The future of DVD

Posted on 27 Sep 2006 at 11:02

 

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Just as we'd got used to DVD, up come two would-be replacements. But are these next-generation DVD formats worth a spin?

If you'll pardon us a loose pun, DVD technology started as a slow-burner. Consumers content with low-cost VHS recorders and videotapes were initially ambivalent about a home-video format onto which they could not record and demanded an investment of hundreds of pounds in order to play back the handful of movies that were available. Meanwhile, computer users, used to recordable CDs, were broadly unimpressed by the playback-only technology of early DVD equipment.

Within a couple of years though, the price of domestic DVD players had dropped. DVD recorders - of both the PC and home varieties - were far more affordable and DVD movies were being released thick and fast. Today, DVD is every bit as ingrained in living rooms and offices as VHS and recordable CD was before it. But could that be about to change?

Well, possibly. If the industry has its way, we'll soon be dumping our existing equipment in favour of one of two so-called 'next generation' DVD formats - Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Both have greater storage capacities than the existing DVD format, which means higher-quality video and expanded content. And both have eyes on securing the largest market share in both the home entertainment and computing markets. What's more, their arrival in the UK is imminent, and you can expect Blu-ray and HD-DVD devices and discs to arrive before Christmas.

Two's company

If everyone on the planet could be friends, then there wouldn't be any wars. This same wistful world would breed only one next-generation DVD format. Sadly, folks find it tough to get along and competing interests have decreed that there must be two new DVD formats, when consumers aren't even sure that they're ready for one.

So, in the red corner stands HD-DVD and in the blue corner there's Blu-ray. HD-DVD is essentially the creation of Toshiba, though it has the backing of a number of big name companies, including Microsoft and Intel. Blu-ray, on the other hand, is the primarily the work of Sony and has backing from the likes of Apple, Dell and Samsung.

Clearly, both camps are heavyweights and the marketing hype put out by each side would have consumers believe that their new format represents the gateway to a new world of stunning high-definition video, with hitherto unseen vividness of colours and image depth. Inevitably though, much of that is balderdash.

What's in store?

Viewed more soberly, Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs are little more than DVDs with greater capacity. A year or so ago, it would have been easy to summarise the difference between the two formats by saying Blu-ray discs can hold up to 50GB of data, while HD-DVD could store 30GB. However, waters on both sides have since become muddied by numerous revisions and enhancements, including doubled-sided discs and discs with two or even three data-storage layers - dubbed dual- and triple-layer discs. Written another way, the storage capacity of next-generation discs may be anywhere between 15GB and 90GB.

This isn't so very different from the existing DVD market, where capacities vary depending on the disc type and technology in use. A basic single-sided, single-layer DVD, for example, stores 4.7GB of data, while a commercial dual-layer movie disc may hold 8.5GB. However, distilled down, Blu-ray will always have the capacity advantage, simply because it can store more data per disc layer (25GB) than HD-DVD (15GB). Indeed, the Blu-ray Disc Association claims that double-sided multi-layer discs will eventually allow up to 200GB of data to be stored on a single 12cm disc. Time will tell on that particular claim.