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HDV Technology news: HD and Blu-ray laser Discs: So - you'd like to think we've reached the pinnacle of do-it-all technology! You’d like to think that with the invention of the DVD we have created a single multi-purpose device that plays just about anything and in some models, will also record from any source…including a TV? Well – hold your horses…it seems the DVD's days in the sun are numbered. The push is on for a "super DVD" format, designed for today's high-resolution era of digital flat screen TV and large-screen DLP monitors is already here. With twice the storage capacity of a standard DVD, the first wave of enhanced discs, called the dual layer DVD, will hold many more hours of entertainment and deliver high-quality images. But wait – there is more: the blu-ray laser and HD DVD is making it’s debut now! Although the discs are the same size as today's silver and purple platters, they will be incompatible with every current DVD deck. To consumers, that means saving for a home theatre overhaul, and, more frustratingly, having to choose between one of two competing formats. We now have a modern remake of the Beta versus VHS war…a war that home video fans in the early 1980s found ridiculous and unnecessary! The stars of the New Millennium sequel are called Blu-ray and HD DVD! These next generation DVD formats appear evenly matched and have a lot in common. For starters - and here is where we can all exhale a sigh of relief - they use the same 12 cm discs as today's CDs and DVDs, and as science promised us, they will be “backwards compatible”. In other words: Blu-ray and HD DVD decks will let you enjoy your current music and movie library. Both formats read and write discs with a super-thin laser beam in the blue-violet light spectrum - it's from this that Blu-ray takes its name (HD DVD stands for high definition). Compared to the red eye of a current CD or DVD deck, the shorter wavelength of blue-violet light enables the beam to stay focused on a smaller part of the disc's surface. This increased accuracy, combined with higher-quality discs and advanced optics, translates into much greater capacity. Today's DVDs can store around 8GB of data, enough for about three hours of high-quality video. The first HD DVD players shall hold 15GB or 30GB, depending on whether the disc was recorded with "single layer" or "dual layer" technology. The equivalent Blu-ray discs debut at 25GB and 50GB, thanks to more complex (and thus more expensive) technology in discs and decks. Both formats are expected to quickly up the ante by doubling their respective capacities to 60GB and 100GB, and major players have already demonstrated a recording technology that could raise the roof to 200GB on a single shiny platter. What's behind this explosion in digital real estate is the drive to cater for high-definition content, which occupies twice as much space as movies and TV shows recorded for current DVD quality. The result is picture quality that's at least double what most of us see today, apart from those who watch high-definition digital TV broadcasts. They're expected to be among the first to adopt either Blu-ray or HD DVD, because people who are already tuning into high-resolution plasma screens simply treasure the picture quality," One good thing though: pretty much all movies and most TV shows going back to the mid-'80s are recorded in high definition, which then had to be downgraded to fit on a regular DVD disc. In a short while, these are all ready to be released in their original uncompressed format so you get the absolute best picture quality. HERE’S ANOTHER HINT: Around 10 years ago the studios began digitally transferring every movie in their back catalogue from film into high resolution. One of the reasons Sony Pictures bought out MGM was for MGM's enormous back catalogue of content, which is ready for release on high-definition TV and DVD. All major players for the new DVD technology also like the enhanced security imbedded into the next-generation DVD formats in an effort to defeat large-scale piracy, such as digital watermarks to let players identify illegally copied discs and prevent their playback. Home users will be able to make a physical and digital copy of a disc for personal use - something that can't easily or legally be done with today's commercial DVDs - although a duplicated disc will not be able to be copied. There's little doubt that consumers will not move from standard DVD to one of the new formats, but not until a clear winner emerges from the format war - or until the development of decks that play discs in both formats. At this stage, Blu-ray appears to have the inside running. Its roster of supporters includes 20th Century Fox, Sony, Pioneer, Philips, Panasonic, Sharp, Samsung, Apple, Dell and LG. Studios such as Paramount, Warner Bros and Disney that once took the HD DVD pledge have now decided to release titles on Blu-ray discs, and leading PC supplier Hewlett-Packard will offer a choice of drives on its desktop and laptop computers. Even Bill Gates is having a dollar each way. He says support for HD DVD will be built into Windows Vista, the successor to Windows XP, which is expected early next year, but adds that plug-in software will enable users to add Blu-ray to the mix. Microsoft will also offer an external add-on HD DVD drive for its Xbox 360 games console, but the company has affirmed that it will add a Blu-ray drive to the options list if that format gains the upper hand and Sony's PS3 will land with a built-in Blu-ray drive. However, HD DVD still has its share of star cheerleaders in Universal Studios, Intel, Toshiba, NEC and Sanyo. The ideal solution would be a universal player that works with both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. It's technically possible, but not while both camps are at war. Industry experts agree that fear of backing the wrong format will be an early stumbling block for shoppers, who are traditionally anything but gun-shy when it comes to personal technology. Australian consumers are very quick to adopt technology, especially DVDs. It's rare to find a household without a DVD player. There is a DVD system in more than 75 per cent of homes, and that's not counting the DVD drives in Xbox or PS2 consoles, or the laptops that double as personal movie players. However – we don't expect Blu-ray (the format Pioneer is backing) to come near that mark until 2009. Whichever format wins, I don't think either will be in the mainstream until about four years." In the meantime: Warner Home Video has already begun releasing movies on "hybrid discs" with high-definition HD DVD content on one side and standard DVD content on the other. Where are we going from here?…Just check in once in a while and look for
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