Hi Def DVD is Coming

DVDs were originally designed for a 135 minute Standard Definition movie and the movie is only slightly compressed in standard definition video (480 x 640 pixels, 30 frames a second in NTSC). At this rate a conventional 4.7 gig DVD holds a full length movie and a few extras.

A conventional DVD cannot hold an entire Hi Def movie. A Hi Def movie would require 5 times the storage space! So the electronics industry started inventing the next generation DVD.

Two New Formats: Blu-ray DVD and High-Definition DVD

They both use a new blue laser and the disc looks the same. The blue laser is a shorter wavelength than a red laser which is used in conventional DVDs. This shorter wavelength allows the burning of smaller pits and lands and allows the tracks to be closer together. Blu-ray has more capacity of 23 gigabytes compared to 15 gigs on a HD-DVD disc, but both can double their capacity by recording on two layers.

Developing The Blu-Ray Format

Sony
Panasonic (Matsushita)
Thomson (RCA and GE)
Pioneer
Sharp
Samsung
Dell
Hewlett-Packard
Philips

Developing The HD-DVD Format

Toshiba
NEC

It will take a good while for one of these two HD formats to become dominant. As of November 2004 Blu-ray has a slight edge. Some Blu-ray HD-DVD recorders appeared in Japan in April 2003, but that's all there is. Those recorders are designed for home recording only (not for playing pre-recorded HD movies). Eventually the recorders will be downward compatible and play your current DVDs and probably make them look better. Of course all the DVD players we have now will be obsolete when Hi Def DVD takes over. But before you throw your DVD player out, remember what happened with HDTV in the U.S. It was supposed to be available in 1989, yet it was not finalized until 1996 and did not appear until 1998. It hasn't made your TV set obsolete yet and it won't for a long time.

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