HDTV - DVD Just Got More Interesting

With the reduction in prices for HDTVs and the release of high-definition DVD players, ala HD-DVD and Blu-ray, the whole market is seeing an upsurge in activity. But sorting out all the options can be confusing. Here are some simple guidelines to help you make an informed choice.

DVD formats are - it's sometimes hard to believe - now 10 years old. The initial disc offered many times more storage (4.7GB) than the average CD (around 700MB, seven times less than DVD). Double-sided DVD was soon available and doubled the capacity.

Double-layered discs are available as well. Here are the four types:

Type	Capacity	Maximum play time
Single-sided	single-layered 4.7 GB	120 minutes
Singled-sided	dual-layered 8.5 GB	4 hours
Double-sided	single-layered 9.4 GB	4 hours
Double-sided	dual-layered 17 GB	8 hours

Despite some early technical difficulties, the DVD soon became a read-write medium, not just read-only. With that change came another round of acronyms to understand. DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM are the three most common. All types can be recorded on.

DVD-RAM is the more expensive option, but can (in theory, and to a large extent in practice) be re-written 100,000 times over many years. Also, since they store data non-sequentially, they're more useful for video editing than the other types. But, beware, not all players can play this type.

DVD-R can only be recorded onto once. Discs are cheap, so that isn't a problem these days and the format is compatible with nearly any player on the market.

DVD-RW, though, is only slightly more expensive and can be recorded onto many times. Not quite so many as DVD-RAM - only 1,000, in theory, but that's many more times than most people will need.

That was the state of things until very recently. Now comes the interesting part. Two new formats are coming onto the market and they're lining up for a good old-fashioned format battle. HD-DVD, developed by Toshiba, and Blu-ray from Sony have more in common than they have differences but one type will not play on a machine made for the other.

HD-DVD will store 15GB (30GB on dual-layer discs), while Blu-ray does better at 25GB (50GB on dual-layer). But the time differences are minimal. HD-DVD will hold about 8 hours of movies, etc and Blu-ray 9 hours. (100GB, quad-layer, Blu-ray discs are in development.)

Toshiba has lined-up support for its format from Microsoft, Intel and a few movie studios. Blu-ray is supported by nearly every major movie studio including Paramount and Disney along with Apple, Dell and several other PC companies.

Early HD-DVD machines from Toshiba (the HD-A1 and HD-XA1) are already on the market, retailing for around $500 and $800. Reviews are mixed, but that's usually the case with machines targeted at early-adopters.

On the upside, they can display high-definition discs in 720p or 1080i, and will show what your HDTV is really capable of. Blu-ray will display 1080p, the highest quality possible, assuming your TV has this capability. Few yet do.

A dozen HD movie discs are already available, including Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Serenity, and Phantom of the Opera. More are slated to become available (in both formats) soon.

For those who like to adopt the latest and greatest and are willing to accept some of the limitations always found in first generation technology, the new formats offer astounding visual quality. Be prepared to replace your equipment, though, in a couple of years once the format situation settles out and the bugs in the early machines are overcome.