... Digital Disc Duplication USA

The DVD format exploded onto the scene all across America and around the world and in many areas has already made the trusty Video Tape a thing of the past. Now we see the next step into High Definition DVD but are the consumers or indeed the industry truly ready for this?

In the view of Digital Disc Duplication USA, based in Florida, we are currently repeating history with the war of format - remember Betamax versus VHS? Well now we are experiencing HD-DVD versus Blu-Ray. Why? Who really knows when basically they are both offering the same result! Capacity for delivering high definition video and audio or even simply additional data. So what is the difference between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray? Well in simple terms very little. Blu-Ray provides larger capacity than HD-DVD (currently) and this is because the pockets for the data storage on the disc are compressed differently and harder allowing for more of these pockets on the disc. It is because of this simple difference the two formats are not compatible with each other which ultimately means the consumer would need two different players to play the two different discs. Does one format deliver better results than the other? No! You will no doubt read about statements from each camp trying to convince otherwise (very similar to the Dolby Digital versus DTS scenario, but that’s another story!) but when the consumer sits down to watch the Hi-Def movie on EITHER HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, the quality they get is the same. Why? Because the capacity of a disc or how it is played does not effect the quality. It is the resolution of the video and the audio along with the DVD Authoring that ultimately effects the quality and either format provides more than enough capacity for the the best possible quality for the current market.

This current format war is also affecting the DVD Manufacturing industry  because of the level of investment required to offer a new format. This not only includes the glass mastering facility or the actual pressing lines but back to the authoring studio for the appropriate software required. Because of this the independant companies are unable to commit to one or the other format as offering both is simply not financially viable and the net result is only the major production companies can afford to offer such services which in turn keeps prices high and the format out of reach for smaller film production companies.

Who loses? The consumer because let’s face it - there’s aleady a mountain of wires behind your TV and with gamestations, DVD player, VCR, Cable or Satellite receivers etc etc etc who really wants another TWO boxes to go with them? What we really want is for the film industry to sit down and agree to support one format or another so then all can truly benefit from this wonderful quality of High Definition that is available.  

This entry was posted on February 1st, 2008 and is filed under DDD Blog.