Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Note
For more information about BD, see
www.blu-raydisc.com
.
HD-DVD
HD-DVD, also known as
Advanced Optical Disc
(AOD), is a defunct optical disc format originally
developed by Toshiba and NEC. HD-DVD was similar to Blu-ray (but not compatible) and used
blue-laser technology to achieve a higher storage capacity.
The introduction of both HD-DVD and BD in 2006 started a format war similar to the Betamax/VHS
war in the 1970s. Both were incompatible, and both had supporters and detractors. Blu-ray was
arguably superior from a technological standpoint, but that means little because in these situations
external influences such as politics, marketing, and overall industry support decides what will
become the de facto standard. By 2008, it had become clear that BD was winning in overall market
share, and this prompted several HD-DVD supporters to switch to the Blu-ray camp, thus ending the
war. The decline of HD-DVD started near the end of 2007 when the largest U.S. video rental
company (Blockbuster) declared it would only rent BDs. Then a major blow came in January 2008,
when Warner Brothers announced it would not release new movies in HD-DVD, which started an
industry-wide chain reaction with several other studios following suit. The final blow came in
February 2008, when Toshiba announced it would cease production of HD-DVD players, effectively
ending the war once and for all.
Although a few combo Blu-ray writable/HD-DVD readable drives (which also feature backward-
compatibility with standard DVD and CD media) were introduced (the first combo drives feature
LG's Super Multi Blue drive technology), HD-DVD players and discs quickly disappeared from the
market after 2008.
Optical Disc Formats
