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Next-Gen DVD Standards Comparison: Blu-ray & HD DVD |
Listed in: PS3, Xbox 360 Tags: playstation 3 updates
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Sony has announced that they will be releasing the Blu-ray player in America in July, at a price for $1,000 USD, which Toshiba, the competitor who backs the HD DVD will be selling their player at $499.99 and $799.99 USD in March. The duel is about break out in this year's market for sure.About the two standards:
What is a DVD?
The short form of "Digital Versatile Disc". Just like the "CD" (Compact Disc), it is one of the members from the "optical disc"
family, which uses laser to read the data recorded on the disc. A DVD is capable of storing 10 times of the volume of a CD.What's different for the Next-Gen DVD?Within the same size of the physical disc, the recordable volume has been largely improved. For HD, it will be 3 times, and for BD, it will be 5 times larger than the current DVD. It is capable of carrying more data and video, and will be protected from piracy by more technologies.Why can the volume be enhanced?It's because of the use of the laser with a shorter wavelength. The wavelength is like the thickness of the lead in a pencil. On the same note paper, a pencil with a thinner lead can write more contents on it for sure.What's the difference between HD and BD?The place for storing the data is different. HD stores the data on a layer which is 0.6 millimeter from the surface, while BD does that on a layer which is 0.1 millimeter from the surface. An HD player will not be able to play a Blu-ray disc, vice versa. *Note by Jeff: I remember reported a news that LG is making a player that will be compatible for both standards.This sounds quite inconvenient. Which one is better?On the record volume side, one layer can hold 15 Gigabytes (Digital Hi Vision Video for 1.5 - 2 hours) for HD, but 25 Gigabytes (Same 2 - 3 hours) for BD. HD is holding the idea that they can hold the same volume as the BD do with adding more layers, while BD insists on "better for massive production and manufacture technologies".
About the sales war between the two standardsWill them be sold in Japan?Sony, Panasonic and Sharp is going to be selling a BD recorder/player. The price will be as high as 250,000 to 300,000 JPY ($2188 - $2542 USD). The player will only be able to play the disk recorded by itself, and cannot support the new BD soft released later. There is no reason to buy such a product.
On the HD DVD side, Toshiba will be releasing the player in March, and the recorder in June. Laptops powered by HD DVD will also be released in this Spring In US. While on the BD side, the Next-Gen game console "PlayStation 3" which will be able to play Blu-ray discs are postponed to November. Recorders/Players will also be released in this year.How will the price be?Korean Samsung will be releasing a BD player in America at the same 1K USD price with Sony. Pioneer is even going to price their BD product at $1,800 USD. It seems Toshiba is in the ascendant on the price part.Which side will have more movie supplies?According to the current share stats, BD takes up 74%, while HD takes up 46%. It is hard to predict the situation now.Is the name "HDD Recorder" a wrong name?HDD is the short form for "Hard Disk Drive". The "HD" from "HD DVD" means "Hi Definition". They are totally different. The max capacity of the current HDD recorders is up to 1 Terabyte. It will be able to store 128 hours of Hi Vision video. But, if you want to carry the video you recorded, you will still need to burn it onto a DVD. This is the down side of HDD recorders. But anyway, there may be some consumers who finally choose the HDD recorder before the war between the Next-Gen DVD standard ends.
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Not to mention having to buy a hd-dvd player(min $500) vs getting one for an extra hundred bucks with the ps3.
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