Technically, how is Blu-Ray better than HD DVD?

Question

I've been searching and searching the internet and other places, but I have yet to find any details on how Blu-Ray is better than HD DVD in technical terms. I know there is the size thing, but I was told that the size difference comes from the change in disc structure making Blu-Ray worse. So I don't think that counts. Can anyone give any real technical information on how Blu-Ray is better? Or even maybe the opposite, how is HD DVD better than Blu-Ray? Many articles on web sites say it's better, but they never give the details on why. It seems there is something that we should know, but nobody wants to talk about it. What's the real story here?

Answer 1

I think they produce the same picture and sound, it's just different under the hood.

Answer 2

No.  They are simply competing standards.   Anyone that gives you "technical superiority" in the end will still be giving you an "opinion" that would be countered by anyone who though the other was "technically superior".   The problem is "superior" is by its very nature not a "technical" term but rather a "subjective" term.

Answer 3

Hi Scott,

HD DVD (Toshiba) vs Blu Ray (Sony).

The battle rages and it looks like consumers will have to face a dual format much like the dash R and plus R DVDs.

Samsung & LG already offer dual format machines and others will follow. This probably means both formats will survive.

Both use interactive menus but differences are – Blu-Ray capacity is 50Gb and HD-DVD is 30Gb. HD-DVD is region free while Blu-Ray is divided into three regions. (Figures Sony will try to stick it to the consumer) A disadvantage to HD-DVD is they are not all hard coated as are the Blu-Ray. HD-DVDs scratch as easily as regular DVDs while the Blu-Ray are more scratch resistant.

Norm

Answer 4

Although I agree with the two previous answers, my answer is going to be quite a bit different.

It doesn't matter one bit which is technically better. The only thing that matters is which one will still be around when the format war is over.

And right now, with what's happened recently, it seems like BluRay will win. But it ain't over till the fat lady sings, so I would still wait to buy into HD. Shouldn't be too much longer now.

Answer 5

Blu-Ray Advantages:

-Higher disc capacity (can be later used for higher bit-rate video encoding)

-Uncompressed PCM 7.1 sound (very few movies have 7.1 but most have at least uncompressed 5.1 sound)

-Better selection of movies (they got almost all the studios with the exception of Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks)

======================================...

HD DVD Advantages:

-Better Video (in the beginning this was more true as Blu-Ray used MPEG-2 and HD used VC-1....but now that Blu-ray uses AVC the picture quality matches that of HD DVD)

-Better compatibility.....(I have a dual format player, Fox and MGM titles on Blu-ray required firmware updates in order to play....never had any playback issues with any HD DVD title)

-Interactivity (If you have a Blu-Ray player you might have to purchase a new player in the future as Blu-Ray is an uncompleted spec. They will release players with the 1.1 profile then followed by players with the version 2 or 2.1 I don't remember...but you need at least the 1.1 profile for all new movies with picture-in-picture features to work which is now available on HD DVD...the version 2 is just for playing game demos online)

-Cheaper Hardware (HD DVD players are now as cheap as 200$, even in the beginning paying 500$ was a lot better than paying 1000$ for a blu-ray player)