Blu-ray vs HD DVD

The Blu-ray and the HD DVD are the two optical storage devices that are fighting for the successor of DVD. Here you will learn and know everything about these two technologies. Could it be true that DVD is on its way out?

With the introduction of HDTV (high-definition television) the storage capacity on DVD showed to be no enough for this type of application. DVD supports up to 720x480 pixels, where high-definition televisions work with a resolution high as 1920x1080 pixels. Here is an idea. If you want two hours of HD video with a information compression, it will require 22GB of storage capacity. The maximum storage space of a DVD is 17GB if you are using a DVD-18 disc. Keep in mind that a double-sided dual-layer disc is being used.

So, how do you allow having higher data storage in order to support HD contents? This is where Blu-ray and HD-DVD, the two successor candidates enter the script.

Blu-ray or high-definition DVD is just a DVD with greater storage space. This allows you to store HD contents. What motivated the creation of DVD was when the HDTV was introduced, and this bluntly requires a disc with higher storage space and is a feature the standard DVD does not provide.

How is a Blu-ray or HD-DVD able to store over five times the amount of data than an ordinary DVD?

Blu-ray discs and HD-DVDs share the same size of any DVD disc and CDs, with a 12cm diameter. The key to the success of the Blu-ray and HD-DVD devices is that a violet-blue laser is used to write and read the information on the disc. This violet-blue laser’s wavelength undoubtedly is smaller compared to the standard laser used in DVD machines, making the recording density higher. When you are recording from a blu ray disc or even a high definition DVD disc there is a blue/purple laser that is used, that laser is what records your data onto the disc, it burns pits onto the surface of the disc. Then the space that was not used or the areas that were not burned are called lands.