HD-DVD vs. BluRay: A Practical “Real World” Comparison

HDDVD or BluRay. Ever since the release of the next generation media players, there has been a heated debate going on between both parties. Those HD DVD hard core supporters, and the Blu Ray fan club. They argue about image quality, player availability, publishing houses that support thier format, movies made just for thier format and of course price. In the midst of all of this arguing, it is tough to find a clear answer if you are in the market to buy the best available nextgen player for you. And really, that is what it comes down to. Practicality. That is why I wanted to write this “Real World” comparision, becuase I have never seen a review that compares bluray and hd dvd in light of the average consumer. So without further ado, here begins my comparison of HD-DVD and BluRay Disc. I do own both players and am only biased by which product will best suit me as a consumer.

A Brief Overview of HD-DVD:

HD DVD or High-Definition DVD is a high-density optical disc format designed for the storage of data and high-definition video. It is designed to be the successor to the standard DVD format and is derived from the same underlying technologies. Since it employs a blue laser with a shorter wavelength, it can store about 3 1/2 times as much data as its predecessor (Maximum capacity: 30 GB instead of 8.5 GB). A 51 GB triple-layer preliminary spec has been approved.

As of November 6, 2007, 331 HD DVD titles have been released in the USA.

A Brief Overview of BluRay Disc:

The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength (405 nm), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red (650 nm) laser. A single layer Blu-ray Disc can store 25 gigabytes (GB), over five times the size of a single layer DVD at 4.7 GB. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost 6 times the size of a dual layer DVD at 8.5 GB.

As of October 23, 2007, 351[2] titles have been released on Blu-ray Disc in the United States (32 of those titles have since been discontinued).

How to compare Blu-Ray Disc and HD-DVD:
I am going to compare HD-DVD and BluRay Disc in the most pratical way for the average consumer to make an educated buying decision. I am going to compare these following areas:

• Image and Sound Qulaity (True High Definition Comparision)
• Benefits and Features of Each Format
• Available Movies / Studio Support
• Players and Accessories
• Price

In comparing these, you can make a decision that will best fit your desires in the next generation format war.

HD-DVD vs. BluRay Disc
Image and Sound Quality Comparison:

Image Quality:
So people always say “Oh is so much better higher quality than [enter opposing format name here]. Because it has the ability to [enter high definition jargon here] and also to [enter more HD jargon here].” But really who cares if all of those specs don’t transfer to what you actually see on your television screen. So let’s discuss the important things that really make a picture better. Resolution, Codec, bit rate, FPS and quality of initial content. Although there are slight differences in most of those areas, they really are almost negligible to the average consumer. So suffice it to say that right now, content on both HD-DVD and BluRay look absolutely amazing and are very very close in quality.

Thus it is a clear tie on Image Quality:
HDDVD: 9 out of 10
BluRay: 9 out of 10

Sound Quality:
When it comes to audio quality there are only 2 things that really matter. First is your codec, and second is your bit rate. Both formats have the ability to play the common surround sound codecs: Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS-HD High Resolution. But the truth is, all of those codecs suck! Becuase ther are what is called “lossy”. In other words, when they convert the audio into that codec, information is lost, that is never re-gained. So what I like to compare are the lossless codecs. Which means when the audio is converted into a codec from the studio, NO information is lost. It is a perfect digital transfer. Now on to comparing the lossless codecs that each format supports. There are 3 major lossless codecs for audio, Linear PCM, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio. Both bluray and HD-DVD have the ability to play all 3 of those codecs. Now the only slight advantage goes to HD-DVD where 2 of the 3 codecs (Linear PCM and Dolby TruHD) are mandatory on all HD-DVD’s while on BluRay disc, only 1 (Linear PCM) is mandatory. So what does that mean to you? If you have a nice sound system, chances are slightly higher that you can play HD-DVD’s with a lossless codec than with Blu Ray. But the differences once again are almost negligible.

Thus it means that once again it is a tie, but this time for Audio Quality:
HDDVD: 9 out of 10
BluRay: 9 out of 10

HD-DVD vs. BluRay Disc
Benefits and Features of Each Format – Comparison:

Each format has its own way of loading, showing content, displaying menu items, interactive content, computer usability etc. This section is going to briefly compare each PRO or Benefit that each format has over the other.

Better on HD-DVD	Feature	Better on BluRay Disc
15 GB	Storage Capacity	25 GB
Slick and Simple	In_Movie Navigation (Personal Prefrence)	Nice but Akward
Mandatory	Internet Connectibility (For content and upgrades)	Optional
Great Logo, Ugly Maroon Color	Appeal (General feel of the quality of the product and corporate image)	Great Logo and Colors
Dual Layer can increase capacity to 30GB	Future Upgrade Ability	Dual and Triple layer capacity increases to 75GB

Altough not a super important category, the features and benefits showcased by each format make Blu-Ray a clear winner:
HDDVD: 3 out of 5
BluRay: 4 out of 5

HD-DVD vs. BluRay Disc
Available Titles and Studio Support Comparison:

Available Titles:
Because this list is ever expanding, I am just going to link to a place that keeps the list up to date:
High-Def Digest: HD-DVD Complete Title List
High-Def Digest: BluRay Disc Complete Title List
at the time of this post HD-DVD had about 5 more movies released than Bluray. Bother were around the 300 title mark.

Now here is where the comparison really comes into play. There are big studios that support only one format or both or none at all. And it is these studios that will make the content that you watch. So Let’s take a look at what studios support each format. Keep in mind, it is not the total amount of studios that make the content greater, but the bigger size of the studio and quality of content that should make a difference.

HD-DVD Studio Support (Games / Movies / Television):

• Buena Vista Home Entertainment
• New Line Cinema
• Paramount Pictures
• The Walt Disney Company
• Universal Studios
• Warner Bros.

Bluray Disc Studio Support (Games / Movies / Television):

• 20th Century Fox
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment
• Electronic Arts
• MGM Studios
• Paramount Pictures
• Sony Pictures Entertainment
• The Walt Disney Company
• Vivendi Universal Games
• Warner Bros.

(Note: All you people out there who see Walt Disney under HD-Dvd support and think that is wrong because there is not conent, take a look here: Disney and HD-DVD )

Because BluRay has the larger publishing house and studio support, it is the clear winner:
HDDVD: 6 out of 10
BluRay: 8 out of 10

HD-DVD vs. BluRay Disc
Players and Accessories:

Regardless of your predisposition to a format the players are really similar. Who makes a better product? Toshiba or Sony? Hitachi or Samsung? In both cases the BluRay supporters have a better manufacturing company making them. Samsung and Sony make some of the best Bluray players while Hitcji and Toshiba make the best HD-DVD players. Now that is just based off of company history and general product quality. If you like a good looking, sexy, player. Than go bluray all the way, but if you want to have a much better price, well then, that leads us to the next section, Price comparisons.

Once again not a super important category, but the sheer names backing the players make blu-ray a clear winner:
HDDVD: 3 out of 5
BluRay: 4 out of 5

HD-DVD vs. BluRay Disc
Price Comparision:

Up to this point, bluray seems to take the winning circle, but truthfully, how much are you willing to pay for the difference. Here is where we make another meaningful average consumer comparison. There are 2 MAJOR costs when upgrading to a next generation media player. First, is the cost of the player, and second, is the cost of the media to be played in the player.

So here we have a simple comparison:

There are a couple more things to consider when looking at cost or the price tag, that is the lowest available player cost. If you just want to get in on the ground floor in this next gen format war, how much would it cost, bare minimum?

Well, Wal-mart just announced a couple of weeks ago, an HD-DVD player for only $99. Yeah… I know that is crazy cheap! Here is proof. And I can’t find a BluRay player that would be considered inexpensive.

In the realm of price, BluRay is grossly expensive and HD-DVD has just some into the range of affordability. With that said, HD-DVD is taking this category by a landslide!
HDDVD: 9 out of 10
BluRay: 6 out of 10

HD-DVD vs. BluRay Disc Comparison Totals:

Image Quality:
HDDVD: 9 out of 10
BluRay: 9 out of 10

Audio Quality:
HDDVD: 9 out of 10
BluRay: 9 out of 10

Benefits and Features:
HDDVD: 3 out of 5
BluRay: 4 out of 5

Titles and Studio Support:
HDDVD: 6 out of 10
BluRay: 8 out of 10

Players and Accessories:
HDDVD: 3 out of 5
BluRay: 4 out of 5

HDDVD: 9 out of 10
BluRay: 6 out of 10

HD-DVD – Grand Total: 39 of 50
BluRay Disc – Grand Total: 40 of 50

Conclusion – The Never Ending Format War:
There is definately no clear winner in this format war as of get. They both have momentum going into this Holiday season and it will carry through to 2008. So what does this mean for you? If you are ready to buy, think of what is more important to you. Price or Overall Quality. If you answer price, go HD-DVD. If you answer Overall Quality, go BluRay. If you could not answer, either wait for a dual format player, or flip a coin.

I hope this little review has opened your eyes to some of the interesting dichatimies in this format war. I hope the format war ends soon, because whoever wins, the truth is, the consumer will be the real winner.