High-Definition DVD (HD DVD) is basically a DVD with much more features. The quality of the audio and video is much more advanced and richer than a traditional DVD. It is a high density optical disc designed primarily by Toshiba and NEC to be the successor to the DVD format. It was designed to store High-Definition video and data. HD DVD is simply great and is no surprise that Hollywood loves HD DVD so much. The following would explain why;
1. “ Explosions more explosion-y ,Fireballs richer, more detailed ,Squiggly hot-air effect even squigglier ,Sound of burning robots cracklier” Eric Allard, Special Effects Technician Mission: Impossible III, The Matrix Reloaded
2. “Turner cars land with extra crunchiness, Each water droplet crisper, clearer, fights
Kung-ier, Fu-ier, Custom paint way more pearlescent” Mick Rodgers, Stunt Coordinator, The Fast and the Furious
So what makes HD DVD so great that it would have Hollywood talking about it? Let’s now take a look at the features of HD DVD.
Features of the HD DVD
HD-DVD uses a blue-violet laser with a wavelength of 405nm instead of the red lasers used by DVD with a wavelength of 650nm.What this means is that it can store more data than traditional DVD’s. Why the change in laser color is important here is that with the blue-violet laser that has a shorter wavelength more data can be stored on a small area since the HD DVD pits are smaller and arranged closely together.
Drive Specification
HD DVD is released in single and dual layer, with the physical size being 8cm and 12cm.
PHYSICAL SIZE SINGLE LAYER CAPACITY DUAL CAPACITY
12 cm single sided 15 GB 30 GB
12 cm double sided 30 GB 60 GB
8 cm single sided 4.7 GB 9.4 GB
8 cm double sided 9.4 GB 18.8 GB
General Facts
1. Video codecs-HD DVD supports MPEG-2,MPEG-4 and VC-1
2. Audio codecs- Linear PCM, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD,
DTS Digital Surround, DTS-HD
3. Stores up to 4 hours for High-Definition video on 15GB
4. Also stores up to 8hours of High Definition on 50GB
HD DVD Players
HD-DVD players hit the market on April 18, 2006, two months before the first Blu-ray player hit the U.S. market in June 2006.
If you are thinking of buying HD DVD player and worried about compatibility problems well don’t be. Most of the HD DVD players are backward compatible with DVD’s which means that they can play both DVD and HD DVD’s.
HD DVD is a great technology however it has not come to stay since its success has been shortly lived. A much more potent competitor, Blu-ray has taken over and is now the official standard of optical disk on the market and is going to take over the market from DVD’s.
We would take a critical look at this new technology that has now kicked HD DVD off the market in our next issue.