Blu-Ray VS HD-DVD

It’s January 2nd and one of the things on everyone’s minds is when are the Studios going to choose a winner? Currently both formats of the Next Generation DVD are hitting living rooms with brilliant picture and sound quality. HD-DVD Backed mainly by Microsoft and Toshiba comes in either a 15GB Single Layer or a 30GB Dual Layer Disc. Blu-ray or BD-Rom is backed by Sony and comes in either a 25GB Single Layer or a 50GB Dual Layer Disc. There are also talks from TDK of a 100GB Blu-Ray Disk.

Now from around the web I have read reviews on both HD-DVD Players and Blu-Ray players. I have seen a lot of people put down the Blu-Ray player many many times, but all the people that are unsatisfied are running a television that does NOT support 1080P only 1080i. If you want the full performance of Blu-Ray you MUST own a TV capable of 1080P.

Now when set Side by Side, I am able to pick a CLEAR winner.

For Blu-Ray, I watched on a 42″ Sharp Aquos 1080P HDTV on a Samsung Blu-Ray player. Since the television supports full 1080P resolution, we were able to see the full performance of Blu-Ray and I must admit it was absolutely amazing!

For HD-DVD I watched on a Panasonic 42″ LCD HDTV 720P (1080i) using a Toshiba HD-DVD Player. The picture and sound from both of these devices were also incredible but did not quite meet the quality and beauty of that on Blu-Ray Setup.

Now when the HD-DVD Player is on the Sharp Aquos TV, the picture and quality was the same of that on the Panasonic TV that it was originally played on. But when the Blu-Ray player was used on the Panasonic TV only able to display in 720P Blu-Ray failed horribly.

So all in all, if you own a television capable of 1080P you need to get your hands on a Blu-Ray player so you can be dazzled by its amazing picture and sound quality. But if you cannot afford a full 1080P HDTV, then go ahead and get a 720P HDTV on HD-DVD and it won’t disappoint. From my point of view, spend the money and go for the good stuff, HD-DVD is based on old technology using old HDTV Technology, whereas soon all TVs will be supporting full 1080P and like most people, you wouldn’t want to get stuck with an HD-DVD player that won’t use the television to it’s full potential.

So who would I choose straight off the bat? Neither. The reason is I would wait until the Studios pick a winner so you do not get stuck with a useless piece of equipment. Most of you experienced this back in the Beta-Max vs. VHS days; don’t get caught in the war. But if you must have it, get Blu-Ray and a full 1080P television and be prepared for the most exhilarating home theater experience!