial hardware players lacked these capabilities in order to keep costs down.
None of the Profile 1.0 players can be upgraded to Profile 1.1, which was finalized recently, with the exception of the PlayStation 3 — whose update arrived in mid-December. Likewise, Profile 2.0 is expected to arrive in October bringing Internet connectivity that Profile 1.1 players lack.
Ref. Link:
http://www.betanews.com/article/Bluray_Early_adopters_knew_what_they_were_getting_into/1199841379
The owners of Play Station 3 would not have had as bigger lost as the standalone HD DVD player owners. After all, it is mainly a game machine and the game software for it is not being dropped.
Then, the cheaper HD DVD stand-alone players would have really got HD player sales moving with real consumer acceptance of it for a replacement of standard DVD players.
for those that don’t know this, blockbuster DOES rent out HD DVD. I asked a clerk at my local blockbuster and he took me to the section. It wasn’t on the wall with the blu-ray and the new releases. They put the HD DVDs in the aisle with the older movies.
also they’re available on blockbuster online. you have to click on categories and then click on hd dvd. it’s not a one click access like blu-ray.
I wouldn’t have bought either one at Christmas had my old TV and DVD player not been fried by lightning, but I got an HD DVD player. I know there are all sorts of people desperate for me to feel stupid for buying it, but really, it was either this or an Oppo, since, like I said, I was going to sit it out, and will STILL sit it out until BD is viable and affordable And I could spend $50 more for the upconvert DVD player, and I’d still have an obsolete player. Dumb? I think not!
Perfect adjectives - “crisp and scintillating” - and true. I use an LG GGC-H20L combo drive in my PC, and can pick my HD movies without regard to format. Sitting 3 feet from a 24″ monitor is fully immersive. I could use the HDMI-out on the graphics card to pipe to a larger screen, but I don’t have the space.
Thanks for the incisive comments and sales graphs.