The DVD Wars: Blu-Ray versus HD-DVD

The fight to decide the format that will replace DVD is one of the most intriguing and hotly contested battles in the consumer electronics world. The result will sway the fortunes of giant corporations and shape the home video market for the next decade.

The two contenders are Blu-Ray promoted by Sony and HD-DVD promoted by Toshiba. Both technologies use blue laser and provide discs with over 30GB of storage: more than six times that of a typical DVD. More disk space means higher resolution video which can take better advantage of the capabilities of the latest HDTV televisions.

HD-DVD has been faster off the blocks with its players and video releases and is also cheaper than Blu-Ray: the result of a simpler manufacturing process. Some observers think that these advantages will mean eventual victory just as VHS won over Sony’s Betamax in the video wars of the 80s.

However Sony’s ace up its sleeve is the Playstation 3: its hotly anticipated videogame console which will be released in a few months. The PS3 will be capable of playing blu-ray disks which means millions of homes with blu-ray players just when the format wars start heating up next year.

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Blu-Ray | HD-DVD