Gentle readers,
2006 promises to be a significant year for those of us who love to watch movies in the comfort of our own home theater. This year the home entertainment industry will launch not one, but two different high-definition formats that they hope will some day replace DVD. We’ll see about that.
The fact that there are two formats that pretty much do the same thing proves that the consumer electronics industry hasn’t learned shit since the VHS/Betamax war a quarter-century ago. Have two competing formats means that they will carving up what is already a relatively small portion of the overall television market. This is on top of the general confusion it will inevitably cause among consumers. I’d like to do what little I can to clear up some of this confusion by laying out some of the differences between the two contenders.
HD-DVD is being championed by Toshiba while Blu-ray is being pushed primarily by Sony. Both formats have other companies behind them but these two are the primary movers.
Launch Date
By all accounts, HD-DVD will be first to market (probably March) first but Blu-ray may be close behind (as early as April).
Player Price
The first Blu-Ray players will cost anywhere from $1,000 to $1,800 while HD-DVD players have been announced selling for as little as $500 to $800. This would seem to give the early advantage to HD-DVD but expect the Blu-ray folks to act aggressively to counter.
Also, Blu-ray has a serious ace up its sleeve in the form of the Sony PlayStation 3. Their next generation game console will also function as a Blu-ray player and cost around $500. The downside is that the PS3 isn’t realistically expected until fourth quarter 2006 at the earliest.
Capacity
HD-DVD is able to fit 15 gigabytes (GB) of content on a single layered disc while Blu-ray can fit 25GB. The advantage here seems to lie with the Blu-ray camp but it appears that HD-DVD is further ahead when it comes to producing double-layer discs. This means that HD-DVD may launch with 30GB per disc while Blu-ray could be limited to 25GB. However, Blu-ray claims it’s close to 50GB production so the advantage will probably swing back their way quickly. Whoever has the higher capacity has the ability to store longer movies at higher quality.
Resolution
Here’s where it starts to get technical. HD-DVD is supposedly limited 1080i while Blu-ray can do 1080p. Please correct me if I’m wrong about this.
What’s the difference? The “i” stands for interlaced, which means that a 1,080-line image is composed of two alternating 540-line images, one for the odd lines, the other for the even. This is how television has worked since it was invented. The “p” stands for progressive, which means that all 1,080 lines are displayed at once. This produces a smoother, more film-like picture.
The latest high-definition television displays can handle 1080p, meaning to get the most out of them, Blu-ray is the best bet, unless I’m completely wrong about this, of course.
Connections
Speaking of the latest televisions, HD-DVD is going to incorporate a security “feature” that requires you to use an all-digital HDMI connection to display a picture at full high-definition resolutions of 720 and 1080 lines. If you have to use the older analog component connections, you’ll be limited to 480 lines, the same as for the standard DVD player you already have. This would effectively freeze-out owners of televisions more than a couple of years old, which almost certainly don’t have an HDMI connection.
It’s possible that this feature may only be implemented at the software companies’ choice, meaning that the disc would have a setting that would determine whether or not it would require HDMI for full resolution.
Blu-ray hasn’t officially announced their policy on this but statements by representatives at the recent CES in Las Vegas indicated that it will allow high-definition over older analog cables. If so, the clear advantage lies with Blu-ray on this matter. HD-DVD’s decision has been very unpopular among the vocal home theater hobbyist community.
Studio Support
This is where Blu-ray threatens to kick the legs out from under HD-DVD and score an early knockout blow. Originally, the major movie studios were evenly divided between the two formats. Blu-ray had Disney, Fox and Sony/Columbia/Tri-Star while HD-DVD had Warner Brothers, Paramount and Universal. In the last few months of 2005, however, Paramount and Warner announced their support for both formats. As it stands now, HD-DVD still only has three studios behind it while Blu‑ray has everyone by Universal, who’s expected to announce Blu-ray support before long. If that happens, it would take a miracle for HD-DVD to win the coming format war.
Rights Management
Both formats use the exact same technology for copy protection, so there is no real advantage to either one in this case. Internet rumors that either format would require a phone or internet connection to monitor whether or not the disc being played was “legal” are most likely just paranoid fear-mongering. While the AACS technology being used does have that capability, it’s unlikely that anyone would actually implement it. It would be such a hassle for consumers that it would probably kill both formats in the cradle.
Conclusion
Aside from price and an early time to market, the major advantages all lie with Blu-ray. HD-DVD’s decision on the HDMI-only as well as Toshiba’s reported inflexibility during talks to unify the two formats have shifted the sympathy among likely early adopters in Blu-ray’s favor, despite a lingering enmity toward Sony, the perpetual 800-pound gorilla of consumer electronics. While nothing is ever certain, the early advantage in the high-definition format wars, both technologically and strategically, lies with Blu-ray.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 11th, 2006 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Commentary. Keywords: Blu-ray, HD DVD, High Definition DVD.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
About the author:
Paul is terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.
Getting High Def with a Little Help from your Friends
Gentle readers,
2006 promises to be a significant year for those of us who love to watch movies in the comfort of our own home theater. This year the home entertainment industry will launch not one, but two different high-definition formats that they hope will some day replace DVD. We’ll see about that.
The fact that there are two formats that pretty much do the same thing proves that the consumer electronics industry hasn’t learned shit since the VHS/Betamax war a quarter-century ago. Have two competing formats means that they will carving up what is already a relatively small portion of the overall television market. This is on top of the general confusion it will inevitably cause among consumers. I’d like to do what little I can to clear up some of this confusion by laying out some of the differences between the two contenders.
HD-DVD is being championed by Toshiba while Blu-ray is being pushed primarily by Sony. Both formats have other companies behind them but these two are the primary movers.
Launch Date
By all accounts, HD-DVD will be first to market (probably March) first but Blu-ray may be close behind (as early as April).
Player Price
The first Blu-Ray players will cost anywhere from $1,000 to $1,800 while HD-DVD players have been announced selling for as little as $500 to $800. This would seem to give the early advantage to HD-DVD but expect the Blu-ray folks to act aggressively to counter.
Also, Blu-ray has a serious ace up its sleeve in the form of the Sony PlayStation 3. Their next generation game console will also function as a Blu-ray player and cost around $500. The downside is that the PS3 isn’t realistically expected until fourth quarter 2006 at the earliest.
Capacity
HD-DVD is able to fit 15 gigabytes (GB) of content on a single layered disc while Blu-ray can fit 25GB. The advantage here seems to lie with the Blu-ray camp but it appears that HD-DVD is further ahead when it comes to producing double-layer discs. This means that HD-DVD may launch with 30GB per disc while Blu-ray could be limited to 25GB. However, Blu-ray claims it’s close to 50GB production so the advantage will probably swing back their way quickly. Whoever has the higher capacity has the ability to store longer movies at higher quality.
Resolution
Here’s where it starts to get technical. HD-DVD is supposedly limited 1080i while Blu-ray can do 1080p. Please correct me if I’m wrong about this.
What’s the difference? The “i” stands for interlaced, which means that a 1,080-line image is composed of two alternating 540-line images, one for the odd lines, the other for the even. This is how television has worked since it was invented. The “p” stands for progressive, which means that all 1,080 lines are displayed at once. This produces a smoother, more film-like picture.
The latest high-definition television displays can handle 1080p, meaning to get the most out of them, Blu-ray is the best bet, unless I’m completely wrong about this, of course.
Connections
Speaking of the latest televisions, HD-DVD is going to incorporate a security “feature” that requires you to use an all-digital HDMI connection to display a picture at full high-definition resolutions of 720 and 1080 lines. If you have to use the older analog component connections, you’ll be limited to 480 lines, the same as for the standard DVD player you already have. This would effectively freeze-out owners of televisions more than a couple of years old, which almost certainly don’t have an HDMI connection.
It’s possible that this feature may only be implemented at the software companies’ choice, meaning that the disc would have a setting that would determine whether or not it would require HDMI for full resolution.
Blu-ray hasn’t officially announced their policy on this but statements by representatives at the recent CES in Las Vegas indicated that it will allow high-definition over older analog cables. If so, the clear advantage lies with Blu-ray on this matter. HD-DVD’s decision has been very unpopular among the vocal home theater hobbyist community.
Studio Support
This is where Blu-ray threatens to kick the legs out from under HD-DVD and score an early knockout blow. Originally, the major movie studios were evenly divided between the two formats. Blu-ray had Disney, Fox and Sony/Columbia/Tri-Star while HD-DVD had Warner Brothers, Paramount and Universal. In the last few months of 2005, however, Paramount and Warner announced their support for both formats. As it stands now, HD-DVD still only has three studios behind it while Blu‑ray has everyone by Universal, who’s expected to announce Blu-ray support before long. If that happens, it would take a miracle for HD-DVD to win the coming format war.
Rights Management
Both formats use the exact same technology for copy protection, so there is no real advantage to either one in this case. Internet rumors that either format would require a phone or internet connection to monitor whether or not the disc being played was “legal” are most likely just paranoid fear-mongering. While the AACS technology being used does have that capability, it’s unlikely that anyone would actually implement it. It would be such a hassle for consumers that it would probably kill both formats in the cradle.
Conclusion
Aside from price and an early time to market, the major advantages all lie with Blu-ray. HD-DVD’s decision on the HDMI-only as well as Toshiba’s reported inflexibility during talks to unify the two formats have shifted the sympathy among likely early adopters in Blu-ray’s favor, despite a lingering enmity toward Sony, the perpetual 800-pound gorilla of consumer electronics. While nothing is ever certain, the early advantage in the high-definition format wars, both technologically and strategically, lies with Blu-ray.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 11th, 2006 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Commentary. Keywords: Blu-ray, HD DVD, High Definition DVD. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
About the author:
Paul is terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.