Memo 3 HD-DVD vs. blu-ray

History repeats itself …
War again … the same 'ol Betamax / VHS rivalry is back in a new form, almost 20 years later.????
The HD-DVD and blu-ray formats are the new hype , with equipment manufacturers, entertainment studios already taking sides in this conflict, and with the physical and technical features of both formats very similar "but not compatible!", it's very hard if not impossible to decide who will win it all!!

The range of the new rivalry is indeed wider therefore more critical, with the scope expanding to gaming consoles, computer storage, home theatres as well as entertainment studios, as opposed to VHS/Betamax war that focused only on home video.
Putting all these facts in consideration; we might end up with two separate worlds just like the PC / Macintosh worlds "by the way Macintosh supports blu-ray while PC supports the HD-DVD"

As mentioned earlier, both formats are very similar yet incompatible:
- Both products focus is to replace the old DVD format, obviously! [1]
- Both use blue-violet laser as opposed to red laser used in the old DVD and CD formats [1]
- Both discs look just the same!!
- The maximum resolution in HD-DVD is 720p and 1080i HDTV , while the Blu-ray supports 720p , 1080i and 1080p in HDTV [1] , so both have good image quality [2]
- Both have backward compatibility with old DVD formats

Now the differences:
- Blu-ray discs have higher capacity than HD-DVD " single side Blu-ray disc has 25GB capacity while HD-DVD has 15 GB , 50 GB versus 30 GB for dual layers, " [2] this is an obvious advantage for Blu-ray, the extra capacity can be very attractive for gaming industry [1]
- Due to technical differences , manufacturing HD-DVD disk is much cheaper than blu-ray,[1] , in addition ; HD-DVD format utilizes manufacturing techniques very similar to those used for the current generation of DVDs, in other words there's no need for disk manufacturers to retool their factories [2] this fact is not applicable to blu-ray, that also means that HD-DVD will make it first in the market since no serious upgrading is required [2]
- In addition to disc prices, the HD-DVD consoles are much cheaper than those of blu-ray " HD-DVD can start from 500$ while blu-ray start from 1000$" [2] , anyway because Playstation 3 supports blu-ray, it is possible to save 500$ when compared to blu-ray players and use the console to view blu-ray disks! [1]

Of course, each side tries to portraying itself to be superior to the other, it can be seen in the marketing strategy of HD-DVD " you want it, and we are here now " and blu-ray "We wont be first but we'll be better " [1]
Both formats have same image quality and both look the same so it's hard for consumers to differentiate between them, that brings the whole competition down to the price of equipment and availability of content [2]
While HD-DVD format is much cheaper; blu-ray advocates claim that , within a short span of time the price difference between the two formats will decrease to a great extent[2], added to that , people will prefer to have more disc space by spending a few more pennies [2] , only time can show weather this will turn out to be true!

All these features created some "customer confusion" towards the new standards [1] [2] , this is a result of industry giants "Sony backing the blu-ray and Toshiba supporting the HD-DVD" ignoring customers to some extent , as stated earlier both formats have the same image quality that makes it a little bit harder for consumers to differentiate between the two products , in fact some manufacturers of the gaming industries stated that they would prefer not to launch any of the new formats to avoid price war and any unwanted price competition [1],

Now there's a standoff, with neither side trying to compromise, making things even worse [2]. Besides, making disc players that support both formats is cost-prohibitive.

As a personal opinion, it's incorrect to project the result of the VHS/betamax standoff on the current situation; VHS/betamax had different characteristics and specifications, and were focused on home video only.
And the fact that VHS ultimately won because of wise marketing and cheap pricing although it came out after the betamax and had less image quality than it [3] cannot be applied in this case because if we look deeper into the history of the conflict we find out that the two cases were different although taking place in the same marketplace!

However, in this early stage of competition, it's hard to decide who's winning it I personally support what is stated in the conclusion of [1] and would sit back and decide who'll win, in the meantime, using the old DVD formats! They're still efficient and take good care of their job!

References:
[1] "The high-def wars have begun: HD DVD vs. Blu-ray , a look at the new generation of optical burning. A report from BurnWorld.com "
[2] " Michael Grebb : The Showdown: Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD , ecoustics.com , March 27, 2005 "
[3] " The Betamax vs VHS Format War ; mediacollege.com ; unknown author "

Other references:
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia www.wikipedia.org