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The Format War PDF Print E-mail
Written by Adam McAllister   

Note: this article was writen before bluray won the format war but we have left it on here so you can still read it.

Incase you're wondering, no this is not a repeat of the console war post. This is about disk formats. HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray specifically. These two formats are trying to win the crown of the original DVD with their great sound quality, HD picture quality and the much improved space on the disk. There are a few advantages to each apparently but I fail to see any advantages of the HD-DVD. Well ill compare them so here we go:

Blu-ray is my personal favorite and I can’t see how it can fail. Looks like its 3rd time lucky for Sony. After BetaMax and UMD it’s about time Sony picked a decent format to controversially back up. I’m not sure whether Sony did this as a tactical decision or whether they just did it because Microsoft backed HD-DVD. Either way it turned out to be a good decision because it seems Blu-ray is soaring above HD-DVD in terms of sales and library. It may only have about 360 titles available to the DVD's 50000+ but HD-DVD is lagging behind with around 330. Also Blu-ray has masses more space than HD-DVD, with 50 GB on a dual layer disk, 100 GB on a quad layer disk and a prototype 200 GB disk being created. With many more features on the Blu-ray disk such as being able to access the films main menu while the film plays in the background and with many more forms of sound output including Dolby 5.1 at 32Mbps. It also can negate the need for multiple disks for extra features, cutting costs down. With its harder casing it can withstand scratches better and work under some of the most damaged conditions such as being written on with biro and being scratched with a pizza cutter and steel wool. I feel that Blu-ray is the better choice for taking the crown of DVD because it appears to have HD-DVD licked in almost every aspect.

Speaking of HD-DVD, I don’t see the point of it to be brutally honest excluding the fact it loads faster. Blu-ray has more features, better sound options, more space; it’s more durable and sounds pretty cool too. The only thing I like about HD-DVD is the dark red case it comes in and the fact that the players are a decent chunk less expensive than a Blu-ray player. I’m also aware companies are offering players which play both but it’s cheaper to buy both stand alone players. I’m also aware some company or other is creating a hybrid disk which is one side Blu-ray, the other side HD-DVD. This is basically asking for one half to be scratched and for one half to be unused. Making a hybrid disk with both on the same side would be a pretty nifty thing to do I suppose.

Anyway, Blu-ray is outselling HD-DVD globally by roughly 3:1 which means it’s pretty much marched in and taken the crown. However Blu-ray has another opponent which isn’t in the form of a disk. It’s virtual. ITunes is taking on the role of format war winner with its HD downloads. While it might take a while, I think HD downloading could wipe out the need for disks; they don’t have a size limit, they can’t be scratched, they can’t be lost, they are universal so no player is needed apart from a HD graphics card and TV and they will be much cheaper because they don’t need to be made onto a disk. Unfortunately, people with slow internet connections, non-HD graphics cards or TV's and computers with small hard-drives will not see much of this because it would be impractical to leave a computer on for a long time to download a film you won’t want to watch by the time it has finished.

I think the format war is going to be won by Blu-ray but iTunes will be a strong competitor until technology advances enough for large hard-drives and fast internet connections to be bought at pittance. Eventually it’s inevitable for downloads to be the main form of media access but that will take time. I also don’t like the fact that the DVD has reined king because of its limitless playability over and over without any loss of quality and then these two come along, barge their way into the disk format and claim they are better. It seems pointless at watching the same film AGAIN in HD, I can’t see enough difference between HD and SD to make me go out and buy a film on Blu-ray instead of DVD.
 
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