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Blu Ray Vs. Hd Dvd, Who Will Win The Battle?
By Terry Burns
Blu ray technology and HD DVD technology are fighting each other to become the DVD format of the future generations. Much like the battle of the 80’s between VHS and Betamax, Blu-ray and HD DVD both desire to be the VHS of the 2000’s.

Blu ray Disc is an optical disc format designed for HD video and high density data storage. Pioneer, Samsung & Sony are the prime supporters of the Blu-ray technology. HD DVD is mainly supported by Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Toshiba and Microsoft and is supported by the big movie company, Universal Studios. quite a few of the movie studios have announced that they will be releasing movies in both formats. 84% of the movies released last year support Blu ray making a bold statement for this new technology.

Sony Pictures, MGM, Columbia TriStar, Disney, Touchstone, Miramax, Fox, Paramount, Warner and Lions Gate has decided to back the Blu ray format. Paramount, Studio Canal, Universal, Warner and The Weinstein Company has decided to back the HD DVD format.

Blu ray got it's name from the blue laser it uses to read the data. This format was developed for rewriting, recording and playing of high definition video. They also can store large amounts of data. It holds five times more storage capacity than current DVD’s. It can store over 9 hours of high definition video on a disc. Because of its increased storage capacity, Blu-ray discs can hold the resolution formats to give you
that extraordinary High Definition picture and sound.

There are some differences between the two formats. First of all it’s their capacity. By utilizing larger numerical aperture lens, Blu-ray is able to write more data on the same size disc. Because of the higher capacity, movie studios will be able to release movies with more HD features on Blu ray than HD DVD. A Blu-ray disc can hold up to 25GB and a dual layer 54 GB while an HD disc can hold up to 15 GB and a dual layer 30 GB. The other noticeable difference is price. The Blu ray discs are more costly.

You can not play HD DVD discs on Blu ray players and vice versa, however, both will play CD's and DVD's. And that is where the battle begins. You need to decide whether you want to invest in a Blu-ray player or a HD player as each will only be able to play there own format discs.

So let's summarize the format battle. Both formats are comparable in high definition picture quality. When making a decision on which format to purchase, you must consider cost and amount of content available in each format. One thing is for sure, it is a very unstable market. It’s feasible that you could decide on a technology; purchase a player and purchase movies and then be very upset if the format you choose fails in the market. More than likely, the format which goes into Christmas 2007 with the lowest price tag and widest range of movies will become the format standard.