The war between these two formats was over in a mere two years, so what happened?
From a user’s point of view, both formats are pretty similar.
You put a disc into a player, and then an HD movie plays.
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Under the hood, numerous differences exist, most of which aren’t big enough to warrant discussion.
It’s a measurable difference but means little to nothing when watching content.
The biggest difference between HD-DVDs and Blu-ray discs is the amount of data stored on each layer.
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HD-DVDs can store 15GB of data, whereas Blu-ray discs can store 25GB of data.
HD-DVD was developed bythe DVD Forumas a direct successor to DVDs, so it builds on the same technology.
This meant that relatively minor re-tooling would be needed to shift from DVD to HD-DVD production.
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On the other hand, HD-DVDs would have the same materials and level of scratch resistance as existing DVDs.
Blu-rays offered higher levels of durability but would be more expensive to make.
Sony Was Pivotal
Sony was the major developer and proponent ofBlu-ray.
Early in the format war, Sony convinced several studios to join its own studio division supporting Blu-ray.
This included Disney, Miramax, Touchstone, Warner, Paramount, and Lions Gate.
Some companies hedged their bets by supporting both formats.
It’s conceivable that having that many HD-DVD drives in homes would have pushed HD-DVD purchases significantly.
All the supporting infrastructure and management structure for HD-DVD was soon dissolved and decommissioned.
Anyone stuck with an HD-DVD player was an unfortunate casualty of this short conflict.
Did Blu-ray Really Win?
Related:Is Blu-ray the Last Optical Disc Format Ever?
Still, the sheer convenience of internet-based services is hard to beat.
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