High Definition DVD: A Primer

High Definition DVD: A Primer

by: Kenny Hemphill

High definition DVD, also known as HDDVD (which actually stands for High Density DVD), is one of two competing high definition storage formats the other being Bluray (http://www.thehdtvtuner.com). The need for a new, high capacity storage format, has been primarily brought about by the rapid rise in popularity of HDTV in Japan and the US. HDTV has much higher bandwidth than either NTSC or regular DVD discs, so in order to record programs from HDDVD higher capacity discs, of at least 30GB, are required.

High definition video is also being used increasingly to make Hollywood movies as it offers comparable quality to film at much less cost. Therefore, the studios plan to release future movies on one or both high definition formats.

HDDVD was developed by Toshiba and NEC and has the support of the DVD Forum, along with a number of Hollywood studios. Currently those studios which have announced support for HDDVD are; Universal Studios, Paramount Studios, Warner Bros., and New Line Cinema. It has a capacity of 15GB for singlesided discs and 30Gb for doublesided. It doesn’t need a caddy or cartridge and the cover layer is the same thickness as current DVD discs, 0.6mm. The numerical aperture of the optical pickup head is also the same as DVD, 0.65mm.

Because of its similarities to current DVD, high definition DVD is cheaper to manufacture than Bluray, because it doesn’t need big changes in the production line setup. Both HDDVD and Bluray have backward compatibility with existing DVDV discs. That is that current DVDs will play in HDDVD player, although new high definition DVD won’t play in older DVD players.

High definition DVD currently supports a number of compression formats, including MPEG2, VC1 (based on Microsoft’s Windows Media 9), and H.264 which is based on MPEG4 and will be supported by the next version of Apple’s QuickTime software, which will be included with Mac OS X Tiger.

About The Author

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner (http://www.thehdtvtuner.com) a guide to the kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.

This article was posted on February 14

by Kenny Hemphill

Bluray: A Primer

Bluray: A Primer

by: Kenny Hemphill

Bluray is an optical disc format which is set to rival HDDVD (http://www.thehdtvtuner.com/highdefinitiondvd.html) in the race to be the defacto standard storage medium for HDTV. The HDDVD vs Bluray battle resembles that between Betamax and VHS and DVD+RW and DVDRW.

Currently, the major Hollywood film studios are split evenly in their support fro Bluray and HDDVD, but most of the electronics industry is currently in the Bluray camp. The key difference between Bluray disc players and recorders and current optical disc technology is that Bluray, as its name suggests, uses a blueviolet laser to read and write data rather than a red one. Blue light has a shorter wavelength than red light, and according to the Bluray Disc Association (BDA), which is made up of, amongst others, Sony, Philips, Panasonic, and Pioneer, this means that the laser spot can be focussed with greater precision.

Bluray discs have a maximum capacity of 25GB and duallayer discs can hold up to 50GB enough for four hours of HDTV. Like HDDVD, Blue laser discs don’t require a caddy and the players and recorders will be able to play current DVD discs. Codecs supported by Bluray include the H.264 MPEG4 codec which will form part of Apple’s QuickTime 7, and the Windows Media 9 based VC1.

The BDA says that although blue laser discs and players are already shipping in Japan, they won’t ship in the US until the end of 2005 at the very earliest. It is likely that players will be very expensive initially, compared to DVD players. In Japan, they cost the equivalent of $2000. However, as with all new technology, prices will quickly fall particularly as Bluray will be competing with HDDVD for that space under your TV.

About The Author

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner (http://www.thehdtvtuner.com) a guide to the kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.

This article was posted on February 14

by Kenny Hemphill

Encountering The Third Generation Of DVD Format

Encountering The Third Generation Of DVD Format

by: Dana Scripca

It won’t last too long until the third generation of DVD format to be unveiled. Your DVD player will play a wellperforming disc with highstorage capacity. The upcoming MediaTech Expo, Las Vegas, USA, will surely clarify this topical issue.

The upcoming MediaTech Expo May 10–12 in Las Vegas, USA will be a crucial moment in deciding what DVD format will be the succesor of the actual DVDs. It will be HDDVD? Or the Bluray Disk? Before the end of 2005, more likely in 2006, the standard format will be decided for good. The competition between the HDDVD and Bluray is in full swing now.

The overwhelming increase of portable DVD players led to a even higher rise of DVDs industry. In 2003, almost 4 billion prerecorded DVDs were produced. This number is calculated to increase to 7 billion in 2006. The same for recordable DVDs market: DVD±R, DVD±RW. While in 2003 just 908 million disks were produced, it is estimated a double growth rate in 2004 (and about 4 billion estimated in 2006).

This year edition, from Frankfurt, manufacturing technology for the third generation of optical storage media has been debated. More than 1,400 people joined 2004 edition. At upcoming 2005 edition, concepts for replication lines and single components for the manufacturing of HDDVD and Bluray Disc will be introduced. MediaTech Expo is the leading annual tradeshow for the media manufacturing industry.

As for these two vying formats, both use a blue laser (contrary to red laser for DVDs). The blue laser has a shorter wavelength leading to finer signal markings on the optical media. Moreover, a shorter wavelength, associated with advanced compression process, prompts a higher storage capacity. Whereas HDDVD holds 30 gigabytes, Bluray holds 50 gigabytes on a doublelayer disc.

Professional video industry is one of the most prosperous. Not surprisingly, engineers and manufacturing professionals, producers, video and audio professionals, web developers, broadcasters, directors, DVD authors, editors, graphic artists, gather on annual worldwide electronics and digital video exhibitions to learn the newly techniques, technologies, capabilities, advantages related to their industry. There are seven major exhibitions: DVExpo, Mediacast, DVD Europe, DVD Replication Exhibition, DVD Summit Midle East Asia, MediaTech, ProductionShow.

About The Author

Dana Scripca writes for http://www.allportabledvdplayers.com where you can find more information about portable DVD players

Please feel free to use this article in your Newsletter or on your website. If you use this article, please include the resource box and send a brief message to let me know where it appeared: mailto: [email protected].

This article was posted on November 15, 2004

by Dana Scripca