Comparison of high definition optical disc formats
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In 2006, the release of two next-generation optical disc formats attempted to improve upon and eventually replace the DVD standard. The two formats, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, are currently in close competition. This article is a collection of facts on the sales and rankings of both.
Contents |
[edit] Technical Details
A Table Comparing The High Definition Optical Media Formats
DVD included for comparison
| Disc | Blu-ray Disc | HD DVD | DVD | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laser wavelength | 405 Nanometers | 650 Nanometers | |||
| Numerical aperture | 0.85 | 0.65 | 0.6 | ||
| Storage capacity | single layer | 25 GB | 15 GB | 4.7 GB | |
| dual layer | 50 GB | 30 GB | 8.5 GB | ||
| Playback time in (note 1) | SD with MPEG-2 at 5Mbits/s | 22.2 hours | 13.3 hours | 3.8 hours | |
| HD with | AVC or VC-1 at 13Mbits/s | 8.5 hours | 5.1 hours | - | |
| MPEG-2 at 20Mbits/s | 5.6 hours | 3.3 hours | - | ||
| Video codecs | MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) / VC-1 / MPEG-2 | MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 | |||
| Audio codecs | lossless | mandatory | Linear PCM | Linear PCM / Dolby TrueHD (note 2) | Linear PCM |
| optional | Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD Master Audio | DTS-HD Master Audio | - | ||
| lossy | mandatory | Dolby Digital / DTS / MPEG Audio | Dolby Digital Plus / Dolby Digital / DTS / MPEG Audio | Dolby Digital / MPEG Audio (Europe) | |
| optional | Dolby Digital Plus / DTS-HD High Resolution | DTS-HD High Resolution | DTS / MPEG Audio (North America) | ||
| Maximum bitrate | Raw data transfer | 54.0 Mbit/s | 36.55 Mbit/s | 10.08 Mbit/s | |
| Audio+Video | 48.0 Mbit/s | 30.24 Mbit/s | |||
| Video | 40.0 Mbit/s | 29.4 Mbit/s | 9.8 Mbit/s | ||
| Secondary video decoder (PIP) | Optional (Profile 1.1, mandatory November 2007) | Required | - | ||
| Internet support | Optional (Profile 2.0) | Required | - | ||
| Video resolution (maximum) | 1920×1080 24p or 50/60i HDTV | 720×480 and 720×576 50/60i SDTV | |||
| Content protection system | AACS-128bit / BD+ | AACS-128bit | CSS 40-bit | ||
| Protective Hardcoating | Required | Optional | |||
note 1: Playback times are quoted for dual layer discs, for single layer discs divide by two. note 2: All HD DVD players are required to be able to decode Dolby TrueHD to two channels, however all current players handle 5.1 decoding.
[edit] Capacity/Codecs
Blu-ray Disc has a higher maximum capacity per layer than HD DVD (25 GB vs. 15 GB). Early (2006) video releases used primarily single-layer 25 GB discs, but an increasing number of current releases (2007) are using dual-layer 50 GB discs. HD DVD video releases have used 30 GB discs almost exclusively since its launch in 2006. However, disc capacity is just one of many technical factors that influence the final product's audio/video presentation. The choice of compression technology (codec) contributes a degree of complexity into the discussion. Both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD support the same 3 video compression standards (MPEG-2, VC-1 and AVC). Each of the 3 video compression technologies in use exhibit different bitrate/noise-ratio curves, visual impairments/artifacts, and encoder maturity. But most importantly, the movie content itself has the greatest impact on viewer experience.
Initial Blu-ray Disc titles often used MPEG-2 video, which requires the highest average bitrate (and thus the most space), to match the picture quality of the other 2 video codecs. MPEG-2 has the lowest licensing fees, and therefore, incurs the lowest per-disc royalty, although industry analysts have cited lack of support for VC-1/H264 within early Blu-ray Disc authoring systems. As of 2007, more and more titles have been authored with the newer compression standards (AVC and VC-1). HD-DVD titles have used VC-1 and AVC almost exclusively since the format's introduction. HD DVD's lower disc capacity has often been cited as the reason for its quicker embrace of the advanced codecs, but ironically, the proportion of 30 GB HD-DVD titles to 25 GB Blu-ray Disc titles suggest disc-capacity was not the sole factor in this decision. Warner, which releases movies in both formats, often uses the same encode (with VC-1 codec) for both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, with identical results. In contrast, Paramount creates separate encodings, VC-1 for HD DVD and usually MPEG-2 for Blu-ray.
Suffice it to say, even at HD DVD's lower bitrate, both H.264 and VC-1 are capable of achieving source-transparency for a wide variety of movie content. Blu-ray Discs, with both its higher bitrate and disc capacity, could potentially maintain source-transparency over a wider range of movie content, over a longer runtime, or with more supplementary material.
[edit] Disc construction
Blu-ray Discs contain their data relatively close to the surface (less than 0.1 mm) which presents a problem when the surface is scratched as data would be destroyed. To overcome this, TDK, Sony, and Panasonic use a durable scratch resistant surface coating. TDK trademarked theirs as Durabis, which has withstood direct abrasion by steel wool and marring with markers in tests[1].
HD DVD uses traditional material and has the same scratch and surface characteristics of a regular DVD. The data is at the same depth (0.6 mm) as DVD as to minimize damage from scratching. Furthermore similar to DVD the construction of the HD DVD disk allows for a second side of either HD DVD or DVD.
[edit] Security features
With the new formats, special measures have been taken in the category of copyright-enforcement. The primary means of control on both formats is the Advanced Access Content System (AACS). Use of AACS is optional for HD DVD disks. However, every prerecorded Blu-ray disk is required to use AACS, which can add thousands of dollars to the cost of production.[2] The below list shows the other copyright-enforcement strategies used by both formats.
| Blu-ray Disc | HD DVD |
|---|---|
[edit] Major movie studio support
The below table shows which major film studios support each format in the United States.
| Blu-ray Disc | Both formats | HD DVD |
|---|---|---|
| Lions Gate |
It should be noted that Warner Bros. (through subsidiary Turner Entertainment) owns the rights to the pre-1986 MGM film library.
[edit] Players
Prices listed below are Unites States MSRP, U.S. street prices are also listed if lower.
Prices in other countries are often much higher. For example, the Samsung BD-P1000 has a UK street price of £538 GBP[2], making it's ex-VAT cost about 60% higher than in the U.S.
[edit] Blu-ray Disc
- Sony PlayStation 3 $499/$599
- Sony BDP-S1 $999 (Street: $799[3])
- Sony BDP-S300 $599 (Announced for Summer 2007)
- Sony BDP-S500 (Announced for late 2007)
- Samsung BD-P1000 $899 (Street: $469[4])
- Samsung BD-P1200 $699 (Announced, but release delayed until June 2007[5])
- Panasonic DMP-BD10 $1299 (Street: $899[6])
- Pioneer BDP-HD1 $1499
- Philips BDP9000 $799 (Street:$777[7])
[edit] HD DVD
- Microsoft Xbox 360 HD DVD player $199.99 (Street: $179[8])(Xbox 360 console or high-end PC required)
- Toshiba HD-A2 $399 (Street: $349[9])
- Toshiba HD-A20 $499 (Street: $449[10] includes 2 HD-DVD's)(Shipping April 4, 2007)
- Toshiba HD-XA2 $799 (Street: $599[11])
- Toshiba HD-A1 $499 (Street: $289[12])
- Toshiba HD-D1 $499 (Street: $276[13])(Walmart version of HD-A1)
- Toshiba HD-XA1 $799 (street: $399[14])
- RCA HDV-5000 $499 (Street: $399 at Circuit City)
[edit] Promotions
During March 1 – July 31, 2007, Toshiba has a mail-in rebate for five free HD DVD movies with the purchase of any HD Toshiba player [15]. (Movie selection is limited.)
[edit] Dual-Format players
LG released a hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD player in the first quarter of 2007. It does not support the HDi interactivity features of HD DVD but performs all Blu-ray functions. [3]
- LG BH100 $1199
[edit] Total HD and multiple format "super discs"
Warner Bros., a division of Time Warner media company, introduced its Total HD discs at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 8, 2007.[4] The new discs will be compatible with both Blu-ray and HD DVD players and may end the war between the two emerging formats.
Both Blu-ray and HD DVD use 405nm wavelength laser to read data from the recordable media of the discs. However, the data layer of the Blu-ray discs is located 0.1mm from the disk’s surface, whereas the HD DVD data layer resides 0.6mm deep from the disk’s surface. Warner’s engineers plan to create a disc with a Blu-ray top layer that works like a two-way mirror: it should reflect just enough blue light for a Blu-ray player to read, but it should also let enough light through for HD DVD players to ignore the Blu-ray recording and find a second HD DVD layer beneath, it was reported earlier. Theoretically, triple-layer DVDs can be created too, if [the] DVD layer is located on the other side to the Blu-ray and HD DVD layers.
This hybrid format would be appealing to companies looking to sell a movie in all formats, without the need for separate discs. It should also act to increase consumer confidence in buying HD discs (in hybrid format), with much less likelihood of being "betamaxed", as happened in the most significant recent format war.
The "Total HD disc will not contain a standard format version" [emphasis added]. The New York Times claims that "several months ago" Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group "filed patents for a new disc incorporating all three formats, which it could produce in the future".
[edit] Sales
[edit] Disks/Titles
According to a market research company Nielsen VideoScan, as of March 2007, Blu-ray disk sales are ahead of HD DVD with more than 60% of the market. The company says "on the week ended Feb. 18, the latest figures available, Blu-ray accounted for 65% of the market, compared with HD DVD's 35%".[5] 2007 sales data are in contrast with late 2006, when HD DVD had a narrow lead.
[edit] Software
Many websites keep track of relative sales of the website Amazon.com since it is one of the largest sellers of movies in the world. Two such websites are eProductWars and HD Game Database. It should be noted that these are not worldwide sales at Amazon.com, but just sales at the USA website. Another online seller that makes is sales figures available is DVDEmpire.com, but unlike amazon sales numbers they show the actual percentages of sales in each format.
[edit] Players
In February 2007, the NPD Group (a consumer electronic marketing firm) reported that the total market share of all stand alone HD players in the United States totaled 52% for HD DVD and 48% for Blu-ray. This does not include drives sold for computers or gaming consoles such as the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 add-on HD DVD drive[16].
The two gaming console-based players for HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive ($199) and the Playstation 3 with its included Blu-ray drive ($499 or $599), respectively. The total price for the two combinations is the same since the Xbox 360 console costs $299 or $399 (for a total cost of $498 of $598). Alternatively, the HD DVD add-on drive is compatible with high-end PCs[17], enabling HD DVD playback on those systems when paired with HD DVD playback software.
For November and December of 2006 the NPD Group tracked sales of 92,000[6] HD DVD add-on drives for the Xbox 360 in the USA. On January 8, 2007, Sony reported that it had shipped a total of 1,000,000 Playstation 3 consoles to North America.
Polling shows that many gamers care little about which optical data format is used.[7]
[edit] Retail price of consumer-writable discs
| Disc | Blu-ray | HD DVD |
|---|---|---|
| Single Layer | 25GB | 15GB |
| Cost | $10.99 [18] | $8.99 [19] |
| Cost Per GB | $0.44 | $0.60 |
| Disc being compared | 1 pack Verbatim non-rewritable single layer | 1 pack RiDATA non-rewritable single layer |
[edit] References
- ^ Durabis durability.
- ^ AACS Costs.
- ^ Chen, Jason (2007-1-3). Dreams Do Come True! LG's Makes World's First Blu-ray/HD DVD Dual-Format Player. Gizmodo.
- ^ Shilov, Anton (2007-01-04). Warner’s Total HD to End Blu-ray Vs. HD DVD War. X-bit labs. Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
- ^ Blu-ray Disk Sales Ahead of HD DVD (March 6, 2007).
- ^ Xbox 360 HD DVD sells 100k in US in two months.
- ^ See GameFAQs daily opinion poll for March 27, 2007 ([1]) where 68.84% of those polled gave a "Not interested" reply.
[edit] See also
[edit] External Links
- The Authoritative HD DVD FAQ by Hugh Bennett
- The Authoritative Blu-ray Disc FAQ by Hugh Bennett
