DVDs, Dual Layer DVDs And The Next Generation

Gone are the days of the Betamax and the VHS, the then de facto standard in the distribution of movies. Today, DVD is the now standard when talking about bringing movies into one’s home, providing impressive quality, utilizing optical disc technology in its successful operation.

The first of its class utilizing optical disc technology came in the 70s, in the form of the large Laser Disc. The 80s saw the rise of the CD, which practically is still the de facto standard in which music artists package their albums. The 90s saw the utilization of DVD, and has become widely accepted as the movie medium for distribution.

Today, two “next generation” optical disc technologies have come about, standing to take the place of the DVD: The HD-DVD and the Blu Ray. Bottom line, the two practically boast the same features over standard DVD discs, dual layer DVD or not, but have particular differences over each other, in the aspect of storage capacity.

Before breaking down the advantages, differences and downsides between HD-DVD and Blu Ray, let us talk about the standard DVD.

Basically, the DVD came in to take the place of the CD, which has a storage capacity of 700 megabytes. CDs may basically be enough to store high quality audio files, but stands to be lacking when talking about videos. DVDs stand to “out store” CDs as DVD discs could store up to 4.7 gigabytes of data, with dual layer DVDs capable of storing up to 8.5 gigabytes. Standard DVD players have no problems in dealing single layer DVD discs and with dual layer DVD discs. As “video media”, DVDs support screen resolutions of up to 720 x 480. Audio support reaches to surround sound support, ideally complementing the clear video quality DVDs supports, single layer or dual layer DVDs.

HD-DVD stands to be the “enhanced” version of DVD. HD-DVD discs, with the combination of advanced audio and video codecs, is the ideal medium for high definition movies, as HD-DVD discs could store up to 15 gigabytes of data, with dual layer DVDs of its class coming in with 30 gigabyte storage capacities. Blu Ray discs, on the other hand, boast storage capacities reaching 25 gigabytes, with dual layer Blu Ray discs having 50 gigabyte capacities.

Both are perfect for high definition movies, but stand to be in close competition against each other, as both come from different developers. Between the two, Blu Ray stands to be much more expensive.
What was once the Betamax VS VHS has now become HD-DVD VS Blu Ray, where consumers have to choose between the two.