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HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray - What's In The News?

Blu-ray versus HD-DVD Unlock Codes

As far as Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD goes, it seems less and less likely that negotiation will take place on a next generation format. The ongoing talks between the two camps, seem to have entirely dissolved. This is a disappointment, as the HD DVD and Blu-ray factions have wasted countless opportunities to produce one universal disc. Anybody remember Betamax vs. VHS? In a few short months we’ll have to make the decision ourselves as to what generation we choose to buy into. Other than refusing to accept either format we can at least try to appreciate the nature of the circumstances at hand.

Philips's development of the Laserdisc way back in 1969 yielded many of the technologies Sony carried over and adopted when they partnered with Philips. This helped create the groundbreaking CD in '79. The same companies worked together again in the early 1990s to create a new high-density disc called the MultiMedia Compact Disc (MMCD). However, this format was eventually forsaken in favour of Toshiba's Super Density Disc (SD), having the majority of backers at the time, including Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Matsushita (Panasonic), Pioneer, Time Warner and Thomson.

The two factions cut a deal, brokered by IBM president Lou Gerstner, on a new format – the common DVD disc we all know and love. After the dust settled in 1995/1996 Toshiba found themselves at the top of the pack, leaving Sony and Philips, who weren't fully ‘in’ on the deal’s standard technology, to begin work on a next generation system. Angered by this, Sony looked for new technological developments to outdo its rivals. In fact the Professional Disc for DATA (PDD or ProDATA), was based on an optical disc system Sony had been developing in the background. This eventually became the Blu-ray disc. Not to be outdone by the pair, Toshiba waded in with its next generation system - the Advanced Optical Disc. This soon evolved into the HD-DVD.

Ye gods! 35 years after the development of optical audio/video disc technology we see the same battling techno giants, threatening to stomp all over the consumer electronics industry. Okay, so here’s some technical clarification.

Blu-ray and HD-DVD systems use the same 405nm wavelength blue-violet laser, although their optics differ in two ways. Although the Blu-ray disc has a tighter track pitch (the thread of data that spirals from the inside of the disc all the way out – much like the groove on a 12-inch vinyl - it can hold more pits. Think of pits as microscopic 0s and 1s. This means it can hold more data on the same size disc as HD-DVD, even with a laser of the same wavelength. Amazing huh?

Unfortunately, the differing track pitch of the Blu-ray disc makes its pickup apertures differ, making its optics incompatible with HD-DVD despite using lasers of the same type. If you’re interested, HD-DVD uses a 0.65 aperture versus 0.85 for Blu-ray. HD-DVD discs also have a different surface layer, that’s the clear plastic surface of the disc holding the data. HD-DVD uses a 0.6 mm-thick surface layer, while Blu-ray has a much smaller 0.1mm layer, enabling the laser to focus its larger 0.85 aperture.

This is the main issue associated with the higher cost of Blu-ray discs. The thinner surface layer make the discs more expensive to produce, as Blu-ray discs do not share the same surface thickness of DVDs. This means costly production facilities must be modified or replaced in order to produce these discs. To make production even costlier, a hard coating must also be applied to a Blu-ray disc surface, making it tough enough to protect the data 0.1mm beneath. Why bother? Well, the benefit of keeping a data layer closer to the surface leaves more room for extra layers of data. Fantastic, more room for films and data - other than the fact a Blu-ray disc costs much more than the beloved DVD discs we have at home.

So now you know why Blu-ray discs cost more, and why Sony/Philips and Toshiba are bashing our heads in trying to sell us their products. DVDEXPLODER’s opinion..? Keep it simple with a HD DVD. At least it will give you the opportunity to unlock a ‘normal’ player and make them region free using handset DVD codes.

For your information - the first Blu-ray DVD player has been launched! - the Samsung BD-P1000.

The good: Plays Blu-ray discs in true high-definition; upscales standard DVDs to high-definition; sleek design; 1080p output via HDMI.

The bad: Twice as expensive as the competing HD-DVD player; very few titles available at launch; video quality on initial titles less impressive than HD-DVD versions; slower load times; some operational bugs.

The bottom line: With video quality that's impressive but still not as good as its HD-DVD competition, the costly Samsung BD-P1000 will appeal only to those willing to risk a grand on a first-generation player in the middle of a format war.



Blu-ray NEWS: Feb. 27, 2007

Sony has formally announced its BDP-S300 Blu-ray player, which carries a $600 price tag, can handle audio CDs, and leaves Samsung's current $1,000 offerings twisting in the wind.

Sony has formally announced its forthcoming BPD-S300 Blu-ray disc player, which the company teased on Monday. At an estimated price around $600, the BCP-S300 will significantly undercut current price points for Blu-ray disc players (currently around $1,000 for units like Sony's own BDP-S1) when it ships "this summer," presumably leaving those now-overpriced players to gather dust on dealers' shelves or be sold at significant discounts to make way for the newer, younger, cheaper models.

Sony has said it expects prices for Blu-ray players to drop to under $500 in time for for the 2007 end-of-year holidays.

The BDP-S300 supports BD-ROM,BD-Java, AVC-HD, and standard DVD playback, as well as standard CD audio (a feature not present on the BDP-S1). The system can also read MP3 audio and JPEG images stored on DVD media. The unit offers HDMI and HD component outputs for supporting 1080p and 1080i output, respectively, along with optical and co-ax digital audio output, with 5.1 channel decoding for backward compatibility with many existing receivers. The player will also support discs encoded with xvYCC, an international standard enabling larger color spaces, which Sony implements under the name x.v.Color. The system also supports Sony's Bravia Theater Sync, which—when used in conjunction with Sony's new Bravia displays enables users to turn on matching connected devices and switch inputs with the touch of one button.

Expect the BDP-S300 "this summer"—in the northern hemisphere, anyway—for around $600…before that, maybe look for fire sales on existing Blu-ray players, if you can't wait to take sides in the Blu-ray/HD DVD battle.

Blu-ray NEWS: Jan 2008

With HD DVD on its last legs, it seems like a pretty good time to do a round up of some of the best and most interesting Blu-ray players on the market. Of course, it's not all a bed of roses for Blu-ray. Despite having a lot of studio support, the players come in a variety of capabilities and not one of them supports the same specification.

For example, Sony's own BDP-S1E doesn't support Profile 1.1, which means that if you buy it, you won't be able to enjoy enhanced interactivity and picture-in-picture support. A sniff around and you might get it for less than £500, but that's still more expensive than Sony's own PlayStation 3.

The good news is that if you want a PS3, it's a good Blu-ray player. Some say it's the best -- and they might be right -- because it's upgradable, has all the features of Profile 2 and Profile 1.1, and can also play PS3 games. You can pick one up for about £300 these days, which means it's one of the better valued high-end players on the market. Of course, this is because the PS3 is being subsidised by Sony. So if 20 million people bought one and never bought any games, Sony would go bust in three minutes flat.

If you don't want a Sony player, then how about going for either the high end or the low end? At the bottom of the range, there is the Sharp BD-HP20H, which at just £300 really is quite cheap for a standalone.

It doesn't support Profile 1.1, but then again neither does the Pioneer BDP-LX70 and it costs quite a lot more.

 


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