Comparison of high-definition optical disc formats

This article compares the technical specifications of multiple high-definition formats, including HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc; two mutually incompatible, high-definition optical disc formats that, beginning in 2006, attempted to improve upon and eventually replace the DVD standard.

^ c On November 1, 2007 Secondary video and audio decoder became mandatory for new Blu-ray Disc players when the Bonus View requirement came into effect.

^ h Linear PCM is the only lossless audio codec that is mandatory for both HD DVD and Blu-ray disc players, only HD DVD players are required to decode two lossless sound formats and those are Linear PCM and Dolby TrueHD.

Hitachi has stated that current Blu-ray drives would only require a few firmware updates in order to play the disc.

Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD both support the same three video compression standards: MPEG-2, VC-1 and AVC, each of which exhibits different bitrate/noise-ratio curves, visual impairments/artifacts, and encoder maturity.

Warner Bros., which used to release movies in both formats prior to June 1, 2007, often used the same encode (with VC-1 codec) for both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, with identical results.

Both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD have two main options for interactivity (on-screen menus, bonus features, etc.).

To overcome this, TDK, Sony, and Panasonic each have developed a proprietary scratch resistant surface coating.

TDK trademarked theirs as Durabis, which has withstood direct abrasion by steel wool and marring with markers in tests.

A study performed by Home Media Magazine (August 5, 2007) concluded that HD DVDs and Blu-ray discs are essentially equal in production cost.

Quotes from several disc manufacturers for 25,000 units of HD DVDs and Blu-rays revealed a price differential of only 5-10 cents.

At the Consumer Electronics Show, on 4 January 2007, Warner Bros. introduced a hybrid technology, Total HD, which would reportedly support both formats on a single disc.

[19] One year after the original announcement, on 4 January 2008, Warner Bros. stated that it would support the Blu-ray format exclusively beginning on 1 June 2008, which, along with the demise of HD DVD the following month, ended development of hybrid discs permanently.

Other copy protection systems include: The Blu-ray specification and all currently available players support region coding.

[20] Some film titles that were exclusive to Blu-ray in the United States such as Sony's xXx, Fox's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and The Prestige, were released on HD DVD in other countries due to different distribution agreements; for example, The Prestige was released outside the U.S. by once format-neutral studio Warner Bros. Pictures.