What are the fundamental differences between the HD DVD, BD and DVD formats?
HD DVD Blu-Ray DVD Storage Capacity (per layer) 15GB (single-layer) 30GB (dual-layer) 25GB (single-layer) 50GB (dual-layer) 4.7GB (single-layer) 8.5GB (dual-layer) Manufacturing Process Existing New Current Laser Wavelength 405 nanometers (blue-violet) 650 nanometers (red) Cover Layer 0.6 mm 0.1 mm 0.6 mm User data transfer rate (data) 36.55Mbps (1x) 36.0Mbps (1x) 11.08Mbps (1x) Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 720×480/720×576 Video Codecs VC- 1 , MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) MPEG-2 Audio Codecs Linear PCM Dolby Digital Dolby Digital Plus Dolby TrueHD DTS DTS-HD MPEG Audio Linear PCM Dolby Digital DTS MPEG Audio US Launch Date 2nd half 2006 July 2006 Aug. 1997 How does the cost of BD and HD DVD compare? Blu-ray discs are more expensive, but hold more data. There’s also a difference in player price. Toshiba’s cheapest model is less than half the $1,000 that Samsung and Panasonic will charge for a Blu-ray machine it plans to release in June and October, respectively . Pioneer will charge about