Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD

Well, it appears the war over the next-generation DVD format is as well as over, as most of the industry is backing Blu-Ray discs by Sony. MGM, Warner Brothers, Lions Gate, Paramount, Disney and Fox are among the movie studios supporting it, and most of the IT industry (except Microsoft) is behind it as well. After much speculation that Sony may be promising more than it can deliver, they announced on November 18th that they had made their first full-length movie on a Blu-Ray disc (Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle), and .

According to the Sony FAQ, you can fit up to 27GB on a single layer, or 54GB on a dual-layer BD. Not only can standard DVD data be written to a disc, but one layer can contain standard DVD data, and another BD data, making the discs playable in either machine. Whether anyone will actually MAKE discs like this is a matter of speculation, but at least it is possible. BD players should be able to play both formats regardless, so you don’t have to chuck your current DVD collection out the window. Yet.

One thing I was concerned about was the durability of the discs. When you’re trying to cram much more information in the same space, one would assume that the smallest scratch or dust particle would make a big difference. These discs, however, are being coated with a special hard coating by TDK, which is supposed to not only increase resistance to scratches but also repel dust by rapidly discharging static electricity. I don’t know how they do it, but I hope it works!

I think this is probably the last piece of the puzzle needed to finally solidify HD-TV into the American consumer conscience. After integrating BD discs and players into the marketplace, and after the initially high costs go down, we’ll probably see widespread adoption of high-def technology.

I, for one, am looking forward to the data storage possibilities offered by the next generation DVD discs. I was trying to archive our Artists’ Essentials projects last night, and I filled a 200GB hard drive to the max. To be able to burn 4-8 discs to do the same thing would make raw digital video storage much easier and cheaper.

Of course, now that everything is going high-def, I’ll probably find myself in the same boat. 
Only 2 hours of high-definition television (HDTV) will fit on a 25GB disc, compared with about 13 hours of standard-definition television (SDTV).