Blu-ray and HD DVD

Technologies

Corey Collins
Mark Merrill
 Main Topics
• Current Media Format
• Theory of Blu-ray Technology
• Integration of Blu-ray
• Theory of HD DVD Technology
• Integration of HD DVD
• Comparison - Which is better? Which one
is more likely to catch on?
 Current Media Format
• CD’s
– Consist of pits and
lands stamped out in a
spiral pattern on the
disc.
– A laser then reads the
pits and lands.
– The change from a pit
to a land or a land to a
pit indicates a one
while no change
indicates a zero.
 Current Media Format Cont.
• CD-RW’s
– Consist of a metal
phase change alloy
which when heated
can be to change to
reflectivity
• CD-R’s
– Consist of a dye that is
applied to the disc.
– When a writing laser is
shined it changes the
reflectivity.
Current Media Format Cont.
• DVD’s
– Also contain pits and
lands.
– Are more highly
compact than a CD.
– Special laser is
needed to read them.
 High Definition
• To better understand the • Because of this difference
need for media formats the bandwidth of HD is
with greater storage lets about 5 times greater
briefly describe what High than standard video.
Definition is. • Currently a standard
• Your regular TV signal movie takes up almost an
has about 480 pixel lines, entire DVD so we need
but HD has about 1280 something that’s almost 5
pixel lines that go across times that.
your TV
• Enter Blu-ray and HD
DVD technologies….
 Blu-ray Technology
• Name

– Derived from the blue-

violet laser used to
read and write data.
– Developed by the Blu-
ray Disc Association
with more than 180
members.
• Dell
• Sony
• LG
 Blu-ray Technology Cont.
• Data capacity
– Because Blu-ray uses
a blue laser(405
nanometers) instead
of a red laser(650
nanometers) this
allows the data tracks
on the disc to be very
compact.
– This allows for more
than twice as small
pits as on a DVD.
 Blu-ray Technology Cont.
• Data Capacity Cont.
– Because of the greatly
compact data Blu-ray can hold
almost 5 times more data than
a single layer DVD. Close to
25 GB!
– Just like a DVD Blu-ray can
also be recorded in Dual-
Layer format. This allows the
disk to hold up to 50 GB!!
– Because the polycarbonate
layer of the Blu-ray disc is so
much larger than a DVD
because the recording layer is
so much smaller it can have
even more than two layers.
 Blu-ray Technology Cont.
• Writing Data
– Blu-ray uses a
combination of two
lenses to greatly
shrink the laser to read
the data.
– This also allows for
higher data rate
transfer close to 36
mbps.
• It could record 25 GB of
data in an hour an a
half.
 Blu-ray Technology Cont.
Formats

• BD-ROM (read-only) - for pre-recorded

content
• BD-R (recordable) - for PC data storage
• BD-RW (rewritable) - for PC data
storage
• BD-RE (rewritable) - for HDTV recording
 Blu-ray Integration
• Blu-ray discs are able
to record HD without
any signal loss.
– Single layer up to 2
hours of HD video
– Dual layer up to 4.5
hours of HD video
 Blu-ray Integration Cont.
• Security
– Blu-ray discs are
better armed than
current DVDs. They
come equipped with a
secure encryption
system -- a unique ID
that protects against
video piracy and
copyright infringement.
 HD DVD Technology
• Name
– Obviously comes from
the term High
Definition
– Developed by Toshiba
and NEC
 HD DVD Technology Cont.
• Data Capacity
– HD DVD uses close to
the same blue laser
that the Blu-ray disc
does. It is also 405
nanometers wide.
– Thus allows for data to
be greatly
compressed.
 HD DVD Technology Cont.
• Data Capacity Cont.

– Single Layer Disc

• 15 GB
– Dual Layer Disc
• 30 GB
 HD DVD Technology Cont.
Formats

• HD DVD (read-only) - for pre-recorded

content
• HD DVD-R (recordable) - for PC data
storage
• HD DVD-RAM (rewritable) - for HDTV
recording
 HD DVD Integration
• Compatibility
– Because a lot of
home-users don’t yet
have a high definition
Television the makers
of the HD DVD disc
made it backwards
compatible by using
the twin format
scheme.
 HD DVD Integration Cont.
• Compatibility Cont.

– But what about dual

layer??

– In order to
accommodate for the
needs of the storage
capacity of the dual
layer format the
makers designed the
combination format.
 HD DVD Integration Cont.
• Security
– Uses the same security
feature as Blu-ray.
– Both Blu-ray and HD DVD
makers said would be
extremely hard to pirate
with this security feature.
– Eight days after HD DVD
discs hit the market a
hacker called muslix64
reportedly cracked the
security feature.
 HD DVD vs Blu-ray
• Both formats use blue lasers rather than red.

• Both have the same options for video and audio compression.

• Blu-ray offers significantly more storage space -- 50 GB on a dual-layer disc versus

HD-DVD's 30 GB.

• The DVD Forum, which creates DVD standards, has approved HD-DVD and has not
approved Blu-ray.

• HD-DVD is less expensive than Blu-ray.

• HD-DVDs can be produced on existing equipment, and Blu-ray discs can't.

•
• HD-DVD players are selling for $499 (Toshiba HD-A1) to $799 (HD-XA1), and Blu-ray
players are selling for around $1,000 (Samsung DB-P1000).

• HD-DVD players hit the market on April 18, 2006, two months before the first Blu-ray
player hit the U.S. market in June, 2006.
 HD DVD vs Blu-ray Cont.
DISCS

• Blu-Ray sample taken from 7 sources on

Amazon.com, highest was $26.95, lowest
was $19.95
• HD DVD sample taken from 7sources on
Amazon.com, highest was $27.95, lowest
was $19.95
 HD DVD vs Blu-ray Cont.
• Current supporters of HD-DVD include Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, and
Microsoft, in addition to New Line Cinema, Paramount, Universal,
Time-Warner, and the official approval of the DVD Forum.

• Current supporters for Blu-Ray includes PC makers Apple, Dell,

Hewlett-Packard, and Sony, and electronics giants Hitachi, LG,
Mitsubishi Electric, Matsushita/Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips,
Samsung, Sharp, TDK, and Thomson. Add to this the support by
movie studios such as Columbia TriStar, Sony Pictures and MGM
(all three owned by Sony), 20th Century Fox, Lions Gate
Entertainment, and Disney, as well as video game makers Electronic
Arts and Vivendi Universal Games, and the bastion of support for
Blu-Ray looks formidable indeed
 WAR!!
• In summary it is hard to tell which media
format will win this format war.
• It all depends on which format consumers
can get more cheaply, more quickly, with
more movies available for it. Blu-Ray is
technologically superior
• However, the VHS and Betamax war
shows that the technologically superior
product does not always win.