Laser Wars - Blu-ray vs. HD DVD
There’s been a lot of virtual ink used up in describing the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD high-definition blue-laser optical disk format wars, so another piece, this time from the Wall Street Journal, probably can’t hurt, although in this case it may not help much either. The Journal’s article is a very generalized overview of the BD-HD situation, offers no new insights, takes no sides technologically and does not predict an eventual winner. What it does do, however, is to echo the suggestion of many others regarding a way out of the dilemma, namely compromise. At the end of the piece, the Journal describes some past format wars that were resolved through the expedient of support by machines for both formats. The main players in this case, however, have already considered and rejected such a compromise…
An article by the BBC entitled Next generation DVDs tested, echoes some of the sentiments expressed above, implies that the 2 formats are very similar in terms of picture and sound quality, but that HD DVD players are cheaper.
Dueling Disks - Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2006
