Comparing HD-DVD and Blu-ray Technology Essay example -- Compare Contr

Comparing HD-DVD and Blu-ray Since 1997, DVD has been the #1 top selling format for home entertainment, crushing VHS within a five year time frame. But technology is forever changing and it’s only a matter of time before DVD’s go the way of VHS. With two new formats (High Definition-DVD and Blu-ray) on the horizon, which one will win the race? Both formats use blue laser technology, which has a shorter wavelength than red (DVD), allowing it to read the smaller digital data "spots" packed a lot more densely onto a standard-size disc. In other words, they hold a lot more memory than your standard DVD’s. â€Å"The comparison chart shows that HD-DVD and Blu-ray disks will be pretty similar. Both should be able to fit a high definition movie onto one side of one disk, and both HD-DVD and Blu-ray players will play old DVD movies.†(Boutin, Paul) it’s still too early to call the race with both technologies about a year away, but my money is on Blu-ray.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  HD-DVD is more user friendly in terms of its name, with the title holding a name closer to DVD. (Carnoy, David) â€Å"Toshiba, NEC, and a couple of other upstarts will be pushing for HD-DVD.† HD-DVD is capable of holding 30GB or a full-length high-definition movie, plus extras, on a prerecorded double-layer disc (compare that to today's limit of 9GB for standard double-layer DVDs). Plus the cost of making a HD-DVD is on par with the cost of today’s DVD’s, making it a smoother transition for the big companies to deal with. Toshib...