3x DVD: HD DVD’s Secret Weapon

The ongoing battle for the optical disc format supremacy (popularly know as “format war”) between the two “next generation” optical disc format is very much intense. Although HD DVD’s counterpart (Blu Ray) is supported by most studios, HD DVD is still very much into the competition. Despite the fact that HD DVD’s counterpart is claiming supremacy of the said high definition optical disc format war; the HD DVD camp has a card on its sleeve. Recently, HD DVD’s camp has made developments and is doing the best that they can in providing high definition experience. The latest innovation of the HD DVD is the introduction of 3x DVD.

The said innovation utilized the same “red” laser that the DVD optical disc format uses, the only difference between the 3x DVD and the standard DVD is that the 3x DVD has high definition content. The video content of the 3x DVD is available on 720p resolution. This feature allows the 3x DVD to equal the maximum capacity of DVD discs while having excellent quality than that of the standard DVD.

The HD DVD format can also be applied to current red laser DVDs which offers a lower-cost option for distributors; this type of disc is called "3x DVD" as it is capable of up to three times the bandwidth of regular DVD-Video. Although the most notable disadvantage of the 3x DVD is that it only works on 3x DVD drives not on standard DVD players. The 3x DVD does not work on Blu Ray players, it is only compatible with DVD and HD DVD players. One notable aspect of this particular development of HD DVD is that 3x DVD players are said to cost less than a regular HD DVD player. The main reason for this is that the 3x DVD utilizes the standard DVD format.

Followers of the “on going” format war between the two high definition optical disc formats consider 3x DVD players as somewhat practical. And not only that, certain movies (like those that won’t mostly take full advantage of 1080p resolution) will be viewed well on the said high definition players.

The developers of the 3x DVD explained that this particular innovation will make your viewing experience in to a whole new level. It would be like watching high definition videos with “in depth” audio clarity on DVD discs instead of HD DVD discs. How cool would that be?