Battle of the Discs -Who Will Win?

by Kevin Ray

n 1972, the world’s first Video Cassette Recorder for home use, the Phillips Model 1500, was introduced in England, and the age of home theater was born. Now, a person could watch a movie of their choosing without going to a commercial movie theater.

In December 1978, the first Laser Disc player, the Magnavox VH-8000 was introduced to the American market. Sales of this format peaked in December 1993.

In December 1995, Warner Home Video and eight electronics manufacturers agreed on DVD specs.

In March 1997, Batman was the first of 50 DVD titles released by Warner Home Video, and DVD players became available in the U.S. The cheapest was the Toshiba SD2006 at $499.

In February 2002 the total number of DVD players sold in the U.S. hit 30 million.

Well, here it is 2006, two competing disc formats have been born, and there can only be one survivor; HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Both platforms are next generation optical media discs that use blue laser technology, which has a shorter wavelength than red. This allows both formats to read the smaller digital data “spots” that are packed a lot more densely onto a standard-size disc. They both also promise to deliver the consumer high-definition, high-capacity benefits unmatched by any current format. So, which contender will unite the belts and become the unified Super Heavyweight Champion of the next generation of optical media discs? Only time will tell, but let’s take a look at the stats of each contender.

TEAM HD-DVD
Red Corner: Manager – Toshiba. Ringside Assistants -NEC, Sanyo, Memory-Tech, and Microsoft.

Strengths: Name recognition. The name itself, HD-DVD, is far more consumer friendly than Blu-ray. HD-DVDs carry the same basic structure as current DVDs, so converting existing DVD manufacturing lines into HD-DVD lines is reportedly more simple and cost effective. Memory-Tech, a leading Japanese manufacturer of optical media, stated that producing HD-DVD discs would initially cost only 10 percent more than for existing DVDs, and that it could quickly bring the cost down to match that of standard DVD discs. HD-DVD is capable of holding 32GB which is one full-length, high-definition movie, plus extras, on a prerecorded double-layer disc. Today’s limit for standard double-layer DVDs is 9GB.

Weaknesses: Lack of Stamina. HD-DVD simply can’t boast the same storage capacity as Blu-ray. It’s confusing, but it appears that the rewritable HD-DVD-RW will go up 32GB, while the recordable HD DVD-R discs will only be single layer (15GB). The other downside is that with Sony holding the rights to Columbia Pictures and MGM movie and television libraries, there will most likely be a hole in HD-DVD’s content offering. In other words, don’t expect to see MGM/UA’s James Bond movies on HD-DVD any time soon.

TEAM BLU-RAY
Blue Corner: Manager – Sony. Ringside Assistants - Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic), Mitsubishi Electric, Philips Electronics, Pioneer Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, TDK, Thomson Multimedia, and Microsoft.

Strengths: Seasoned corner with deep pockets. Blu-ray has enjoyed more mindshare than HD-DVD, as well as a conglomerate of powerful backers that rivals NASA’s space shuttle replacement program in size and scope. Technologically, the biggest edge Blu-ray appears to have over HD-DVD is that it will offer 50 GB, or approximately 30 percent more capacity. Sony is reportedly working on a quad-layer 100 GB disc. This format also promises rewritable BD-RW discs with similar features to Panasonic’s current DVD-RAM discs, and it can play back content while recording high-definition content to the disc at the same time. Also, Sony owning Columbia Pictures and recently purchasing MGM gives it an edge on releasing content. PlayStation 3 should also increase their odds of success in the marketplace.

Weaknesses: Demands a large salary. The biggest jab against Blu-ray is that the discs, initially at least, will be more costly to produce than HD-DVD media (Sony disputes this claim). Until recently, the other jab was that unlike DVD-HD, the Blu-ray spec did not include support for more advanced video compression codecs such as MPEG-4 AVC and Microsoft’s VC-1, in addition to the MPEG-2 codec. Unfortunately for Team HD-DVD, Team Blu-ray recently announced that those codecs have been added to their arsenal negating the reach advantage for Team HD-DVD.

Judging After 5 of 12 Rounds: Odds Makers strongly favored Team Blu-ray before the contest. However, it appears that with Toshiba delivering the first HD-DVD players, the first round goes to Team HD-DVD. HD-DVD has also been garnering support from major camps Warner, Paramount, Universal, and New Line Cinema who’ve decided to play it safe and sponsor both teams. HD-DVD appears to be presenting itself as the more practical high-definition DVD solution by extending rather than leaping beyond current DVD technology. The Blu-ray group is countering HD-DVD’s speed and finesse with power by marketing their technological superiority.
So, who will unite the belts and become the unified Super Heavyweight Champion of blue laser discs? It depends upon how numerous copy-protection details are ironed out, politics, and prices dropping. As for me, I’m just going to sit back and watch the fight until someone suffers a technical knockout and hits the canvas!

This article provided by Kevin Ray of Custom Audio Video, LLC. Member CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association)