high-def DVD formats

high-def DVD formats

HDTV sets display up to 1,080 lines of resolution, compared to 480 lines for regular TVs and DVD players. In order to accommodate the additional resolution on a physical, portable medium, discs with more storage than a DVD are required. Following are the various high-definition formats. See DVD.

Blu-ray and HD DVD
The two high-definition DVD formats competing in the U.S. starting in 2003 were Blu-ray and HD DVD. Blu-ray was supported by Sony, Hitachi and Philips, while HD DVD was endorsed by Toshiba and NEC. In order to avoid another Beta/VHS problem, dual-format players were introduced in 2007; however, in 2008, HD DVD was discontinued. See Blu-ray, HD DVD and Beta/VHS debacle.

DivX
DivX HD is a high-definition version of the DivX video codec, which compresses video to 10% of the original and is popular for online downloading. DivX HD compresses HD video to 20% of the original. Using the DivX HD codec, a high-def movie could be downloaded and burned on a regular DVD. See DivX.

China
There are several HD formats that are competing for future business in China and Taiwan, including the Enhanced Versatile Disc (EVD), the Forward Versatile Disc (FVD) and High Definition Video (HDV). All were developed to avoid paying royalties.

Russia/Europe/America?
D Data Inc., a Russian company with offices in New York, has developed the High Definition Digital Multi-layer Disc (HD-DMD) format. Unlike other HD formats, which use blue lasers for smaller bit diameters, HD-DMD uses the traditional red laser, but stores data on multiple layers per side. For more information, visit www.ddatainc.com.