HD-DVD – Specification and Facts

Storage of data has changed over time with the advent of technology. The traditional methods are being replaced with much more advanced techniques which will give more chances for working with the stored data. HD DVD is the latest trend and invention came as the pride product of technology in the filed of data storage.

HD DVD, the acronym for high density DVD as the name implies a high density format designed on optical disc format. It is particularly used for storing data and high-definition video. The single layer capacity of HD DVD-ROM is around 15 GB wherein as a dual layer; it has a capacity that comes to 30GB. HD DVD can support several file systems as an optical disc formatted system. But most of the HD DVD systems now use the UDF version 2.5 as their standard file system.

They can work with a wide range of resolutions. They can give better audio experience to the users through linear PCM or Dolby TrueHD. They have the possibilities of interactive data content. HD DVD and blu ray disc seems to be working in the same aspect. But there are differences in storage capacity as well as interactive abilities and usage. Though they have similar methods of sharing and storing data, these differences bring about changes in specifications.

The main advantage of HD DVD as compared to a blu ray disc is the cheapest storage system. They can support movies on a large scale than any other competitors. The better storage space at such an attractive price can make them the favorite product of all users. They can provide backward compatibility to the present day DVD standards. HD DVDs are manufactured on a large scale by many companies as they are easier in construction with little risk involved. This is another reason for the lower price of these products. The better picture quality and the visual effects of course justify any one who is trying to get a HD DVD of his own.

Blu-ray and HD-DVD

There have been various inventions in the field of storage media and video formatting. All these developments have brought about changes in the way users started using different Medias including movies and television. There came different methods of storage even in the filed of optical storage system itself. There came the blu ray disc storage system as well as the HD DVD system of storage.

Blu ray disc is a storage media format using the optical storage techniques. This is highly used in high definition storage for data and video with the dimensions similar to that of a standard DVD or CD. HDTV is high definition television. They can offer better resolution as compared to the standard traditional systems. They use lower bandwidth. This can give more clarity to the picture and sound as compared to normal television.

There are several differences between the storage medium offered by blu ray disc and a HDTV. They have a similar working pattern despite the differences. The differences can cause a great change in the specifications. Thus the storage capacity for a blu ray disc is higher than that allowed in a HD-DVD. While the interactivity supported in a blu ray disc is BD-J, which in a HD-DVD uses an HDi format.

The standard data transfer rate in a blu ray disc is 36 Mbps as compared to a 36.55 Mbps in a HD-DVD. Yet the video resolution appears to be similar in both with a 1080p resolution for video. There is a hard coating in blu ray disc which will be unavailable in the HD format used in HD-DVD.

There has been a tough competition prevailing in the market between the techniques used in HD-DVD and blu ray discs. There then introduced hybrid discs which can support both the techniques available in blu ray disc and HD-DVD. The high storage capacity, content and support from the leading electronics manufactures have helped blu ray in a wide scale to excel HD-DVD in the market to an extent though the other also had several advantages over blu ray disc.