Blu-ray vs. HD DVD

Well, it looks as if the war is finally coming to an end. All signs are pointing to Blu-ray technology as the next big thing to replace the current DVD technology. Here is what I'm finding out:

Seven of the eight major movie studios (Warner, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM and Lionsgate) are producing for the Blu-ray technology, whereas HD-DVD only has support from two major movie studios (Paramount and Universal).

Just some of the companies that support Blu-ray technology EXCLUSIVELY.
1. Sony/Sony Pictures
2. Wal-Mart
3. Warner Bros. (this is a recent big announcement)
4. Disney
5. Fox Home Entertainment
6. Netflix (this is a big one)

Toshiba has been the leading producer of HD DVD software and hardware until now. They just announced the following on Blu-ray.com:

"Toshiba will announce that effective immediately, production of HD DVD hardware, software, and authoring tools will cease, and that sales and support of existing products will end sometime in March."

Another quote by Samsung:

"Samsung is expected to show more interests in Blu-ray products than rival HD DVD."

Some key differences in Blu-ray vs. HD DVD

1. Blu-ray's total disk capacity is 50GB while HD DVD is just 30GB.
2. Blu-ray has adopted a higher data transfer rate for video and audio (54Mbps vs 36.55Mbps). The greater capacity and data transfer rates for Blu-ray will allow the movie studios to release their movies with higher quality video and audio than the HD-DVD format.
3. Blu-ray sounds cooler

I would still wait until the technology goes through a couple of upgrades (Blu-ray is getting ready to release an updated version soon). As the upgrades come and the companies all begin competing for your money, the cost will come down soon. For now I suggest just using your current DVD player and downloading your HD content through Tivo, XBOX360, iTunes, or just check out your favorite network on the web.