Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD vs. DVD
October 17th, 2006
Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD vs. DVD
What's the difference between Blu-ray, HD-DVD and DVD? Below I've compiled a table of the main differences. None of this will help you choose what to buy, but it gives you some technical knowledge to keep most salespeople at bay. 
| Parameter | Blu-ray | HD-DVD | DVD |
| Capacity | 25GB (single-layer) 50GB (dual-layer) |
15GB (single-layer) 30GB (dual-layer) |
4.7GB (single-layer) 8.5GB (dual-layer) |
| Laser wavelength | 405nm (blue) | 405nm (blue) | 650nm (red) |
| Protection layer | 0.1mm | 0.6mm | 0.6mm |
| Hard coating | Yes | No | No |
| Track pitch | 0.32µm | 0.40µm | 0.74µm |
| Data transfer rate | 36.0Mbps (1x) | 36.5Mbps (1x) | 11.08Mbps (1x) |
| Video resolution (max) | 1920×1080 (1080p) HDTV |
1920×1080 (1080p) HDTV |
720×480/720×576 (480i/576i) SDTV |
| Video codecs | MPEG-2 MPEG-4 AVC VC-1 |
MPEG-2 MPEG-4 AVC VC-1 |
MPEG-2 |
| Audio codecs | Linear PCM Dolby Digital Dolby Digital Plus Dolby TrueHD DTS Digital Surround DTS-HD |
Linear PCM Dolby Digital Dolby Digital Plus Dolby TrueHD DTS Digital Surround DTS-HD |
Linear PCM Dolby Digital DTS Digital Surround |
| Content protection | Advanced Access Content System (AACS-128bit) | Advanced Access Content System (AACS-128bit) | CSS 40-bit |
This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 17th, 2006 at 13:46 and is filed under Kit!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
October 17th, 2006 at 14:35
[...] For my own info as much as anything else, there’s a very handy table comparing Blu-ray, HD-DVD & DVD formats at the PC Doctor site. Blu-ray & HD-DVD are new formats supposedly to replace the bog standard DVD - think of the VHS & Betamax wars of the 70s/80s. I still see veterans stumbling about even now. [...]
October 30th, 2006 at 11:24
[...] Webfooted posted a handy little link over at her blog marblecake.org.uk to a site that shows the differences between the Blu Ray disc, HD DVD disc and DVD disc. You can view it here, thanks webfooted. [...]