HD Format Wars: HD DVD Versus Blu-ray

VHS versus Betamax was just the warm up! There’s rather more riding on this one. The winner gets the pick of the worldwide High Definition DVD market, worth billions. There’re an awful lot of hungry home entertainment consumers out there, just waiting for the first signs of victory in the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray before making their choices.

It really is a battle of the giants. HD DVD is backed by Toshiba (with additional support from NEC and Sanyo, among others) Blu-ray is backed by Sony (together with Apple, Samsung and Dell.) The entertainment industry have been stating their allegiances too. Sony’s Blu-ray gets the support of Disney, MGM and Twentieth Century Fox, while Universal are siding with Toshiba. (Warner Brothers and Viacom, like so many of us are just waiting to see how it all pans out before choosing sides.)

The good news is - this could just be a fight without any losers. With so many heavy hitters stacked up behind both camps, it really does look as if Toshiba and Sony can carve up the turf between them. Rather like the supporters of Windows and Mac based PC systems, HD DVD and Blu-ray have their consumer fans, prepared to lay down their last DVD in support of their chosen format.

Truth to tell, there really isn’t an awful lot to choose between them. Blu-ray discs are able to store more information; 50GB as opposed to HD DVD’s 30GB. But HD DVD’s are cheaper to produce. Either way, they both smash the paltry 5GB offered by conventional single layer discs. HD DVD’s can also be produced in dual format editions, enabling consumers to continue to show them on their conventional DVD players, until they trade up to HD DVD.

And then there’s the gaming market to take in consideration. It’s clear which side Sony’s bread is buttered, but Microsoft’s Xbox is designed to be HD DVD compatible. Interestingly, Electronic Arts and Vivendi have both backed Blu-ray.

HD DVD or Blu-ray? You pay your money, you make your choice; but either way, it looks like you’re going to be backing a winner.