Whats it all about?
Blu-Ray and HD DVD are the new digital optical media formats. They can be used for holding High Definition video or for storing any other type of data. These two formats are competing against each other much like the VHS and Betamax did back in the late 1970's.
Blu-Ray (so called because of the blue lazer used to read and write the discs) is currently winning the data storage race. Blu-Ray currently feature a 25GB disc, but they will soon be releasing a 50GB disc. HD DVD's disc holds a max of 30GB, and as far as we know there is nothing currently in the pipeline to expand on this capacity.
For lots more information on the two different HD formats and which companies are backing who, check the menu to your left.
Blu-Ray and HD DVD News
May 2008 - Paramount's Blu-ray release schedule has been release for its upcoming switch to Blu-ray from 20th May 2008. The films due to be release on the 20th May are:
- Aeon Flux
- Babel
- Bee Movie
- Black Snake Moan
- Blades of Glory
- Coming to America
- Disturbia
- Dreamgirls
- Face/off
- Sky Captain and the World Of Tomorrow
- Sleepy Hollow
- The Untouchables
- The Warriors Ultimate Director's Cut
- Trading Places
- We Were Soldiers
- World Trade Cente
March 2008 - Some Blu-ray titles that have been announced in the last week:
- Men in Black on Blu-ray
- The Bucket List on Blu-ray
- Meet The Spartans on Blu-ray
- So I Married an Axe Murderer on Blu-ray
- Batman Begins on Blu-ray
November 2007 - The past weekend saw massive sales of HD DVD players due to the huge discount offered by Wal-Mart and Best Buy for Toshiba's HD A2 player. The player was dropped in price to under $100.00 and sales are reported to have been around 90,000 last weekend alone. Reports are now also coming in from unconfirmed sources that Toshiba is taking a massive profit hit, as the parts alone come to many more times the $100.00 price tag. Obviously in the long run this may be a good move for the over all HD DVD market, only time will tell.
October 2007 - Home Media Research yesterday reported on some research that suggest the Blu-Ray HD DVD format out sold the HD DVD format by nearly double. The figures show that approximately 2.6 million Blu-ray discs were sold against just 1.4 million HD DVD discs. There are analysts that believe the HD DVD format will make a comeback in the last quarter of the year, although the run up to Christmas and the new year will show big increases in sales for both formats.
September 2007 - LG are releasing their second Dual Format HD DVD/Blu-Ray player in October 2007. The new player, the BH200 will support both BD-Java and HDi, which provides interactive functionality for discs of both formats. The Dual Format player will also feature 1080p output at 60Hz and HD DVD network connectivity.
June 2007 - The Film rental firm Blockbuster has stated that it is to rent only rent high-definition DVDs in the Blu-ray format at it's 1,450 US stores. This is after consumers chose Blu-ray over HD DVD in the 250 stores they trailed having both formats available and coupled with the fact that Blu-ray have more titles available.
June 2007 - Sony says shipments of its Blu-ray high definition DVD players in the US could jump six fold this year, to over 600,000. Sony has said that this is most likely due to some of the film releases due out soon on the Blu-ray format. The news is that Toshiba has lowered the expected sales target for its HD DVD format.
March 2007 - Sony has announced that the are releasing a low cost Blu-ray DVD player, the Sony BDP-S300. Unfortunately, this player has only been confirmed as being released in the US so far, but at a cost of $600.00 im sure some lower cost Blu-ray players will be released in the UK late 2007 early 2008.
January 2007 - South Korean electronics company LG have announced a HD DVD player that will play both high definition formats, HDDVD and Blu-Ray. Im sure this player will come with a hefty price tag when it is officially released.
December 2006 - Toshiba has now launched their HD-E1 HD DVD player in Europe. Its available in the UK for just under £400.00.
November 2006 - Pioneer have confirmed they are delaying the lunch of their Blu-Ray disk players until December. This comes as last week Sony also delayed their Blu-Ray DVD launch until December.
Site information and services
This site delivers all the information and news for the new HD formats. We will also provide reviews for upcoming products, including the discs, HD players, recorders and PC Drives. We will also provide details of upcoming films to be released on both Blu Ray and HD DVD.