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The two new high capacity media formats: Blu-ray and HD-DVD have been making quite a stir in the optical media industry. Now, after a couple years of anticipation, the new media and players are bursting onto the market. But what are these new discs and what difference will they make to consumers? And are we really going to see the biggest format war since VHS and Betamax?

Blu-ray and HD-DVD are high capacity discs which hold up to 10 times more data than the current regular DVD. They both have the same physical size and appearance as a CD or DVD. But the similarities really end there. The new discs are read by a blue laser in the drive which has a shorter wavelength than the red laser used with CDs and DVDs. Also, the discs have much smaller, tightly packed pits which allows more capacity crammed into the same sized space.

The Blu-ray disc has a single layer capacity of 25GB and a double layer capacity of 50GB. This is enough capacity of over 7 hours of high definition video. The Blu-ray disc is supported by the companies in the Blu-ray Disc Association. They include Sony, Apple, Dell, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, TDK, Sharp, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney and Warner Brothers. With the launch of Sony's PS3 expected in November this year, many feel that the market will be more willing to adopt the Blu-ray disc. However, these discs are very expensive and the equipment is expensive too. Replicators are reluctant to purchase new replication lines for the Blu-ray equipment without more confidence that this format emerge the winner. Remember, in the VHS vs Betamax war, the better technology did not win.

HD-DVD has a single layer capacity of 15GB and dual layer capacity of 30GB. 15GB is enough for four hours of high definition video or 24 hours of standard definition video. The HD-DVD Supporters Forum include Toshiba, HBO, Paramount, Universal Studios, NEC and Microsoft. Some companies like HP have decided to support both Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Next year Microsoft will launch its new operating system called Vista. This system will have native support for HD-DVD and Microsoft will also provide an add-on the Xbox 360 for HD-DVD support. Article continued here .....