The success of the DVD format means that there is a great deal of interest in its HD successors. There are currently two competing formats for new optical disks using blue-violet lasers for HD films. Sony are marketing their Blu-ray disks while Toshiba want us to buy their HD-DVD format. Obviously the lack of a single standard is a real issue for consumers. The current fight for market share has been compared with the VHS vs betamax war of the seventies which was finally won by VHS leaving millions of people with obsolete betamax players.

Xbox 360 HD-DVD add-on

However, there is a positive side to the competition. We would probably not have seen the formats so soon or at good prices if there had only been one format to monopolise the market. Microsoft are supporting the HD-DVD standard and have produced an HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 games console. At only ?130 it is the cheapest way to enter the HD-DVD market, but there are problems. The Xbox only provides video output via analogue component connectors which do not have copy protection. Since HD-DVDs are copy protected the video will be downgraded to a stadard definition signal. Even if a new Xbox is introduced with HDMI connectors it is not likely that the full 1080p standard which most HD-DVDs use will be supported. Furthermore, the Xbox has no surround sound options which are essential for the real experience of HD viewing.

Blu-ray

From the other camp comes the playstaion 3 with an integrated Blu-ray player. Unlike the Xbox 360, the PS3 has HDMI connections so 1080p playback is not a problem. The total cost of the PS3 is about the same as the Xbox plus HD-DVD drive, so if you are starting from scratch the PS3 wins. Of course the Xbox and HD-DVD came to market first so they gained an inital lead in the sales figures, but Blu-ray is already surpassing HD-DVD in disc sales.

the situation would not be so bad if all disks were appearing on HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats, but that is not the case. HD-DVD has exclusive support from Universal Studios so their films are not appearing on Blu-ray. Aside from Universal however, Blu-ray support is much better and the catalogue of films to come looks much healthier for Blu-ray than HD-DVD.

If you want a stand-alone HD-DVD or Blu-ray player, the Tishiba HD-E1 DVD Player is available for about ?300 but for full 1080p support you need the higher spec HD-XE1 at about ?500. The Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player is available for ?470 which is more expensive than the PS3. Expect to see these prices fall dramatically over the next year.

PC optical drives

The remaining possibility is to add an HD optical drive to a media-PC. In doing this great care must be taken to ensure that all the hardware components and software support the HD standards including copy protection.