Technology just keeps speeding up. It's hard to believe that the DVD format has been on the market for less than ten years. Yet, it's already in danger of obsolescence thanks to Blu-ray and High Definition DVD's, or HD DVD.

All this technology can be confusing for the layperson simply shopping to get the best or most affordable format for their money. To make matters worse, the two formats are in a competition to determine which will be the true market successor to the basic DVD format. Nevertheless, some basic facts reveal the similarities and differences between the two.

HD DVD vs. Blu-ray Disc (BD)

Blu-ray and HD DVD players both utilize a narrow wavelength blue laser that allows vastly more storage space on a single disc. The formats are seen as an improvement over traditional DVD players, which use a wider wavelength red laser to read information off its discs. Because of this greater storage capacity, Blu-ray and HD DVD can both accommodate High Definition format programs that contain considerably more information than traditional DVD's.

While both Blu-Ray and HD DVD players use blue lasers to read information on the disc, the formats are otherwise quite different. Different electronics and technology consortiums have over the last several years competed and campaigned for one technology over the other. Neither format showed a deciding marketplace advantage until the beginning of 2008, when Warner Brothers announced it would no longer release titles in the HD DVD format as of June of that same year. Industry experts predict their decision could likely deal a crippling blow to the HD DVD format.

A format war and public reception of both formats

Both sides of the BD vs HD DVD debate have tired of the format war, which is often costly for both consumers and manufacturers. Currently BD discs themselves outsell HD DVD by an impressive margin, even while sales of players for both formats were largely in a dead heat through 2007. Blu-ray disc sales are bolstered somewhat by video game enthusiasts: CNBC reported in December 2007 that 74 percent of all Blu-ray players were packaged inside the Sony Playstation 3 game console. With Blu-Ray gaining an edge with exclusive content by Warner Bros and other major studios, it seems ready to emerge as the war's victor.

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