Beyond the Hype: A Blu-ray Story

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With the launch of HD-DVD back in April and Blu-ray in June, we have since seen the first battles in the HD format war.

We have also seen something else that is very common in war: Propaganda. Both sides have told us again and again why they are superior and unbeatable.

The slogan used for Blu-ray has been "Beyond High Definition." One might think that this meant that you would get "more" with Blu-ray compared with other HD alternatives, including HD-DVD.

So the world held its breath when the first Blu-ray discs and hardware were launched in June. It was time for the format to speak for itself and show once and for all that it was "Beyond High Definition," and that HD-DVD was just a bump in the road before world domination.

What happened is very much another story. The reviews for Blu-ray have been mainly negative, and the format's biggest sales argument--storage--is not yet a reality. Sony just can't get the technology to work properly, and currently Blu-ray has less storage than its competitor, HD-DVD.

When asked by "Video Business" about the problem, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment worldwide president Ben Feingold said, "Sony will release at least two Blu-ray disc titles on higher-capacity 50GB discs this year." We have heard this before so forgive us for being a bit skeptical about the claim. Sony and others have been working on Blu-ray since the dawn of DVD, making sure they where ready with a new format when DVD was close to retirement. Strange that after ten years of development, they still can't get it to function outside the lab. However, it is a great way to buy some time for the company and keep the press busy writing about things that are coming instead of things that are. You can't help thinking that this is much like what Microsoft has been saying about VISTA for the last three years, and we are still waiting for that one.

While Toshiba's HD-DVD has had problems, especially in the beginning, the company has been more effective in getting problems solved. Today, Toshiba and HD-DVD have hardware that works and discs that play.

So it is hard not recommend HD-DVD over Blu-ray at the moment. A person can buy an HD-DVD player for as low as $449; yet you have to pay $999 for the Blu-ray player. HD-DVD offers amazing picture quality and sound that is often better than current Blu-ray releases. It also offers a vast selection of extras on many discs, including new features like the in-movie experience, something we have not seen on Blu-ray, where you often get bare-bone releases.

If the Blu-ray camp don't want to lose this thing before it gets started, they have to deliver and they have to deliver soon. I for one am starting to get tired of empty promises on how the technology should work. As an example, on the official page for the high-priced PlayStation 3, you find Sony saying that Blu-ray can hold 100GB of storage on a four-layered disc. My advise to Sony: Spend your money on getting your dual-layered discs working before advertising about theoretical four-layered discs. Stop the hype and let the product speak for itself. We are waiting patiently...but not forever, because there is another guy in town, and he actually delivers on his promises.

For full coverage of HD-DVD and Blu-ray please visit our HD page HDDVD.org

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