The battle of the latest digital disc technology actually goes back farther than most people know. Toshiba and Sony have been battling to create the next big thing for data storage and movies for many years. The companies worked together and built on each other’s technology to create CD’s (compact disc). In the past, the companies involved eventually compromised, like the CD and DVD (Digital Video Disc). Around 1995, after the DVD had become wildly popular, Sony and Philips felt they had not received their fair share of the royalties of this technology and began developing the next generation of data storage and movie discs. In their latest creation, these companies have not been able to agree or work together so consumers have been forced to choose between HD DVD or Blu-ray discs for their high definition movies and storage.
Technically, there are few differences between these two new types of media. There are advantages and disadvantages to each though. The Sony Blu-ray disc can hold more pits (which are the tiny 0’s and 1’s) than a HD DVD. Because of the track pitch difference, they require different lasers to read the data stored on them. Blu-ray has the ability to store more data and information but to do this, their production costs are higher; resulting in a higher cost to the consumer. A Blu-ray disc can hold as much as double the amount of data or information as a HD DVD. Basically, Blu-ray costs more but holds more data, and HD DVD costs a little lest but will not hold as much information.
Those who have already made the upgrade to high definition movies have probable noticed one of the huge issues of having two different formats. Different movie studios and gaming companies have agreements with either Sony or Toshiba which means that if you buy a Blu-ray player or HD DVD player, your favorite movie may not be available for your player. For the time being, Blu-ray has more affiliations with movie studios and gaming companies including 20th Century Fox, Electronic Arts, MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, The Walt Disney Company and others. Some companies have reached agreements with both media manufacturers to produce their movies and games on both formats including The Walt Disney Company, Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures and others.
The development and popularity of these two high definition discs continues to grow. Many people have not yet switched to this form of movie or gaming technology but inevitably, it will happen just as people switched from VHS to DVD. As high definition discs become more main stream, the future of these two different high definition discs will be determined. At the time being, Blu-ray appears to have the advantage, featuring more movie studio and gaming partners as well as more supporters and backing companies. Sony has also boosted the popularity of their discs by incorporating a Blu-ray player in their high definition gaming console, PlayStation 3. HD DVD has some ground to make up but only time will tell who will come out on top.
[...] The battle between Blue Ray and HD-DVD isn’t over yet, but when it comes to high tech products, conventional wisdom says, “as Japan goes, so goes the rest of the world.” We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out, but for now, things look grim for HD-DVD. [...]
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